Rome

Rome (Latin: Roma) is the capital city of Italy. It is also the capital and largest city in the region of Lazio, and the geographical region of Latium. It is on the Tiber River and has 2.8 million people. An estimate by the OECD put the number of people of the city area of Rome at 3.47 million. When the Roman Empire was new, Rome was called the Eternal City because it was already very old.

Roma
Capital city and comune
Roma Capitale
Flag Coat of arms
Etymology: Possibly Etruscan: Rumon, lit. 'river'code: ett is deprecated
The territory of the comune (Roma Capitale, in red) inside the Metropolitan City of Rome (Città Metropolitana di Roma, in yellow). The white area in the centre is Vatican City.
Coordinates: 41°53′N 12°30′E
Country	Italy
Region	Lazio
Founded	c. 753 BC
Founded by	King Romulus
Government
• Type	Special Comune ("Roma Capitale")
• Body	Capitoline Assembly
• Mayor	Roberto Gualtieri (PD)
Area
• Total	1,285 km2 (496.3 sq mi)
Elevation	21 m (69 ft)
Population  (30 April 2018)
• Rank	1st, Italy (3rd in EU)
• Density	2,236/km2 (5,790/sq mi)
• Comune	2,879,728
• Metropolitan City	4,355,725
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
CAP code(s)	00100; 00118 to 00199
Website	"Roma Capitale - Sito Istituzionale". Comune di Roma. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Reference	91
Inscription	1980 (4th Session)
Area	1,431 ha (3,540 acres)

Via del Corso, the main street of the city

Rome is well known for being the home of the Catholic Church, including its leader, the Pope. He lives in the Vatican City, a sovereign state landlocked by the Republic of Italy.

History

Nothing is known for sure about the founding of ancient Rome; it is prehistoric. The myth of Romulus and Remus is often told. They were supposedly raised by a she-wolf. Romulus killed Remus, and became the first king of Rome, for some time Romulus ruled alongside a Sabine King a neighboring tribe. There is no historical evidence of this, but the story is popular. Numa Pompilius was the next king.

With the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom began the Republican era. The new Roman Republic fought and conquered the people around it. In 390 BC, the town was invaded by Gauls. Between the third and second century BC, Rome fought against the rival Carthage. The Roman army captured and destroyed Carthage.

Only with Julius Caesar in the first century BC, did the city began to grow significantly, especially toward the Campo Marzio, at the north of Capitoline Hill, and its domain was extended to Britannia. Caesar was never crowned emperor, a title which, however, fell to his adopted son Octavian who took the throne under the name of Augustus.

Augustus "found a city of bricks and left it marble". With him, Rome reached one million inhabitants and this was the first time in history that has happened in the world. Later emperors also added new monuments, temples, and triumphal arches to ancient Rome.

With the decline of the Roman Empire, the city declined in importance and fell into ruin. Pope Gregory I created major reforms for the people. The city was ruled by the pope, and soon also became the capital of a state, the Papal States, which remained active until the 19th century. Popes, like the emperors, became richer over the centuries and the same happened with the counties ruled by them.

Rome experienced a second "rebirth" in importance during the Italian Renaissance. The city of monuments and churches was called the "capital of Christendom", as the home of the Basilica di San Giovanni Laterano, the most important church of the world. The masterpieces of the Renaissance geniuses, like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, embellished the city.

The power of the Pope lessened along with its state.

But with the Italian Risorgimento Rome experienced a third "rebirth". On 20 September 1870, Garibaldi's army, which had the task of uniting all of Italy under the crown of Savoy, entered the city through a breach opened in the walls at Porta Pia and, the same year, Rome became the capital of the new Italian state. In a few decades Rome grew to be one of the most important capitals of Europe and of the world: in 1936 it was the capital of the Italian Empire, even if for a few years because of the second world war.

Today, Rome is a major European political and cultural center, containing the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. There are also numerous museums, basilicas and palaces, such as the Colosseum, and, in the Vatican City, St. Peter's Basilica, a brilliant example of the architecture of the Renaissance which can be found all over Rome.

Geography

Rome stands on seven hills, with an area of 1,285.31 km² (496.26 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 – within the city, it flows into the Tiber. Rome was built on Sun Hill, later named Palatine. It grew and covered seven principal hills, which are now the inner city of Rome:

• Palatine
• Aventine
• Capitoline
• Quirinal
• Viminal
• Esquiline
• Caelian

Climate

Rome has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa), with cool, humid winters and warm, dry summers. Its average annual temperature is above 20 °C (68 °F) during the day and 10 °C (50 °F) at night.

Education

The children in Rome have to go to school from the age of six until 16. This takes them to primary school (Scuola primaria), then middle school (Scuola secondaria di primo grado) and finally high school (Scuola secondaria di secondo grado). The biggest university in Italy is the University of Rome. It was created in 1303. About 200,000 students study at this university.

Transport

Rome has an airport, which is named Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (IATA: FCO). There is a fast train that goes between the airport and the city center, the Leonardo Express, and many commuter railway lines to the nearby suburbs, along with long-distance trains to other cities in Italy. In the city itself, public transport consists of three metro lines (A, B, and C), six tram lines, and many bus routes.

Buildings

Rome has many old, famous buildings. In recent centuries, the city has become an important tourist attraction. At 1,500 fountains, Rome has the most fountains than any other city in the world.

• The Vatican
• Cinecittà Studios
• Roman Forum
• Colosseum
• The Temple of Antonius and Faustina (141 AD/CE)
• The Temple of Julius Caesar (29 BC/BCE)
• The Temple of Vesta (7th century BC/BCE)
• The Temple of Castor and Pollux (484 BC/BCE)
• The Arch of Augustus (29–19 BC/BCE)
• The Forum of Caesar (54 BC/BCE)
• The Forum of Augustus (2 BC/BCE)
• The Temple of Venus and Rome (135 AD/CE)
• Circus Maximus
• The Baths of Caracalla (212–216 AD/CE)
• Pantheon

Rome Media

• 

  Coat of Arms of Rome

• 

  Model of archaic Rome. The image faces northeast, with the Capitoline hill on left and the Palatine on right. The city would not have looked like this prior to the seventh century BC.

• 

  Capitoline Wolf, a sculpture of the mythical she-wolf suckling the infant twins Romulus and Remus

• 

  The Temple of Portunus, god of grain storage, keys, livestock and ports, built in 120–80 BC

• 

  The Roman Forum contains the ruins of the buildings that represented the political, legal, religious and economic centre of ancient Rome, constituting the "nerve centre" of all Roman civilisation.

• 

  The Ancient-Imperial-Roman palaces of the Palatine, a series of palaces located in the Palatine Hill, express power and wealth of emperors from Augustus until the 4th century.

• 

  The Imperial fora belong to a series of monumental fora (public squares) constructed in Rome by the emperors. Also seen in the image is Trajan's Market.

• 

  Model of Imperial Rome at the Museo della civiltà romana in Rome. The Temple of Claudius is situated to the south (left) of the Colosseum.

• 

  Colosseum, part of UNESCO World Heritage Site Ref. Number 91

Related pages

• Ancient Rome

Other websites

• Rome – Citizendium
• Ancient Rome first days Archived 21 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine

A panoramic view of Rome