View allAll Photos Tagged ROMA
ci vediamo domani
e dopodomani
e il giorno dopo
e l'altro ancora
e quello dopo
e stasera alle otto solito posto
(L'eclisse, M. Antonioni)
Roma capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality (central area), with over 2.7 million residents in 1,285.3 km2 (496.3 sq mi). While the population of the urban area was estimated by Eurostat to have been 3.46 million in 2004, the metropolitan area of Rome was estimated by OECD to have had a population of 3.7 million no later than 2006.
The city of Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber river within the Lazio region of Italy. It has been one of history's most powerful and important cities, being the home of the emperor during the Roman Empire and the modern seat of the Italian government. Rome also has a significant place in Christianity and is the present day home of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope, and the site of the Vatican City, an independent city-state run by the Catholic Church.[5] Due to this centrality on many levels, the city has been nicknamed "Caput Mundi" (Latin for "Capital of the World") and "The Eternal City".
Rome's history spans over two and a half thousand years. It was the centre of the Roman Republic and of the Roman Empire, which was a major political and cultural influence in the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea for over four hundred years from the 1st Century BC until the 4th Century AD. During the Middle-Ages, Rome was home to popes such as Alexander VI and Leo X, who transformed the city into one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, along with Florence. The current-day version of St Peter's Basilica was built and the Sistine Chapel's ceiling was painted by artist Michelangelo. Famous artists and architects, such as Bramante, Leonardo da Vinci, Bernini and Raphael resided for some time in Rome, contributing to its Renaissance and Baroque architecture. As a modern city, it has been capital of the unified Italy since 1870, and grew mainly in two periods before and after World War II. Rome has had an immense historic influence to the world and modern society over the ages, particularly during ancient times, mainly in subjects such as architecture, art, culture, politics, literature, law, philosophy and religion.[8][9][10]
Modern Rome is a bustling and cosmopolitan metropolis, and is Italy's administrative, cultural and political capital. Its rich artistic heritage and vast amount of ancient, notably architectural and archaeological sites, contribute to the city's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.[11][12][13] Its modern and ancient global influence in politics, literature, high culture, the arts, music, religion, education, fashion, cinema and cuisine lead it to being an Alpha- world city, according to Loughborough University and GaWC in 2008. Rome is also an important worldwide hub of the cinematic and filming industry, home to the important and large Cinecittà Studios, which saw the filming of several internationally acclaimed movies as well as television programmes. Currently, and since the 1957 Treaty of Rome, the metropolis serves as one of Europe's major political centres, with worldwide organizations such as World Food Programme (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the NATO Defence College being headquartered in the city. Rome is regarded as being one of the nation's principle centres of business, media and finance, along with Milan. The Rome metropolitan area has a GDP of €109.4 billion (US$ 149.14), and according to a 2008 study, the city is the world's 35th richest city by purchasing power, with a GDP of €94.376 billion (US$ 121.5 billion), and is the world's 18th most expensive city (in 2009).
The city hosted the 1960 Olympic Games, with great success, and is also an official candidate for the 2020 Olympic Games.
Rome is the third-most-visited tourist destination in the European Union, and its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are amongst the world's 50 most visited tourist destinations (the Vatican Museums receiving 4.2 million tourists and the Colosseum receiving 4 million tourists every year).
Founding Rome
The founding of Rome is reported by many legends, which in recent times are beginning to be supplemented by more scientific reconstructions.
Virgil's Aeneid is an important source for information about those early times or, at least, the myth-historical events current in the Augustan period.
The Latins originally stayed in Colli Albani (the Alban hills, modern Castelli– 30–80 km (20–50 miles) southeast of the Capitoline hill); later, they moved down towards the valleys, which provided better land for animal breeding and agriculture. The area around the Tiber river was particularly advantageous and also offered notable strategic resources, as the river was a natural border on one side, while the hills could provide a safe defensive position on the other side. This position would also have enabled the Latins to control the river (and commercial or military traffic on it), from the natural observation point at Isola Tiberina (the island facing modern Trastevere). Moreover, road traffic could also be controlled, since Rome was at the intersection of the principal roads to the sea coming from Sabinum (in the northeast) and Etruria (to the northwest).
The development of the town is presumed to have started from the development of separate small villages, located on top of hills, which joined together to form Rome.
