Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Tapirus took a member of the envoy to the shore in Ostia.

Soon, he noticed with surprise that the black-eyed and black-eyed Latinum appeared the most in this prosperous port, but the familiar Carthage merchants from the south of Dionysia who were fully loaded with them. A ship of goods docked here, and then was unloaded by port personnel first, and was transported to Rome in the east by the car. Compared with other city-state merchants from this port, it was much faster and the process was well organized. Preface, obviously has been in operation for a long time.

In addition, in the port area Tapirus also saw Dionysian businessmen.Over the past ten years, the expansion of the Kingdom of Dionia, the rapid expansion of the territory, the increase of various resources, the construction of roads and bridges in the kingdom have provided convenient transportation, coupled with the various prosperity promulgated by the Ministry of Commerce. The implementation of trade development measures has led to the prosperity of trade and business. Many merchants have sprung up in various cities, and foreign businessmen have also actively applied to join Dionysian, which makes the footprint of Dionysian merchants all over the world. The entire Western Mediterranean.Of course, Sardinia, Corsica, southern Iberia and other regions under the close control of Carthage should be excluded.

In the early years, some Dionysian businessmen came to Rome to do business, and they also became an important source of information for Dionysian intelligence to understand Rome.It's just that they can't get more discounts than the Carthage merchants who have established a close relationship with Rome.

Rome is similar to Dionia, neither is a harbour city, but is located on the middle bank of a large river.But the difference is that Rome is farther from the coast, with more than 40 miles. Therefore, it becomes very difficult for the ship to want to go upstream and go straight into the city of Rome. Therefore, it needs the port of Ostia to transfer the goods.

Tapirus and his party left Ostia and went north along the south bank of the Tiber River.

By more than 3 pm, they saw the Roman city standing in front.

"...Rome is a city founded by Latins and Sabines 300 years ago. It was said that it was full of tidal flats and swamps at that time, and many powerful forces around it did not look down on this place, but this does not mean With the Romans able to develop silently and steadily, it was invaded by foreign enemies from time to time.

The Etruscans once ruled it, the Gauls destroyed its city, and the Walsi, Equite, Sabine, and even the Latin alliance of the Roman race... and other forces have defeated it one after another. But the Romans have gradually developed and expanded in constant setbacks and wars. To this day, it has become the most powerful city-state in central Italy..."

When Tapirus heard this from King Daphes, he deeply felt the respect of the Dionysian ruler for Rome, but also made him feel: there are so many around Rome, a hostile force, can still grow to the present level. The Romans must be a tough and tenacious race!

Tapirus looked at the increasingly clear city of Rome with interest, while searching for information about it from his memory.

Rome is known as the city of the Seven Hills, because there are seven hills in the city, all of which are concentrated on the bend of the Tiber River.Because of such a continuous river bay that first went west, then east, and then turned west, once the flood occurred in the rainy season in spring and summer, it was easy to form depressions, so the original Romans lived in these hills. on……

But the Roman city that Tapirus sees now is a new city. It was built on the ruins after the Gauls were driven away ten years ago. It is said that it took the Romans only one year to build it Okay, can you build a big city in such a hurry?!

As a result, Tapirus was surprised to find that the Roman wall that stood in front of him was not flat and straight like the city wall of Turijny, the wall was smooth, but curved, and the bricks and rocks were irregular and relatively disordered. Put together, so the wall is rough, the gap is large, and it is even edged outward.Of course, the city wall is high enough, so it can be judged that the wall is also thick enough, otherwise such a bad wall cannot be supported...

Of course, this is only Tapirus' personal opinion. More professional people are hidden in his messenger group. They will quietly and carefully observe the city, from military, political, commercial, social... and many other aspects. Record the situation in Rome and surrounding areas in detail, and after summarizing the information, go back and report it to King Davis.

In fact, what Tapirus didn’t know was: Seven years ago, after Camillus drove off the Celtics, the city of Rome was already in ruins.The Roman people debated whether they would move this city that had suffered misfortune due to the curse of the gods or rebuild the new city on the ruins? Finally, they had to hold a civic conference to vote.

Just before voting began, a centurion who became a hero in the previous battle took the flag officer to the stage and suddenly shouted: "Stop, plug the flag, this place is the best City location!"

