Rome, to put it mildly, was a chaotic, filthy mess.
Ever since King Romulus founded the city, the Romans had simply built wherever immediate necessity demanded, pushing the city outward without any coherent plan.
Unlike Greek colonists, who often founded new cities on carefully planned grids, Rome was a chaotic maze of narrow alleys and wastefully used space.
But that wasn't even the biggest problem. The true crisis was the sheer lack of housing compared to the exploding population.
Nearly a million people resided in Rome, yet the physical space to accommodate them was woefully inadequate.
It wasn't just housing; Rome was packed with workshops, smithies, shops, markets, and an endless array of public buildings, including massive temples.
Faced with this spatial nightmare, Rome's real estate developers found only one solution.
"Faster, faster! We have to add another floor before the day is out!"
Their answer was to build upward rather than outward: the insula.
These multi-story apartment blocks could cram dozens, even hundreds, of tenants onto a tiny plot of land.
"If we can just squeeze in one more floor, the rental income will be much higher."
"But if we build any higher, the load-bearing pillars will snap."
"It's not like this building needs to last decades anyway. If it collapses in a few years, we will put up another one."
Rome's developers used the cheapest materials to build as high as physically possible.
Even if a building collapsed, killing or maiming the tenants, paying out only a pittance in compensation and erecting a new structure was ultimately more profitable.
For the citizens of Rome, building collapses were a disturbingly common occurrence.
At the same time, to save even a fraction of a coin, tenants sublet unused rooms to others, and it wasn't unusual to find dozens of people packed onto a single floor.
There were even families living on the narrow landings of stairwells.
In such unsanitary conditions, the stench alone made breathing a struggle.
For the Romans, this had been their accepted, everyday reality for centuries.
But one man was now stepping forward to change it.
***
"You intend to build an entirely new city across the Tiber River?" Felix asked, almost choking on his wine. "The postal service has barely found its footing. Whatever do you mean by this?"
"If we do not begin now, while my father is consul, the opportunity may never arise again."
"I think waiting until you become consul yourself would be perfectly fine, Young Master."
"That is decades away, at best."
I shrugged. Expanding Rome across the Tiber was not merely an urban development project.
It was a crucial step to stabilize Roman society, making it safer, more sanitary, and far more efficient.
"We cannot continue building factories, workshops, and smithies inside Rome as we do now. Not only is the land absurdly expensive, but the pollution and noise make life miserable for nearby residents."
Currently, Rome had no meaningful separation between residential, commercial, and industrial areas.
Everything was chaotically jumbled together. By developing the land across the Tiber, we could substantially reduce the housing shortage while creating clearly separate commercial and industrial districts.
"Redeveloping the current city of Rome is practically impossible. The land is simply too expensive, and the number of people we'd have to compensate is staggering."
"It is true that land across the Tiber is dirt cheap. Aside from a few dozen patrician villas, there is practically nothing there," Felix scratched his head.
He clearly wanted to object, but he could not seem to find a logical counterargument.
"However, the sheer scale of this project is unlike anything we have undertaken thus far. It is tantamount to founding an entirely new city from scratch."
"Which is exactly why we must do it now. Can you imagine how many jobs this project will create?"
"Is creating jobs one of your main goals too?" Felix asked, stroking his chin with a nod. "That is certainly a sound argument, though. It will generate tens of thousands of jobs over the next several years. And every single one of those workers will naturally become your loyal supporter."
"That's one thing. But there is a larger problem this project can solve: the silver."
"Problem with the silver?"
"The silver from Hispania, to be exact."
"Is there an issue with it?"
"More than one," I replied with a chuckle. In truth, there was nothing I needed to be more careful with right now than that very silver.
In the 16th century of original timeline, Spain acquired staggering amounts of silver and gold from its colonies in the Americas.
It was an enormous fortune, enough to fill entire fleets of galleons to the brim.
The Spanish monarchy and nobility became obscenely wealthy.
But was this influx of wealth only a good thing for Spain?
Absolutely not.
The Spanish Crown squandered that unimaginable fortune paying off debts to bankers, importing luxury goods, and constructing grandiose monuments.
The vast majority of the precious metals that flowed into Spain quickly flowed back out to other European nations.
This helped trigger a devastating wave of inflation across Europe. The prices of commodities skyrocketed, drastically devaluing the existing currency.
And right now, I was bringing vast quantities of silver into Rome, not from the Americas, but from that very same Hispania.
"If a massive influx of silver suddenly floods the market, each piece of silver will buy less and less. The supply of goods and labor stays the same, but the amount of silver chasing them multiplies. Ultimately, it will cost far more silver to buy the exact same loaf of bread, the same piece of timber, the same house," I explained. "If commodity prices increase like that, everyone except us will suffer catastrophic losses."
"But how does that connect to developing a new city?"
"The more broadly we distribute the money, the smaller the shock to the market will be. In fact, it will spur rapid economic growth instead," I said.
It was simple logic. If I hoarded and spent the silver solely on myself, everyone else would suffer the consequences of inflation.
But what if I invested it into regional infrastructure and hired tens of thousands of laborers?
"The citizens will have new money to spend, and new businesses and markets will emerge."
"So even if prices rise somewhat, everyone will have the means to afford it."
"Exactly. We need to distribute this wealth to the citizens. Just like what we're doing with allied cities."
The irony of it was almost laughable. In my past life, my biggest concern was scraping by until my next paycheck.
Now, I was in a position to shape the economy of Rome and Italy.
Just as blood must continuously circulate through the veins to sustain the body, wealth had to keep moving through the economy rather than sitting idle.
