Chapter 11 The City of 7 Hills - Rome! (3)

Tapirus coughed twice and said, "I have heard that Rome is a powerful city-state with a long history and unique culture. Today, I saw with my own eyes that the city of seven hills is as unique and magical as the rumors!"

Hearing Tapirus' praise, Minusius smiled sincerely: "No matter how amazing our Rome is, it can't be compared to Dionia. I heard that you have only been established for more than ten years, and you have defeated the surrounding enemies again and again. , to become the most powerful kingdom in southern Italy, which is really blessed by Mars!"

"Mars?"

"Oh, Mars is our Roman god of war!"

"No, we, Dionia, were able to have today because of the full blessing of the great Greek god, Hades, because our king is his descendant!" Tapirus said reverently. His piety was from the heart, for he was proclaimed free by King Davos at the Temple of Hades, in the hymn of Hades. Hades' blessing of slaves is well known in the Dionian kingdom, and the Dionian people of slaves and slave-borns have a whole-hearted reverence for the Hades.

Minusius smiled slightly embarrassedly and pointed to the front with his finger: "The hill in front is Mount Esquiri, and the first Sabines who became Roman citizens lived on it..."

As Minusius introduced them, he led them to the front of Mount Esquiri, and they saw an arch spanning both sides of the road.

"This is—?!" The officer from the Ministry of Military Affairs pointed at it with some excitement.

"This is the Arc de Triomphe!" Minusius said excitedly: "Any general who has won a major war for Rome, Rome will hold a triumphal ceremony for him, let him drive a four-horse chariot, lead the army, enter the The city of Rome, through the Arc de Triomphe, goes to the square, accepts the cheers of the Roman people and the praise of the Senate, this is the greatest glory that every Roman citizen desires!" Minusius looked up at the Arc de Triomphe with a look of longing.

And the officer of the Dionysian military department and the other entourage of the envoy looked at each other with indescribable surprise in their eyes: Dionia and Rome have many similarities in military systems, but looking at this marble The built-in arches are mottled, old and badly worn, at least several decades old. Who is learning from whom this time?

Minusius led the Dionysian messenger group, who was in a complicated mood, to turn left, passed through the Arc de Triomphe, and after walking for a while, a square appeared in front of him.

Tapirus frowned again: the square looks quite large, but there are many houses crowded around the square, and some even protrude into the square, so it does not show the style of the square at all.

Since Tapirus stepped into the city of Rome, he felt that the Romans mixed public facilities with private houses everywhere.

And the square that represents the heart of the city cannot be avoided, which makes him feel a little unacceptable.

Minusius also clearly saw the unpleasant look on Tapirus' face, and out of the psychology of not wanting to be underestimated by the Dionians, he said loudly: "This square is the old square, about 150 years ago. It is mainly used for people's leisure and gatherings. Rome also has a larger square, in the west of this square, which can accommodate 100,000 people, used to recruit troops, and sometimes used as a voting place for the citizens' assembly. It's called Mars Square!"

Mars Square? ! Hearing this name, Tapirus remembered what the young man said before, "Mars is the Roman god of war". This name is similar to the Victory Square in Turii. Military admiration.

Minusius took the lead and walked straight through the square, and people greeted him from time to time on the way, and also cast curious glances at Tapirus and his party.

The Roman Senate is just west of the square and is a tall building similar to a temple.

Minusius asked them to wait a little under the front steps of the senate, and then walked quickly into the senate.

Except that the Roman Senate will not work because other meetings are being held or the celebration of the gods, it will generally hold a meeting every morning at sunrise. As for when it ends, it depends on the number of matters to be discussed, but Usually no more than sunset, and now it is dusk, the elders must have dispersed. However, since it was a time of war, the Senate had a rule: there must be a military and political officer on duty until the night, in order to prevent emergencies from happening, so as to prepare in advance.

Minusius walked into the guard room next to the venue and found that the military and political officer left behind was someone he knew well, so he shouted: "Paulus!"

Paulus Valerius Potitus was asking the slave to light the candle. He turned his head and asked in surprise, "Minusius, why are you here? What happened?"