His words were immediately supported by many former comrades.Immediately, Camillus and several other highly respected veterans soon announced with piety: This is a sign!

Citizens were actually bored with this long debate and were anxious. Under the guidance of their trusted elders, their emotions changed quickly, and everyone cheered and asked to rebuild Rome here .

In order not to consume the passion of the people, it is easy to be instigated, and the accident has occurred again. The city construction work is quickly started. Since there is basically no normal planning and construction division, the construction process is completely arbitrary or convenient. So whether it is a city wall The construction of private or private buildings is quite bad, but the speed is guaranteed. The reconstruction of the Roman city is completed within one year. One can imagine how effective it is.

If it weren’t for the “Celtic occupation of Rome”, the Romans gave the people a bitter memory, coupled with years of war, so in the past few years, the Romans will repeatedly repair their city defenses during the farming season to ensure the city Public safety.Otherwise, Tapirus came to Rome five years ago, and he will see that the situation of the city wall is even more unsightly.

There was already a long line in front of the city gate to the west of Rome, and Tapirus and his party did not stand in front of the city guard until dusk.

The Roman city guard looked at Tapirus, who was standing in front of him, and the entourage behind him, "Are you messengers from Dionia?"

After listening to the translation by the entourage, Tapirus said calmly, "Yes, I was ordered by King Dionia to come to Rome to discuss important things!"

The City Guard no longer hesitated and said to another soldier beside him: "Go and call Minusius!"

After a while, I saw a young man in full uniform and helmet with a red cap tassel came out of the city. After listening to the description of the city guard, he was also surprised: Dionysia, that was with Carthage The same powerful kingdom!Why did its messenger come to Rome?!

With this doubt, Minusius stepped forward and said in fluent Greek: "I am the chief of the city guards in Rome, Minusius. Are you the messenger from the Kingdom of Dionysia?"

"I'm Dionyssia's diplomat, Tapirus, with the important mission of the kingdom, to negotiate with the Roman Senate." Tapirus saluted.

"Rome welcomes you, the distinguished messenger of the Kingdom of Dionysia!" Minusius smiled and said apologetically: "I'm sorry to keep you waiting for a long time. During this time, our citizens of Rome are working with the invading Wall In the west, another unit went to quell the Tusculam rebellion. In order to prevent the enemy from sneaking in, the Senate stipulated that'only the Roman people are allowed to enter and exit the city gate.'"

Tapirus expressed his understanding.

Minusius led them into the city gate.

After entering the Roman city, Tapirus found that his previous judgment was not wrong, not just the distortion of the city walls, these high and low, large and small houses in the city were also a bad result of the hasty construction of a large city within a year .These houses, which have certainly not been overall planned, grow like crazy on the ground, making the streets narrow and crooked, garbage piled up, the sewage on the ground flowing, the air is filled with strange smells, and you may step on feces if you accidentally ...

Minusius saw that Tapirus and others were frowning, and some even covered their noses. How could they not understand the problem.

His face turned red and explained: "More than ten years ago, the Celtics invaded our city. When we drove them away, we found that our Roman city was destroyed by most of them. When rebuilding the city, However, we encountered the betrayal of the Allies and the invasion of the enemy. Our main energy was used to repel the enemy. Therefore, we did not have enough time and wealth to rebuild the various urban areas. We had to let the people solve it by themselves, so it became like this...

A few years ago, the Senate had made a decision to widen the roads in various neighborhoods, but the wars that occurred each year made us really unable to spare time...even during this time, we could not spare enough Handle the garbage in the city..."

Tapirus expressed his understanding on the surface, but disapproved in his heart. He believed that such a poor urban environment reflects the Romans' inadequate planning of urban areas and their lack of concern for people's lives.If it is in Turij, there are so many densely spaced, crooked dwellings, the officials of the Ministry of Construction have already sent people to forcibly relocate them, because it will lead to the insecurity of the urban area, causing the collapse of the house, fire... …and many more.And those houses that overcrowded the streets will not only be demolished by officials of the Road Bureau under the Ministry of Construction, but their owners will also be heavily punished because it encroaches on public interests...