Although recent studies suggest that the Quirinal hill was very important in ancient times, the first hill to be inhabited seems to have been the Palatine (therefore confirming the legend), which is also at the center of ancient Rome. Its three peaks, minor hills (Cermalus or Germalus, Palatium, and Velia) united with the three peaks of the Esquiline (Cispius, Fagutal, and Oppius), and then villages on the Caelian hill and Suburra (between modern Rione Monti and the Oppius hill) joined them.
These hills had expressive names: the Caelian hill was also called Querquetulanus, from quercus (oak), while Fagutal points to beech-woods, from fagus (beech). Recent discoveries reveal that the Germalus on the northern part of the Palatine, was the site of a village (dated to the 9th century BC) with circular or elliptic dwellings. It was protected by a clay wall (perhaps reinforced with wood), and it is likely that this is where Rome was really founded.
The territory of this federation was surrounded by a sacred border called the pomerium, which enclosed the so-called Roma Quadrata (Square Rome). This would have been extended with the inclusion of the Capitoline hill and Tiber island at the time Rome became an oppidum or fortified town. The Esquiline still was a satellite village that would be included at the time of the Servian expansion of Rome.
Festivals for the Septimontium (literally "of the seven hills"), on December 11, were in the past considered related to the foundation. However, as April 21 is the only datum for foundation upon which all the legends agree, it has been recently argued that Septimontium was likely to have actually celebrated the first federations among Roman hills: a similar federation was, in fact, celebrated by the Latins at Cave (a village southeast of Rome) or at Monte Cavo (in Castelli).
According to Francis Owen in The Germanic People (1960), the people which settled Rome may have been immigrants from outside the Italian peninsula, possibly an off-shoot from the same group that would become Celtic or Germanic peoples. Traces of the founding population were apparently evident in the appearance of the aristocracy long into the time of the republic. According to Owens the evidence available from Roman literature, historical records and statuary and personal names shows that in physical appearance the Roman aristocracy differed from most of the population in the rest of the peninsula. The records describe a very large number of well known historical personalities as blonde. In addition, 250 individuals are recorded to have had the name Flavius, meaning blonde, and there are many named Rufus and Rutilius, meaning red haired and reddish haired respectively. The following Roman gods are said to have had blonde hair: Amor, Apollo, Aurora, Bacchus, Ceres, Diana, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Minerva and Venus.
Romulus and Remus
The earlier legend of the founding of the Rome (i.e., that it was founded personally by Aeneas), was supplanted over the centuries by the attribution of the founding to twin brothers, Romulus (c. 771 BC–c. 717 BC) and Remus (c. 771 BC–c. 753 BC). In Roman mythology, they are sons of the priestess Rhea Silvia and Mars, the god of war, abandoned at birth at Tiber by servants in charge of executing them. The twins were taken by a she-wolf. Later a shepherd named Faustulus came and took Remus and Romulus. Faustulus and his wife (Acca Larentia) raised the children. When Remus and Romulus became adults they decided to establish a city. They couldn't decide who would rule the city so they gave it to omens. Remus was the first to see six vultures flying in the sky. Soon after Romulus saw twelve vultures. Remus saw the birds first but Romulus saw more. Finally Romulus was the one who was designated. When Remus saw how weak Romulus was he laughed. In retaliation Romulus killed Remus.
The date of the founding of Rome
During the Roman republic, several dates were given for the founding of the city, all in the interval between 758 BC and 728 BC. Finally, under the Roman empire the date suggested by Marcus Terentius Varro (753 BC) was agreed upon, but in the Fasti Capitolini the year given was 752. While the years varied, all versions agreed that the city was founded on April 21, day of the festival sacred to Pales, goddess of shepherds; in her honour, Rome celebrated the Par ilia (or Palilia). (The Roman Ab Urbe Condita (or a.u.c.) calendar, however, begins with Varro's dating of 753 BC.)
According to legend, the foundation of Rome took place 438 years after the capture of Troy (1182 BC), according to Velleius Paterculus (VIII, 5). It took place shortly before an eclipse of the sun; some have identified this eclipse as one observed at Rome on June 25, 745 BC, which had a magnitude of 50.3%. Varro may have used the consular list with its mistakes, calling the year of the first consuls "245 ab urbe condita" (a.u.c.).