If the Roman economy collapsed, hoarding a mountain of silver would be utterly meaningless.
What Rome needed right now was a powerful, beating heart. And this new city project could keep that heart pumping vigorously for at least the next decade.
"But isn't the risk too great for us? We could fund countless other ventures with this capital."
"I suppose you could see it that way. But think of this as a long-term investment."
I stood from my seat and stretched. Urban development was the goose that laid the golden eggs.
"If we buy up the land for a pittance and build a thriving city on it, what do you suppose will happen to the value of that land?"
"Well..."
"We are going to flood the market with silver, Felix." I shot him a quick wink. "And then, by building a new city, we will absorb that very same silver right back."
After all, the purpose of a heart was to keep the blood moving.
***
The perfect man to spearhead the expansion of Rome was already in my employ. The greatest architect of the age, a man who had written extensively on buildings, cities, and engineering.
Vitruvius.
He was practically my own genie in a lamp. I only had to state my wish, and he would make it a reality.
Babu and Felix were talented in their own ways as well, but Vitruvius possessed a different kind of passion. An obsession with technology, architecture, and engineering.
Visiting his workshop only confirmed that impression.
"I had wondered why wagons were the largest expense in the postal service. Now I see why."
I stared at the numerous wagons filling the workshop. Wagons of varying sizes and designs were displayed like exhibits in a museum.
"Did you take inspiration from what Pompey showed at the Trojan Games?"
As I silently inspected the wagon before me, Vitruvius approached.
"Yes, sir. And I agonized for a long time over what design to use for the postal wagons. I ultimately modeled them after the war wagons."
"And thanks to that, the roads of Italy have become significantly safer."
Roman postmen fighting off bandits with crossbows and gladii.
Even if I wrote it as a novel, no one would believe it. Sometimes, reality truly was stranger than fiction.
But thanks to the war wagons Vitruvius built, the Italian roads had become much safer. There weren't many bandits foolish enough to pick a fight with heavily armed and armored postmen.
The postmen of this era would certainly go down in history as a force to be reckoned with.
"What brings you all the way here today, sir?" Vitruvius asked, taking a seat on the driver's bench of one of the wagons. "I doubt you came all this way just for a leisurely stroll."
"It is nothing particularly grand. I just have a favor to ask of you."
With that, I began my explanation. Founding an entirely new city on the empty land across the Tiber, right down to the buildings that would make up the city itself.
"I want to build a completely new type of insula. We will use an aqueduct to supply each floor with clean water, so every tenant can access it easily. At the same time, I want to install those flush toilets we discussed previously. That will, of course, require a proper plumbing and sewer system to carry away the waste. But above all else..."
After speaking for several uninterrupted minutes, I finally noticed that Vitruvius wasn't responding at all.
He was staring blankly into space, his eyes unfocused.
"Vitruvius?"
"Calculating the aqueduct's slope and water drop... placing the latrines based on the height of the insula..." he muttered in a faint whisper.
Was he lost in thought?
Even when I cleared my throat, he just kept muttering to himself. Finally, I snapped my fingers right in front of his face.
"Vitruvius!"
"Yes?!" he jolted, startled. "A-Ah, my apologies. I was deeply lost in a daydream just now."
"A daydream?"
"I must have imagined that you entrusted me with building an entirely new city." Vitruvius replied, still wearing a dazed expression. "I must have been overworking myself lately, imagining something so absurd."
"It wasn't a daydream."
"Pardon, sir?"
"I mean exactly that. We are building a new city. How long do you think it will take to begin the groundwork?"
Vitruvius stared at me intently for a long moment before muttering again.
"Please, give me a moment. I think I need to..."
He tried to stand up, but immediately stumbled.
I barely managed to catch him and called out for the other staff.
"Someone come over here!"
Hearing my shout, the workshop staff rushed over, staring in shock as they saw Vitruvius swaying unsteadily. Vitruvius was still muttering to himself, completely lost in thought.
"I-Is he alright? Why is he..."
"It seems exhaustion has finally caught up with him. Take him to the break room to rest for a bit. And fetch a doctor," I said, clearing my throat awkwardly.
If anyone else saw this, they would think I was abusing him.
Looking down at the still-muttering Vitruvius, I added, "When he regains his senses, please tell him that it wasn't a daydream."
"Pardon?"
"He'll know what it means." I chuckled.
It seemed it would take Vitruvius some time to accept that this was not a dream.
***
"Alright, let's draft the initial plan."
Felix addressed the employees of the Strategy Office. As with every new venture undertaken by Lucius Caesar, the project to build a new city began here.
The most critical first step was securing the land—purchasing the vast, undeveloped tracts across the Tiber.
"If we just march in waving bags of coins and start buying up land, the prices will shoot up at once." Felix warned. "We must ensure no one realizes what we are doing until the very last moment."
The basic strategy was straightforward. Hide the identity of the buyer and acquire as much land as possible without attracting attention. After all, they didn't need anyone's permission to purchase private property.
"Buy it as cheaply as possible. Keep that in mind, everyone."
"Yes, sir."
And so, Caesar's employees, concealing their connection to Caesar, sought out the landowners of the designated area. However, they soon discovered a rather startling fact.
"Someone else has been buying up those plots of land? Who is it?"
Someone was snatching up the land across the Tiber, remaining just one step ahead of them.
And the man orchestrating the purchases was someone they were all too familiar with.
"Crassus?" Felix muttered upon receiving the report. "Why on earth is Crassus buying land over there?"