A simplified plan of the city of Rome
from the 15th-century illuminated manuscript Très Riches Heures du Duc
de Berry.
The History of Rome spans 2,800 years of the existence of a city that grew
from a small Italian village in the 9th century BC into the center of a
vast civilization that dominated the Mediterranean region for centuries,
but was eventually overrun by Germanic tribes, marking the beginning of
the Middle Ages, and that eventually became the seat of the Roman
Catholic Church and the home of a sovereign state within its walls,
Vatican City. It has continued to play a major role in global politics,
just as it has enormously influenced the history and culture of European
peoples for millennia.
The traditional date for the founding of Rome, based on a mythological
account, is April 21, 753 BC, and the city and surrounding region of
Latium has continued to be inhabited with little interruption since
around that time.
Ancient Rome
Rome Timeline
Roman Kingdom and Republic
753 BC According to legend, Romulus founds Rome.
753-509 BC Rule of the seven Kings of Rome.
509 BC Creation of the Republic.
390 BC The Gauls invade Rome.
264-146 BC Punic Wars.
146-44 BC Social and Civil Wars. Emergence of Marius, Sulla, Pompey and
Caesar.
Origins
The origin of the city's name is unknown, with several theories already
circulating in Antiquity; the least likely is derived from Greek
language Ρώμη meaning braveness, courage; more probably the connection
is with a root *rum-, "teat", with possible reference to the totem wolf
(Latin lupa, a word also meaning "prostitute") that adopted and suckled
the cognately-named twins Romulus and Remus. Romulus and Remus are
believed to come from the people of Lavinium. Romulus killed Remus and
founded Rome. The Basque scholar Manuel de Larramendi thought that the
origin could be related to the Basque language word orma (modern Basque
horma), "wall".
In the past few decades further progress in the Etruscan language and the
archaeology of Italy made the above theories less likely, and made more
definitive hypotheses possible. We know now that Etruscan was spoken
from what became Rhaetia in the Alps through Etruria to include Latium
all the way south to Capua. The Italic tribes intruded into Latium from
a core Italic region in the central mountains, into which they had moved
from the east coast. Regardless of the circumstances of Rome's founding,
its original population was certainly a combination of Etruscan and
Italic elements, with the Etruscan predominating. Gradually Italic
infiltration increased to a flood and overwhelmed the Etruscans; that
is, the Etruscan population within and outside Rome assimilated to
Italic.
Etruscan gives us the word Rumach, "from Rome", from which Ruma can be
extracted. Its further etymology, as is that of most Etruscan words,
remains unknown. That it might mean "teat" is pure speculation. Its
later mythological associations cast doubt upon that meaning; after all,
none of the original settlers was raised by wolves, and the founders
were unlikely to have been familiar with this myth about themselves. The
name, Tiberius, may well contain the name of the Tiber. It is believed
now to be from an Etruscan name, Thefarie, in which case Tiber would be
from *Thefar.
The most telling evidence comes from the people themselves. In the
expression, Senatus populusque Romanus, "populus" is of Etruscan origin.
The place name, Populonia, is from Etruscan Pupluna or Fufluna. Related
to populus is the typical Roman praenomen (personal name) of Publius,
from Puplie.
Indeed the whole history of early Rome is the story of the struggle
between the original families and the newcomers. The praenomina of those
families give them away as Etruscan in origin; for example, Gaius,
deriving from Cai. It was used by the Julian gens among others. We do
not have a derivation of Julus, the mythical founder of the gens, but he
is supposed to have been Etruscan. The Etruscans also had a word for
gentes, which was lautun. It is not known if this is the origin of
Latins, but the etymologizing of most such words pertaining to early
Rome has been difficult and resistive, which is likely to mean that they
are not Indo-European.
The behaviour of the Etruscans has led to some confusion. Like Latin,
Etruscan is inflected and Hellenized. Like the Indo-Europeans, the
Etruscans were patrilineal and patriarchal. Like the Italics, they were
war-like. The gladiatorial displays actually evolved out of Etruscan
funerary customs. Future studies of Etruscan and more excavations in the
region will no doubt clarify the origin of Rome and the Romans even
more.
Early peoples of Italy
Forum Romanum
Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill and surrounding
hills approximately eighteen miles from the Tyrrhenian Sea on the south
side of the Tiber. Another of these hills, the Quirinal Hill, was
probably an outpost for another Italic-speaking people, the Sabines. At
this location the Tiber forms a Z-shape curve that contains an island
where the river can be forded. Because of the river and the ford, Rome
was at a crossroads of traffic following the river valley and of traders
travelling north and south on the west side of the peninsula.
The traditional date of founding (753 BC) is a conventional date set much
later by the historian Varro, assigning a length of 35 years to each of
the seven generations corresponding to the seven mythological kings.
Pieces of pottery that indicate the area of Rome may have been inhabited
as early as 1400 BC have been discovered. Archaeological finds have also
confirmed that in the 8th century BC in the area of the future Rome
there were two fortified settlements, the Rumi one on the Palatine Hill
and the Titientes one on the Quirinal Hill, backed by the Luceres living
in the nearby woods. These were simply three of numerous Italic-speaking
communities that existed in Latium, a plain on the Italian peninsula, by
the 1st millennium BC. The origins of the Italic peoples is not known,
but their Indo-European languages migrated from north of the Alps in the
second-half of the 2nd millennium BC. In the 8th century BC, these
Italic speakers — Latins (in the west), Sabines (in the upper valley of
the Tiber), Umbrians (in the north-east), Samnites (in the South),
Oscans and others — shared the peninsula with two other major ethnic
groups: the Etruscans in the North, and the Greeks in the south.
The Etruscans (Etrusci or Tusci in Latin) were settled north of Rome in
Etruria (modern northern Lazio and Tuscany). They deeply influenced
Roman culture, as clearly showed by the Etruscan origin of some of the
mythical Roman kings.
The Greeks had founded many colonies in Southern Italy (that the Romans
later called Magna Graecia), such as Cumae, Naples and Taranto, as well
as in the eastern two-thirds of Sicily, between 750 and 550 BC.
Etruscan dominance
The Servian Wall take their name from king Servius Tullius and are the
first true walls of Rome
After 650 BC, the Etruscans became dominant in Italy and expanded into
north-central Italy. Some modern historians believe that they came to
control Rome and perhaps all of Latium, though this is disputed. Roman
tradition claimed that Rome had been under the control of seven kings
from 753 to 509 BC beginning with the mythic Romulus who along with his
brother Remus were said to have founded the city of Rome. Two of the
last three kings, namely Tarquinius Priscus and Tarquinius Superbus,
were said to be (at least partially) Etruscan (Priscus is said by the
ancient literary sources to be the son of a refugee Greek, and an
Etruscan mother), their names referring to the Etruscan town of
Tarquinia. The list of kings is of dubious historical value, though the
last-named kings may be historical figures. It is believed by some
historians (again, this is disputed) that Rome was under the influence
of the Etruscans for about a century during this period. During this
period a bridge called the Pons Sublicius was built to replace the Tiber
ford, and the Cloaca Maxima was also built; the Etruscans are said to
have been great engineers of this type of structure. From a cultural and
technical point of view, Etruscans had arguably the second-greatest
impact on Roman development, only surpassed by the Greeks.