According to Lucius Tarrutius of Firmum, Romulus was conceived on the 23rd day of the Egyptian month Choiac, at the time of a total eclipse of the sun. This eclipse occurred on June 15, 763 BC, with a magnitude of 62.5% at Rome. He was born on the 21st day of the month of Thoth. The first day of Thoth fell on 2 March in that year (Prof. E. J. Bickerman, 1980: 115). That implies that Rhea Silvia's pregnancy lasted for 281 days. Rome was founded on the ninth day of the month Pharmuthi, which was April 21, as universally agreed. The Romans add that, about the time Romulus started to build the city, an eclipse of the Sun was observed by Antimachus, the Teian poet, on the 30th day of the lunar month. This eclipse (see above) had a magnitude of 54.6% at Teos, Asia Minor. Romulus vanished in the 54th year of his life, on the Nones of Quintilis (July), on a day when the Sun was darkened. The day turned into night, which sudden darkness was believed to be an eclipse of the Sun. It occurred on July 17, 709 BC, with a magnitude of 93.7%. (All these eclipse data have been calculated by Prof. Aurél Ponori-Thewrewk, retired director of the Planetarium of Budapest.) Plutarch placed it in the 37th year from the foundation of Rome, on the fifth of our month July, then called Quintiles, on "Caprotine Nones". Livy (I, 21) also states that Romulus ruled for 37 years. He was slain by the Senate or disappeared in the 38th year of his reign. Most of these have been recorded by Plutarch (Lives of Romulus, Numa Pompilius and Camillus), Florus (Book I, I), Cicero (The Republic VI, 22: Scipio's Dream), Dio (Dion) Cassius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus (L. 2). Dio in his Roman History (Book I) confirms these data by telling that Romulus was in his 18th year of age when he founded Rome. Therefore, three eclipse records indicate that Romulus reigned from 746 BC to 709 BC. Surprisingly this is very close to the calculation of the founding given by Rome's first native historical writer Quintus Fabius Pictor, who wrote that Rome was founded in the first year of the eighth Olympiad, 747 BC (Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Book 1, ch. 74,2).
In the modern period debate has raged over the validity of the stories of Rome's foundation. Scholars have supported both extremes—those who want to believe nothing of the legend, and those who want to believe the legend wholeheartedly without skepticism. Archaeology offers the best chance of sorting out the debate, and indeed recent discoveries on the Palatine Hill in Rome have offered some tantalizing pieces of evidence. Chief among these is a series of fortification walls on the north slope of the Palatine Hill that can be dated to the middle of the 8th century B.C., precisely the time when legend says Romulus plowed a furrow (sulcus) around the Palatine in order to mark the boundary of his new city. The remains of the wall, and other evidence, has been discovered by the excavations of Andrea Carandini.
The name of Rome
The name of the town is generally considered to refer to Romulus, but there are other hypotheses. Some have suggested an Etruscan word, "rhome", meaning "hard", cognate with Greek "ῥώμη, rhōmē", strength, vigor.[2] Another one of them refers it to Roma, who is supposed to have been the daughter of Aeneas or Evander. The Basque scholar Manuel de Larramendi thought that the origin was the Basque word orma (modern Basque horma), "wall".
Rome is also the Urbs, and this name (that in later Latin generically meant any towns) comes from urvus, the furrow cut by a plough– in this case, by that of Romulus. Urbs could also come from Urbs, Urbis meaning city in Latin.
On the Capitoline hill, at noon on April 21 every year, a special bell called Patarina rings from the Campidoglio to commemorate the founding of Rome. On that occasion, the famous cannon of Gianicolo remains silent, the only day in the year on which it does not sound.
Foto LaPresse - Massimo Paolone
11/03/2018 Roma (Italia)
Sport Atletica Leggera
RomaOstia Half Marathon - Edizione 44 - da Roma a Ostia -
21,1 km (34 miglia)
Nella foto: Moses Kemei
Photo LaPresse - Massimo Paolone
11/03/2018 Rome (Italy)
Sport Athletics
RomaOstia Half Marathon - Edition 44 - from Rome
to Ostia - 21,1 km (34 miles)
In the pic: Moses Kemei
Rom - beim Einsteigen in den Frecciargento (Silberner Pfeil) - einen der Hochgeschwindigkeitszüge in Italien, in der Stazione Termini (das Bild hat unser Sohn gemacht).
Die mehr oder weniger zusammenhängende Romserie geht ihrem Ende zu - es gäbe noch genügend schöne Bilder aus Rom, aber ich werde sie nur noch zwischendurch eintstreuen, damit die aktuellen Bilder auch drankommen.
