Roma

Roma¹ is the capital of Italia² (and of Lazio Region and the Metropolitan City of Roma). It is situated among hills along the lower Tevere³ River on the west side of the Italian Peninsula. It arose to prominence when the city-centered state conquered the peninsula and the large islands of Sicilia,⁴ Sardegna⁵ and Corse,⁶ partly at the expense of the city-centered state of Qart-ḥašt.⁷ The Roman Empire officially adopted Christianity as it split into western and eastern pieces in the first century, and in 800 the western church, centered in Roma, split from the eastern-led Orthodox religion. That religious role continues today, and an enclave within Roma called the Vaticano City that houses the headquarters of the Roman branch of Christianity is allowed all sovereign powers except for some reservations in the conduct of foreign affairs. Before the religious split, the city was first ruled by the Ostrogoths, then by the Byzantines. The split coincided with rule by the Franks (protectorate status). One of the successor Frankish states continued to dominate the papal possessions in 1000 but this position was partially reversed by 1200. By then and thereafter until the very end of the 18th century the head of the Roman Catholic Christian church was a feudal lord. Just before 1800 the France conquered the city, but papal independence was, for a time, restored when Napoléon was defeated by a European coaltion. The city regained secular importance when it was made capital of the unified modern state of Italia in 1871.

Today the metropolitan area (informally described) has a population of 4.185 million⁸ and the city proper 2.840 million.⁹ The tallest building is the Torre Eurosky (394 feet, 30 stories, 2013).¹⁰ UNESCO honors the city center, and the Roman Catholic Church's buildings and walls as a World Heritage Site. Among these are: the Colosseo, a first century sports stadium that seated 50,000 and is the city's primary secular tourist attraction;¹¹ the Pantheon, a first century temple that is now a church; the fourth century Arco di Constantino (Arch of Constantine); the Basilica de San Giovanni in Laterano (Saint John Lateran Archbasilica), used by Roman bishops since the fourth century; the Forum Romanum (Roman Forum), a plaza that includes numerous remains of classical buildings and monuments; and the Colonna Traiana (Traian's Column), a second century commemoration of the imperial defeat of a Dacian king. Another World Heritage Site honors the Vaticano¹² City, including the Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano (Saint Peter's Basilica) with its plaza, and the Palazzo Apostolico (Apostolic Chapel), which includes the Sistine Chapel and the residence of the head of the Roman Catholic Christian church. Other famous buildings and structures include: the Vitoriano,¹³ prominent on the Capitoline Hill; Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti, better known in English as the Spanish Steps, and the 18th century Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain).

Within the Metropolitan City of Roma is the town of Cerveteri (37,000 residents¹⁴), which is one of the two places honored jointly by UNESCO for their Etruscan tombs, and Tivoli (57,000 residents¹⁵), which has two World Heritage Sites: the Villa Adriana (Hadrian's Villa), a set of second century buildings that incudes the Golden Square and the Maritime Theatre; and Villa d'Este, a 45,000 square meter¹⁶ complex of a palace, gardens and fountains.

Also within the metropolitan city are two of the nation's busiest airports:¹⁷ Roma Leonardo da Vinci in the town of Fiumicino (71 thousand residents¹⁸); and Roma in the town of Ciampino (38,000 residents¹⁹).

Historical maps

Arch of Septimius Severus, Roma, Lazio, Italia

Footnotes

1. Rome in English.
2. Italy in English.
3. Tiber in English.
4. Sicily in Engish.
5. Sardinia in English.
6. Corsica in English.
7. Carthage in English.
8. 2012 figure from world-gazetteer.com, accessed February 6, 2013.
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Italy, accessed February 15, 2017.
10. Emporis.com, accessed November 29, 2017. The 'Marina Militare,' a collection of wired communications masts, include some that are 492 feet tall and the Torre Laurentine, another telecommunications tower, is 571 feet high.
11. http://www.touropia.com/tourist-attractions-in-italy/3/, accessed February 16, 2017.
12. Vatican in English.
13. Formally the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II, also called the Altare della Patria, and uncomplimentarily nicknamed the macchina da scrivere (typewriter).
14. 2015 figure from the side bar of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerveteri, accessed February 16, 2017.
15. 2015 figure from the side bar of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivoli,_Lazio, accessed February 16, 2017.
16. UNESCO, World Heritage Sites (Firefly Books, 2010).
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_Italy, accessed February 16, 2017. My criterion for inclusion: above 3 million total passengers.
18. Side bar of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiumicino, accessed February 16, 2017.
19. 2009 figure from the side bar of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciampino, accessed February 16, 2017.
20. Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987), "Tables of the World's Largest Cities." The city was the first largest city in the world in 100 CE, fourth in 361 CE, sixth in 200 BCE and eighth in 500 CE. It was the largest city in what is now Italia in those years and in 622 and 800. Figures for 1000, 1200, 1300, 1400 and 1500 come from Chandler's 'Cities of Europe' tables.
21. At the beginning of the year only.