Minusius, who was the chief of the city guard, came to the Senate at this time, definitely not to chat with him.

"There is an important matter." Minusius said without any nonsense, "A group of envoys from the Kingdom of Dionia came to Rome and said that there is an important matter to discuss with the Senate."

"Dionia?!" Paulus was not a civilian military officer. He knew a lot about Dionia, and immediately said solemnly: "This Greek kingdom in southern Italy sent an envoy to Rome at this time. for what?"

Minusius was no longer smiling before, and said with the same serious expression: "I tried to ask them on the road, but every time the messenger used words to avoid them, it can be seen that they are definitely not the same. We have a friendly relationship!"

Paulus fell into deep thought, and after a while, he raised his eyebrows and said uncertainly: "A few days ago, the Carthaginians reminded us, 'It is suspected that the envoy of Volsi went to Turii.' Are they... for Wolsey?"

Minusius was shocked: "Dionia wants to protect Wolsey?!"

"We can't make judgments rashly. Minusius, you take them to stay first. I will now inform Pantheus and the other elders to discuss the countermeasures urgently. After all, Dionia is no weaker than Jia. Taiji's country, we must treat it carefully!" Paulus said in a deep voice.

………………………………

Tapirus and his party were arranged to live in a public hotel under the jurisdiction of the Senate, which was near the Old Square and not far from the Senate.

The members of the messenger group originally wanted to stroll around the city of Rome carefully after dinner, but Minusius warned them before leaving: It is best not to go out at night! Because during the war, a curfew was imposed in the city at night to prevent chaos.

Tapirus felt the young man's sudden guard against them.

After dinner, Tapirus and some of his entourage went up to the roof of the hotel.

The night has come to the city, but the noise has not dissipated. The laughter of Roman people, the cries of children, the fights between men, the whistle of patrols, the roar of domestic dogs... In the heart of the city of Rome, these voices still come from all directions...

This is really a messy but vibrant city. Tapirus thought silently in his heart.

"I'm afraid it is Capitol Hill." The official from the Military Affairs Department said softly, looking towards the west of the Senate.

Under the cover of the night, only the outline of a hill in the distance can be vaguely seen.

Although Minusius did not talk about the hill, Tapirus knew the importance of this hill to Rome, because it was regarded by the Roman people as the lodging place of the gods, the god Jupiter revered by the Romans Most of the temples and other temples of the gods were on that hill, where the Acropolis was located, so the Romans would still hold on to Capitoline Hill after the Celts occupied the Roman city, and they held on for a few months, until The arrival of victory also shows the steepness of this mountain. This is probably the place that the Ministry of Military Affairs is most concerned about. Is it possible for Dionia to go to war with Rome?

Tapirus looked at the entourage, and then turned his gaze to the Senate in the dark: in any case, he had to complete his mission first.

…………………………

The next morning, Tapirus was inducted into the Roman Senate.

This is a circular venue. The dark red wooden chairs are like the seats of the arena. From front to back, they are closely arranged in rows. They are all seated with Roman senators in white robes. There are nearly 300 people. This also includes two military officials (in recent years, due to the increasingly intensified contradiction between the Roman nobles and the commoners, in order to protest the nobles' monopoly of power, the commoners refused to elect the consuls at the citizens' assembly, but the surrounding Roman The military situation was quite bad. In order to ensure the security of Rome and the smooth implementation of internal affairs, the nobles and the commoners negotiated and had to agree to elect six military tribunes each year, referred to as military officials, three from the nobles and three from the commoners. ), and four other military and political officials also led the army to fight outside.

Half of these Roman elders were old men with gray hair, and most of them were the patriarchs of the major clans in Rome. Of course, the other part is also the elders of noble origin. They had previously held high-ranking positions in Rome. Because of their achievements or political achievements, after recommendation and selection, they finally entered the Senate, and entering the Senate made it easier for them to serve as city-states. senior officer positions.

But none of the Roman senators was younger than 30 years old, and not a single citizen of common origin, either of great ability, or of high esteem, or of great wealth, or of great power, and now they all watched with prudent eyes. The person in the center of the venue: Tapirus, the messenger of the Kingdom of Dionia.