Mosaic at St Peter's
11/22/2004 - Monday: in Rome Roma, the Vatican, train to Florence Firenze
tags: italy
Monday Reality
Left hotel a bit late...not too bad. Tried to get on the subway but there was a line up the stairs. We were going to take a bus, but then we got a cab. 10 euros to take a cab two metro stops...I sort of think that wasn't strictly kosher...but maybe it was. it was still fun. We got to go under a tunnel that we saw yesterday during our ordeal march of being lost.
the idea was to catch the capucin crypts on the way to the vatican. But they were closed...still. so we slipped down back into the subway. We had used our single use tickets when we were turned back by the line at the Termini station, but we decided that the moral constraints were met, so we slipped through and re-used the tickets to get to the vatican. AFter all, we had gone through the gate, but we hadn't gotten on a train...
so the train left at 4:48ish, maybe 4:47...basically right on time ...
Off we rushed to the Vatican museum. We arrived at 10:00...and the english tour was at 10:30, so just enough time to get oriented and rest a bit before the ordeal by marbel floor!
We had a nice tour guide. First she showed us a sort of parchement view of the sistine chapel-two rulls of text and pictures with details of the different scenes. She would wind it down to get the next view.
This was fascinating...I am phenomenally underinformed of art and cultural matters...it is almost a cliche to say that, but egads it it true.
on the other hand, there are things we know today that were unknown 200 years ago. Amazingly...apparantly the whole forum area was under dirt until 18-something. So much dirt that only the tops of the columns were exposed. and even now much remains.
The archeologists cringe over the techniques used to clear what is now exposed. There have been several recent archeological 'campaigns' among the ruins of palatine hill that have excavated pre-roman huts. one of the write ups discussed the findings of 27 flakes of flint, indicating tool maing. So infering thngs based on bits of things found...which is the whole point of archeology.
And it made me realize that they are not done excavating Rome Roma...an odd thing to realize, since only a moment's consideration would reveal how obvious that is! There are Indian mounds that the archeologists are intentionally leaving alone for now, with the expressed plan of letting future archeologists examine them when they have better techniques.
my ears are popping...and the gps lost its lock...I then look out and realize we are going through a tunnel. ah...sense is made.
maybe...perhaps it wasn't a tunnel...I can't tell. several more episodes of pressure changes are occuring.
There are sliding head rests on the cabin walls in back of the seats. they are padded and have vertical supports so that you can lean on them to sleep without falling into the window, or onto your neighbor. they slide up and down to allow you to adjust to your preferences.
We didn't see the capucini crypt, because it was closed, and it was getting dark as we got on the train, but we are doing pretty well.
The vatican tour took two hours...and it seemed that we were moving much of the time. they have these slick radio receivors so you can hear the tour guide even if you are in the next room back.
I had a strong response to a tapestry depicting the slaughter of the chilidren by herod. One baby is being held, barely, by its mother and a soldier has a dagger to the child's heart. The baby is about to die. Other mother's are using their bodies to shield their infants. it is truly horrible.
damn! the pressure changes are really frequent, and amazingly annoying.
I downloaded a bunch of stuff from 'hex'-a friend of Jo and Schuyler's. I'm reading
how to build a reality that doesn't fall apart two days later...file:///Users/admin/wa/web/downlode.org/etext/how_to_build.html
I'm on the train...fighting sleep. I need to pee, but to do that I worry I'll have to wake the gentleman seated in front of the door to our compartment.
passing through orte...at 5:27:00---possibly even got a track point. I had a signal for a moment.
well..more than a moment, but not too long. there is crying in the hall....
The GPS showed us going 115 mph, for a bit. not just one observation. interesting. fast.
The hall of maps was cool because I realized it was, or could have been, not about art and instead was about the simple matter of managing an empire.
I enjoyed the museum, duh, and the Sistine chapel...and then we climbed the dome! I loved that! I truly loved it. We got to the top and I could see radio vatican and the quiet parts of the vatican and various 'stuff.' I don't know why, but seeing vatican radio made me happy.
We descended...heather waited while i ran about St. Peter's one more time. I went back into the catecombs...and reflected again at st. peter's grave, and the crypts of the popes. different passageway's were open from last time...you went in and out on different sides. Saturday we went through more passageways, past bits of monuments, even broken bits, supposedly the memorials for past popes there had been recovered via archeological digs and the like...little rooms, with gates, and some stones mounted on the walls.
Today I looked through a grate and down at a compartment that seemed to be set up as a small chapel. maybe a particularly holy pope was buried there.
When they embalm a pope, or remove anything from one, they send the bits to a particular church in room so the bits don't become relics.
