Romania is “the gate of the East”: a Latin country at the eastern edge of Europe, the last European country before the lands that face east, and a normal stop on the railway route there.
| Type | Place |
| Spanish entry | Rumania |
Description
Some travelers came from Romania to Paris months earlier; the railway there is the usual route: “from there one goes to Romania, which is where the trains always used to pass.”
Three layers define it:
- Roman. Soldiers who “colonized the country and thought of Rome” left a language and a belonging: “a Latin world, unlike other languages”.
- Geographic. It borders “the Slavic countries” and Russia. It belongs, with Trieste and the circle of Serbia, to one strategic zone.
- Political. Its independence is recent. It is one of the few that “can deal directly with the Russians”, negotiating with Russia as an equal.
Its weight lies in its position: it marks the limit of Europe, where the Latin world meets the Slavic and Russian; whoever controls it controls the passage east and the direct channel to Russia.
Conflicting accounts
- “The king of Romania is now called Carol”: a king appointed in the present of this account.
- “There is no king or queen in Romania; it is more a world trying to go republican.”
Open questions
- Its capital, cities, rivers, borders and appearance are not recorded.
- The date of independence and against whom it was won (seemingly the Russians) are not stated.
- Which lands lie beyond the gate of the East is unknown.
- The trains’ route and cargo, and Romania’s population, economy and currency, are unknown.