Chapter 665: Rome: The City of Seven Hills (II)
Chapter 665: Rome: The City of Seven Hills (II)
But it appears the Roman populace had already become used to living in such conditions. And the busy pedestrians crowding such a narrow street had a somewhat calm expression on their faces, neither disgusted by the city’s poor condition nor worried by the two wars Rome was fighting, a state of mind somewhat similar to that of the Thurians in the kingdom of Theonia.
Minucius then led them to a street, widening their sight, allowing them to see a modest hill, densely dotted with houses, lying in front of them. There are also many Romans wearing common clothes coming and going the hill with solemn expressions on their faces.
“That’s Collis Aventinus, one of the seven hills within the city of Rome.” seeing Tapirus’ intense gaze, Minucius hurriedly gave a run down, “It’s been passed that Remus, Romulus’ brother, one of the two founders of our Rome, used to live on this hill with his tribe. And now there is a Temple of Diana, the goddess of the hunt and protector of the herdsmen among us Latins, in the middle of the hill that one of our previous kings, King Servius, built. King Servius also ruled that as long as you worshipped the goddess, you could come here to pay your respect whether you were a Roman or not. So if it weren’t for the ongoing war, you would have seen Latin tribesmen around Rome coming here every day to pay their respect, turning Collis Aventinus lively and noisy…”
When Minucius said that, his expression showed pride in having Rome as the centre of Latin people.
Tapirus nodded politely but said nothing.
The group then continued along the road and turned north.
Ahead was a fairly spacious street, but on the side of the road were filled with Romans and stalls. Although the various hawking and bargaining annoyed Tapirus and the others, it still surprised them to see the strong sense of vitality that pervaded the city, even during a war.
“Is that the arena?” A member of the envoy suddenly asked while pointing to the front left.
Through the gap between the crowd, they could see a huge circular building standing in front of the envoys. But the building’s shape was familiar to the envoy.
“That is indeed our, Rome’s great colosseum!” Minucius exclaimed, “Besides holding sporting competitions, we also have the most popular gladiator tournament that the people receive warmly!…”
Hearing that, a hint of disgust showed on Tapirus’ face. Tapirus learned in advance from the library of Thurii about the gladiator tournament that Minucius said. The gladiator tournament was to let Rome’s prisoners of war or slaves hold weapons and fight a bloody battle in the colosseum, exchanging their blood and screams for the amusement of the Romans watching the game…
And Tapirus, who was born as a slave, believed that this wasn’t a tournament but a bloody game filled with barbarism and primitiveness!
While they passed by the colosseum, the envoys could hear the shouting from the inside.
One of the envoys feigned curiosity and asked, “Is there a gladiator match taking place?”
Minucius shook his head and deliberately said, “A military training for underage Roman citizens is taking place inside. While most of the young and strong Roman citizens are now away on a campaign, we can still call on the Roman citizens from the many surrounding colonies to come to the rescue in the event of an enemy attack, so we aren’t worried about the city’s safety. Still, having the children get used to holding shields and weapons from a young age would enable them to face the enemy bravely once they grow up. Moreover, they would also need to be familiar with Roman formations and tactics from a young age so that when the city-state needed them in battle, they could quickly integrate into the army… Hence we Romans don’t fear any powerful enemy!”
Hearing that, Tapirus became shocked as their belief was similar to Theonia’s approach in having the children undergo military training from an early age.
He then met eyes with one of his attendants, an official sent by the Ministry of Military, who should have felt a greater surprise.
But what the Theonian envoys didn’t know: Although it was Rome’s tradition to have children receive military training, it had only been a decade since they let them practice Roman fighting methods and tactics.
After suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the Gauls on the banks of the Allia river, the Romans realise the ineffectiveness of their battle tactics. Thus after some research and pondering, the dictator Camillus carried out military reforms.
He copied the Celts’ tactics by first changing the previously large Greek-like phalanx formation of the Roman army into multiple small phalanxes (platoons). With 50 platoons in a legion, it would allow them to carry out separate assaults and give the previously bloated and crude Roman legions more flexibility and manoeuvrability.