I was struck by how clean and non-catacomb like the area was that we were allowed to tour. There were passageways that looked like they might get more 'creepy' small and twisty, but it was all clean...I guess marble does that for you.
Heather was whipped. We walked the .4 miles to cafe ruggio (is that it? The antipasto bar place by gellati millenium. it is in the Rick steve's book. We tried for it Saturday, but it was still closed, and we tried today, but closed Monday. Both faux paws (sic) could have been avoided if we had looked at the book and actually _read_ that listign first.
I have so many books and things that I don't really need...
Well Heather felt really crappy...but we ate at the little place by millenium gellati. It was great. The woman dished me up two plates. First a bowl of pasta, and then a plate with veal, mushrooms, zucchine, and peas with ham. It was in little bowls and I got to pick...heather had a panini. I was jsut positive that I was suffering eyes bigger than my head syndRome Roma, but
(and here the laptop powered down, I was writing on the train, and now it is the next day and some, 1:20 am on the 24th) I ate everything, and had a gellato after. And we went to the big 'M.' We found the M, but there was no metro...it was up another block. We metroed to the train station. Identified a train time, then grabbed our stuff at the hotel.
We spent time at the internet cafe DSC_4285.JPG, DSC_4286.JPG, DSC_4287.JPG ... They didn't support ssh! well I finally did send an email to folks via the webmail at work.
Then the train! The train was great. And we whisked into Florence Firenze. We wandered streets for a bit, then I got lock on the GPS, and knew we were .15 miles, and we wandered. I didn't remember the street name (via nazzionale, #10), but when we stumbled onto it Heather identified it. And we were a half block away.
Check in went smoothly. We fooled around, and then took to the streets. We ate at trattoria Sostanza-Troia (see p285 of Rick Steves). There were tour de france pictures on the walls, and signed photos dating back. We enjoyed it! A bottle of table wine. Tortellini with a house sauce, and then pot roast with beans. Heather had a bean salad and a salad.
Then we wandered back and bought a bottle of wine and some chocolate. Heather studied our books, and I sort of watched the Tony Gatuf movie Swing. I think it was in Italian with French subtitles. After all of that Art, and trying to read the pictures, I watched it in a different way. Paying attention to the cultural signifiers and all of that jazz. Having thoughts like 'why did he frame that shot that way? What does that use of open space say?" etc...
A little alien girl has landed!^^
Inspired by the new Novi Stars dolls, I crocheted this little alien girl.
Roma capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality (central area), with over 2.7 million residents in 1,285.3 km2 (496.3 sq mi). While the population of the urban area was estimated by Eurostat to have been 3.46 million in 2004, the metropolitan area of Rome was estimated by OECD to have had a population of 3.7 million no later than 2006.
The city of Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber river within the Lazio region of Italy. It has been one of history's most powerful and important cities, being the home of the emperor during the Roman Empire and the modern seat of the Italian government. Rome also has a significant place in Christianity and is the present day home of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope, and the site of the Vatican City, an independent city-state run by the Catholic Church.[5] Due to this centrality on many levels, the city has been nicknamed "Caput Mundi" (Latin for "Capital of the World") and "The Eternal City".
Rome's history spans over two and a half thousand years. It was the centre of the Roman Republic and of the Roman Empire, which was a major political and cultural influence in the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea for over four hundred years from the 1st Century BC until the 4th Century AD. During the Middle-Ages, Rome was home to popes such as Alexander VI and Leo X, who transformed the city into one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, along with Florence. The current-day version of St Peter's Basilica was built and the Sistine Chapel's ceiling was painted by artist Michelangelo. Famous artists and architects, such as Bramante, Leonardo da Vinci, Bernini and Raphael resided for some time in Rome, contributing to its Renaissance and Baroque architecture. As a modern city, it has been capital of the unified Italy since 1870, and grew mainly in two periods before and after World War II. Rome has had an immense historic influence to the world and modern society over the ages, particularly during ancient times, mainly in subjects such as architecture, art, culture, politics, literature, law, philosophy and religion.[8][9][10]
Modern Rome is a bustling and cosmopolitan metropolis, and is Italy's administrative, cultural and political capital. Its rich artistic heritage and vast amount of ancient, notably architectural and archaeological sites, contribute to the city's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.[11][12][13] Its modern and ancient global influence in politics, literature, high culture, the arts, music, religion, education, fashion, cinema and cuisine lead it to being an Alpha- world city, according to Loughborough University and GaWC in 2008. Rome is also an important worldwide hub of the cinematic and filming industry, home to the important and large Cinecittà Studios, which saw the filming of several internationally acclaimed movies as well as television programmes. Currently, and since the 1957 Treaty of Rome, the metropolis serves as one of Europe's major political centres, with worldwide organizations such as World Food Programme (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the NATO Defence College being headquartered in the city. Rome is regarded as being one of the nation's principle centres of business, media and finance, along with Milan. The Rome metropolitan area has a GDP of €109.4 billion (US$ 149.14), and according to a 2008 study, the city is the world's 35th richest city by purchasing power, with a GDP of €94.376 billion (US$ 121.5 billion), and is the world's 18th most expensive city (in 2009).
