Rome is
in the region of Lazio in center of Italy on the Tiber River. The original
settlement developed on hills that faced onto a ford beside the Tiber Island,
the only natural ford of the river in this area. The Rome of the Kings was built on seven hills:
the Aventine Hill, the Caelian Hill, the Capitoline Hill, the Esquiline Hill,
The Palatine Hill, the Quirinal Hill, and the Viminal Hill. Modern Rome is also
crossed by another river, the Aniene, which flows into the Tiber north of the
historic center
Rome is a
very special City in Italy. It is the capital of Italy also the center of
Province of Rome. Rome is the most
populated and the most large city in Italy and fourth populated in European
Union. Rome is one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in Europe. It is
referred to as the Eternal Cit a central notion in ancient Roman culture. In
the ancient world it was successively the capital the capital of the Roman
Kingdom, the Roman republic and Roman Empire and is regarded as one of the
birthplaces of Western Civilization. Since the 1st century AD, Rome
has been the seat of Papacy and in the 8th century it became the
capital of Papal States, which lasted until 1870. In 1871 Rome became the
capital of the Kingdom of Italy and in 1946of the Italian Republic.
After the
Middle Ages almost all popes since Nicholas V pursued coherently along four
hundred years an architectonic an urban program aimed to make the city the
world’s cultural and artistic center. Due to that Rome became first one of the
major centers of the Italian Renaissance along with Florence and then the
birthplace of Baroque style.
Rome has
the status of the global city in 2011,
Rome was the 18th most visited city in the world, 3rd
most visited in the European Union and the most popular tourist attraction in
Italy. Its historic center is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Monuments and museums and the Coliseum are among the world’s most visited
tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year.
There is
archaeological evidence of human occupation of the from approximately 14,000years ago.
Traditional
stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest
history of their city in terms of legend and myth. The most famous legend is
the story of Romulus and Remus, the twins who were suckled by a she – wolf.
They decided to build a city, but after
an argument, Romulus killed his brother. According to the roman analists this
happened on 21 April 753 BC.
After the
legendary foundation by Romulus, Rome was ruled
for a period of 244 years by a monarchical system. Initially with
sovereigns of latin and Sabine origin, later by Etruscan kings. The tradition
handed down seven kings: Romulus, Numa pompilius, Tullus Hostilius,Ancus
Marcius, Tarquinis Priscus, Servius tullius and Tarquin the Proud.
In 509 BC
the roman expelled from the city the last king and established an oligarchic
republic. Since then for rome began a period characterized by internal struggles between
patricians and plebeians and by constant warfare against the populations of central Italy.
The third
and second century BC saw the establishment of the Roman hegemony over the
Mediterranean and the East through the three Punic Wars (264 – 146 BC) fought
against the city of Carthage and the three Macedonian Wars (212 – 168 BC)
against Macedonia. Then were established the first Roman provinces Sicily,
Sardinia and Corsica, Spain, Macedonia, Greece and Africa.
From the
beginning of the 2nd century BC, the power was contended between two groups
of aristocrats: the optimates representing the conservative part of the Senate
and the popular which relied on the help of the urban populace to gain the
power. The continuous warfare made necessary a professional army, which was
more loyal to its chiefs then to the republic. Due to that in the second half
of the second century an during the first century BC saw fights abroad and at
home, after the failed attempt of social reform of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus
and the war against Jugurtha. There was the first Civil War between Gaius Marius
and Sulla. To this followed the revolt under Spartacus and the establishment of
first Triumvirate with Cesar, Pompey and Crassus. The conquest of Gaul let rise the star of Caesar, who
fought a Second Civil War against the Senate and Pompey and after his victory
established a lifelong dictatorship. His assassination led to Second Triumvirate
among Octavian. Mark Antony and Lepidus, and to another Civil War between
Octavian and Marc Antony. The former in 27 BC became Priceps Civitatis and got the title of Augusts.
He de
facto established the empire, which reached its greatest expansion in the
second century under the Emperor Trajan. Rome was confirmed as the capital of
the world.
In the
third century at the end of Antonine Dynasty with the Severan Dynasty the principatus was substituted by a military
government, which soon followed by a period of military anarchy
After the
fall of Western Roman Empire in 476 A, Rome was first under the control of
Odoacer and then became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom before returning to
East Roman control after the Gothic War,
which devastated the city. After the Lombard invasion of Italy, the city
remained nominally Byzantine, but in reality the popes pursued a policy of
equilibrium between the Byzantines, the Franks and the Lombards.
Rome became one of the greatest
centers of art in the world.