ROME

Italian Roma, historic city and capital of Roma provincia, of Lazio regione, and of Italy. It is located on the Tiber River 15 miles (24 km) inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in central Italy. Rome is one of the world's great cultural centres and the administrative and spiritual capital of the Roman Catholic church. The historical site of Rome on the famous Seven Hillsthe Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal, and Viminalwas occupied as early as the Bronze Age (about 1500 BC), but continuous settlement by Indo-European peoples did not take place until the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. By the early 6th century BC a politically unified, regal city had emerged; in subsequent centuries the Romans gradually conquered the Italian peninsula, extended their dominion over the entire Mediterranean basin, and expanded their empire into continental Europe toward the Atlantic. As the capital of this empire, Rome became the site of grandiose palaces, temples, public baths, theatres, stadiums, and other public buildings. Rome reached the peak of its grandeur and ancient population (estimated at more than 1 million) during the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD. Refined urban technology was applied only haphazardly to the city's social problems, however, and many citizens were forced to live in overcrowded slum conditions. The city's population decline probably began in the late 2nd century. Plague and economic disaster beset the city during the 3rd century, and massive barbarian invasions of Italy during the 5th century hastened the city's decline. By the end of the 6th century, with the population less than 50,000, the protection of Rome was entirely in the hands of the Roman Catholic church. A long period of bitter factional struggle followed, pitting the papacy against the local Roman landed nobility; the period was marked by the Roman revolution in 1143 and by absolute papal rule after 1420. Throughout the Middle Ages Rome's population numbered less than 30,000, but in the Renaissance the city began to flourish again, largely owing to the growth of the papal bureaucracy. By 1600 Rome's population had grown to 100,000 people. In 1871 Rome was established as the capital of a united Italy. During the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini in the 1920s and '30s, Rome was transformed into a modern capital, and Mussolini's encouragement of archaeological excavation contributed to the revelation and preservation of many of the monuments of classical Rome. Rome remains a great administrative and tourist centre, although it still lacks the large-scale commerce or industry characteristic of most cities of its size. Industry is concentrated in northwestern Rome and is largely limited to food processing and textiles; newer industries, however, such as engineering and printing and the production of chemicals, electronics, and plastics, have developed on the south and east sides of the city. Only about one-fifth of the total work force has jobs in industry; most are employed in commerce or government. The ancient walled city of Rome encloses most of the Esquiline and Caelian hills and all of the other five hills, but the enclosed area constitutes only 4 percent of the modern municipality and is the smallest of the city's 12 administrative zones. Ruins of ancient buildings and archaeological treasures cover most of the Aventine, Caelian, and Palatine hills; the Palatine has a modern public park as well. Crowded commercial districts spread over the Esquiline and Viminal hills, while the Italian presidential palace and some government buildings stand on the Quirinal. The Capitoline is the site of the Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo, as well as most of the city's famous art museums. Rome surrounds Vatican City, which was granted sovereign extraterritorial status in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty and Concordat. The Vatican is located just west of the Tiber River and northwest of the Seven Hills and opens eastward via Saint Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro), a popular centre of public and religious life in Rome. Outside the walls but within the city limits on the western and northwestern fringes are six large suburbi (suburbs), while beyond the municipal boundaries the commune of Rome spreads out over an area approximately double the size of the city itself. The main street in central Rome is the Via del Corso, an important thoroughfare since classical times, which begins at the Piazza Venezia at the white marble monument to Victor Emmanuel II, first king of Italy. Located among the street's elegant shops are five churches, eight palaces, and the column of Marcus Aurelius. The Palazzo and Palazzetto Venezia (1445), built around the Church of San Marco (c. AD 800), were once Mussolini's headquarters and now house a Renaissance art museum and the Library of the National Institute of Archaeology and Art History. The Via del Corso continues through the Piazza Colonna, at the busy heart of the city, and emerges onto the oval Piazza del Popolo. The piazza is the ceremonial entryway to Rome and contains extremely diverse architectural elements dating from the 