Earliest history Archaeological evidence of human occupation of the Rome area has been found from approximately 14,000 years ago, although the dense layer of much younger debris obscures
Palaeolithic and
Neolithic sites. However, none of them yet had an urban quality.
Legend of the founding of Rome '', a sculpture of the
mythical she-wolf suckling the infant twins
Romulus and Remus Traditional stories handed down by the
ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest
history of their city in terms of
legend and
myth. The most familiar of these myths, and perhaps the most famous of all
Roman myths, is the story of
Romulus and Remus, the twins who were suckled by a
she-wolf. This was accomplished by the Roman poet
Virgil in the first century BC. In addition,
Strabo mentions an older story, that the city was an
Arcadian colony founded by
Evander. Strabo also writes that
Lucius Coelius Antipater believed that Rome was founded by Greeks.
Monarchy and republic , god of grain storage, keys, livestock and ports, built in 120–80 BC contains the ruins of the buildings that represented the political, legal, religious and economic centre of ancient Rome, constituting the "nerve centre" of all Roman civilisation. After the foundation by Romulus (according to a legend), Rome was ruled for a period of 244 years by a
monarchy. The first rulers were of
Latin and
Sabine origin, and later ones were
Etruscan. The tradition handed down seven kings:
Romulus,
Numa Pompilius,
Tullus Hostilius,
Ancus Marcius,
Tarquinius Priscus,
Servius Tullius and
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. In 509 BC, the Romans expelled the last king from their city and established an
oligarchic republic led by two annually elected
consuls. Rome then began a period characterised by internal struggles between
patricians (aristocrats) and
plebeians (small landowners), and by constant warfare against the populations of central Italy: Etruscans, Latins,
Volsci,
Aequi, and
Marsi. After becoming master of
Latium, Rome led several wars (against the
Gauls,
Osci-
Samnites and the Greek colony of
Taranto, allied with
Pyrrhus, king of
Epirus) whose result was the conquest of the
Italian peninsula, from the central area up to
Magna Graecia. The 3rd and 4th century BC saw the establishment of Roman hegemony over the
Mediterranean and the
Balkans through the three
Punic Wars (264–146 BC) fought against
Carthage and the three
Macedonian Wars (212–168 BC) against
Macedonia. The first
Roman provinces were established at this time:
Sicily,
Sardinia and Corsica,
Hispania,
Macedonia,
Achaea and
Africa. From the beginning of the 2nd century BC, power was contested between two groups of aristocrats: the
optimates, representing the conservative part of the
Roman Senate, and the
populares, who relied on the help of the
plebs (urban lower class) to gain power. In the same period, the bankruptcy of the small farmers and the establishment of large slave estates caused large-scale migration to the city. The continuous warfare led to the establishment of a professional army, which turned out to be more loyal to its generals than to the republic. Because of this, in the late 2nd and early 1st century BC there were several conflicts both abroad and internally: after the failed attempt of social reform of the populares
Tiberius and
Gaius Gracchus, and the war against
Jugurtha, there was
a civil war from which the general
Sulla emerged victorious. A
major slave revolt under
Spartacus followed, and then the establishment of the
first Triumvirate with
Caesar,
Pompey and
Crassus. Caesar's conquest of
Gaul made him immensely powerful and popular, which led to a
civil war against the Senate and Pompey. After his victory, Caesar established himself as
dictator for life. His assassination in 44 BC led to a
second Triumvirate among
Octavian (Caesar's grandnephew and heir),
Mark Antony and
Lepidus, and to a
final civil war between Octavian and Antony.