The city hosted the 1960 Olympic Games, with great success, and is also an official candidate for the 2020 Olympic Games.
Rome is the third-most-visited tourist destination in the European Union, and its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are amongst the world's 50 most visited tourist destinations (the Vatican Museums receiving 4.2 million tourists and the Colosseum receiving 4 million tourists every year).
Founding Rome
The founding of Rome is reported by many legends, which in recent times are beginning to be supplemented by more scientific reconstructions.
Virgil's Aeneid is an important source for information about those early times or, at least, the myth-historical events current in the Augustan period.
The Latins originally stayed in Colli Albani (the Alban hills, modern Castelli– 30–80 km (20–50 miles) southeast of the Capitoline hill); later, they moved down towards the valleys, which provided better land for animal breeding and agriculture. The area around the Tiber river was particularly advantageous and also offered notable strategic resources, as the river was a natural border on one side, while the hills could provide a safe defensive position on the other side. This position would also have enabled the Latins to control the river (and commercial or military traffic on it), from the natural observation point at Isola Tiberina (the island facing modern Trastevere). Moreover, road traffic could also be controlled, since Rome was at the intersection of the principal roads to the sea coming from Sabinum (in the northeast) and Etruria (to the northwest).
The development of the town is presumed to have started from the development of separate small villages, located on top of hills, which joined together to form Rome.
Although recent studies suggest that the Quirinal hill was very important in ancient times, the first hill to be inhabited seems to have been the Palatine (therefore confirming the legend), which is also at the center of ancient Rome. Its three peaks, minor hills (Cermalus or Germalus, Palatium, and Velia) united with the three peaks of the Esquiline (Cispius, Fagutal, and Oppius), and then villages on the Caelian hill and Suburra (between modern Rione Monti and the Oppius hill) joined them.
These hills had expressive names: the Caelian hill was also called Querquetulanus, from quercus (oak), while Fagutal points to beech-woods, from fagus (beech). Recent discoveries reveal that the Germalus on the northern part of the Palatine, was the site of a village (dated to the 9th century BC) with circular or elliptic dwellings. It was protected by a clay wall (perhaps reinforced with wood), and it is likely that this is where Rome was really founded.
The territory of this federation was surrounded by a sacred border called the pomerium, which enclosed the so-called Roma Quadrata (Square Rome). This would have been extended with the inclusion of the Capitoline hill and Tiber island at the time Rome became an oppidum or fortified town. The Esquiline still was a satellite village that would be included at the time of the Servian expansion of Rome.
Festivals for the Septimontium (literally "of the seven hills"), on December 11, were in the past considered related to the foundation. However, as April 21 is the only datum for foundation upon which all the legends agree, it has been recently argued that Septimontium was likely to have actually celebrated the first federations among Roman hills: a similar federation was, in fact, celebrated by the Latins at Cave (a village southeast of Rome) or at Monte Cavo (in Castelli).
According to Francis Owen in The Germanic People (1960), the people which settled Rome may have been immigrants from outside the Italian peninsula, possibly an off-shoot from the same group that would become Celtic or Germanic peoples. Traces of the founding population were apparently evident in the appearance of the aristocracy long into the time of the republic. According to Owens the evidence available from Roman literature, historical records and statuary and personal names shows that in physical appearance the Roman aristocracy differed from most of the population in the rest of the peninsula. The records describe a very large number of well known historical personalities as blonde. In addition, 250 individuals are recorded to have had the name Flavius, meaning blonde, and there are many named Rufus and Rutilius, meaning red haired and reddish haired respectively. The following Roman gods are said to have had blonde hair: Amor, Apollo, Aurora, Bacchus, Ceres, Diana, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Minerva and Venus.
