Chapter 109: A Trip to Rome
Arsinoe had never left Egypt in her entire life.
No, not only Egypt, but she had barely ever ventured outside of Alexandria.
She had only visited Memphis and Thebes, the ancient capitals of Egypt, once or twice.
But she did not feel any discomfort.
Even though those cities had the glory of the past, they seemed like nothing compared to Alexandria.
The only thing worth seeing in Memphis and Thebes were the pyramids that lined up densely.
But even those magnificent pyramids had been long plundered by grave robbers.
The servants who had traveled to other countries as envoys all said that there was no city like Alexandria.
Arsinoe accepted that as the truth.
To her, Egypt was the whole world, and Alexandria was the center of it.
Her childish belief was shaken for the first time after she met Marcus.
He showed her things that she had never seen before in Egypt and told her stories that she could not imagine.
She felt a desire to travel to other countries and experience them for herself.
She wanted to see and feel the place where Marcus was born and raised.
That’s why Arsinoe could easily choose to go to Rome without hesitation.
Of course, she also had a part of her mind that did not want to leave Cleopatra alone with Marcus.
With such a clear motive, she could endure the long voyage.
But when she arrived at Ostia port for the first time, her feeling was close to disappointment.
It was supposed to be the greatest city in the world, but it looked so barren that she wondered what it was.
Marcus, who seemed to read Arsinoe’s mind, told her that Rome was a bit further inland.
This fact was also shocking to Arsinoe, who was born in Alexandria.
She had a kind of prejudice that a world-class city should be by the sea.
The foreign country that she stepped on for the first time in her life was completely different from the world she had seen so far.
Arsinoe got on the carriage prepared by the Crassus family with excitement.
Marcus rode on another carriage with his wife Julia.
Arsinoe and Cleopatra shared a carriage with a woman named Danae.
She introduced herself as a servant who served Marcus closely.
She said that she would take care of them while they stayed in Rome.
When Arsinoe asked if she was a slave of Marcus, she said that she was now a freed slave.
‘Is she something like a concubine?’
Danae’s beauty made Arsinoe think so.
It was natural that powerful men would have many beautiful women around them.
Arsinoe, who was a royal, did not find that strange or wrong at all.
But Julia and Danae were both so beautiful that they were rarely seen even in Egypt.
They were not inferior to Berenice at all.
And unlike Berenice, Julia and Danae did not look innocent in their eyes.
‘You tried to seduce and conquer a man who lived with these women all his life? How ridiculous you must have looked…’
Arsinoe secretly felt pity for Berenice, who was riding on another carriage behind them.
Cleopatra seemed to have a similar impression as well.
‘By the way, Rome’s carriages are hardly shaky. Is it because of the good roads? No, the roads don’t look much different from Alexandria.’
She looked around the inside of the carriage, but she could not find out why it was so smooth.
Arsinoe poked Cleopatra’s side softly and whispered to her.
“Don’t you think Rome’s carriages are much more comfortable than ours? Or am I imagining things?”
“I was thinking the same thing. It’s honestly shocking how much difference there is. How can this be possible?”
“Who said that Alexandria’s technology was the best in the world? When we go back, we should punish him for lying.”
They thought that there might be some things that Rome, the current strongest country in the world, was better than Alexandria at.
But they did not expect to feel such a stark difference in their bodies as soon as they arrived in Rome.
There is a saying that first impressions last a lifetime.
That’s how important it is to receive an impression when you encounter something for the first time.
Arsinoe received a considerable shock from the carriage that she rode on as soon as she came to Rome.
She liked it so much that she wanted to take it back with her when she returned to Alexandria.
At the same time, she felt that Rome might have more advanced technology than she expected.
Danae, who was listening to the conversation of the two princesses from across, smiled slyly and opened her mouth.
“When Marcus first made this carriage, everyone else had a similar reaction. It’s surprisingly less shaky, right?”
“He made this carriage?”