Empire , express power and wealth of emperors from Augustus until the 4th century. belong to a series of
monumental fora (public squares) constructed in Rome by the emperors. Also seen in the image is
Trajan's Market. in Rome. The
Temple of Claudius is situated to the south (left) of the
Colosseum. In 27 BC, Octavian was named
Augustus and
princeps, founding the
principate, a
diarchy between the
princeps and the senate. Over time, the new monarch came to be known as the
imperator (hence
emperor), meaning "commander". During the reign of
Nero, two thirds of the city was ruined after the
Great Fire of Rome, and the
persecution of Christians commenced. Rome's empire reached its greatest expansion in the second century under the Emperor
Trajan. Rome was known as the
caput Mundi, i.e. the capital of the known world, an expression which had already been used in the Republican period. During its first two centuries, the empire was ruled by emperors of the
Julio-Claudian,
Flavian (who built an eponymous amphitheatre known as the
Colosseum), and
Antonine dynasties. This time was also characterised by the spread of the Christian religion, preached by
Jesus Christ in
Judea in the first half of the first century (under
Tiberius) and popularised by his
apostles through the empire and beyond. The Antonine age is considered the zenith of the Empire, whose territory ranged from the
Atlantic Ocean to the
Euphrates and from
Britain to
Egypt. at dusk After the end of the
Severan dynasty in AD 235, the Empire entered into a 50-year period known as the
Crisis of the Third Century, during which numerous generals fought for power and the central authority in Rome weakened dramatically. Around the same time, the
Plague of Cyprian ( 250–270) afflicted the Mediterranean. Instability caused economic deterioration, and there was a rapid rise in inflation as the government debased the currency in order to meet expenses. The
Germanic tribes along the Rhine and north of the Balkans made serious uncoordinated incursions that were more like giant raiding parties rather than attempts to settle. The
Persian Empire invaded from the east several times during the 230s to 260s but were eventually defeated. The civil wars ended in 285 with the final victory of
Diocletian, who undertook the restoration of the State. He ended the
Principate and introduced a new authoritarian model known as the
Dominate, derived from his title of
dominus ("lord"). His most marked feature was the unprecedented intervention of the State down to the city level: whereas the State had submitted a tax demand to a city and allowed it to allocate the charges, from his reign the State did this down to the village level. In a vain attempt to control inflation, he imposed
price controls which did not last. Diocletian divided the empire in 286, ruling over the eastern half from
Nicomedia, while his co-emperor
Maximian ruled the western half from
Mediolanum (when not on the move). The empire was further divided in 293, when Diocletian named two
caesar, one for each
augustus (emperor). Diocletian tried to turn into a system of non-dynastic succession, similar to the Antonine dynasty. Upon abdication in 305, both caesars succeeded and they, in turn, appointed two colleagues for themselves. However, a
series of civil wars between rival claimants to power resulted in the unification of the empire under
Constantine the Great in 324. Hereditary succession was restored, but the east–west division was maintained. Constantine undertook a major reform of the bureaucracy, not by changing the structure but by rationalising the competencies of the several ministries. The so-called
Edict of Milan of 313, actually a fragment of a letter from his co-emperor
Licinius to the governors of the eastern provinces, granted freedom of worship to everyone, including Christians, and ordered the restoration of confiscated church properties upon petition to the newly created vicars of dioceses. He funded the building of several churches and allowed clergy to act as arbitrators in civil suits (a measure that did not outlast him but which was restored in part much later). In 330, he transformed
Byzantium into
Constantinople, which became his new capital. However, it was not officially anything more than an imperial residence like
Milan,
Trier or Nicomedia until given a city prefect in 359 by
Constantius II. Constantine, following Diocletian's reforms, regionalised the administration, which fundamentally changed the way it was governed by creating regional dioceses. The existence of regional fiscal units from 286 served as the model for this unprecedented innovation. The emperor quickened the process of removing military command from governors. Henceforth, civilian administration and military command would be separate. He gave governors more fiscal duties and placed them in charge of the army logistical support system as an attempt to control it by removing the support system from its control. Christianity in the form of the Nicene Creed became the official religion of the empire in 380, via the
Edict of Thessalonica issued in the name of three emperors – Gratian, Valentinian II, and
Theodosius I – with Theodosius clearly the driving force behind it. He was the last emperor of a unified empire: after his death in 395, his young children,
Honorius and
Arcadius, inherited the
western and
eastern empires respectively. The seat of government in the Western Roman Empire was transferred to
Ravenna in 408, but from 450 the emperors mostly resided in Rome.
sacking Rome in 410, by
Joseph-Noël Sylvestre (1890), the first time in 800 years that Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy Rome, which had lost its central role in the administration of the empire,
was sacked in 410 by the
Visigoths led by
Alaric I, but very little physical damage was done, most of which was repaired. What could not be so easily replaced were portable items such as artwork in precious metals and items for domestic use (loot). The popes embellished the city with large basilicas, such as
Santa Maria Maggiore (with the collaboration of the emperors). The population of the city had fallen from 800,000 to 450–500,000 by the time the city was sacked in 455 by
Genseric, king of the
Vandals. The weak emperors of the fifth century could not stop the decay, leading to the deposition of
Romulus Augustus, who resided on Ravenna, on 4 September 476. This marked the end of the
Western Roman Empire and, for many historians, the beginning of the
Middle Ages. The decline of the city's population was caused by the loss of grain shipments from North Africa, from 440 onward, and the unwillingness of the senatorial class to maintain donations to support a population that was too large for the resources available. Even so, strenuous efforts were made to maintain the monumental centre, the palatine, and the largest baths, which continued to function until the Gothic siege of 537. The large baths of Constantine on the Quirinale were even repaired in 443, and the extent of the damage exaggerated and dramatised. However, the city gave an appearance overall of shabbiness and decay because of the large abandoned areas due to population decline. The population declined to 500,000 by 452 and 100,000 by AD 500 (perhaps larger, though no certain figure can be known). After the Gothic siege of 537, the population dropped to 30,000 but had risen to 90,000 by the papacy of
Gregory the Great. The population decline coincided with the general collapse of urban life in the West in the fifth and sixth centuries, with few exceptions. Subsidized state grain distributions to the poorer members of society continued right through the sixth century and probably prevented the population from falling further. The figure of 450,000–500,000 is based on the amount of pork, 3,629,000 lbs. distributed to poorer Romans during five winter months at the rate of five Roman lbs per person per month, enough for 145,000 persons or 1/4 or 1/3 of the total population. Grain distribution to 80,000 ticket holders at the same time suggests 400,000 (Augustus set the number at 200,000 or one-fifth of the population).
