Tapyrus disembarked at Ostia with the members of the accompanying emissary corps.

Soon, he was amazed to notice that the most common presence in this prosperous port was not the black-haired and black-eyed Latimus, but the Carthaginian merchants he was familiar with, from the south of Dionia, who docked here laden with a loadload of goods, and were first unloaded by the port personnel, and transported by pack cart to Rome in the east, which was much quicker than the merchants from other city-states in this port, and the process was so orderly that it had apparently been in operation for a long time.

In addition, Dionian merchants were seen in the port district of Tapirus. In the past ten years, the expansion of the Dionian Kingdom, the rapid expansion of the territory, the increase of various resources, the construction of roads and bridges in the kingdom to provide convenient transportation, coupled with the implementation of various measures conducive to the development of commerce and trade promulgated by the Ministry of Commerce, led to the prosperity of commerce, and many merchants have sprung up in various cities, and also attracted foreign merchants to actively apply to join Dionia, which makes the footprints of Dionian merchants all over the Western Mediterranean. Except, of course, of course, from the regions of Sardinia, Corsica, and southern Iberia, which were under the tight control of Carthage.

In the early years, some Dionian merchants had come to Rome to do business, and they had become an important source of information for the Dionian intelligence service about Rome. It's just that they couldn't get more benefits than the Carthaginian merchants, who had established close ties with Rome.

Rome is somewhat similar to Dionya in that it is not a seaport city, but is located on the banks of a large river in the middle reaches. But the difference was that Rome was farther from the coast, more than 40 miles, so it was very difficult for ships to swim up the river and get straight to the city of Rome, so it needed the port of Ostia to transit its goods.

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

By about 3 p.m., they saw the city of Rome standing ahead.

“…… Rome is a city founded 300 years ago by the Latins and Sabines, and it is said that it was full of mudflats and swamps at that time, and many powerful forces around it did not look down on this place, but this does not mean that the Romans can develop quietly and steadily, and it is invaded by foreign enemies from time to time.

The Etruncians once ruled it, the Gauls destroyed its cities, the Latin Confederation of the Volsi, Aque, Sabines, and even the Roman kindred...... but the Romans grew stronger and stronger through constant setbacks and wars, and to this day it has become the most powerful city-state in central Italy......"

When Tapyrus heard these words from King Davers, he deeply felt the respect that the ruler of Dioonia had for Rome, and at the same time made him feel that Rome, with so many hostile forces around it, could still grow to this point, and the Romans must be a tough and tenacious race!

Tapirus looked at the city of Rome with interest as it became clearer and clearer, searching his memory for information about it.

Rome is known as the City of the Seven Hills because of the seven hills within the city, all of which are concentrated at the bend of the Tiber. Because of the fact that such a chain of bays, which turn westward, then eastward, and then westward, makes it easy for depressions to form in the event of flooding during the rainy season in spring and summer, so the first Romans lived on these hills......

But the Roman city that Tapyrus sees now is a new city, it was built by the Romans on the ruins after the Gauls were driven out ten years ago, and it is said that it took the Romans only a year to build it, can a big city be built in such a hurry?!

As a result, Tapyrus was surprised to find that the Roman wall standing in front of him was not at all as flat and straight as the wall of Turiine, the wall was smooth, but curved, and the bricks and rocks were not regularly and disorderly put together, so that the wall was rough, with large gaps, and even outwardly supported. Of course, its walls are high enough, and it can be judged that its walls are also thick enough, otherwise it would not be able to support such a bad wall......

Of course, this is only Tapirus's personal opinion, and the more professional people are hidden in his emissary corps, who will quietly and carefully observe the city, from the military, political, commercial, and social ...... A number of parties were used to keep a detailed record of the situation in Rome and the surrounding area, and to compile the information and report it back to King Davos.

In fact, what Tapyrus didn't know was that seven years ago, after Camillus drove out the Celts, the city of Rome was in ruins. The people of Rome asked, "Do you want to move this city, which has suffered misfortune by the curse of the gods?" Or rebuild a new city on the ruins? The issue was debated endlessly, and finally a citizens' assembly had to be held to vote on it.

