Geographical heart of Rome, Italy, within the walls of the city
The
seven hills of Rome
(
Latin
:
Septem colles/montes Romae
,
Italian
:
Sette colli di Roma
[?s?tte
?k?lli
di
?roːma]
) east of the river
Tiber
form the geographical heart of
Rome
, within the
walls
of the city.
Hills
[
edit
]
The seven hills are:
[1]
The
Vatican Hill
(Latin
Collis Vaticanus
) lying northwest of the
Tiber
, the
Pincian Hill
(
Mons Pincius
), lying to the north, the
Janiculan Hill
(Latin
Janiculum
), lying to the west, and the
Sacred Mount
(Latin
Mons Sacer
), lying to the northeast, are not counted among the traditional Seven Hills, being outside the boundaries of the most ancient part of Rome.
Separate also are the seven hills associated with the
Septimontium
, a proto-urban festival celebrated by the residents of the seven communities associated with the hills or peaks of Rome. These were the
Oppius
,
Palatium
,
Velia
,
Fagutal
, Cermalus,
Caelius
, and
Cispius
.
[2]
These are sometimes confused with the traditional seven hills.
History
[
edit
]
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.
[3]
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
[
edit
]
Sheffield
,
Istanbul
,
Lisbon
,
Providence
and the
Massachusetts
cities of
Worcester
,
[4]
Somerville
,
[5]
and
Newton
[6]
are also said to have been built on seven hills,
[7]
following the example of Rome.
In the New Testament
[
edit
]
In the
Book of Revelation
, the
Whore of Babylon
sits on "seven mountains",
[8]
[9]
often understood by
Christians
as the seven hills of Rome and a reference to the pagan
Roman Empire
.
Protestants
later associated them with the
Catholic Church
(as the
Pope
is patriarch of Rome).
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
In modern literature
[
edit
]
In a 2019 interview
Lindsey Davis
revealed her plan to set a series of books on the seven hills of Rome, now accomplished with the publication of
A Capitol Death
, seventh in the
Flavia Albia
series which began with
The Ides of April
, set on the Aventine Hill.
[15]
See also
[
edit
]
- Other Roman hills
- General
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Heiken, Grant; Funiciello, Renato; de Rita, Donatella (24 October 2013).
"Chapter 11: Field Trips in and Around Rome"
.
The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City
.
Princeton University Press
. p. 174.
ISBN
9780691130385
. Retrieved
14 February
2019
.
- ^
Classical Philology
. University of Chicago Press. 1906. pp.
71
?.
- ^
"The Seven Hills of Rome",
Italy Magazine
italymagazine.com
, accessed 14 February 2019
- ^
Barnes, George.
"Like Rome, Worcester has its 7 hills"
.
telegram.com
. Retrieved
9 February
2021
.
- ^
"Hills of Somerville, Mass"
. Retrieved
23 October
2020
.
- ^
Smith, Samuel Francis (1880).
History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880
. UMass Amherst Libraries. Boston : American Logotype Co.
- ^
"?stanbul'un 7 (Yedi) Tepesi"
.
istanbul.ktb.gov.tr
. Retrieved
30 July
2023
.
- ^
Revelation 17:9
- ^
The King James Version Bible?the New International Version Bible uses the words "seven hills".
- ^
Wall, R. W. (1991).
New International Biblical Commentary: Revelation
(207). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.
- ^
Bratcher, R. G., & Hatton, H. (1993).
A Handbook on the Revelation to John
. UBS handbook series; Helps for translators (248). New York: United Bible Societies.
- ^
Davis, C. A. (2000). Revelation. The College Press NIV commentary (322). Joplin, Mo.: College Press Pub.
- ^
Mounce, R. H. (1997). "The Book of Revelation."
The New International Commentary on the New Testament
(315). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
- ^
Beckwith, Isbon T.
The Apocalypse of John
. New York: MacMillan, 1919; reprinted, Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001.
- ^
"Lindsey Davis interview: A Capitol Death and the Flavia Albia series"
. Hodder & Stoughton. 2 April 2019
. Retrieved
10 April
2019
.