Middle Ages sacking Rome in 455, by
Karl Briullov (1830s) After the
fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476, Rome was first under the control of
Odoacer and then became part of the
Ostrogothic Kingdom before returning to
East Roman control after the
Gothic War, which devastated the city
in 546 and
550. Its population declined from more than a million in AD 210 to 500,000 in AD 273 to 35,000 after the Gothic War (535–554), reducing the sprawling city to groups of inhabited buildings interspersed among large areas of ruins, vegetation, vineyards and market gardens. It is generally thought the population of the city until AD 300 was 1 million (estimates range from 2 million to 750,000) declining to 750–800,000 in AD 400, then 450–500,000 in AD 450 and down to 80–100,000 in AD 500 (though it may have been twice this). The Bishop of Rome, called the
Pope, was important since the early days of Christianity because of the martyrdom of both the apostles
Peter and
Paul there. The Bishops of Rome were also seen (and still are seen by Catholics) as the successors of Peter, who is considered the first Bishop of Rome. The city thus became of increasing importance as the centre of the
Catholic Church. After the
Lombard invasion of Italy (569–572), the city remained nominally Byzantine, but in reality, the popes pursued a policy of equilibrium between the
Byzantines, the
Franks, and the
Lombards. In 729, the Lombard king
Liutprand donated the north Latium town of
Sutri to the Church, starting its
temporal power. In 756,
Pepin the Short, after having defeated the Lombards, gave the Pope temporal jurisdiction over the
Duchy of Rome and the
Exarchate of Ravenna, thus creating the
Papal States. Since this period, three powers tried to rule the city: the pope, the nobility (together with the chiefs of militias, the judges, the Senate and the populace), and the Frankish king, as king of the Lombards, patricius, and Emperor. These three parties (theocratic, republican, and imperial) were a characteristic of Roman life during the entire Middle Ages. On Christmas night of 800,
Charlemagne was crowned in Rome as
Emperor by
Pope Leo III: on that occasion, the city hosted for the first time the two powers whose struggle for control was to be a constant of the Middle Ages. This event marks the beginning of the
Carolingian Empire, the first phase of the
Holy Roman Empire. , portraying the crowning of
Charlemagne in
Old Saint Peter's Basilica, on 25 December 800 In 846, Muslim Arabs
unsuccessfully stormed the city's walls, but managed to loot
St. Peter's and St. Paul's basilica, both outside the city wall. After the decay of
Carolingian power, Rome fell prey to feudal chaos: several noble families fought against the pope, the emperor, and each other. These were the times of
Theodora and her daughter
Marozia, concubines and mothers of several popes, and of
Crescentius, a powerful feudal lord, who fought against the Emperors
Otto II and
Otto III. The scandals of this period forced the papacy to reform itself: the election of the pope was reserved to the cardinals, and reform of the clergy was attempted. The driving force behind this renewal was the monk
Ildebrando da Soana, who once elected pope under the name of
Gregory VII became involved into the
Investiture Controversy against Emperor
Henry IV. Subsequently, Rome
was sacked and burned by the
Normans under
Robert Guiscard who had entered the city in support of the Pope, then besieged in
Castel Sant'Angelo. During this period, the city was autonomously ruled by a
senatore or
patrizio. In the 12th century, this administration, like other European cities, evolved into the
commune, a new form of social organisation controlled by the new wealthy classes. Pope
Lucius II fought against the Roman commune, and the struggle was continued by his successor
Pope Eugenius III: by this stage, the commune, allied with the aristocracy, was supported by
Arnaldo da Brescia, a monk who was a religious and social reformer. After the pope's death, Arnaldo was taken prisoner by
Adrianus IV, which marked the end of the commune's autonomy. Under
Pope Innocent III, whose reign marked the apogee of the papacy, the commune liquidated the senate, and replaced it with a
Senatore, who was subject to the pope. In this period, the papacy played a role of secular importance in
Western Europe, often acting as arbitrators between Christian
monarchs and exercising additional political powers. In 1266,
Charles of Anjou, who was heading south to fight the
Hohenstaufen on behalf of the pope, was appointed Senator. Charles founded the
Sapienza, the university of Rome. In that period the pope died, and the cardinals, summoned in
Viterbo, could not agree on his successor. This angered the people of the city, who then unroofed the building where they met and imprisoned them until they had nominated the new pope; this marked the birth of the
conclave. In this period the city was also shattered by continuous fights between the aristocratic families:
Annibaldi,
Caetani,
Colonna,
Orsini,
Conti, nested in their fortresses built above ancient Roman edifices, fought each other to control the papacy. returned to Rome in 1376 and ended the
Avignon Papacy.