13th century BC to the 19th century AD. The church next to the gate, Santa Maria del Popolo (1227), contains tombs by Andrea Sansovino, frescoes by Pinturicchio, a chapel designed by Raphael, and sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Perhaps the best-known piazza in Rome is the Piazza di Spagna, a stopping place for tourists since the 16th century. The renowned Scalinata della Trinit dei Monti (known as the Spanish Steps, or Stairs) ascend to the French-built church and convent of Trinit dei Monti, begun in 1495 with a gift from the French king Charles VIII. The Colosseum, or Flavian amphitheatre (dedicated AD 80), on the slope of the Esquiline, is the city's most impressive surviving building from ancient Rome. The stadium accommodated 50,000 spectators for such events as battles between gladiators and fights with wild animals. The Roman Forum, located between the Palatine and Capitoline hills, was the centre of ancient Roman religious, political, and commercial life, and many of its ruins are still standing. About 6 miles (10 km) from the centre of Rome, a belt highway encircles the capital, tying together the successors of the ancient roads that fanned out from the citythe Via Flaminia, Via Aurelia, and Via Appia. Subway lines run from central Rome to outlying areas south of the city. Numerous airlines provide domestic and international service. Area city, 582 square miles (1,508 square km). Pop. (1991 prelim.) mun., 2,693,383. Italian Roma historic city and capital of Roma provincia, of Lazio regione, and of Italy. A capital of kingdoms and of republics and of an empire the armies and polity of which defined the Western world in antiquity and left seemingly indelible imprints thereafter, a city called eternal, as the spiritual and physical centre of the Roman Catholic Church, and a city whose name evokes major pinnacles of artistic and intellectual achievement, Rome has retained all of these attributes: the capital of Italy, a font of religious authority, and a memorial to the creative imagination of the past. Probably more than any other city in the West, possibly more than any other in the world, it is a city whose history continues to shape nearly every aspect of its being but, at the same time, whose contemporary consciousness of that history projects it into the very core of modern life. For well over a millennium, Rome controlled the destiny of all civilization known to Europe, then fell into dissolution and disrepair. Physically mutilated, economically paralyzed, politically senile, and militarily impotent by the late Middle Ages, Rome nevertheless remained a world poweras an idea. The force of Rome the lawgiver, teacher, and builder continued to radiate throughout Europe. Although the situation of the popes from the 6th to the 15th century was often precariousat times tragic, ridiculous, or shamefulRome knew glory as the fountainhead of Christianity and eventually won back its power and wealth and reestablished itself as a place of beauty, a source of learning, and a capital of the arts. city, Oneida county, east-central New York, U.S. It is situated 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Utica. The site, at the ancient Native American portage between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek, was fortified by the British as early as 1725. Fort Stanwix (1758), which replaced two previous forts there, was where two important treaties (1768, 1784) were negotiated between Native Americans and colonialists; the fort has been reconstructed as a national monument. The Battle of Oriskany (August 6, 1777) which stopped the British advance during the American Revolution, took place 6 miles (10 km) east of present-day Rome. Mapped in 1786 by Dominick Lynch and named Lynchville, the community was influenced in its early growth by the completion (1797) of a canal that connected the Mohawk River with Wood Creek. The construction of the Erie Canal (181725) was begun at Lynchville, and the settlement served as an embarkation point for pioneers moving west. The restored Erie Canal Village, 2.5 miles (4 km) west, commemorates these events. Lynchville was incorporated as a village in 1819 and was renamed Rome for the heroic defense of the Republic made therei.e., at Oriskany. Rome was incorporated as a city in 1870. The community achieved industrial recognition as the Copper City through its manufacture of brass, wire, cable, and other products. Machinery industries (road graders, vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, radiators) developed later in Rome. Today's industries produce medical and surgical equipment, copper roofing materials, and electrical wire. Truck and fruit farms, state developmental centres for the retarded and deaf, and a nearby industrial park, located at the former Griffiss Air Force Base, are additional economic factors. Mohawk Valley Community College, part of the State University of New York system, has a campus in Rome. Inc. city, 1870. Pop. (1990) city, 44,350; Utica-Rome MSA, 316,645; (1998 est.) city, 39,792; (1996 est.) Utica-Rome MSA, 302,405. city, seat (1834) of Floyd county, northwestern Georgia, U.S. It lies in a valley where the Etowah and Oostanaula rivers form the Coosa River, and it is built on seven