Romulus and Remus
The earlier legend of the founding of the Rome (i.e., that it was founded personally by Aeneas), was supplanted over the centuries by the attribution of the founding to twin brothers, Romulus (c. 771 BC–c. 717 BC) and Remus (c. 771 BC–c. 753 BC). In Roman mythology, they are sons of the priestess Rhea Silvia and Mars, the god of war, abandoned at birth at Tiber by servants in charge of executing them. The twins were taken by a she-wolf. Later a shepherd named Faustulus came and took Remus and Romulus. Faustulus and his wife (Acca Larentia) raised the children. When Remus and Romulus became adults they decided to establish a city. They couldn't decide who would rule the city so they gave it to omens. Remus was the first to see six vultures flying in the sky. Soon after Romulus saw twelve vultures. Remus saw the birds first but Romulus saw more. Finally Romulus was the one who was designated. When Remus saw how weak Romulus was he laughed. In retaliation Romulus killed Remus.
The date of the founding of Rome
During the Roman republic, several dates were given for the founding of the city, all in the interval between 758 BC and 728 BC. Finally, under the Roman empire the date suggested by Marcus Terentius Varro (753 BC) was agreed upon, but in the Fasti Capitolini the year given was 752. While the years varied, all versions agreed that the city was founded on April 21, day of the festival sacred to Pales, goddess of shepherds; in her honour, Rome celebrated the Par ilia (or Palilia). (The Roman Ab Urbe Condita (or a.u.c.) calendar, however, begins with Varro's dating of 753 BC.)
According to legend, the foundation of Rome took place 438 years after the capture of Troy (1182 BC), according to Velleius Paterculus (VIII, 5). It took place shortly before an eclipse of the sun; some have identified this eclipse as one observed at Rome on June 25, 745 BC, which had a magnitude of 50.3%. Varro may have used the consular list with its mistakes, calling the year of the first consuls "245 ab urbe condita" (a.u.c.).
According to Lucius Tarrutius of Firmum, Romulus was conceived on the 23rd day of the Egyptian month Choiac, at the time of a total eclipse of the sun. This eclipse occurred on June 15, 763 BC, with a magnitude of 62.5% at Rome. He was born on the 21st day of the month of Thoth. The first day of Thoth fell on 2 March in that year (Prof. E. J. Bickerman, 1980: 115). That implies that Rhea Silvia's pregnancy lasted for 281 days. Rome was founded on the ninth day of the month Pharmuthi, which was April 21, as universally agreed. The Romans add that, about the time Romulus started to build the city, an eclipse of the Sun was observed by Antimachus, the Teian poet, on the 30th day of the lunar month. This eclipse (see above) had a magnitude of 54.6% at Teos, Asia Minor. Romulus vanished in the 54th year of his life, on the Nones of Quintilis (July), on a day when the Sun was darkened. The day turned into night, which sudden darkness was believed to be an eclipse of the Sun. It occurred on July 17, 709 BC, with a magnitude of 93.7%. (All these eclipse data have been calculated by Prof. Aurél Ponori-Thewrewk, retired director of the Planetarium of Budapest.) Plutarch placed it in the 37th year from the foundation of Rome, on the fifth of our month July, then called Quintiles, on "Caprotine Nones". Livy (I, 21) also states that Romulus ruled for 37 years. He was slain by the Senate or disappeared in the 38th year of his reign. Most of these have been recorded by Plutarch (Lives of Romulus, Numa Pompilius and Camillus), Florus (Book I, I), Cicero (The Republic VI, 22: Scipio's Dream), Dio (Dion) Cassius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus (L. 2). Dio in his Roman History (Book I) confirms these data by telling that Romulus was in his 18th year of age when he founded Rome. Therefore, three eclipse records indicate that Romulus reigned from 746 BC to 709 BC. Surprisingly this is very close to the calculation of the founding given by Rome's first native historical writer Quintus Fabius Pictor, who wrote that Rome was founded in the first year of the eighth Olympiad, 747 BC (Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Book 1, ch. 74,2).
In the modern period debate has raged over the validity of the stories of Rome's foundation. Scholars have supported both extremes—those who want to believe nothing of the legend, and those who want to believe the legend wholeheartedly without skepticism. Archaeology offers the best chance of sorting out the debate, and indeed recent discoveries on the Palatine Hill in Rome have offered some tantalizing pieces of evidence. Chief among these is a series of fortification walls on the north slope of the Palatine Hill that can be dated to the middle of the 8th century B.C., precisely the time when legend says Romulus plowed a furrow (sulcus) around the Palatine in order to mark the boundary of his new city. The remains of the wall, and other evidence, has been discovered by the excavations of Andrea Carandini.
