Remus and Romulus and other Rome, Italy General Tips

Favorite Thing: According to the legend, Romulus was the founder of Rome and Remus was his twin brother.

Numitor was dethroned by his brother Amulius. Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, was made a Vestal Virgin by Amulius. But Mars, the god of war, fell in love with her and she gave birth to twin sons.

Amulius was afraid that the boys would grow up to overthrow him and had them thrown into the Tiber. The two boys came ashore and were found by a she-wolf. She nursed them with her milk.

The king's shepherd Faustulus later found the twins and adopted them, calling them Romulus and Remus.

One day Remus, a gangleader, was captured and brought before Numitor. Numitor noticed how unlike a shepherd's son he was, questioned him and realized who he was. Romulus and Remus rose against Amulius, killed him and restored the kingdom to their grandfather.

The boys wanted a town of their own and choose the place where the she-wolf had nursed them. Romulus began to build walls on the Palatine Hill. Remus was telling his brother they were too low, and jumped over them. Romulus killed him in anger .

Romulus continued building the city and named it Roma. It's first citizens were outlaws and fugitives, who settled on the Capitoline Hill. There were not enough wives for all these men, and Romulus decided to steal women from the Sabines. He organised a festival and invited many Sabines to it. While the attention of the men was elsewhere Romulus' men rushed in and carried off the women.

A war was the result. When fighting reached a peak the Sabine women rushed in and begged both sides for peace. The battle was stopped, Romulus and Titus Tatius (the Sabine king) ruled together.

After Titus Tatius died Romulus ruled alone for the rest of his life. According to the legend he did not die, but disappeared one day in a violent storm.

This is all a legend and most likely not true but a copy of a Greek tale, invented to explain the name of Rome and certain customs


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Favorite Thing: Everywhere in Rome you will encounter these four letters. The abbreviation S.P.Q.R. comes from the expression Senatus Popolusque Romanus, with which resolutions were begun in ancient Rome. Today it is still one of the symbols of Rome, together with the She-wolf.

The Roman poet Belli interpreted the abbreviation, explaining it in a sonnet, as meaning "Solo Preti Qui Regneno" (only priests reign here), referring to the temporal power of the Church of Rome, maintained until 1870.


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Favorite Thing: In the ancient times Rome was not only a city, but it was an empire that conquered the world. At its height (around 100 AD) it stretched throughout Europe, parts of north africa, and the middle east. And all was done by sword.
We encountered this house with a sword in the facade. As if to prove Rome is not that dangerous anymore a peaceflag is entangled around the balcony next to the sword.

More about the Roman Empire at:
http://www.roman-empire.net/


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Favorite Thing: Rome may be an ancient city, the people you see in this picture are not the real thing. They dress up as ancient Romans complete with their swords and go to the Coloseum.
This is where the tourist can take pictures with them. Ofcourse you pay them in real Euro after you took the picture!

If you like this kind of thing it is OK, but be sure to ask how much it is first.........


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Favorite Thing: What to expect when you visit Rome? If you have no idea it will be quite a surprise that all the old buildings are made of brick and concrete. The Romans used concrete over 2000 years ago. Roman concrete (opus caementicium), like modern concrete, is an artificial building material composed of a filler, a binding agent, and water. As a filler they used gravel, chunks of stone and rubble, broken bricks, etc. The binding agent was pozzolana cement from Pozzuoli, Italy.


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Favorite Thing: Some parts of touristic Rome has the old road. It is very uneven and one can easily sprain an ankle. So it is always wise to take some good shoes, also because one can walk all day and do not see everything in Rome....

In the picture you can see a strech of this ancient road in the Forum. Notice how much it is used, one can see the marks of the wagonwheels. The romans were very known for their road building. They built roads throughout their empire to connect one corner with the other. They built approx. 5,300 miles of roads. (The U.S. Interstate Highway System has 4,200 miles.)


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Favorite Thing: Rome is built on seven hills. When Romulus and Remus found this site they must have been very pleased. In that days seven planets were worshipped ( Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn), so seven was considered a good number. The hills were named: Palatine, Aventine, Capitoline, Quarinal, Viminal, Esquiline and Caelian. In between the hills was marshland where the Romans buried their dead. As Rome began to grow from a village to a city the draining of the Forum Valley was needed. It was going to be a public square.

These seven hills are still there and reflect in the names of the Roman quarters. The hills are not very high, but sometimes you encounter stairs when you walk the streets of Rome. This is the Via di San Francesco di Paola. It leads from the Via Cavour to a building of the university.


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Favorite Thing: Where you walk in Rome you are bound to bump into a fountain. Every (small) square has one, or two. Rome is rich in drinking water and most of the fountains are drinking fountains. If you can not drink the water there is a sign: aqua non potabile.

The pictures shows a very ordinairy fountain in front of the Santa Maria Maggiore at night. More about this church in the must see tips and the travelogue about it.


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Favorite Thing: All over Rome you will encounter columns. Some are made by order of an emperor, mostly to honor him or his great acts. Others are much older and brought here from countries that were conquered by the roman empire.
The highest can be found at the Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterno. It is 31 meters high and built in Thebe 15th century BC. It was brought to Rome in 357 as ordered by Constantine II and was placed in the Circus Maximus.
Some columns are beautifull decorated with stories of the victorious romans. A good example is standing at the Piazza Colonna. (see picture) This column was made in 180 after Marcus Aurelius died and depicts his victories over the barbaric tribes. The column is restored in 1588 and the statue of the emperor on top was replaced by a statue of St Paul. The column is almost 30 meters high and 3.7 meter in diameter.


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Favorite Thing: Rome is connected with the christian religion from the beginning of christianity. Jesus Christ was born undr the reign of emperor Augustus. When te romans had occupied the middle-east. Although christians were procescuted until the 4th century, the new religion kept on and Rome became its center.
Popes have been in Rome since the begiining and in the past they have not only been religious leaders but also very important political leaders.
Today the Roman Catholic church has its center in Vatican City, which is an autonomous country, but it is situated within the roman citylimits.

You can find christian churches everywhere in Rome, and sometimes you will see some christian statues or other christian artpieces along the road.


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