Expanding further south, the Etruscans came into direct contact with the
Greeks. After initial success in conflicts with the Greek colonists,
Etruria went into a decline. Taking advantage of this, around 500 BC
Rome rebelled and gained independence from the Etruscans. It also
abandoned monarchy in favour of a republican system based on a Senate,
composed of the nobles of the city, along with popular assemblies which
ensured political participation for most of the freeborn men and elected
magistrates annually.
However, the Etruscans left a lasting influence on Rome. The Romans
learned to build temples from them, and the Etruscans may have
introduced the worship of a triad of gods — Juno, Minerva, and Jupiter —
from the Etruscan gods: Uni, Menrva, and Tinia. They transformed Rome
from a pastoral community into a city. They also passed on elements of
Greek culture that they had adopted, such as the Western version of the
Greek alphabet.
Roman Republic
After 500 BC, Rome joined with the Latin cities in defence against
incursions by the Sabines. Winning the Battle of Lake Regillus in 493
BC, Rome established again the supremacy over the Latin countries it had
lost after the fall of the monarchy. After a lengthy series of
struggles, this supremacy became fixed in 393, when the Romans finally
subdued the Volsci and Aequi. In 394 BC, they also conquered the
menacing Etruscan neighbour of Veii. The Etruscan power was now limited
to Etruria itself, and Rome was the dominant city in Latium. In 387 BC,
however, Rome was suddenly sacked and burned by invaders coming from
Gaul and led by Brennus, who had successfully invaded Etruria. The
northern menace was thwarted by consul Furius Camillus, who defeated
Brennus at Tusculum soon afterwards.
After that, Rome hastily rebuilt its buildings and went on the offensive,
conquering the Etruscans and seizing territory from the Gauls in the
north. After 345 BC, Rome pushed south against other Latins. Their main
enemy in this quadrant were the fierce Samnites, who heavily defeated
the legions in 321. In spite of these and other temporary setbacks, the
Romans advanced steadily. By 290 BC, Rome controlled over half of the
Italian peninsula. In the 3rd century BC, Rome brought the Greek poleis
in the south under its control as well.
According to tradition, Rome became a republic in 509 BC. However, it took
a few centuries for Rome to become the great city of popular
imagination. By the 3rd century BC, Rome had become the pre-eminent city
of the Italian peninsula. During the Punic Wars between Rome and the
great Mediterranean empire of Carthage, Rome's stature increased further
as it became the capital of an overseas empire for the first time.
Beginning in the 2nd century BC, Rome went through a significant
population expansion as Italian farmers, driven from their ancestral
farmlands by the advent of massive, slave-operated farms called
latifundia, flocked to the city in great numbers. In 146 BC, the Romans
razed the cities of Carthage and Corinth, adding North Africa and Greece
to its empire and making Rome the most important city in the western
world. From this point until the end of the Republic, individual
citizens would compete to enhance their personal prestige by erecting
monuments and great structures for public use around the city. Most
notable was the Theatre of Pompey, erected by the great general Gnaeus
Pompeius Magnus, which was the first permanent theatre built in the
city. After Caesar emerged victorious from his Gallic conquests and
subsequent civil war with Pompey, he embarked on a building program
unprecedented in Roman history. He was assassinated in 44 BC, however,
with most of his projects, such as the Basilica Iulia and a new Senate
house (Curia), still under construction.
Roman Empire
44-14 BC Augustus establishes the Empire.
64 AD Great Fire of Rome during the Nero's rule.
68-96 AD Flavian Dynasty. Building of the Colosseum.
3rd century Crisis of the Roman Empire. Building of the Baths of Caracalla
and the Aurelian Walls.
284-337 Diocletian and Constantine. Building of the first Christian
basilicas. Battle of Milvian Bridge. Rome is replaced by Constantinople
as the capital of the Empire.
395 Definitive separation of Western and Eastern Roman Empire.
410 The Goths of Alaric sack Rome.
455 The Vandals of Gaiseric sack Rome.
6th century Gothic Wars.
By the end of the Republic, the city of Rome had achieved a grandeur
befitting the capital of an empire dominating the whole of the
Mediterranean. It was, at the time, the largest city of the world (and
probably the largest city ever built until the nineteenth century).
Estimates of its peak population range from 450,000 to over 3.5 million
people with estimates of 1 to 2 million being most popular with
historians. This grandeur increased under Augustus, who completed
Caesar's projects and added many of his own, such as the Forum of
Augustus and the Ara Pacis. He is said to have remarked that he found
Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble. Augustus' successors
sought to emulate his success in part by adding their own contributions
to the city. The Great Fire of Rome during the reign of Nero left much
of the city destroyed, but in many ways it was used as an excuse for new
development.
Rome was a subsidized city at the time, with roughly 15 to 25 percent of
its grain supply being paid by the central government. Commerce and
industry played a smaller role compared to that of other cities like
Alexandria. This meant that Rome had to depend upon goods and production
from other parts of the Empire to sustain such a large population. This
was mostly paid by taxes that were levied by the Roman government. If it
had not been subsidized, Rome would have been significantly smaller.
The Arch of Gallienus is one of the few monuments of ancient Rome from
3rd century, and was a gate in the Servian Wall. Two side gates were
destroyed in 1447.
Rome's population declined after its peak in the 2nd century. At the end
of that century, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, a plague killed
2,000 people a day. Rome's population was only a fraction of its peak
when the Aurelian Wall was completed in the year 273 (at that year its
population was only around 500,000).
Starting in the early 3rd century, matters changed. The "Crisis of the
third century" defines the disasters and political troubles for the
Empire, which nearly collapsed. The new feeling of danger and the menace
of barbarian invasions was clearly shown by the decision of Emperor
Aurelian, who at year 273 finished encircling the capital itself with a
massive wall which had a perimeter that measured close to 20km. Rome
formally remained capital of the empire, but emperors spent less and
less time there. At the end of 3rd century Diocletian's political
reforms, Rome was deprived of its traditional role of administrative
capital of the Empire. Later, western emperors ruled from Milan or
Ravenna, or cities in Gaul. In 330, Constantine established a second
capital at Constantinople. At this time, part of the Roman aristocratic
class moved to this new centre, followed by many of the artists and
craftsmen who were living in the city.
