Rome and its numerous centuries of history officially begin in 753 B.C. on the slopes of the Palatino hills, when the Etruscans and Greek colonies occupied areas nearby. Tradition gave Romulus the paternity of the village, tracing in the boundary with a plow.

From 509 B.C. until 27 B.C., the republican supreme authority governed and was elected each year by the citizens, establishing the base of civil law. Rome, once a village, became the capital of an empire in a few centuries and, with the Punic Wars, the undisputed ruler of the Mediterranean Sea.

The territorial and population expansion called for a redefinition of the "republic", or the state. After the assassination of Caesar (44 B.C.) affluent men disputed over the next successor of the new regime-the princedom: Marc Anthony, Cleopatra's ally, or Caesar's adopted son Octavian, both of who shared the rule after Caesar's death. Eventually, Octavian became Emperor calling himsel Caesar Augustus. The "princeps" (from primum caput" or "first citizen") founded an empire in a unified and peaceful order that lasted until the III century A.D. ("pax romana"). It was during these centuries that the Roman empire reached its splendor.

With the III century A.D. Rome gradually lost its central role as a kingdom of vastness and universality, until Diocletian separated the empire into two parts, profoundly restructuring economy, finance, politics, and bureaucracy. This guaranteed Rome a new century of prosperity while Christianity became officially authorized in 313 A.D. by Constantine the Great when he issued the edict in Milan, contributing to the support of the regime.

In that period, Rome had about 4 million citizens (free men, slaves excluded) and an empire of over 50 million.

In the IV century the nucleus of the empire began to move toward the orient, after successive invasions by Barbarians, Visigoths, and Vandals, that also came to plunder the city of Rome.

In the VI century, the Roman empire began to disappear, leaving its mark in history as having created and unified the so-called "civil world".

So our tour of Rome will include the Republican Era (753 BC to 27 BC), the Empirical Era (27 BC to 313 AD), and the Christian Era (313 AD to present).


First stop will be the Pyramid of Cestius. The pyramid was built between 18 and 12 BC as a tomb for for Gaius Cestius Epulo, a magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations at Rome, the Septemviri Epulonum. There are only three larger pyramids in the world - the pyramids of Giza in Egypt.



We will then go to the Circus Maximus. Chariot races were one of the Roman's most popular form of entertainment. Romulus, the first of Rome's seven kings, is said to have held chariot races.

The origins of the Circus Maximus go back to the 6th century BC when Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome, created a track between the Palatine and Aventine hills. The first permanent starting gates were created in 329 BC. In 174 BC the gates were rebuilt and seven wooden eggs were placed on top of the spina, the central wall in the arena. The eggs were used to count the number of laps; after each lap one egg was removed.



Next up, the Colosseum. The Amphitheatrum Flavium, a.k.a. Colosseum or Coliseum (though in ancient times Romans referred to it as to Amphitheatrum Caesareum or hunting theater), was built by the Flavian emperors Vespasian, Titus and Domitian between 71-72 and 80 AD as a gift to the Roman citizens, in the place where the previous Emperor Nero (37-68 AD) had built his residence, the Domus Aurea.

The Colosseum is the place where many anti–death penalty demonstrations take place. The local authorities decided to support the campaign against the death penalty - the color of the Colosseum's night time illumination changes from white to gold, when a person condemned to the death anywhere in the world gets their sentence commuted or is released, and also when a jurisdiction abolishes the death penalty.



The Roman Forum is next on the list. The Roman Forum, is located between the Palatine Hill and the Capitoline Hill. Citizens of the ancient city referred to the location as the "Forum Magnum" or just the "Forum". It is part of the centralized area around which the ancient Roman civilization developed.

According to tradition, the forum's beginnings are connected with the alliance between Romulus, the first king of Rome (753 to 717 BC) controlling the Palatine Hill, and his rival, Titus Tatius who occupied the Capitoline Hill. Accordingly, an alliance formed after combat had been halted by the prayers and cries of the Sabine women. Because the valley lay between the two settlements, it was the designated place for the two peoples to meet. Since the early forum area was mostly pools of stagnant water, the only accessible area was the northern part of the valley which was designated as the Comitium. It was here that the two parties laid down their weapons and formed an alliance.



Then we get to stop for lunch. Grazie.