Chapter 667
However, it seemed that the people of Rome had long been accustomed to such a living environment. Pedestrians crowded the narrow streets, and everyone was busy with their own lives. However, the expressions on their faces were somewhat calm. They were neither disgusted by the terrible environment, nor worried about the two wars that were going on in Rome. This open-minded state of mind was somewhat similar to that of the Turií of the Kingdom of Diónia.
Minusius led them around a street, and the field of vision in front of them was much wider. They could see a low hill lying in front of them, which was also densely covered with houses. Many people of Rome, dressed in ordinary clothes, walked between the hills with solemn expressions.
"That is Mount Raventine, one of the seven hills in the city of Rome." Minusius saw Tapirus looking at it carefully and hurriedly explained, "It is said that Remus, the younger brother of Romulus, one of the two founders of Rome, used to live on this hill with his tribe. Now, in the middle of the hill, there is a temple of Diana built by our former king, Servius. Diana is the Latin goddess of the hunt and the protector of the herdsmen. King Servius once made a rule, 'As long as you fear this goddess, regardless of whether you are a citizen of Rome or not, you can come here to worship.' If it weren't for the war during this period, you would see Latin tribesmen from the surrounding areas of Rome coming here every day to worship. Mount Raventine would become very lively, but also very noisy … "
His face was filled with pride, as if "Rome is the center of the Latin people."
Tapirus nodded politely and did not speak.
The group of people followed the road and turned north.
The street here was originally spacious, but both sides of the road were full of people of Rome who had set up stalls. All kinds of noisy hawking and bargaining sounds made Tapirus feel a little annoyed as he squeezed forward. However, during the war, the city of Rome was still filled with a strong atmosphere of life, which surprised them very much.
"Is that the arena?" An entourage pointed to the front left and asked.
Through the gaps in the crowd, they could see a huge circular building standing in front of the emissary group on the left. The shape of the building was too familiar to the emissary group.
"Yes, this is our Rome's Colosseum!" Minusius said loudly, "We, the people of Rome, often hold sports competitions here. There is also the most popular gladiatorial competition! … "
Upon hearing this, a look of disgust appeared on Tapirus' face because he had already learned about the gladiatorial competition that Minusius mentioned from the Turií library. It was a competition where prisoners of war or slaves of Rome fought in the arena with crude weapons, using their blood and screams in exchange for the joy of the people of Rome watching the competition …
Tapirus, who was born a slave, believed that this wasn't a competition, but a barbaric, backward, and bloody game!
As they passed by the arena, the emissaries heard shouts coming from inside.
One of the entourage pretended to be curious and asked, "Is there a gladiator competition going on in the arena?"
Minusius shook his head and said, intentionally or unintentionally, "There is a military training for the underage citizens of Rome. Although most of the young and middle-aged citizens of Rome have gone out to fight, once the enemy attacks, we can still summon the citizens of Rome from the surrounding colonies to come to our rescue. We don't have to worry about the safety of Rome at all. However, the people of Rome are used to holding shields and spears from a young age. Only when they grow up can they face the enemy bravely and have the ability to kill the enemy. They also need to be familiar with the formations and tactics of Rome from a young age. When the city needs them to join the battle, they can quickly integrate into the army … So, the people of Rome are not afraid of any strong enemies! "
Upon hearing this, Tapirus was shocked. This practice was very similar to the military training of children in Diónia from a young age.
His eyes met with an entourage behind him. That person was an official sent by the Ministry of Military Affairs. He believed that he had a deeper feeling about this.
However, what the emissaries of Diónia did not know was that it had always been a tradition of Rome to let the children of Rome receive military training from a young age. However, it was only in the last ten years that they were taught the fighting methods and tactics of Rome from a young age.
Ten years ago, Rome suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Gauls on the banks of the Arria River. In the end, the Gauls occupied their homeland. This painful lesson made the people of Rome realize the shortcomings of their fighting methods. After some investigation and consideration, the dictator Camillus carried out a military reform on the Roman army.
He learned the tactics of the Celts. First, he changed the large phalanx formation of the Roman army, which was similar to that of Greece, into multiple small phalanxes (i.e., squadrons). Each legion had 50 squadrons, and they could attack separately. This gave the previously bloated and clumsy Roman legion more flexibility and mobility.