However, the Senate, while stripped of most of its political power, was
still socially prestigious. The Empire's conversion to Christianity made
the Bishop of Rome (later called the Pope) the senior religious figure
in the Western Empire, as officially stated in 380 by the Edict of
Thessalonica. In spite of its increasingly marginal role in the Empire,
Rome retained its historic prestige, and this period saw the last wave
of construction activity: Constantine's predecessor Maxentius built
notable buildings such its spectacular basilica in the Forum,
Constantine himself erected its famous arch to celebrate his victory
over the former, and Diocletian built the greatest baths of all.
Constantine was also the first patron of official Christian buildings in
the city. He donated the Lateran Palace to the Pope, and built the first
great basilica, the old St. Peter's Basilica.
The ancient basilica of St. Lawrence outside the walls was built
directly over the tomb of the people's favourite Roman martyr
Still Rome remained one of the strongholds of Paganism, led by the
aristocrats and senators. When the Visigoths showed off before the walls
in 408, the Senate and the prefect proposed pagan sacrifices, and it
seems that even the pope was agreeable if this could help to save the
city. However, the new walls did not stop the city being sacked first by
Alaric on August 24, 410, by Geiseric in 455 and even by general
Ricimer's unpaid Roman troops (largely composed of barbarians) on July
11, 472. The sackings of the city, which had remained untouched by
barbarians since the times of Brennus, astonished all the Roman world.
The fall of Rome was read as the definitive fall of the ancient order.
Many inhabitants fled, and at the end of the century Rome's population
may have been less than 50,000. In any case, the damage the sackings
made has been probably overestimated. The city was already in a steep
decline, and many monuments had been destroyed by the citizens
themselves, who stripped stones from closed temples and other precious
buildings, and even burned statues to make lime for their personal use.
In addition, most of the increasing number of churches were built in
this way. For example, the first St. Peter was erected using spoils from
the abandoned Circus of Nero. This "self-eating" attitude was a constant
feature of Rome until the Renaissance. From the 4th century imperial
edicts against stripping of stones and especially marble were common,
but the need of their repetition show how they were ineffective.
Sometimes new churches were created by simply taking advantage of early
Pagan temples, perhaps changing the Pagan god or hero to a corresponding
Christian saint or martyr. In this way the Temple of Romulus and Remus
became the basilica of the twin saints Cosmas and Damian. Later, the
Pantheon, Temple of All Gods, become the church of All Martyrs.
Medieval Rome
800 Charlemagne is crowned Holy Roman Emperor in St. Peter's Basilica.
846 The Saracens sack St. Peter.
852 Building of the Leonine Walls.
1000 Emperor Otto III and Pope Sylvester II.
1084 The Normans sack Rome.
1144 Creation of the commune of Rome.
1300 First Jubilee proclaimed by Pope Boniface VIII.
1303 Foundation of the Roman University.
1309 Pope Clement V moves the Holy Seat to Avignon.
1347 Cola di Rienzo proclaims himself tribune.
1377 Pope Gregory XI moves back the Holy Seat to Rome.
Numerous remains from this period, along with a museum devoted to Medieval
Rome, can be seen at Crypta Balbi in Rome.
Barbarian and Byzantine rule
In 476, the last Western Roman emperor Romulus Augustus, a puppet (like
almost all emperors of this period) in the hands of a general, his
father Orestes, was deposed by a riot of barbarian troops led by Odoacer
and exiled to Naples. The fall of the Western Roman Empire had little
impact on Rome. Odoacer and later the Ostrogoths continued, like the
last emperors, to rule Italy from Ravenna. Meanwhile, the Senate, even
though long since stripped of wider powers, continued to administer Rome
itself, with the Pope usually coming from a senatorial family. This
situation continued until the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire, sent
West by Justinian I under Belisarius, captured the city in 536.
On December 17, 546, the Ostrogoths under Totila recaptured and sacked the
city. The Byzantine general Belisarius recaptured Rome, but the
Ostrogoths retook it in 549. Belisarius was replaced by Narses, who
captured Rome from the Ostrogoths for good in 552, ending the so-called
Gothic Wars which had turned much of Italy into desert. The continual
war around Rome in the 530s and 540s left it in a state of total
disrepair - near abandoned and desolate with much of its environment
turned into an unhealthy marsh. The aqueducts were never repaired,
leading to a shrinking population of less than 50,000 concentrated near
the Tiber and around Campo Marzio, abandoning those districts without
water supply. There is a legend, significant though untrue, that there
was a moment where no-one remained living in Rome.
During Gothic Wars (6th century) Rome was besieged several times by
Byzantine and Ostrogoth armies
Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527–565) tried to grant Rome
subsidies for the maintenance of public buildings, aqueducts and bridges
- though, being mostly drawn from an Italy dramatically impoverished by
the recent wars, these were not always sufficient. He also styled
himself the patron of its remaining scholars, orators, physicians and
lawyers in the stated hope that eventually more youths would seek a
better education. After the wars, the Senate was theoretically restored,
but under the supervision of a prefect and other officials appointed by,
and responsible to, the Byzantine authorities in Ravenna.
However, the Pope was now one of the leading religious figures in the
entire Byzantine Empire and effectively more powerful locally than
either the remaining senators or local Byzantine officials. In practice,
local power in Rome devolved to the Pope and, over the next few decades,
both much of the remaining possessions of the senatorial aristocracy and
the local Byzantine administration in Rome were absorbed by the Church.
The reign of Justinian's nephew and successor Justin II (reigned 565–578)
was marked from the Italian point of view by the invasion of the
Lombards under Alboin (568). In capturing the regions of Benevento,
Lombardy, Piedmont, Spoleto and Tuscany, the invaders effectively
restricted Imperial authority to small islands of land surrounding a
number of coastal cities, including Ravenna, Naples, Rome and the area
of the future Venice. The one inland city continuing under Byzantine
control was Perugia, which provided a repeatedly threatened overland
link between Rome and Ravenna. In 578 and again in 580, the Senate, in
its last recorded acts, had to ask for the support of Tiberius II
Constantine (reigned 578–582) against the approaching Dukes, Faroald of
Spoleto and Zotto of Benevento.
Maurice (reigned 582–602) added a new factor in the continuing conflict by
creating an alliance with Childebert II of Austrasia (reigned 575–595).
The armies of the Frankish King invaded the Lombard territories in 584,
585, 588 and 590. Rome had suffered badly from a disastrous flood of the
Tiber in 589, followed by a plague in 590. The latter is notable for the
legend of the angel seen, while the newly elected Pope Gregory I (term
590‑604) was passing in procession by Hadrian's Tomb, to hover over the
building and to sheathe his flaming sword as a sign that the pestilence
was about to cease. The city was safe from capture at least.
Agilulf, however, the new Lombard King (reigned 591 to c. 616), managed to
secure peace with Childebert, reorganized his territories and resumed
activities against both Naples and Rome by 592. With the Emperor
preoccupied with wars in the eastern borders and the various succeeding
Exarchs unable to secure Rome from invasion, Gregory took personal
initiative in starting negotiations for a peace treaty. This was
completed in the autumn of 598- only later recognized by Maurice. It
would last till the end of his reign.