hills (hence the name). Rome was founded in 1834 on the site of a Cherokee village and was incorporated as a city in 1847. It became a clearinghouse for cotton and farm produce between Georgia and Tennessee. The city was captured by Union forces during the American Civil War and its industrial facilities destroyed. Rebuilt after a disastrous flood (1886), it now has a diversified economy based on manufacturing (including carpets and electric transformers), lumbering, mining, and agriculture. Shorter College (1873) is in Rome, and Berry College (1902) is at nearby Mount Berry. The 104-foot (32-metre) clock tower, built atop one of Rome's hills, is a notable landmark. Inc. city, 1847. Pop. (1992 est.) 31,602. Additional reading General works Georgina Masson, The Companion Guide to Rome, 6th ed. (1980); and Alec Randall, Discovering Rome (1960), two good modern introductions and guides; Murray Jaffe (ed.), The Romans' Guide to Rome (1965), practical information supplied by 34 residents of Rome; Alta Macadam, Rome and Environs, 3rd ed. (1985), a good illustrated guide; S.B. Platner and Thomas Ashby, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (1929), detailed information on every monument of the ancient city; Richard R. and Barbara G. Mertz, Two Thousand Years in Rome (1968), a popular outline, including suggestions for walks and other tourist information. History Ferdinand Gregorovius, History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages, 13 vol. (18941902, reissued 1976; originally published in German, 185972), a massive, indispensable reference work; Raymond Bloch, The Origins of Rome (1960; originally published in French, 1946), a well-written survey, archaeologically oriented, with illustrations; Max Cary, A History of Rome Down to the Reign of Constantine, 2nd ed. (1954), one of the best of the textbook surveys; Pio Paschini, Roma nel Rinascimento (1940); Diego Angeli, Storia romana di trent'anni 17701800 (1931); Glorney Bolton, Roman Century: 18701970 (1970), on life in Rome and the struggle between the black and the white aristocracy for ascendancy; H. and A. Geller, Jewish Rome (1970), a pictorial history of the Jews in Rome from 161 BC, text with plates and bibliography; Barry Baldwin, The Roman Emperors (1980), a study based on a variety of primary sources; Ramsey MacMullen, Paganism in the Roman Empire (1981), a study in social history; Chester G. Starr, The Roman Empire: 27 B.C.A.D. 476 (1982), an informative analysis of administration and local government; Tim Cornell and John Matthews, Atlas of the Roman World (1982), a comprehensive overview of geographical and cultural setting; John F. D'Amico, Renaissance Humanism in Papal Rome (1983), an exploration of Roman intellectual life. Antiquities Rodolfo Lanciani, Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries (1888, reprinted 1975), a fascinating account by one of the best of the old-school archaeologists; Ernest Nash, A Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome, 2nd rev. ed., 2 vol. (1968), for the archaeologist, art historian, and interested nonspecialist; Donald Reynolds Dudley (ed. and trans.), Urbs Roma (1967), classical texts on the city and its monuments, relating the literature of the period to its art and architectureperhaps the best single book on the ancient city for the general reader. Later sources include C. Wade Meade, Ruins of Rome: A Guide to the Classical Antiquities (1980); James Phillips, Early Christian Architecture in the City of Rome, 2 vol. (1982); D.P.S. Peacock, Pottery in the Roman World: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach (1982). Art Ronald Bottrall, Art Centers of the World: Rome (1968), a detailed guide to the principal museums, galleries, and free-standing monuments; mile Mle, The Early Churches of Rome (1960; originally published in French, 1942), churches to the 13th century related to the history of their times; Mariano Armellini, Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX, rev. ed. by Carlo Cecchelli, 2 vol. (1942); Robert Payne, The Horizon Book of Ancient Rome (1966). See also Anthony Blunt, Guide to Baroque Rome (1982); Judith Rice Millon, St. Paul's Within the Walls, Rome: A Building History and Guide, 18701980 (1982); Roloff Beny and Peter Gunn, The Churches of Rome (1981); and Richard Krautheimer, Rome, Profile of a City: 3121308 (1980). Daily life in ancient Rome Ugo Enrico Paoli, Rome: Its People, Life and Customs (1963, reprinted 1975; originally published in Italian, 1940); Jerome Carcopino, Daily Life in Ancient Rome (1940, reissued 1973; originally published in French, 1939); and J.P.V.D. Balsdon, Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome (1969, reissued 1974); three outstanding works on the subject. Later works include H.H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic (1981); Sabine MacCormack, Art and Ceremony in Late Antiquity (1981); Peter Brown, Society and the Holy in Late Antiquity (1982); Barbara K. Gold (ed.), Literary and Artistic Patronage in Ancient Rome (1982); and John H. D'Arms, Commerce and Social Standing in Ancient Rome (1981). Special topics Bernard Wall, A City and a World (1962), Rome seen in its religious setting and significance; S.G.A. Luff, The Christian's Guide