Secondly, he changed the principle of the allocation of soldiers in the legion. In the past, the military tradition was that the rich and well-equipped citizens were in the front row, and the poorer citizens were in the back row. Now, the formation was based on age and level of training. The first row was for the young, the second row was for the strong soldiers, and the third row was for the veterans with rich combat experience.
Thirdly, he improved the weapons of the soldiers for offense and defense. Iron helmets replaced leather helmets, leather shields replaced wooden shields, iron spearheads replaced bronze spearheads, and leather breastplates were mostly replaced by chainmail. Of course, Carthage's assistance played a big role in this. He allowed many poor soldiers to use the standard equipment distributed by the Senate, thus expanding the source of soldiers. Of course, they had to return the equipment after the war.
Fourthly, he emphasized the need to build a strong and comfortable camp when going out to fight.
Although the traditional military tactics of Rome had been implemented for hundreds of years, the people of Rome, who had been growing up in battles, soon began to implement this kind of military reform once they found that it was beneficial for them to fight. From adult citizens to children, almost all of them seized all the spare time to train, in order to familiarize themselves with the new equipment and tactics as soon as possible. And it had already begun to produce obvious results. Over the years, Rome had almost always maintained a complete victory in the battles against the surrounding forces.
Due to the attention paid by the Devers, the Ministry of Military Affairs of Diónia also learned about the current military system in Rome. They were surprised to find that the military reform of Rome was very similar to the military tactics of Diónia's heavy infantry. They all thought that the people of Rome must have secretly learned the tactics of Diónia. This time, one of the purposes of sending officials to the emissary delegation was to see the Roman army with their own eyes.
After passing the arena and heading north, the situation in the neighborhood changed again. Not only was the road really wide, but there was also less garbage. Even the houses had become more luxurious. Although there were still simple and crude houses mixed in, the arrangement of the houses was still somewhat disorderly, but the number of large houses with red bricks and white walls was clearly increasing, especially on the two not too tall hills not far from the north and south sides of the road, there were even more of such houses.
An official of the emissary delegation from the Ministry of Household Registration of Diónia pretended to be curious and asked, "Is this the rich district?"
Minusius understood what he meant. Before this, it was the slums with a bad environment and a good environment, but now it was the rich district with a good environment and good houses. Was the gap between the poor and the rich in Rome so obvious?!
He replied wittily, "Every city has its poor and rich, and conflicts between the poor and the rich are inevitable. This is inevitable, and it is the same for Rome. But the difference is that the people of Rome may quarrel with each other, but once the Citizens' Assembly passes a resolution, we will work together to complete it … "
At this point, he looked at the hills on both sides of the road and said with a serious expression, "Not all the people living on these two hills are rich, but most of them are the earliest founders of Rome and the early citizen clans. They have contributed more to the city, and now, they are also a group of people who are willing to sacrifice more for the city!"
Minusius pointed to the hill on the left and said, "This is Mount Partini. The founder of Rome, our first king, Romulus, lived on this hill from the beginning with his people. "
Then he pointed to the hill on the right and said, "This is Mount Sirio. Two hundred years ago, it was once the center of the Latin people, Alba Longa, was defeated by Rome. Its residents were not captured, but were invited to move to this hill and become citizens of Rome! "
Tapirus keenly sensed the pride in Minusius' words, so he asked subconsciously, "May I ask where you live?"
Minusius seemed to point to the Mount Partini on the left casually, but in fact, he did not tell the people of Diónia his full name: Minusius Cornelius Scipio. Cornelius was the name of a clan in Rome. This was the aristocracy of Rome, the aristocracy of the aristocracy, the aristocracy of the aristocracy.
Tapirus obviously felt this as well. This smiling young man who spoke fluent Greek and used elegant words inadvertently exuded the aura of an aristocrat.
In the Kingdom of Diónia, of course, there were some aristocrats who joined Diónia when it conquered neighboring city-states. Some even retained part of their land and wealth, and some even entered the Senate. However, under the strict control of the King of Devers and the Diolian law, they did not have much power. Moreover, the Kingdom basically treated nobles and commoners equally, old citizens and new citizens equally. Therefore, people like Tapirus who were born as slaves could also obtain wealth and power through their own efforts.
Comments