The Column of Phocas, last imperial monument in Roman Forum.
The position of the Patriarch of Rome was further strengthened under the
usurper Phocas (reigned 602–610). Phocas recognized the primacy over
that of the Patriarch of Constantinople and even decreed Pope Boniface
III (607) to be "the head of all the Churches". Phocas' reign saw the
erection of the last imperial monument in the Roman Forum, the column
bearing his name. He also gave the Pope the Pantheon, at the time closed
for centuries, and thus probably saved it from destruction.
During the 7th century, an influx of both Byzantine officials and
churchmen from elsewhere in the empire made both the local lay
aristocracy and Church leadership largely Greek speaking. However, the
strong Byzantine cultural influence did not always lead to political
harmony between Rome and Constantinople. In the controversy over
Monothelitism, popes found themselves under severe pressure (sometimes
amounting to physical force) when they failed to keep in step with
Constantinople's shifting theological positions. In 653, Pope Martin I
was deported to Constantinople and, after a show trial, exiled to the
Crimea, where he died.
Then, in 663, Rome had its first imperial visit for two centuries, by
Constans II - its worst disaster since the Gothic Wars when the emperor
proceeded to strip Rome of metal, including that from buildings and
statues, to provide armament materials for use against the Saracens.
However, for the next half century, despite further tensions, Rome and
the Papacy continued to prefer continued Byzantine rule - in part
because the alternative was Lombard rule, and in part because Rome's
food was largely coming from Papal estates elsewhere in the Empire,
particularly Sicily.
However, in 727, Pope Gregory II refused to accept the decrees of Emperor
Leo III, establishing iconoclasm. Leo reacted first by trying in vain to
abduct the Pontiff, and then by sending a force of Ravennate troops
under the command of the Exarch Paulus, but they were pushed back by the
Lombards of Tuscia and Benevento. On November 1, 731, a council was
called in St. Peter by Gregory III to excommunicate the iconoclasts. The
Emperor responded by confiscating large Papal estates in Sicily and
Calabria and transferring areas previously ecclesiastically under the
Pope but still under Byzantine control to the Patriarch of
Constantinople. In effect, Rome had been expelled from the Byzantine
Empire.
In this period the Lombard kingdom was living an age of revival under the
strong Liutprand. In 730 he razed the countryside of Rome to punish the
Pope who had supported the duke of Spoleto. Though still protected by
his massive walls, the pope could do little against the Lombard king,
who managed to ally himself with the Byzantines. Other protectors were
now needed. Gregory III was the first Pope to ask for concrete help from
the Frankish Kingdom, then under the command of Charles Martel (739).
Liutprand's successor Aistulf was even more aggressive. He conquered
Ferrara and Ravenna, ending the Exarchate of Ravenna. Rome seemed his
next victim. In 754, Pope Stephen II went to France to name Pippin the
Younger, king of the Franks, as patricius romanorum, i.e. protector of
Rome. In the August of that year the King and Pope together crossed back
the Alps and defeated Aistulf at Susa. When Pippin went back to St.
Denis however, Aistulf did not keep his promises, and in 756 besieged
Rome for 56 days. The Lombards returned north when they heard news of
Pippin again moving to Italy. This time he agreed to give the Pope the
promised territories, and the Papal States were born.
In 771 the new King of the Lombards, Desiderius, devised a plot to conquer
Rome and seize Pope Stephen III during a feigned pilgrimage within its
walls. His main ally was one Paulus Afiarta, chief of the Lombard party
within the city. However the plan failed, and Stephens' successor, Pope
Hadrian I called Charlemagne against Desiderius, who was finally
defeated in 773. The Lombard Kingdom was no more, and now Rome entered
into the orbit of a new, greater political institution.
Holy Roman Empire
On April 25, 799 the new Pope, Leo III, led the traditional procession
from the Lateran to the Church of San Lorenzo in Lucina along the Via
Flaminia (now Via del Corso). Two nobles (followers of his predecessor
Hadrian) who disliked the weakness of the Pope with regards to
Charlemagne, attacked the processional train and delivered a life
threatening wound to the Pope. Leo fled to the King of the Franks, and
in November 800 the King entered in Rome with a strong army and a number
of French bishops. He declared a judicial trial to decide if Leo was to
remain Pope, or if the conjurers' claims had reasons to be upheld. This
trial, however, was only a part of a well thought out chain of events
which ultimately surprised the world. The Pope, naturally was declared
legitimate and the attempters subsequently exiled. On December 25, 800,
Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Western Roman Emperor in St. Peter's
Basilica.
This act forever severed the loyalty of Rome from its imperial progeny,
Constantinople. It created instead a rival empire which, after a long
series of conquests by Charlemagne, now encompassed most of the
Christian Western territories.
Following the death of Charlemagne, the lack of a figure with equal
prestige led the new institution into disagreement. At the same time the
universal church of Rome had to face emergence of the lay interests of
the City itself, spurred on by the conviction that the Roman people,
though impoverished and abased, had again the right to elect the Western
Emperor. The famous counterfeit document called the Donation of
Constantine, prepared by the Papal notaries, guaranteed to the Pope a
dominion stretching from Ravenna to Gaeta. This nominally included the
suzerainty over Rome, but this was often highly disputed and as the
centuries passed only the strongest Popes were to be able to assert it.
The main element of weakness of the Papacy within the walls of the city
was the continued necessity of the election of new popes, in which the
emerging noble families soon managed to insert a leading role for
themselves. The neighbouring powers, namely the Duchy of Spoleto and
Toscana, and later the Emperors, learned how to take their own advantage
of this internal weakness, playing the role of arbiters among the
contestants.
Rome was indeed prey of anarchy in this age. The lowest point was touched
in 897, when a raging crowd exhumed the corpse of a dead pope, Formosus,
and put it on trial.
These crises were aggravated by the rise of another foreign power, the
Arabs or, as the Middle Ages Italians called them, the Saracens: these
newcomers, sailing from their bases in Northern Africa, had conquered
Sicily and had began a steady penetration of Southern Italy.
Infiltration of band of pirates brought terror in the territories around
Rome. Under Pope Paschal I (817-824) all the spoils of the holy martyrs
were transferred into the walls. But this move did not prevent a groups
of Muslim to predate the St. Peter's Basilica itself, which was outside
the ancient walls, sacking it in 846. In 852 Pope Leo IV commissioned
therefore the construction of another wall around an area on the
opposite side of the Tiber from the seven hills of Rome, which has since
been called the Leonine City.
From the Forum, the medieval and Renaissance Senate House stands
directly upon the Tabularium, ancient Rome's repository of archives.
