Rome

(rōm.) [L. and It. ROMA.] A famous city of Europe, in Central Italy, renowned as having been the cap. of the greatest empire of antiquity, and, in more modern times, the metropolis of Christen dom, stands Rome, upon both banks of the Tiber, 115 m. N.E. of Naples, in N. Lat. 41° 53′ 52", E. Lon. 12° 28′40″. Built upon seven hills (those of the Capitoline, the Palatine, the Quirinal, the Aventine, the Esquiline, and the Cœlian), the walls which enclose it embrace a circuit of abt. 16 Romulus, m. The present city presents itself under three distinctive aspects,-those of ancient R., medieval (or ecclesiastical) R., and modern R.,-each having their own characteristic features. Ancient R. is, as its name imports, that division which is richest in archæological remains, containing the Coliseum, Pantheon, arches of Titus and Const an tine, Baths of Titus, Diocletian, ., and the Pillar of Trajan. The second division embraces within its limits the papal palaces of the Vatican, the Later an, and the Quirinal, the castle of Sant' Angelo; while modern R. presents the most magnificent church in the world that of St. Peter's. Of the 354 churches found in R. at the present, many are of high antiquity, and of considerable pretensions to architectural beauty, with their interiors richly adorned with pictures and other works of art. The palaces of the Roman nobility are fine buildings, the most noticeable being those belonging to the Borghese, Doria, Ruspoli, Orsini, and Farnese families. The Corso is the principal public promenade, and the Piazza di Popolo the finest street. The squares are small, but many, and very generally embellished with fountains, obelisks, . The University, founded in1244, and the College of the Propaganda, are the chief of the many educational institutions which belong to R. It po e es several literary a ociations, and boasts the great libraries of the Vatican, and the Alexandrine, besides the Collegio Romano with its fine museum of antiquities and cabinet of natural history. - Founded by Romulus, 753 B. c., R.was governed during a period of 245 years by seven kings in succe ion; aline which terminated with Tarquinius Superb us. From 509 to 31 B. c., it next became a republic, ruled by two, annually elected consuls, with a few short interruptions, as during the supremacy of the Decemviri, several dictators, and two triumvirates. After this, a line of emperors, some 60 in number, succeeded, and governed for a term of 506 years, or till 476 A. D., the destinies of the world. During this time, R. had gradually extended its sway over Italy, Spain, Greece,Gaul, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and the northern coasts of Africa. August us changed its govt. into an autocracy, and was, in fact, the first emperor. When Const an tine the Great founded Constantinople, R. was shorn of its peculiar glory; but it was not utterly extinguished till the overthrow of the W. division of the empire by Odoacer, in 476 A. D. Once only (if we may trust its historians) au ring the republican govt. of the city, in 390 B. c., it fell into the hands of an enemy, being taken by Brennus and the Gauls. And not till 410 A. D. (S00 years afterward) was it again captured; the Goths under Alaric succeeding in a third attempt. Genseric, the king of the Vandals, took R. in 455 A. D.; and Ricimer, the patrician, carried it by storm in 472 A. D. In its most prosperous period during the reign of August us, and for ashort time afterward, it has been computed that the population amounted to abt.2,000,000. Among the most celebrated public buildings and structures,which adorned R. under the empire, may be enumerated the Coliseum, the Pantheon, the several Baths of Diocletian, Titus, and An to nine, the temples on the Capitol and near the Forum and the Sacred Way, the theatres of Pompey and Mar cell us, the Quirinal and Flam in i an Circuses, the Aqueducts by which the city was supplied with water for culinary uses, and the triumphal arches of Titus and Const an tine, and the columns of Trajan and Aurelius; to which should be added the commencements of those wonderful roads, known as the Appian, the Flam in i an, ., which were carried from the metropolis to the farthest boundaries of the empire; and the huge sewers under the older portions of the city, which have been attributed to its earliest inhabitants. The division by Const an tine of the empire into the Eastern and Western led to its subsequent extinction. In the 8th cent., it was ceded to the Popes, and thenceforward became the spiritual centre of the civilized world. In 1527 it was taken and sacked by the Constable de Bourbon, and in 1809 was occupied by the French. In 1848, a revolt broke out against the Pope, which compelled him to seek French protection, after a republican form of govt. had been substituted under the leadership of Mazzini and others. French arms, however, soon restored the old state of 4 X things, and Napoleon III. kept a garrison within the city for the papal protection till Sept., 1870. After its withdrawal, R. was occupied by the national troops, and was declared, in 1871, capital of the reconstituted kingdom of Italy. Pop. (1874) 219,608. in Georgia, a prosperous city, C. of Floyd co., 170 m. N.W. of Milledgeville. Pop. 2,748.-In New York, a town of active trade, semi-cap. of Oneida co., 14 m. N.W. of Utica, on the site of the old Fort Stanwix. Pop. 11,000. (rom'u-lus,) the legendary founder of Rome. According to the generally received story, he and his brother Remus were the twin children of Rhea Sylvia, by the god Mars; and they with their mother being thrown into the Tiber, the boys were rescued and nursed by a she-wolf. When they determined to build the city, disputes arose respecting the right to name it, and Remus was killed. The new city was peopled by outlaws, who obtained wives by the " Rape of the Sabines." R. was a succe ful warrior, and finally was taken up to heaven and placed among the gods by the name of Quirinus. [s. 777]