Rome: Its History, Its Art, Its Landmarks: The Cultured Traveler

By Mike Carpenter

Get ready to immerse yourself in centuries of history!

Discover Rome's past and its tremendous legacy of beauty, churches, museums, and spectacular monuments with this comprehensive guide for cultured travelers.

 

Learn the story behind such world-famous landmarks as

• The Colosseum
• The Roman Forum
• The Pantheon
• The Trevi Fountain
• The Spanish Steps
• Saint Peter's Basilica
• The Circus Maximus
• And many more.

Please note that this is a historical guide. It does not include lists of hotels and restaurants, nor does it contain pictures or maps.

AI-FREE CONTENT

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mike Carpenter
• Release date: Jan 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224670734

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ROME

Its History, Its Art, Its Landmarks

Copyright © 2023 by Mike Carpenter

Cover art © 2023 by Believer

Capitoline Wolf © 2023 by Nymur Khan

Cover design by Elisa Pinizzotto

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the author's prior permission. For all inquiries, including requests for commercial use and translation rights, please contact:

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A sketch of the Capitoline Wolf, the symbol of Rome. Description automatically generated

HISTORY

Rome is a majestic city and one of the most ancient still inhabited towns established on European soil. According to its founding myth, the city’s foundation dates to 21 April 753 BCE. The legendary founder and first king of Rome was Romulus, who is said to have killed his twin brother Remus after arguing over where to build the walls of their new city. The two twins, distant descendants of none other than the Trojan hero and half-god Aeneas from Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad, were only alive thanks to the intervention of a she-wolf, who nursed and raised them after their uncle had plotted to have them killed. Thus, a she-wolf breastfeeding two babies became Rome’s official symbol [see drawing]. Another six more or less legendary kings would follow.

On a more historical note, it is thought that toward the end of the eighth century BCE, the inhabitants of several Etruscan cities already established in the region, such as Tarquinia and Veio, started showing some interest in that tiny village rising on the left bank of the river Tiber, just a few miles from the sea. The Etruscans’ interest in the developing community was motivated by its geographical position and, more specifically, by the presence of the Isola Tiberina (Tiber Island), a small island right in the middle of the river that made a crossing to the opposite bank easy and safe. To the Etruscans, controlling this ford was of essential importance for the salt trade that was instrumental to their prosperity.

Salt was considered the white gold of ancient times thanks to its use as a food preservative. Etruscans collected it in the salt marshes along the coast and traded it with the Latin peoples living inland. Thus, the Isola Tiberina became an important marketplace. By participating in the salt trade, Rome's inhabitants started accumulating wealth and power.

In 509 BCE, a coalition of Rome’s patricians and plebeians overthrew King Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquinius the Proud), an Etruscan and the last king Rome would ever have, driving him out of the city. As a replacement for the ended monarchy, they established a republic, a word coming from the Latin res publica, that means the public thing, or commonwealth, i.e., a government system where the state’s rulers are accountable for their actions to the state’s citizens. At the time, Rome’s citizenry was divided into three well-defined social groups. First, the patricians – from the Latin patres, meaning the (founding) fathers –, who were descendants of the oldest families to settle on the seven hills. This group had claimed the best land for themselves, hence acquiring wealth and influence. They were Rome’s aristocracy. Then came the plebeians (from the Latin plebs, meaning the multitude), i.e., the immigrants coming to Rome from Latium and the rest of central Italy, who were left with the less profitable fields and could not aspire to become patricians themselves. On society’s lowest rung lived the proletarians, from the Latin word proles, children, meaning sons and daughters. They were Rome’s destitute, with no other possession to their name than their offspring (hence their name).

The supreme command of the Republic was entrusted to two consuls, elected for one-year terms by an assembly where all (male) citizens were eligible to cast their vote. As a reward for their role in overthrowing the monarchy, one of the consuls always came from the plebeians. In so doing, Rome had established a democratic republic not dissimilar from the Athenian model. Twenty-three years later, though, the patricians excluded the plebeians from the highest state offices and concentrated all the power in their hands, thus giving birth to an oligarchic republic, more reminiscent of the Spartan model. Only in 367 BCE, after many years of struggles and confrontations, the party of the plebeians was able to secure a number of important concessions for themselves, including written laws in place of the traditional oral ones, the right to marry patricians, the allocation of better and larger farmland, and the re-admission to the consulate.

In the republican phase of Rome’s history, the Senate wielded much power, deciding matters about ministers and temples, managing the imperium militiae (the military command), signing agreements and peace treaties, declaring war, controlling the work of the magistrates, discussing and approving draft legislation, overseeing the aerarium, Rome’s all-important public purse, and more. Members of the Senate came from the aristocracy, and this body survived through several reforms until the seventh century CE. Visiting Rome, you might encounter here and there the inscription S.P.Q.R., which stands for Senatus Populusque Romanus and means The Senate and People of Rome.

The inner city is built on seven hills; hence one often walks uphill or downhill when visiting several of Rome’s tourist attractions. The Palatine Hill is the central one, chosen by Romulus to build his city. It was probably home to the earliest human settlement in this area, going back to the tenth century BCE. Later, Rome’s powerful emperors, such as Octavian Augustus, Tiberius, and Domitian, built impressive imperial palaces here. The Aventine Hill, from where one can enjoy a breathtaking view of Rome, was the location Remus had chosen without luck. It is situated in a strategic position near the river Tiber, overlooking the gigantic Circus Maximus. On the Capitoline Hill, which dominates the Forum Romanum, sits Rome’s City Hall (Palazzo del Campidoglio). This hill was home to Rome’s oldest temples, among them the most important of them all, dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus. A wonderful church built between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Basilica di Santa Maria in Aracoeli, sits at the top of a steep staircase counting one hundred and twenty-four steps, just behind the imposing white Vittoriano monument, also called Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland).

The Quirinal Hill is named after the god Quirinus, worshipped by the Sabines, an ancient people who are said to have lived there. In modern times, its significance rests on the sixteenth-century Palazzo del Quirinale, a magnificent building containing a lush internal garden. It served as the pope’s residence