Roman Commune
In this period the renovated Church was again attracting pilgrims and
prelates from all the Christian world, and money with them: even with a
population of only 30,000, Rome was again becoming a city of consumers
dependent upon the presence of a governmental bureaucracy. In the
meantime,Italian cities were acquiring increasing autonomy, mainly led
by new families which were replacing the old aristocracy and a new class
formed by entrepreneurs, traders and merchants. After the sack of Rome
by the Normans in 1084, the rebuilding of the city was supported by
powerful families such as the Frangipane family and the Pierleoni
family, whose wealthy came indeed from commerce and banking rather than
landholdings. Inspiring to neighbouring cities like Tivoli and Viterbo,
also Rome's people began to think to a communal status and to a
substantial freedom from papal authority.
Led by Giordano Pierleoni, Romans rebelled in 1143. The Senate and the
Roman Republic were born again. Through the flaming words of preacher
Arnaldo da Brescia, an idealistic, fierce opponent of ecclesiastical
property and church interference in temporal affairs, the Commune of
Rome continued until it was put down in 1155, though it left its mark on
the civil rulership of the Eternal City for centuries. Twelfth -century
Rome, however, had nothing to share with that which had ruled over the
Mediterranean some 700 years before, and soon the new Senate had to work
hard to survive, choosing an ambiguous policy of shifting its support
from the Pope to the Holy Roman Empire and vice versa. At Monteporzio,
in 1167, during one of these shifts, Roman troops were defeated by the
imperial forces of Frederick Barbarossa. Luckily, the winning enemies
were soon dispersed by a plague and Rome was saved.
Interior of the basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of the most
beautiful Roman churches built or re-built in the Middle Ages
In 1188 the new communal government was finally recognized by Pope Clement
III. The pope had to make large cash payments to the communal officials,
while the 56 senators became papal vassals. The Senate always had
problems in the accomplishment of its function, and various changes were
tried. Often a single senator was in charge. This sometimes led to
tyrannies, which did not help the stability of the new-born organism.
In 1204 the streets of Rome were again in flames when the struggle between
Pope Innocent III's family and its rivals, the powerful Orsini family,
led to riots in the city. Many ancient buildings were then destroyed by
machines used by the rival bands to besiege their enemies in the
innumerable towers and strongholds which were a hallmark of the Middle
Age Italian towns.
The Torre dei Conti was one of the many towers built by the noble
families of Rome to mark their power and defend themselves in the
several feuds that marked the city in the Middle Ages. Only the lower
third part of Torre dei Conti can be seen today.
The struggle between the Popes and the emperor Frederick II, also king of
Naples and Sicily, saw Rome support the Ghibellines. To repay his
loyalty, Frederick sent to the commune the Carroccio he had won to the
Lombards at the battle of Cortenuova in 1234, and which was exposed in
the Campidoglio. In that year, during another revolt against the Pope,
the Romans headed by senator Luca Savelli sacked the Lateran. Curiously,
Savelli was the nephew of Pope Honorius III and father of Honorius IV,
but in that age family ties often did not determine one's allegiance.
Rome was never to evolve into an autonomous, stable reign, as happened
to other communes like Florence, Siena or Milan. The endless struggles
between noble families (Savelli, Orsini, Colonna, Annibaldi), the
ambiguous position of the Popes, the haughtiness of a population which
never abandoned the dreams of their splendid past but, at the same time,
thought only of immediate advantage, and the weakness of the republican
institutions always deprived the city of this possibility.
In an attempt to imitate more successful communes, in 1252 the people
elected a foreign senator, the Bolognese Brancaleone degli Andalò. In
order to bring peace in the city he suppressed the most powerful nobles
(destroying some 140 towers), reorganized the working classes and issued
a code of laws inspired by those of northern Italy. Brancaleone was a
tough figure, but died in 1258 with almost nothing of his reforms turned
into reality. Five years later Charles I of Anjou, then king of Naples,
was elected senator. He entered the city only in 1265, but soon his
presence was needed to face Conradin, the Hohenstaufen's heir who was
coming to claim his family's rights over southern Italy, and left the
city. After June 1265 Rome was again a democratic republic, electing
Henry of Castille as senator. But Conradin and the Ghibelline party were
crushed in the Battle of Tagliacozzo (1268), and therefore Rome fell
again in the hands of Charles.
Nicholas III, a member of Orsini family was elected in 1277 and moved the
seat of the Popes from the Lateran to the more defensible Vatican. He
also ordered that no foreigner could become senator of Rome. Being a
Roman himself, he had himself elected senator by the people. With this
move, the city began again to side for the papal party. In 1285 Charles
was again senator, but the Sicilian Vespers reduced his charisma, and
the city was thenceforth free from his authority. The next senator was
again a Roman, and again a pope, Honorius IV of the Savelli.
Boniface VIII and the Babylonian captivity
Successor to the meteoric Celestine V was an energic Roman of the Caetani
family, Boniface VIII. Entangled in a local feud against the traditional
rivals of his family, the Colonna, at the same time he struggled to
reassure the universal supremacy of the Holy See. In 1300 he launched
the first Jubilee and founded the first University of Rome. The Jubilee
was an important move for Rome, as it increased further its
international prestige increased and, most of all, the city's economy
was boosted by the flow of pilgrims. Boniface died in 1303 after the
humiliation of the Schiaffo di Anagni ("Slap of Anagni"), which signed
instead the rule of the King of France over the Papacy and marked
another period of decline for Rome.
Boniface's successor, Clement V, never entered in the city, starting the
so-called "Babylonian Captivity", the absence of the Pope from their
Roman seat in favour of Avignon, which will last for more than 70 years.
This situation brought the independence of the local powers, but these
revealed largely unstable; and the lack of the holy revenues caused a
deep decay of Rome. For more than a century Rome had no new major
buildings. Furthermore, many of the monuments of the city, including the
main churches, began to ruin.
Cola di Rienzo and the Pope's return to Rome
Cola di Rienzo stormed the Campidoglio in 1347 to create a new Roman
Republic. Though short-lived, his attempt is recorded by a statue near
the ladder leading to the Michelangelo's square.
In spite of its decline and the absence of the Pope, Rome had not lost its
spiritual prestige: in 1341 the famous poet Petrarca came to the city to
be crowned as poet in Campidoglio. Noblemen and poor people at one time
demanded with one voice the return of the Pope. Among the many
ambassadors that in this period took their way to Avignon, emerged the
bizarre but eloquent figure of Cola di Rienzo. As his personal power
among the people increased by time, on May 30, 1347 he conquered the
Campidoglio at the head of an enthusiast crowd. The period of his power,
though very short-lived, is anyway one of the most interesting in the
life of Rome in Middle Ages, as Cola tried to assure himself a
renovating, almost mystical aura of a paladin of Italian independence,
within a confuse political dream inspired to the prestige of the Ancient
Rome. Now in possess of dictatorial powers, he took the title of
"tribune", referring to the pleb's magistracy of Roman Republic. Cola
also considered himself at an equal status of that of the Holy Roman
Emperor. On August 1, 1347 he conferred Roman citizenship on all the
Italian cities, and even prepared for the election of a Roman emperor of
Italy. It was too much: the Pope denounced him as heretic, criminal and
pagan, the populace had started to disaffect, while the noble had always
hated. On December 15 1347 he was forced to flee.