Pope Boniface VIII, born Caetani, was the last pope to fight for the church's
universal domain; he proclaimed a crusade against the
Colonna family and, in 1300, called for the first
Jubilee of Christianity, which brought millions of
pilgrims to Rome. However, his hopes were crushed by the French king
Philip the Fair, who took him prisoner and held him hostage for three days at
Anagni. The Pope was able to return to Rome, but died a month later, it was said of shock and grief. Afterwards, a new pope faithful to the French was elected, and the papacy was
briefly relocated to
Avignon (1309–1377). During this period Rome was neglected, until a plebeian man,
Cola di Rienzo, came to power. An idealist and a lover of ancient Rome, Cola dreamed about a rebirth of the Roman Empire: after assuming power with the title of
Tribuno, his reforms were rejected by the populace. Forced to flee, Cola returned as part of the entourage of Cardinal
Albornoz, who was charged with restoring the Church's power in Italy. Back in power for a short time, Cola was soon lynched by the populace, and Albornoz took possession of the city. In 1377, Rome became the seat of the papacy again under
Gregory XI. The return of the pope to Rome in that year unleashed the
Western Schism (1377–1418), and for the next forty years, the city was affected by the divisions which rocked the Church.
Early modern history (from 1575) shows the city's primary monuments. , or Hadrian's Mausoleum, is a Roman monument built in 134 AD, radically altered in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and crowned with 16th and 17th-century statues. , created by
Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1629 In 1418, the
Council of Constance settled the
Western Schism, and a Roman pope,
Martin V, was elected. This brought to Rome a century of internal peace, which marked the beginning of the
Renaissance. The ruling popes until the first half of the 16th century, from
Nicholas V, founder of the
Vatican Library, to
Pius II, humanist and literate, from
Sixtus IV, a warrior pope, to
Alexander VI, immoral and
nepotist, from
Julius II, soldier and patron, to
Leo X, who gave his name to this period ("the century of Leo X"), all devoted their energy to the greatness and the beauty of the Eternal City and to the patronage of the arts. During those years, the centre of the
Italian Renaissance moved to Rome from Florence. Majestic works, as the new
Saint Peter's Basilica, the
Sistine Chapel and
Ponte Sisto (the first bridge to be built across the
Tiber since antiquity, although on Roman foundations) were created. To accomplish that, the Popes engaged the best artists of the time, including
Michelangelo,
Perugino,
Raphael,
Ghirlandaio,
Luca Signorelli,
Botticelli, and
Cosimo Rosselli. The period was also infamous for papal corruption, with many Popes fathering children, and engaging in
nepotism and
simony. The corruption of the Popes and the huge expenses for their building projects led, in part, to the
Reformation and, in turn, the
Counter-Reformation. Under extravagant and rich popes, Rome was transformed into a centre of art, poetry, music, literature, education and culture. Rome became able to compete with other major European cities of the time in terms of wealth, grandeur, the arts, learning and architecture. The Renaissance period changed the face of Rome dramatically, with works like the
Pietà by Michelangelo and the frescoes of the
Borgia Apartments. 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 Rome, , by
Johannes Lingelbach , In this twenty-year period, Rome became one of the greatest centres of art in the world. The old St. Peter's Basilica built by Emperor
Constantine the Great (which by then was in a dilapidated state) was demolished and a new one begun. The city hosted artists like
Ghirlandaio,
Perugino,
Botticelli and
Bramante, who built the temple of
San Pietro in Montorio and planned a great project to renovate the
Vatican. Raphael, who in Rome became one of the most famous painters of Italy, created frescoes in the
Villa Farnesina, the
Raphael's Rooms, plus many other famous paintings. Michelangelo started the decoration of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and executed the famous statue of the
Moses for the tomb of Julius II. 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. The
War of the League of Cognac caused the first plunder of the city in more than five hundred years since
the previous sack; in 1527, the
Landsknechts of Emperor
Charles V sacked the city, bringing an abrupt end to the golden age of the Renaissance in Rome. Beginning with the
Council of Trent in 1545, the Church began the Counter-Reformation in response to the Reformation, a large-scale questioning of the Church's authority on spiritual matters and governmental affairs. This loss of confidence led to major shifts of power away from the Church. Under the popes from
Pius IV to
Sixtus V, Rome became the centre of a reformed Catholicism and saw the building of new monuments which celebrated the papacy. The popes and cardinals of the 17th and early 18th centuries continued the movement by having the city's landscape enriched with baroque buildings. This was another nepotistic age; the new aristocratic families (
Barberini,
Pamphili,
Chigi,
Rospigliosi,
Altieri,
Odescalchi) were protected by their respective popes, who built huge baroque buildings for their relatives. During the
Age of Enlightenment, new ideas reached the Eternal City, where the papacy supported archaeological studies and improved the people's welfare. But not everything went well for the Church during the Counter-Reformation. There were setbacks in the attempts to assert the Church's power, a notable example being in 1773 when Pope Clement XIV was forced by secular powers to have the
Jesuit order suppressed.