Just as the voting was about to begin, a centurion who had been a hero in the previous battle arrived on the stage with the flag bearer and suddenly shouted, "Stop, plant the flag, this is the best place to build a city!" ”

His words were immediately supported by many former comrades-in-arms. Immediately, Camillus and several other respected senators quickly declared this a divine omen in a reverent manner!

The citizens, who were in fact tired and anxious of the long controversy, were rapidly changing their mood under the guidance of their trusted senators, and every one of them cheered for the rebuilding of Rome here.

In order not to consume the passion of the people who were finally stirred up, which led to another accident, the construction work was carried out quickly, because there was basically no normal planning and construction separation, the construction process was completely arbitrary or convenient, so whether it was the city wall, or the private buildings were built quite badly, but the speed was guaranteed, and the reconstruction of the city of Rome was completed within a year, and you can imagine how effective it was.

If it weren't for the bitter memory of the "Celtic occupation of Rome" event and the years of war, the Romans would have repeatedly repaired their city defenses during the off-season to ensure the safety of the people in the city. Otherwise, Tapirus had come to Rome five years earlier, and he would have seen the state of the walls even worse.

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

The Roman guards looked at Tapilus and the retinue behind him in surprise, "You are messengers from Dionia?" ”

After listening to the interpretation of his entourage, Tapirus calmly said loudly, "Yes, I have come to Rome on the orders of the King of Dionysia, to discuss important matters!" ”

The city guard no longer hesitated, and said to the other soldier next to him, "Go and call Minus!" ”

After a while, a young man in full military uniform, with a red hat on the top of his helmet, came out of the city, and after listening to the story of the city guard, he was equally surprised by Dionia, which was as powerful as Carthage! What did its emissaries come to Rome for?!

With this doubt in mind, Minusius stepped forward and said in fluent Greek, "I am the prefect of the Roman guard, Minusius. Are you an emissary from the kingdom of Dionia? ”

"I am Dionia's diplomat, Tapilus, and I have come to negotiate with the Roman Senate with an important mission from the kingdom." Tapyrus saluted.

"Rome welcomes you, noble emissary of the Kingdom of Dionia!" Minusius smiled and said apologetically, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting. In the meantime, we, the citizens of Rome, were fighting the invading Wolsey, and another force was on its way to quell the rebellion at Tusculon. In order to prevent the enemy from sneaking up, the Senate decreed that 'only the Roman populace should be allowed to enter and leave the city gates.' ’”

Tapirus understood.

Minusius led them into the gates.

Entering the city of Rome, Tapyrus found that his previous judgment was not wrong, not only the walls were crooked, but also the high and low, large and small residences in the city were also the bad result of hastily building a large city in a year. These dwellings, which are certainly not well planned, grow like weeds on the ground, making the streets narrow and crooked, littered with garbage, overflowing with sewage, and filling the air with a strange stench, and the possibility of stepping on feces and pee......

Minuccius saw that Tapirus and the others were frowning, and some even covered their noses, how could they not understand what the problem was.

"More than ten years ago, the Celts invaded our city, and when we drove them away, we found that most of our Roman city had been destroyed by them. When we were rebuilding the city, we encountered the betrayal of the allies and the invasion of the enemy, and our main energy was spent on how to repel the enemy, so we did not have enough time and wealth to rebuild the various urban areas, so we had to let the people solve it themselves, so it became the way it is now......

A few years ago, the Senate had made a resolution to widen the roads in various neighborhoods, but the wars that broke out every year made it impossible for us to spare time...... Even during this time, we don't have enough people to carry away the garbage in the city......"

Apparently understanding, Tapirus was unimpressed, believing that the poor conditions in the city were a reflection of the Romans' lack of care about urban planning and their concern for the lives of the people. If there were so many densely spaced and crooked houses in Turii, the officials of the Ministry of Construction would have sent people to forcibly demolish them, because it would lead to insecurity in the city, causing houses to collapse and fires...... Wait a minute. Not only will the overcrowded houses be demolished by the officials of the Road Department under the Ministry of Construction, but their owners will also be severely fined for encroaching on the public interest......

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