In August 1354, Cola was again a protagonist, when Cardinal Gil Alvarez De
Albornoz entrusted him with the role of "senator of Rome" in his program
of reassuring the Pope's rule in the Papal States. In October the
tyrannical Cola, who had become again very unpopular for his delirious
behaviour and heavy bills, was killed in a riot provoked by the powerful
family of the Colonna. In April of 1355, Charles IV of Bohemia entered
the city for the ritual coronation as Emperor. His visit was very
disappointing for the citizens. He had little money, received the crown
not from the Pope but from a Cardinal, and moved away after a few days.
With the emperor back in his lands, Albornoz could regain a certain
control over the city, while remaining in his safe citadel in
Montefiascone, in the Northern Lazio. The senators were chosen directly
by the Pope from several cities of Italy, but the city was in fact
independent. The Senate council included six judges, five notaries, six
marshals, several familiars, twenty knights and twenty armed men.
Albornoz had heavily suppressed the traditional aristocratic families,
and the "democratic" party felt confident enough to start an aggressive
policy. In 1362 Rome declared war to Velletri. This move, however,
provoked a civil war. The countryside party hired a condottieri band
called "Del Cappello" ("Hat"), while the Romans bought the services of
German and Hungarian troops, plus a citizen levy of 600 knights and even
22,000 infantry. This was the period in which Italy was scourged by
these ruthless condottieri bands. Many of the Savelli, Orsini and
Annibaldi expelled from Rome became leaders of such military units. The
war with Velletri languished, and Rome again gave itself to the new
Pope, Urban V, provided the dreadful Albornoz did not enter the walls.
On October 16, 1367, in reply to the prayers of St. Brigid and Petrarca,
Urban finally visited for the city. During his presence, Charles IV was
again crowned in the city (October 1368). In addition, the Byzantine
emperor John V Palaeologus came in Rome to beg for a crusade against the
Ottoman Empire, but in vain. However, Urban did not like the unhealthy
air of the city, and on September 5, 1370 he sailed again to Avignon.
His successor, Gregory XI, officially set the date of his return to Rome
at May 1372, but again the French cardinals and the King stopped him.
Only on January 17, 1377, Gregory XI could finally reinstate the Holy See
in Rome.
The incoherent behaviour of his successor, the Italian Urban VI, provoked
in 1378 the Western Schism, which impeded any true attempt of improving
the conditions of the decaying Rome.
Modern Rome
1420-1519 Rome becomes a centre of the Italian Renaissance. Founding of
the new St. Peter's Basilica. Sistine Chapel.
1527 The Landsknechts sack Rome.
1555 Creation of the Ghetto.
1585-1590 Urban reforms under Pope Sixtus V.
1592-1606 Caravaggio working in Rome.
1600 Giordano Bruno is burned.
1626 The new St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated.
1638-1667 Baroque era. Bernini and Borromini. Rome has 120,000
inhabitants.
1703 Building of the Port of Ripetta.
1732-1762 Building of the Fontana di Trevi.
1798-1799 and 1800-1814 French occupation.
1848-1849 Roman Republic with Mazzini and Garibaldi.
1870 Rome conquered by Italian troops.
1874-1885 Building of the Termini Station and founding of the Vittoriano.
1922 March on Rome.
1929 Lateran Pacts.
1932-1939 Building of Cinecittà.
1943 Bombing of Rome.
1960 Rome is seat of the Summer Olympics.
1975-1985 Years of terrorism. Death of Aldo Moro. Pope John Paul II is
shot.
1990 Rome is seat of the Football World Championship.
2000 Rome is seat of the Jubilee.
Renaissance Rome
With Nicholas V (reigned from March 19, 1447) the Renaissance entered in
Rome, starting a period in which Rome was to become the centre of
Humanism. He was the first pope to embellish the Roman court with
scholars and artists, including Lorenzo Valla and Vespasiano da
Bisticci.
On September 4, 1449 Nicholas proclaimed a Jubilee for the following year,
which saw a great influx of pilgrims from all Europe. The crowd was so
large that in December, on Ponte Sant'Angelo, some 200 people died
crushed under their feet or drowned in the Tiber. But that year the
plague reappeared in the city, and Nicholas fled dishonourably.
View of Rome in 1493
In any case, Nicholas asserted in a stable way the temporal power of the
Papacy, a power in which the Emperor was to have no part at all. In this
way, the coronation and the marriage of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
on March 16, 1452, was more a civil ceremony. The Papacy now controlled
Rome with a strong hand. A plot by Stefano Porcari, whose aim was the
restoration of the Republic, was ruthlessly suppressed on January 1453.
Porcari was hung together with the other plotters, Francesco Gabadeo,
Pietro de Monterotondo, Battista Sciarra and Angiolo Ronconi, but the
Pope gained a treacherous reputation, as when the execution was
beginning he was too drunk to confirm the grace he had previously given
to Sciarra and Ronconi.
He also designed urban renewal in collaboration with Leon Battista
Alberti, including the construction of a new St Peter's Basilica.
Nicholas' successor Calixtus III neglected the new cultural policy of
Nicholas, devoting himself instead to his greatest passion, the love for
his nephews. The Tuscan Pius II, who took the reins after his death in
1458, was a great Humanist, but did little for Rome. During his reign
Lorenzo Valla demonstrated that the Donation of Constantine was a
forgery. Pius was the first pope to use guns, in campaign against the
rebel barons Savelli in the neighbourhood of Rome, in 1461. One year
later the moving to Rome of the head of the apostle St. Andrew produced
a great number of pilgrims. The reign of Pope Paul II (1464-1471) was
notable only for the reintroduction of the Carnival, which was to become
a very popular feast in Rome in the following centuries. In the same
year (1468) a plot was discovered against the pope, organized by the
intellectuals of the Roman Academy founded by Pomponio Leto. The
plotters were sent to Castel Sant'Angelo.