Late modern and contemporary troops breaching the
Aurelian Walls at
Porta Pia during the
Capture of Rome (1870), the final event of the
Italian unification. Painting by
Carlo Ademollo. The rule of the Popes was interrupted by the short-lived
Roman Republic (1798–1800), which was established under the influence of the
French Revolution. The
Papal States were restored in June 1800, but during
Napoleon's reign Rome was
annexed as a Département of the
French Empire: first as
Département du Tibre (1809–1810) and then as
Département Rome (1810–1814). After the fall of Napoleon, the Papal States were reconstituted by a decision of the
Congress of Vienna of 1814. In 1849,
a second Roman Republic was proclaimed during a year of
revolutions in 1848. Two of the most influential figures of the
Italian unification,
Giuseppe Mazzini and
Giuseppe Garibaldi, fought for the short-lived republic. Rome then became the focus of hopes of Italian reunification after the rest of Italy was united as the
Kingdom of Italy in 1861 with the temporary capital in
Florence. That year Rome was declared the capital of Italy even though it was still under the Pope's control. During the 1860s, the last vestiges of the Papal States were under French protection thanks to the foreign policy of
Napoleon III. French troops were stationed in the region under Papal control. In 1870 the French troops were withdrawn due to the outbreak of the
Franco-Prussian War. Italian troops were able to
capture Rome entering the city through a breach near
Porta Pia.
Pope Pius IX declared himself a
prisoner in the Vatican. In 1871 the capital of Italy was moved from Florence to Rome. In 1870 the population of the city was 212,000, all of whom lived with the area circumscribed by the ancient city, and in 1920, the population was 660,000. A significant portion lived outside the walls in the north and across the Tiber in the Vatican area. planes, 1943 Soon after World War I in late 1922 Rome witnessed the rise of
Italian Fascism led by
Benito Mussolini, who led a
march on the city. He did away with democracy by 1926, eventually declaring a new
Italian Empire and allying Italy with
Nazi Germany in 1938. Mussolini demolished fairly large parts of the city centre in order to build wide avenues and squares which were supposed to celebrate the fascist regime and the resurgence and glorification of classical Rome. The interwar period saw a rapid growth in the city's population which surpassed one million inhabitants soon after 1930. During World War II, due to the art treasuries and the presence of the Vatican, Rome largely escaped the tragic destiny of other European cities. However, on 19 July 1943, the
San Lorenzo district was
subject to Allied bombing raids, resulting in about 3,000 fatalities and 11,000 injuries, of whom another 1,500 died. Mussolini
was arrested on 25 July 1943. On the date of the
Italian Armistice 8 September 1943 the city was occupied by the Germans. Allied bombing raids continued throughout 1943 and extended into 1944. Rome was liberated on 4 June 1944. Rome developed greatly after the war as part of the "
Italian economic miracle" of post-war reconstruction and modernisation in the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, the years of
la dolce vita ("the sweet life"), Rome became a fashionable city, with popular classic films such as
Ben Hur,
Quo Vadis,
Roman Holiday and
La Dolce Vita filmed in the city's iconic
Cinecittà Studios. The rising trend in population growth continued until the mid-1980s when the
comune had more than 2.8 million residents. After this, the population declined slowly as people began to move to nearby suburbs. ==Geography==