Tradition holds that
Romulus and Remus founded the original city on the Palatine Hill on 21 April 753 BC, and that the seven hills were first occupied by small settlements that were not grouped. The seven hills' denizens began to interact, which began to bond the groups. The city of Rome, thus, came into being as these separate settlements acted as a group, draining the marshy valleys between them and turning them into markets (
fora in Latin). Later, in the early 4th century BC, the
Servian Walls were constructed to protect the seven hills. In modern Rome, five of the seven hills—the Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline, Quirinal, and Viminal Hills—are now the sites of monuments, buildings, and parks. The Capitoline Hill is the location of Rome's city hall, and the Palatine Hill is part of the main archaeological area. A smaller area was covered by the seven peaks associated with the festival of the
Septimontium: the Cispian Hill (
Cispius Mons),
Oppian Hill (
Oppius Mons), and Fagutal Hill (
Fagutalis Mons), three spurs of the Esquiline Hill, along with the Palatium and Cermalus, the peaks of the Palatine Hill, the
Velian Hill, a ridge joining the Palatine and Oppian Hills, and the Caelian Hill.
Other cities with seven hills Sheffield,
Istanbul,
Lisbon,
Providence and the
Massachusetts cities of
Worcester,
Somerville, and
Newton are also said to have been built on seven hills, following the example of Rome. ==In the New Testament==