“Yes. The shock-absorbing technology used in this carriage was all invented by Marcus. And he improved it several times, making it completely different from the previous carriages. Now, almost all of the upper class in Rome use the carriages made by him. It’s not an exaggeration to say that.”
“If he improved it several times, how long ago did he make this carriage?”
“Um…let me see, when was that? It was such a long time ago that I can barely remember. I think it’s been more than 15 years. It was around the time when Marcus was only one or two years older than Princess Cleopatra.”
Arsinoe and Cleopatra’s expressions turned incredulous at the same time.
Danae tilted her head at the two princesses’ faces that were full of disbelief.
“You two don’t know Marcus well, do you? Then you’ll be surprised a lot from now on.”
The scenery around them slowly passed by Arsinoe’s eyes.
Soon, Danae’s meaningful voice settled in her ears.
“It’s harder to find something in this Rome that his hand hasn’t touched.”
※※※※
Arsinoe and Cleopatra decided to stay in a villa of the Crassus family while they were in Rome.
Berenice also received a decent treatment that suited her status, even though she was under surveillance.
Everyone in the family took care of the princesses from Egypt with sincerity and kindness.
Arsinoe could not understand the culture of Rome, which was completely different from Egypt, for the first few days.
The most representative example was Marcus’s woman problem.
She naturally thought that Julia was Marcus’s wife and Danae was his concubine.
It was common for the powerful men in Egypt to have multiple women with them.
She expected that Marcus, who was one of the most influential men in Rome, would have at least three or four concubines, and she thought that was normal.
But she heard the shocking fact that Rome did not allow polygamy or concubinage.
When she first heard this, Arsinoe felt like she had been hit on the head.
Then what was Danae?
She wondered, but she heard that her case was a bit different.
Surely, Danae did not look like a simple servant to Arsinoe.
She was too close to Marcus.
Sometimes she would openly show affection to him.
But Julia, his wife, did not seem to care much.
No, rather than not caring, she looked very relaxed and confident.
In fact, Julia treated the three princesses from Egypt with consistent gentleness and kindness.
It was not fake or pretentious.
The more Arsinoe and Cleopatra talked to her, the more they were charmed by her personality and insight.
She had a speech that made the person she was talking to feel comfortable, a deep and vast knowledge, and a remarkable insight that made them admire her.
Arsinoe saw Cleopatra being outmatched by another woman for the first time in her life.
Even though there was an age difference, it was an amazing sight that she had never seen before.
Sometimes when she talked to her, she felt like she was talking to Marcus himself.
She understood why Marcus chose her as his wife.
“Julia is from a family that opposes Marcus’s faction, right? Was there any problem or trouble because of that?”
“It’s not uncommon for families with different political views to marry each other in Rome. Rather than merging their families through marriage, it’s more like creating a buffer zone between them.”
“Oh, I see. That makes sense.”
The way of thinking and customs of the people in Rome, which were so different from Egypt, became more familiar as time passed.
At the same time, they were able to grasp the current political situation in Rome in detail.
Before coming to Rome, all Arsinoe knew about Romans were Marcus and Pompey.
Caesar was just starting to gain fame in the north, so his reputation had not reached Egypt yet.
But when they came to Rome directly, they saw a completely different atmosphere from what they heard in Egypt.
Caesar’s popularity was soaring with the constant victories from Gaul.
Arsinoe and Cleopatra learned for the first time that Rome was conducting such a large-scale war.
They also heard rumors that Rome could send a huge expeditionary force to the east as well.
They realized how powerful Rome was as a nation.
‘Egypt could be punished by Rome anytime if they wanted to.’
It was a huge difference between knowing something by word of mouth in Egypt and seeing and hearing it in person in Rome.
Everything in Rome was new and amazing to Arsinoe.
The political system of republicanism, the consciousness and values of the Roman citizens, the cityscape that seemed to mix and match all the cultures and technologies of the world.
They were all things that she had never encountered before in her life.
It felt like she was learning the world again.
The most surprising thing among them was Marcus’s existence.
Arsinoe and Cleopatra realized that they had not seen Marcus Licinius Crassus properly.
