Before 1895 the streets [of New York City] were almost universally in a filthy state. In wet weather they were covered with slime, and in dry weather that air was filled with dust. Artificial sprinkling in summer converted the dust to mud…Rubbish of all kinds, garbage, and ashes lay neglected in the streets, and in the hot weather the city stank with the emanations of putrefying organic matter. It was not always possible to see the pavement, because of the dirt that covered it…[Now]…New York is…clean…Few realize [the changes]…For example, there is far less injury from dust to clothing, to furniture…children make free use as a playground of streets which were formally impossible to them. “Scratches” a skin disease of the horses to mud and slush...is now almost unknown…” NYC Commissioner George E. Waring, Jr. 1897, Quoted in Hoogenboom and Hoogenboom [ed.], The Gilded Age
Back at that time, because Rome was made in what is Italy, it was less of conquering and more of expanding their borders at that time.
Charles Dickens wrote novels about urban poor in the 1800s
Hope this helps!