Second, he changes the soldiers’ arrangement in the legion. Previously, the military placed the wealthy and well-equipped citizens in the front and the poorer ones in the rear columns. But now, they are arranged according to age and level of training. The first row was for young men, the second for soldiers in their prime, and the third was reserved for battle-hardened veterans.
Third, they improve the gears used by the soldiers for attack and defence. They replace leather helmets with iron helmets, wooden shields with long leather shields, bronze spearheads with iron spearheads, and leather armour with chainmail… Of course, Carthaginian support played a large part in this, allowing many poor soldiers to use the standard equipment by the Senate and thus expanding the pool of soldiers. Naturally, they had to return those after the war.
Fourth, they began emphasising building solid and comfortable camps when they were out fighting…
Although they had been practising traditional Roman tactics for hundred years, the Romans, who had grown up while fighting, soon began implementing this military reform once they found its benefits. From adult citizens to children, almost all of them were grasping all their spare time to train and get familiar with the new equipment and tactics as soon as possible. And it had already begun producing noticeable results as Rome almost maintained a complete victory in their fight against surrounding forces over the years.
Due to how much Davos paid attention to them, the Ministry of Military of Theonia also knew about Rome’s current military system, which surprised them as Roman’s military reforms were quite similar to the military tactics of Theonia’s heavy infantry. Thus they all believe that the Romans must have secretly copied Theonia’s tactics. And therefore, one of the purposes of the envoys this time was to check on the Roman army.
After passing through the arena and heading further north, the neighbourhood changes again, with wider roads, less garbage and even the houses have become more luxurious. Although there are still crude houses mixed in and their arrangement is still somewhat disorganised, there is a noticeable increase in the number of large, red-brick and white-walled houses, especially on the two modest but seemingly large hills not far north.
So a member of the envoy from the Theonia’s Census Department asked while feigning curiosity, “Is this area for the wealthy?”
Minucius understood the meaning of his words: The previous place was filled with garbage and a terrible environment, but now it was an area with a good environment and houses. ‘Is the gap between the poor and rich so obvious?’
Minucius replied wittily, “Every city-state has poor and rich citizens, and there will always be a conflict between them. That is also the same in Rome. But the difference is that even though the Romans would quarrel, they would work together when the citizen assembly passed a resolution and complete it.”
After speaking that, he looked to the hills on either side of the road and said thoughtfully, “Not all those who live on these two hills are wealthy. In fact, most of them are descendants of those who founded the city of Rome and the initial clans, who had contributed a lot to the city-sate and are also willing to sacrifice more for the city-sate!”
Minucius pointed to the hill on the left and said, “This is Mons Palatinus. It is where Romulus, the founder of the city of Rome and our first king, lived together with his tribe.”
He then pointed to the hill on the right and said, “This is Collis Caelius. After we defeated the centre of our Latin people – Alba Longa two hundred years ago, we invited its citizens to move to this hill and become Roman citizens instead of turning them into prisoners!”
Tapirus keenly felt the pride in Minucius when he spoke those, which made him subconsciously ask, “Where do you live?”
Minucius then casually pointed to Mons Palatinus on the left. In fact, he didn’t tell his full name to the Theonians, which is Minucius Cornelius Scipio. Cornelius is the name of the Roman family, the noble among the Roman nobles and the wealthy among the wealthy.
Still, Tapirus could sense something because this smiling young man spoke fluent Greek, and his elegant words inadvertently exuded a noble atmosphere.
There were, of course, some nobles within the kingdom of Theonia. They were from the neighbouring city-states that Theonia conquered, with some retaining some of their lands and wealth, and they even managed to join the Senate. However, under the strict control of king Davos and the laws of Theonia, they had little authority. Moreover, with the kingdom treating nobles and commoners, old and new citizens alike, people like Tapirus, who were once slaves, could gain wealth and power through their efforts.
It was also because of the short time since the founding of the kingdom of Theonia and the fairness Davos vigorously promoted that Tapirus could hardly feel the class difference. But now, he could feel it when entering a foreign city-state, making him feel uncomfortable that he no longer wished to talk to this young man.