When they first came to Rome, they thought that Danae’s words were a kind of exaggerated metaphor.
But she was not lying or exaggerating at all.
The two princesses could see Marcus’s shadow everywhere they went in Rome.
“Now that I think about it, the streets of Rome are much cleaner than Alexandria, aren’t they?”
One day, as Arsinoe was riding a carriage and touring the city, she voiced the impression that came to her mind.
The streets of Rome were so neat that they did not give the impression of being inhabited by more than a million people.
That did not change even when they went to the Subura district, where the commoners of Rome lived.
Alexandria was not properly cleaned except for some areas where the wealthy lived.
Of course, that was also the case for Rome before Marcus took office as aedile.
But now, Rome had become a completely different city.
Arsinoe’s trivial question was answered right away.
Everyone who passed by the streets, even those who drove carriages, knew the reason.
“There are people who clean and maintain the roads regularly. Marcus improved almost all of the public facilities and management systems when he served as aedile. Now, he emphasizes hygiene and cleanliness more than anything else.”
“Come to think of it, he did stress a lot about washing our bodies clean.”
In Rome now, it was almost mandatory to wash your hands with soap before eating.
In the Crassus family, it became a habit to wash your hands with soap every time they went out and came back.
Arsinoe, who was awkward at first, got used to it at some point.
“Just by keeping your hands and surroundings clean, the rate of getting sick has decreased by almost one-tenth.”
“Re, really? Just by doing that, people don’t get sick easily?”
“Yes. And the one who discovered this was Marcus. That’s why the Romans honor his achievements by invoking the name of Tethys, the goddess who oversees clean water. He is a hero who saved countless lives of Romans.”
“Amazing. How did he find out such a thing?”
As she heard more and more praises about Marcus’s achievements, Arsinoe sometimes wondered if the Romans were trying to deceive her.
Even Cleopatra tried to verify it herself, saying that she would really check it out.
Of course, no matter where they went and asked, the answers were always the same.
Arsinoe, who was curious, asked Danae to explain Marcus’s achievements in detail.
Danae gladly told her about the things that were known to the public, not just by words but by showing actual examples.
“This is Rome’s public bathhouse.”
“Wow, it’s similar to the bathhouse in Alexandria, but there are many different parts.”
There was a large Macedonian-style bathhouse attached to the palace in Alexandria.
There were also popular bathhouses that ordinary people could use widely.
But they were not as good and clean as this one.
“It used to be pretty dirty here too. The bathing culture was not that great either. Marcus spent a lot of effort on improving this.”
“So this is also Marcus’s work.”
“Actually, the incidence of skin diseases among the citizens who use the bathhouse has decreased significantly and satisfaction has increased as well.”
Danae asked some citizens who were enjoying the bath how it was different from before.
The citizens laughed as if they were asking something obvious and said:
“What’s different? There are too many things to count. At first I wondered why he did such an inconvenient thing, but now I understand everything. What? How would it be like if we went back to before? It’s ridiculous to wash our bodies in that dirty water again. I guarantee you that there is not a single Roman who can adapt if we go back to before. We should have done this sooner.”
“Yes, Marcus’s existence is truly a blessing from Tethys.”
“Long live Marcus! May God bless the apostle of Tethys!”
No matter where they went, they heard praises for Marcus.
It did not change even at the gladiator arena, which they watched for the first time in their lives.
They thought that the gladiator arena was a barbaric place where only blood and violence prevailed.
But when they actually saw it, it was not just a simple fight but had a lot of fun elements.
They could see why it was the most popular event among Romans.
“The gladiator games were not like this either. Marcus renovated it extensively. It’s been more than 15 years since then.”
“Sigh…I don’t know what to say anymore.”
Arsinoe felt a strange sense of disconnection from reality.
She was able to maintain her calmness even when she saw the huge building site that was being built in Rome.
“Is this also being built under Marcus’s initiative?”
“Yes. Apparently, the existing amphitheater could not accommodate the demand of the citizens. Thanks to the accumulated profits and the massive income from Gaul, they started the construction recently. They say it will be built to accommodate more than 50,000 people.”
