"None left their meetings long enough to have reached Rome on a code circuit."
The election was held before he reached Rome, and he won.
In fact, sometimes none of the water reached Rome.
News of his death reached Rome two days later.
If all went well, they would reach Rome just over a hundred days before the consular elections.
These people seemed, indeed, to think that their one chance of reaching Rome lay in keeping close to him.
Before they reached Rome this young man was tacitly of their party.
But he had scarcely reached Rome when his health began to fail.
Nicholas died before news of this action reached Rome.
Which neither you nor I can know until word reaches Rome.