Rome

HISTORY

According to legend, Rome was founded on April 21, 753 BC by twins Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a wolf.

Capitoline Wolf suckles the infant twins Romulus and Remus

Only with Julius Caesar in the first century BC, did the city of Rome began to grow significantly, especially toward the Campo Marzio, at the north of Capitoline Hill.

Rome was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy.

At its height in the 1st century AD, Ancient Rome had a population of one million people. This was a record in Europe until London matched it in the 19th century.

The Circus Maximus was arguably the largest structure in ancient Rome, with the capacity to seat 250,000 people according to Pliny (roughly a quarter of Rome's population at the time).

Picture of the Circus Maximus by By Carptrash 

Most of ancient Rome's inhabitants visited a public bathhouse daily. The city had close to 900, including one that could cater for 1,500 bathers at a time.

Rome was replaced as the capital of the Western Roman Empire, first by Mediolanum (now Milan) in 286 and then by Ravenna in 402.

The wearing of barbarian clothing in the city of Rome was banned by the Emperor Honorius on April 7, 397.

With the decline of the Roman Empire, the city of Rome declined in importance and fell into ruin.

Visigoths led by King Alaric. entered Rome on August 24, 410 plundering the city for three days. It was the first time in almost 800 years that Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy. The previous sack of Rome had been accomplished by the Gauls under their leader Brennus in the late fourth century BC. The sacking of 410 is seen as a major landmark in the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Alaric and the Visigoths

The sack of 455 was conducted by the Vandals under Geiseric, who were then at war with the usurping Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus.

The Sack Of Rome took place on December 17, 546, when the Ostrogoths successfully bribed some of the Byzantine garrison to open the Asinarian Gate, allowing them to enter the city. During the sack, Rome suffered considerable damage, and many historical and artistic treasures were lost or destroyed.

After the deposition of the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, in 476, the papacy became the real ruler of Rome.

In 756, Pepin the Short, after having defeated the Lombards, gave to the Pope temporal jurisdiction over the Roman Duchy and the Exarchate of Ravenna, thus creating the Papal States. Rome became the capital of the Papal States, a position it retained until the nineteenth century.

Pope Clement III recognized Rome as a republic with the right to declare war and appoint senators in 1188. He agreed to devote some of the papal income to maintaining buildings and paying officials. In exchange the senators agree to swear loyalty to the pope and acknowledge his temporal powers.

Beginning with the Renaissance, almost all the popes since Nicholas V (1447–55) pursued over four hundred years an architectural and urban program aimed at making Rome the artistic and cultural center of the world.

Ponte Sisto on the Tiber — an example of Italian Renaissance architecture

The Sack of Rome was carried out by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor during the War of the League of Cognac May 6, 1527. Largely Protestant German and Swiss troops, mutinying over unpaid wages, entered the city of Rome and sacked it in a manner reminiscent of the barbarian pillages committed 1,100 years earlier. Many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.

An entrance into the catacombs north of Rome, on the Via Salaria, was accidentally discovered on May 31, 1578. The catacombs are underground burial sites that were used by early Christians as a place of worship and burial during the Roman Empire. They contain numerous tombs, galleries, and intricate frescoes that provide insights into early Christian art and culture. At the time of the discovery, the significance and importance of the find were not recognized. Over time, the catacombs have become recognized as valuable historical and archaeological sites, shedding light on the early days of Christianity and Roman civilization.

The Trevi Fountain was officially opened and inaugurated on May 22, 1762 by Pope Clement XIII. It is the largest Baroque fountain in Rome and one of the most famous in the world. An estimated 3,000 euros are thrown into the “Fontana di Trevi” each day.

By 1861, much of the Papal States' territory had been conquered by the Kingdom of Italy. Only Lazio, including Rome, remained under the Pope's temporal control. On September 20, 1870, Garibaldi's army, which had the task of uniting all of Italy under the crown of Savoy, entered the city of Rome through a breach opened in the walls at Porta. The pope acknowledged defeat and retired into the Vatican.

Italian soldiers enter Rome on 20 September 1870

In 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, which in 1946 became the Italian Republic.

The 1960 Summer Olympic Games was held from August 25 to September 11, 1960, in Rome. The Italian city had been awarded the organization of the 1908 Summer Olympics, but after the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, was forced to decline and pass the honors to London.

FUN ROME FACTS

Rome stands on seven hills, with an area of 1285.31 km² (496.1 sq mi). The city is crossed by two rivers: the Tiber, which runs from east to west, and l'Aniene, which runs from north-east to north.

With 2,877,215 residents, Rome is Italy's most populated city.

Rome is the fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits.

The Vatican City is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city: for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states.

Rome is the city with the most monuments in the world. The five most visited places are: The Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Sistine Chapel and The Roman Forum.

The Colosseum By Adriano Amalfi 

Rome has 280 fountains and more than 900 churches.

On average €3000 (£2,600) a day is thrown by tourists into the Fontana di Trevi, Rome’s lucky fountain that promises another visit to the capital in exchange for a coin. The money is used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy.

Rome has the highest car ownership rate of any capital city, with one automobile for nearly every Roman of driving age.