More important by far was the pontificate of Sixtus IV. In order to favour
his relative Girolamo Riario, he promoted the unsuccessful Congiura dei
Pazzi against the Medici of Florence (April 26, 1478) and in Rome fought
the Colonna and the Orsini. The personal politics of intrigues and wars
needed much money, but in spite of this Sixtus was a true patron of art
in the wake of Nicholas V. He reopened the Academy and reorganized the
Collegio degli Abbreviatori, and in 1471 started the construction of the
Vatican Library, whose first curator was Platina. The Library was
officially founded on June 15, 1475. He restored several churches,
including Santa Maria del Popolo, the Aqua Virgo and the Hospital of the
Holy Spirit, paved some streets and also built a famous bridge on the
Tiber which still today carries his name. However, his main building
project was the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Palace. Its decoration
called on some of the most renowned artists of that age, including Mino
da Fiesole, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino,
Luca Signorelli and Pinturicchio, and in the 16th century Michelangelo
painted it with his famous masterpiece and made it one of the most
outstanding monuments of the world. Sixtus died on August 12, 1484. He
is considered the first Pope-king of Rome.
Chaos, corruption and nepotism appeared in Rome under the reign of his
successors, Innocent VIII and Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503). During the
vacation period between the death of the former and the election of the
latter there were 220 murders in the city. Alexander had to face Charles
VIII of France, who invaded Italy in 1494 and entered in Rome on
December 31 of that year. The Pope could only barricade himself into
Castel Sant'Angelo, which had been turned into a true fortress by
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. In the end, the skilful Alexander was
able to gain the support of the king, assigning his son Cesare Borgia as
military counsellor for the subsequent invasion of the Kingdom of
Naples. Rome was safe and, as the King directed himself southwards, the
Pope again changed his position, joining the anti-French League of the
Italian States which finally compelled Charles to flee to France.
Via Giulia (named after Pope Julius II) was the first attempt to create
a wide alley in the city since Ancient Roman times
The most nepotist Pope of all, Alexander favoured his ruthless son Cesare,
creating for him a personal duchy out of territories of the Papal
States, and banning from Rome the Orsini family, Cesare's most
relentless enemy. In 1500 the city hosted a new Jubilee, but its street
grew even more unsafe as, especially at night, when they were controlled
by bands of lawless "bravi". Cesare himself assassinated Alfonso of
Bisceglie, his sister Lucrezia's, as well as, presumably, the Pope's
son, Giovanni of Gandia.
The Renaissance had a great impact on Rome's face, with works like the
Pietà by Michelangelo and the frescoes of the Borgia Apartment, all made
during Innocent's reign. Rome reached the highest point of splendour
under Pope Julius II (1503-1513) and his successors Leo X and Clement
VII, both members of the Medici family. In this twenty-years period Rome
became the greatest centre of art of the world. The old St. Peter's
Basilica was demolished and a new one begun. The city hosted artists
like Bramante, who built the temple of San Pietro in Montorio and
planned a great project to renovate the Vatican. Raphael, who in Rome
became the most famous painter of Italy creating frescos in the Cappella
Niccolina, the Villa Farnesina, the Raphael's Rooms, plus many other
famous paintings. Michelangelo, who started the decoration of the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and executed the famous statue of the
Moses for the tomb of Julius. Rome lost in part its religious character,
becoming increasingly a true Renaissance city, with a great number of
popular feasts, horse races, parties, intrigues and licentious episodes.
Its economy was rich, with the presence of several Tuscan bankers,
including Agostino Chigi, who was a friend of Raphael and a patron of
arts. Before his early death, Raphael also promoted for the first time
the preservation of the ancient ruins.
Sack of Rome and Counter-Reformation
In 1527 the ambiguous policy followed by the second Medici Pope, Pope
Clement VII, resulted in the dramatic sack of the city by the unruly
Imperial troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The city was
devastated for several days, many of the citizens were killed or took
shelter outside the walls. The Pope himself was imprisoned for months in
Castel Sant'Angelo. The sack marked the end of the most splendid era of
the Modern Rome.
The 1525's Jubilee resulted in a farce, as Martin Luther's claims had
spread criticism and even despise against the Pope's greed of money
throughout Europe. The prestige of Rome was then challenged by the
defections of the churches of Germany and England. Pope Paul III
(1534-1549) tried to recover the situation by summoning the Council of
Trento, although being, at the same time, the most nepotist Pope of all.
He even separated Parma and Piacenza from the Papal States to create an
independent duchy for his son Pier Luigi. He continued the patronage of
art supporting the Michelangelo's Last Judgment, asking him to renovate
the Campidoglio and the on-going construction of St. Peter's. After the
shock of the sack, he also called the brilliant architect Giuliano da
Sangallo the Younger to strengthen the walls of the Leonine City.
The need for renovation in the religious costumes became evident in the
vacancy period after Paulus' death, when the streets of Rome became seat
of masked carousels which satirized the Cardinals attending the
conclave. His two immediate successors were feeble figures who did
nothing to escape the actual Spanish suzerainty over Rome.
Paul IV, elected in 1555, was a member of the anti-Spanish party, but his
policy resulted in the Neapolitan troops of the viceroy again besieging
Rome in 1556. Paul sued for peace, but had to accept the supremacy of
Philip II of Spain. He was one of the most hated Popes of all, and,
after his death the raging populace burned the Holy Inquisition's palace
and destroyed his marble statue on the Campidoglio. Paul's
Counter-Reformation views are well shown by his order that a central
area of Rome, around the Porticus Octaviae, was delimited creating of
the famous Roman Ghetto, in which the city's Jews were forced to live.
The Counter-Reformation gained pace under his successors, the milder Pope
Pius IV and the severe Saint Pius V. The former was a nepotist lover of
court splendours, but more severe costumes arrived anyway through the
ideas of his advisor, the prelate Charles Borromeo, who was to become
one of the most popular figures among the Rome's people. Pius V and
Borromeo gave Rome a true Counter-Reformation character. All pomp was
removed from the court, the jokers were expelled, and cardinals and
bishops were obliged to live in the city. Blasphemy and concubinage were
severely punished. Prostitutes were expelled or confined in a reserved
district. The Inquisition's power in the city was reasserted, and its
palace rebuild with an increased space for prisons. During this period
Michelangelo and opened the Porta Pia and turned the Baths of Diocletian
into the spectacular basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri,
where Pius IV was buried.
The pontificate of his successor, Gregory XIII, was a failure. As he tried
to use milder measures than those of St. Pius, the worst mob among of
the Romans felt free to scourge again the streets. The French writer and
philosopher Montaigne maintained that "life and goods were never as
unsure as at the time of Gregorius XIII, perhaps", and that a
confraternity even held homosexual marriage in the church of San
Giovanni a Porta Latina. The courtesans repressed by Pius had now become
whores who worked openly in the streets.