It was just at the beginning stage, but they could guess the size of the completed building by looking at the construction site.
The surprise did not end there.
Various clientes visited the Crassus family’s mansion every day.
Among them were farmers who benefited from Marcus’s farming method.
They were grateful for the increased production and praised Marcus’s name every day.
Cleopatra asked with a look that said there was nothing more to be surprised about.
“Did Marcus invent a farming method too?”
“Yes. It’s not applicable to all regions, but the effect is amazing. According to the farmers, the production has almost doubled. It’s no wonder they are so happy.”
“The farmers must be very supportive of you.”
“Well, there are people who invoke the name of the goddess of the earth.”
The Egyptian royal family, who considered themselves the bloodline of the gods, accepted Danae’s words very naturally.
Arsinoe and Cleopatra were sure that Marcus was also a descendant of the gods.
How could he achieve such feats without receiving the wisdom of the gods?
They shrugged off the fact that he had caused a financial upheaval in Rome with his banking business.
The two princesses, who had come from abroad, or perhaps because they had come from abroad, could easily see how much influence Marcus had in Rome.
Politics, society, culture, economy – there was no area that was not affected by Marcus’s influence.
Especially Cleopatra, who actively interacted with the Roman nobility, recognized this point more clearly.
As far as she knew, Marcus was definitely a leader of the aristocratic faction.
Naturally, all the aristocrats praised Marcus and were impatient to do so.
She had heard his name even in Egypt, from Cicero to Cato, who had a bad reputation for the annexation of Cyprus.
According to them, Marcus was a talent who could rebuild the values of the collapsed republic and restore the golden age of the senate.
He seemed to be someone who would represent the interests of the aristocratic faction more than anyone else.
But strangely enough, there was no bad talk about Marcus from the populist faction, which was opposed to the aristocratic faction.
Pompey, who was regarded as the king of Rome, openly showed his affinity for Marcus and surprised Cleopatra.
The influential figures from the populist faction were not much different.
“Marcus? He is different from other aristocrats. He upholds the values of the nobility while also working to improve the lives of the people. If all the aristocrats were like him, there would have been no need for a populist faction in the first place.”
The old senators praised Marcus as a hope, and the young ones did not hide their admiration for him.
He did not rise to power like Pompey, who was loud and conspicuous, so there were hardly any people who felt resentment towards him.
He had gradually expanded his influence without anyone noticing.
Like not knowing that one’s underwear is wet from drizzle, the Roman nobles did not realize that they had unwittingly entered under Marcus’s influence.
It was a strange situation that could not be expressed in words from a third party’s perspective.
Someone who had more influence than anyone else, possessed the greatest wealth, and held immense power in his hands.
People who were born and raised in a monarchy knew what to call such a being.
It was a word that was close to taboo in Rome and should never be uttered out loud.
‘But if this is not a king, then what is it?’
But no matter what anyone said, Marcus was the closest thing to a king of Rome in the eyes of the princesses.
The Roman nobles might have thought differently, but at least Arsinoe and Cleopatra saw him that way.
They might have felt this way because they still lacked understanding of Roman culture.
But there was one thing that was certain.
Egypt and Alexandria were nothing but wells.
The world they had lived in until now was nothing but a narrow well.
Arsinoe did not even realize that she was living in a well before she met Marcus.
She thought that the small sky she saw above her head was everything in this world.
It was an advice that anyone would hear at least once in their life to broaden their horizons.
Birds can see farther as they fly higher.
Arsinoe realized that she had not even been able to flap her wings properly.
She just flew around in the well and wandered over the rotting water.
Then she saw the world outside the well for the first time.
She recognized the wide world that stretched out endlessly as she rose to the sky.
The ruler of that world was Marcus.
The living god was not her father or sister who only sounded plausible.
She finally met the true god she wanted to devote herself to.
The new world called Rome, and Marcus, the owner of that world, expanded her narrow sky endlessly.
< 109. A Tour of Rome > End
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