The name of Rome
The name of the town is generally considered to refer to Romulus, but there are other hypotheses. Some have suggested an Etruscan word, "rhome", meaning "hard", cognate with Greek "ῥώμη, rhōmē", strength, vigor.[2] Another one of them refers it to Roma, who is supposed to have been the daughter of Aeneas or Evander. The Basque scholar Manuel de Larramendi thought that the origin was the Basque word orma (modern Basque horma), "wall".
Rome is also the Urbs, and this name (that in later Latin generically meant any towns) comes from urvus, the furrow cut by a plough– in this case, by that of Romulus. Urbs could also come from Urbs, Urbis meaning city in Latin.
On the Capitoline hill, at noon on April 21 every year, a special bell called Patarina rings from the Campidoglio to commemorate the founding of Rome. On that occasion, the famous cannon of Gianicolo remains silent, the only day in the year on which it does not sound.
Roma Street railway yards and station with Brisbane City Hall standing tall in the middle of the city.
from my slide collection (circa mid 1960s).
Roma Church (Swedish: Roma kyrka) is a medieval Lutheran church in Lövsta, Gotland (Sweden), in the Diocese of Visby.
The presently visible church was preceded by a considerably smaller, Romanesque church. Some fragments from this church have been re-used and incorporated in the façade of the later church. The still extant sacristy is also a remnant of this earlier church.
The earlier church was torn down and successively replaced with one more Gothic in style during the 13th century. It was built between 1215 and 1255; dendrochronological examinations have shown that the latest additions were made in 1280. The nave and choir seem to have been erected during a single period of construction, possibly with the exception for the westernmost part of the nave, which is slightly different in style. A tower was evidently planned for the church but never executed. Influences for the somewhat unusual architecture may have come from nearby Roma Abbey and thus the traditions of Cistercian architecture. The church has remained largely unaltered since the Middle Ages. The large western rose window was however added in the 1880s and the church underwent a renovation in 1902.
The church seems to have had a special function. It was built close to the location of the thing of all of Gotland, and not far from a Cistercian monastery, Roma Abbey. Unlike a regular church, it had five entrances (instead of three) and its architecture differs from other churches on Gotland. The likeness of the church with that of the Dominicans in Visby (now ruined) is noticeable. There is therefore reason to believe that the church may have been used by the Dominicans, possibly to preach for crusades against non-Christians in what is today the Baltic states.
Source: Wikipedia
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Roma kyrka är en kyrkobyggnad som tillhör Roma församling i Visby stift.
Den medeltida kalkstenskyrkan i Roma kyrkby består av ett treskeppigt långhus med ett smalare rakt avslutat kor i öster samt sakristia på nordsidan. Sakristian, som är äldst, byggdes ursprungligen till ett absidkor från 1100-talets senare hälft (absidstenar återfinns i nuvarande kyrkans murverk). Vid en senare byggnadsperiod (troligen på 1200-talet) uppfördes kor och långhus (tre travéer); avvikelser i valvform och fönsterutformning tyder på att de två västligaste travéerna tillkom något senare. Utifrån sett är kyrkan en basilika med låg klerestorievåning. En takryttare, åttkantig tornspira med klockvåning under skärmtak, kröner västgaveln. Koret täcks av ett lägre sadeltak och sakristian har pulpettak. En igenmurad tornbåge i västmuren vittnar om ett planerat men ej utfört västtorn. Av kyrkans fem portaler (fyra långhusportaler och en korportal) har långhusets nord- respektive sydportal rikast utformning. En stenfigur på östra korgaveln (vattenkastare) tros härröra från den äldre kyrkan. Västgavelns rundfönster med masverk av huggen kalksten är från 1880-talet. Kyrkorummet är av hallkyrkomodell där mittskeppets kryssvalv är något högre än sidoskeppens. Långhuset har nio kryssvalv som bärs upp av fyra tunga pelare. Koret, som också är kryssvälvt, lyses upp av östväggens trefönstergrupp och av ett sydfönster. I norra kormuren finns en nisch med snidad omfattning av trä, ett sakramentsskåp från 1200-talet. Kyrkans nygotiska inredning härstammar från en restaurering 1902.
Nuvarande altartavla med målade bibliska figurer tillkom vid restaureringen 1902
Källa: Wikipedia