City+of+Rome

=Ancient Society - The City of Rome =

 - Assessment - Links - Walking Tour -

The City of Rome media type="youtube" key="hSELOCMmw4A" height="364" width="445" align="right"

 * All roads lead to Rome.
 * Rome wasn't built in a day.
 * When in Rome do as the Romans do.
 * The Eternal City.
 * Caput Mundi.


 * What is meant by each saying?

What have the Romans ever done for us?

- //from// **The Life of Brian**
 * Reg** All right, but apart from sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, freshwater system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
 * Xerxes** Brought peace?
 * Reg** What! Oh… (scornfully) Peace. Shut up!!

(And now for a bit of [|fun].)

Take an interactive tour of Rome at [|ItalyGuides.it].

Go to the [|Gooley Google Map of Rome].


 * Geographical features**

… on the banks of a copious and smooth-flowing river with a broad estuary on the sea… a site with a good supply of springs and healthy, though in an unhealthy district: for there are hills which themselves catch the breezes and also provide shade for the valleys. - **Cicero**, On the Republic

Not without reason did gods and men choose this spot for the site of a city – the salubrious hills, the river to bring us produce from inland regions and seaborne commerce from abroad, the sea itself, near enough for convenience yet not so near as to bring danger from foreign fleets, our situation in the very heart of Italy – all these advantages make it of all the places in the world the best for a city destined to grow great. - **Livy**, 5.54.4


 * What advantages of the site are described by Cicero?
 * What other advantages does Livy claim about the site of the city?
 * Livy states that Rome is well situated in the ‘very heart of Italy’. Why is this geographic position so important?


 * The Tiber River**

This cannot have been the result of mere accident. The Tiber was the natural highway for the traffic of Latium; and its mouth, on a coast scantily provided with harbours, became necessarily the anchorage of seafarers. Moreover, the Tiber formed from very ancient times the frontier defence of the Latin stock against their northern neighbours. There was no place better fitted for an emporium of the Latin river and sea traffic, and for a maritime frontier fortress of Latium, than Rome. It combined the advantages of a strong position and of immediate vicinity to the river; it commanded both banks of the stream down to its mouth; it was so situated as to be equally convenient for the river navigator descending the Tiber or the Arno, and for the seafarer with vessels of so moderate a size as those which were then used; and it afforded greater protection from pirates than places situated immediately on the coast. - **T. Mommsen**, //The History of Rome//, Book 1, Chapter 1


 * What does Mommsen see as the strategic advantages of the site of Rome?
 * Mommsen mentions ‘northern neighbours’. Who were these northern neighbours?
 * The word ‘emporium’ means a place of trade or a commercial centre. What does this suggest about the site and the role of the Tiber?
 * Why was the site so suited for commerce?
 * Were there any disadvantages?
 * The Seven Hills of Rome**

According to tradition, the site of Rome was established on seven hills which, in ancient times, were steep and distinct hills (not mountains), with valleys between and streams flowing down into the Tiber. Archaeologists have found evidence of settlements on some of the hills, and suggest that they were fortified, indicating that the early inhabitants fought against each other.

The hills are:
 * Capitoline
 * Palatine
 * Aventine
 * Caelian
 * Esquiline
 * Viminal
 * Qurinal

Many of these hills featured important buildings and played a role in Rome’s development. For example, the Palatine Hill is associated with Rome’s mythical founder, Romulus and is where the later emperors built their palaces; the Aventine is associated with Romulus’ brother, Remus, and is where the less wealthy citizens lived; the Capitoline is the steepest of the hills and was the fortified stronghold of the city. Later it became the religious centre of the city with the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus built upon it.