‘A Ruin...But What A Ruin!!!
- Lord Byron
 1)
Why is the city of Rome so important and
why do we study it?
 2) What is the geographical setting of Rome
and how did this influence the development
of the city?
 3) What was the early history of Rome and
how was the city established?
 4) What were the major religious, political
and government buildings?
 5) What can be learned about drainage and
waterworks?
 6) What has been revealed about leisure
activities and entertainment?
 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
 Reg
– Brought Peace?
– What? Oh...(scornfully) Peace. Shut
up!!!
 Rome
wasn’t built in a day
 All roads lead to Rome
 When in Rome, do as the Romans do
 The ‘Eternal City’
 These
are all common sayings that people
use in everyday conversation. What do you
think is meant by each one?
Shape of the Land
 Rome is situated on the West coast of Italy
 About half-way down the Italian Peninsula
 Peninsula is shaped like a boot and juts into
the Mediterranean
 Similar in land mass and size to New Zealand
 Aprox. 1046km long and is no more than
200km wide
 Apennines runs the length of the peninsula
like a backbone
 West coast is fertile plains, traversed by the
rivers of Arno and Tiber
Climate
 Mild winters, and hot summers with
moderate annual rainfall
Vegetation
 In ancient times, the mountain slopes were
covered with thick forests with wild beasts
e.g bears, deer, foxes and wolves
 It is a volcanic region with Mt Etna, Mt
Vesuvius and Mt Stromboli
 As a result, the soil is very fertile
 Clean
water supply
 Food source nearby
 Decent soil
 Flat, open land
 Hills/high ground for defence
 Ports for the ships to harbour
 ...on
the banks of a copious and smoothflowing 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, Urbs Romana
1)
What advantages of the site are cited by Cicero?

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 convenience yet not so far as
to bring danger from foreign fleets, our situation
in the very heart of Italy- all these advantages
make itof all the places in the world the best for
a city destined to grow great. – Livy 5.54.4,
1) What advantages does Livy list that Cicero
doesn’t?
2) Livy states that Rome is well situated in the
very heart if Italy. Why is this geographic
position so important?
This cannot have been the result of a mere accident. The
Tiber was the natural highway for the traffic of Latium; and
its mouth, on a coast scantly 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 it’s mouth
 it was so situated that as to be equally convenient for the
river navigator descending the Tiber or the Arno, and for
the seafarer with vessels of so moderate size as those
which were then used
 it afforded greater protection from pirates than places
situated immediately on the coast.
T. Mommsen, The History of Rome, Book 1, Chapter 4
 1)
What does Mommsen see as the strategic
advantages of the site of Rome?
 2)Mommsen mentions ‘northern neighbours’.
Who do you think these were?
 3) The word ‘emporium’ means a place to
trade or commercial centre. What does this
suggest about the site and the role of the
Tiber?
 4) Why was the site so suited for commerce?
 In
ancient times, there were seven distinct
and steep hills (not mountains) with valleys
between and streams flowing down into the
Tiber.
 Archaeologists have found settlements on
some of the hills and suggest they were
fortified
 Aventinus, Palatium, Caelius, Quirnalis,
Capitolinus, Viminalis, Esquilinus
 Many of the hills were associated with
different uses E.g Capitoline was the
fortified stronghold of the city and later
became the religious centre of the city.