to Rome (1967); Gabriel Faure, Gardens of Rome (1960; originally published in French, 1959); H.V. Morton, The Waters of Rome (1966; reissued as The Fountains of Rome, 1970), an account of the aqueducts of Rome and their principal fountains. See also Oliver Knox, From Rome to San Marino: A Walk in the Steps of Garibaldi (1982); and Raleigh Trevelyan, Rome '44: The Battle for the Eternal City (1982). Personal views William Wetmore Story, Roba di Roma, 8th ed., 2 vol. (1887); Stendhal, A Roman Journal (1957; originally published in French, 1829); Augustus Hare, Walks in Rome (1871; 22nd ed., 1925); Eleanor Clark, Rome and a Villa (1952, reissued 1982), a personal account of living in Rome and its suburbs and countryside; H.V. Morton, Traveller in Rome (1957); Elizabeth Bowen, A Time in Rome (1960); Aubrey Menen, Rome Revealed (1960); Maurice Rowdon, A Roman Street (1964); Paul Hofmann, Rome: The Sweet, Tempestuous Life (1982). Rome in photographs Martin Hrlimann, Rome (1954); William Klein, Rome: The City and Its People (1960); R.S. Magowan, Rome (1960). Richard R. Ring Blake Ehrlich The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica History Rome of antiquity Founding and the kingdom. Although the site of Rome was occupied as early as the Bronze Age (c. 1500 BC) and perhaps earlier, continuous settlement did not take place until the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. By the 8th century BC, separate villages of various iron-using Indo-European peoples appeared, first on the Palatine and the Aventine hills and soon thereafter on the Esquiline and Quirinal ridges. The artifacts and especially the funerary customs of these communities indicate that, from the beginning, diverse culture groupsincluding Latins, Sabines, and perhaps othersplayed important roles in the formation of the future city. With the settlement of the valleys between the Palatine, Esquiline, and Caelian hills in the 7th century, the independent villages began to merge. Before the end of this century, the Forum valley, originally used as a cemetery, was partially drained and occupied by wattle-and-daub huts. The mixed agricultural and pastoral economies of the earliest settlements were slowly exposed to commercial contacts with both Etruscan and Greek traders. The formation of a politically unified city probably occurred in the early 6th century BC under the influence of the Etruscan city-states to the north. Under the rule of its kings, traditionally seven in number (the last three probably Etruscans), Rome became a powerful force in central Italy. During the regal period, social and economic differences began to shape the two classes, patrician and plebeian, whose struggles for political power dominated the early republic. The tribal organization of the populace was replaced by one based on military units, whose composition in the late regal period depended on property qualifications. The early Roman Republic The overthrow of the last Roman king and the establishment of the republic, either in 509 BC or a generation or two later, coincided with the decline of Etruscan power in central Italy. The new government under the leadership of two patrician consuls was at first a mixed blessing. Although Etruscan techniques and symbols survived in republican Rome, commercial ties with the Etruscans and with the Greek colonies in southern Italy gradually withered. During the ensuing economic crisis, grain shortages occurred, a problem that was to plague the city intermittently for a millennium and more; the government was forced to make purchases from as far away as Sicily. Political upheaval followed economic depression. The first major confrontation between the patricians and plebeians in the mid-5th century led to the writing down of the customary laws in the Law of the Twelve Tables (451450) and to the formation of a plebeian political organization whose leaders, the tribunes, acted to protect the plebeians from arbitrary patrician actions. In the last half of the 5th century, Rome began again to expand its control over neighbouring territories and peoples, a process that culminated in the conquest of the Etruscan city of Veii in 396. In 390 Rome suffered a disastrous check when a Gallic army laid siege to the city. After seven months, during which only the Capitoline remained in Roman hands, the Gauls were bought off but left Rome in ruins. The Romans set about reconstructing their city almost immediately, surrounding it with a continuous wall of huge tufa blocks. Later writers attributed Rome's haphazard appearance to the rapid rebuilding during this period; Livy described Rome as looking more like a squatters' community than a planned community. For eight centuries, however, no foreign invader was to breach Rome's walls. The economic dislocation caused by the Gallic attack helped renew the conflict between the patricians and the plebeians; but, before the end of the 4th century, through a series of judicious compromises, the plebeians had won access to all of the offices of the state, and the actions of the plebeian assembly (plebiscites) had been made legally binding on all Romans. Economic legislation dealing with debt and land distribution was directed toward relieving the distress of the lower classes.