Sixtus V was of very different temper. Although short (1585-1590), his
reign his however remembered as one of the most effective in the modern
Rome's history. He was even tougher than Pius V, and was variously
nicknamed castigamatti ("punisher of the mad"), papa di ferro ("Iron
Pope"), dictator end even, ironically, demon, since no other Pope before
him pursued with such a determination the reform of the church and the
costumes. Sixtus profoundly reorganized the Papal States'
administration, and swept the streets of Rome from all the bravoes,
whores, procurers, duels and so on. Even the nobles and Cardinals could
not consider themselves free from the arms of Sixtus' police. The money
of the taxes, which now went not wasted into corruption, permitted an
ambitious building program. Some ancient aqueducts were restored, and
new one, the Acquedotto Felice (from Sixtus' name, Felice Peretti) was
constructed. New houses were built in the desolate district of
Esquilino, Viminale and Quirinale, while old houses in the centre of the
city were destroyed to open new, larger streets. Sixtus's aim was in
fact that of made Rome a better destination for pilgrimages, and the new
streets were intended to permit a better access to the major Basilicas.
Old obelisks were moved or erected to embellish St. John in Lateran,
Santa Maria Maggiore and St. Peter, as well as Piazza del Popolo, in
front of Santa Maria del Popolo.
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Some of the most famous views of Rome in the 18th century were etched by
Giovanni Battista Piranesi. His grand vision of classic Rome inspired
many to visit the city and examine the ruins themselves.
Population of Rome
350 BC 30,000.
270 BC 100,000.
100 BC More than 500,000.
44 BC 1,000,000.
100 1,650,000.
300 600,000.
500 50,000.
752 40,000.
800 30,000.
1000 30,000.
1347 17,000.
1519 50,000.
1527 32,000.
1590 90,000.
1660 120,000.
1798 150,000.
1814 117,000.
1832 138,000.
1848 150,000.
1871 244,000.
1900 600,000.
1921 692,000.
1931 1,000,000.
1944 1,600,000.
1990 3,500,000.
Italian unification
The rule of the Popes was interrupted by the short-lived Roman Republic
(1798), which was built under the influence of the French Revolution.
Another Roman Republic arose in 1849, within the framework of revolutions
of 1848. Two of the most influential figures of the Italian unification,
Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, fought for the short-lived
republic.
The return of Pope Pius IX in Rome, with help of French troops, marked the
exclusion of Rome from the unification process that was embodied in the
second Italian independence war and the Mille expedition, after which
all the Italian peninsula, except Rome and Venetia, where unified under
the House of Savoy.
In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War started, and French Emperor Napoleon III
could no longer protect the Papal States. Soon after, the Italian
government declared war against the Papal States. The Italian army
entered Rome on September 20, after a cannonade of three hours, through
Porta Pia. Rome and Latium were annexed to the Kingdom of Italy.
Initially, the Italian government had offered to let Pope Pius IX keep the
Leonine City, but the pope rejected the offer because acceptance would
have been an implied endorsement of the legitimacy of the Italian
kingdom's rule over his former domain. Pope Pius IX declared himself a
prisoner in the Vatican, although he was not actually restrained from
coming and going. Officially, the capital was moved from Florence to
Rome in early 1871.
Current state
Today's Rome reflects the stratification of the epochs of its long
history, but it also is a huge contemporary metropolis. Its vast
historical centre contains many areas from Ancient Rome, areas from
medieval times, many palaces and artistic treasures from the Renaissance
era, many fountains, churches and palaces from baroque times, as well as
many examples of the Art Nouveau, Neoclassic, Modernism, Rationalism and
any other artistic styles of the XIX and XX centuries (the city is in
fact considered a living encyclopedia and museum of the last 3000 years
of western art). The historical centre is identified as within the
limits of the ancient imperial walls. Some central areas were
reorganised after the unification (1880–1910 - Roma Umbertina), and some
important additions and adaptations made during the Fascist period, with
the discussed creation of the Via dei Fori Imperiali, of theVia della
Conciliazione in front of the Vatican (for the construction of which a
large part of the old Borgo neighbourhood was destroyed) and the
founding of new quartieri (among which EUR, San Basilio, Garbatella,
Cinecittà, Trullo, Quarticciolo and, on the coast, the restructuring of
Ostia) and the inclusion of bordering villages (Labaro, Osteria del
Curato, Quarto Miglio, Capannelle, Pisana, Torrevecchia, Ottavia,
Casalotti). These expansions were needed to house the huge increase of
population caused by the centralisation of the Italian state.
During the Second World War Rome suffered few bombings (notably at San
Lorenzo), and was declared an "open town" (film by Roberto Rossellini).
Rome fell to the Allies on June 4, 1944. It was the first capital of an
Axis nation to fall.
After the war, Rome continued to expand due to Italy's growing state
administration and industry, with the creation of new quartieri and
suburbs. The current official population stands at 2.5 million; during
the business day workers increase this figure to over 3.5 million. This
is a dramatic increase from previous figures, which were 138,000 in
1825, 244,000 in 1871, 692,000 in 1921, 1,600,000 in 1931.
Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics, using many ancient sites such as the
Villa Borghese and the Thermae of Caracalla as venues. For the Olympic
Games many new structures where created, notably the new large Olympic
Stadium (which was also enlarged and renewed to host qualification and
the final match of the 1990 FIFA football World Cup), the Villaggio
Olimpico (Olympic Village, created to host the athletes and redeveloped
after the games as a residential district), etc.
Many of the monuments of Rome were restored by the Italian state and by
the Vatican for the 2000 Jubilee.
Being the capital city of Italy, Rome hosts all the principal institutions
of the nation, like the Presidency of the Republic, the government (and
its single Ministeri), the Parliament, the main judicial Courts, and the
diplomatic representatives of all the countries for the states of Italy
and the Vatican City (curiously, Rome also hosts, in the Italian part of
its territory, the Embassy of Italy for the Vatican City, a unique case
of an Embassy within the boundaries of its own country). Many
international institutions are located in Rome, notably cultural and
scientific ones - such as the American Institute, the British School,
the French Academy, the Scandinavian Institutes, the German
Archaeological Institute - for the honour of scholarship in the Eternal
City, and humanitarian ones, such as the FAO.
Rome today is one of the most important tourist destinations of the world,
due to the incalculable immensity of its archaeological and artistic
treasures, as well as for the charm of its unique traditions, the beauty
of its panoramic views, and the majesty of its magnificent "villas"
(parks). Among the most significant resources: plenty of museums -
(Musei Capitolini, the Vatican Museums, Galleria Borghese, and a great
many others) — aqueducts, fountains, churches, palaces, historical
buildings, the monuments and ruins of the Roman Forum, and the
Catacombs.
Among its hundreds of churches, Rome contains the five Major Basilicas of
the Catholic church: Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano (St. John
Lateran, Rome's cathedral), Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano (St.
Peter's Basilica), Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura (St. Paul Outside
the Walls), Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major), and
Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura (St. Lawrence Outside the Walls).
The Bishop of Rome is the Pope; in his pastoral activity strictly
applicable to the city, he is assisted by a vicar (usually a cardinal).
References
Armando Ravaglioli, Breve storia di Roma
Claudio Rendina, I papi. Storia e segreti
Ferdinand Gregorovius, History of Rome in the Middle Ages
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