Hills of Ancient Rome: map and history

The capital of Italy - Rome is one of the most ancient cities on Earth. First it was located on the eastern bank of the Tiber. He was called "eternal" or "a city on seven hills". Rome really was built on the hills, which were separated from each other by relatively deep, but small in size valleys. Now the ancient capital has grown and occupied the territory already on both sides of the river. Now it is located on twelve hills, but there is a map of Ancient Rome, on which the original place of settlement is noted, which includes only seven hills.

General information

But, as the history of the Eternal City says, it began to be built on the left bank of the Tiber River. The hills of Ancient Rome were inhabited gradually. The first one where the settlement arose was the central one - Palatine, then Esquiline, then Capitol and Quirinal, a little later Vinal, Celius and Aventine. After all of them were included in the city limits, the Romans began to celebrate the Day of the Seven Hills once a year on December 11.

The place where the ancient settlement was founded has a volcanic origin. The height of the hills is about 40-50 m above the river level.

Palatine

It was with him that the story of the Eternal City began. According to legend, to the foot of this hill along the waters of the Tiber sailed a basket with babies - Romulus and Remus, who later became the founders of Ancient Rome. Here on the shore was a cave where the wolf lived, which nurtured the brothers. This hill is named after the goddess Pales - the patroness of the shepherds.

Since the city was founded, in this part of Ancient Rome there has always been a center of power, where patricians, emperors and kings lived. Aristocrats here erected their majestic palaces - the Domus. Their fragments have survived to this day.

Esquiline

Its name translates as "suburb". It was already said above that the hills of Ancient Rome were populated in turn. The next after the Palatine became this hill. At that time it was literally turned into a city dump. In addition, there were executions, as well as cemeteries, where beggars and slaves were buried. Their graves were deep enough pits where the corpses were dropped.

During the reign of Emperor Augustus, the cemetery fell asleep, and in its place beautiful Maecenas gardens grew. Also on Esquiline built a whole system of water pipes.

Capitol

All the hills of ancient Rome had their destiny. This hill was entirely built up by temples. It was here that one of them, dedicated to the goddess Juno Monet, where the legendary geese lived, warned their loud Roman shouting about the approach of the enemy. Here, the first yard where money was minted was arranged. They were called "coins" in honor of the local goddess.

Around the Capitol, during the reign of Servius Thulium, a wall was built, thanks to which the hill became an impregnable stronghold. In its center was a temple dedicated to Jupiter. Under it were quarries, which became the cause of its complete destruction. In the Middle Ages on the hillside the only monumental structure was the church of St. Mary. A staircase led to its entrance, in which there were 122 steps. It was built in honor of ridding the city of the plague.

Quirinal

Almost all the hills of ancient Rome have their own legend. Quirinal was also no exception. He was named in honor of the god of war Quirin, who was worshiped by the ancient Sabines. According to tradition, only men lived in Rome. Once Romulus invited the Sabines to the feast. During the celebration, the Romans kidnapped all the girls from the guests and married them. Because of this, a war broke out, which the kidnappers began to lose.

According to legend, the armed conflict was stopped by the women themselves, as they were already accustomed to their Roman families. As a result, the belligerents concluded a peace treaty among themselves. It is interesting that his main point was the condition under which the Sabin ruler Titus Tatius began to rule Rome on a par with Romulus.

Vinal

The name of the hill is translated as "willow hill", because its slopes were entirely covered with these trees. Originally it was inhabited by the Sabines. In the Eternal City, Quirinal and Viminal entered simultaneously after the abduction of the Romans by the girls. During the period of the Empire's existence, this territory was mainly built up by residential buildings, where natives of the lower class lived.

There were also famous Roman baths - Diocletian's Baths, occupying an area of about 13 hectares. They could simultaneously accommodate 3200 people. In the territory of the therma also beautiful gardens grew , wonderful fountains were beaten, and also a library was located. In addition, the Vinal was the place where the Praetorians lived, performing the functions of the personal guard of the ruler of Rome.

Celium

As you know, originally Ancient Rome, briefly described in the hills of the article, was inhabited extremely unevenly - this area was built up one of the last. Celius was named after the Etruscan Zeles Vibennes. He was considered the ancestor of the Roman plebeians, so the local lands were inhabited exclusively by his descendants. Only in the I century it was pulled to know. The main religious building on the hill was a temple dedicated to the Divine Claudius, but, unfortunately, only a few fragments remained of this grandiose building.

Aventine

Named in honor of the king Aventina Sylvia, who ruled after Romulus. In one of the museums there is a map of Ancient Rome, which shows that this hill, unlike the others, was not yet inhabited. But already in the times of the Republic it was densely built up with various structures. Mostly there lived slaves and plebeians. But already in the era of the Empire's existence, this region began to be inhabited by rich people and aristocrats.

Emperor Aurelianus, who ruled in the III century, managed to build a wall in just four years, which covered all the seven hills of Ancient Rome. Its length was 19 km, height - 8 m, and thickness - 3.4 m. There were 383 towers and 18 gates in the wall. When Rome captured the Goths, it was badly damaged and partially disassembled. However, during the Renaissance the wall was restored and, it must be said, it has remained well preserved to this day.