Rome, Italy

City: Rome

Lat/Long: 41.9000, 12.4833

"Known as the "Eternal City," "City of the Seven Hills," and the "Holy City," Rome is the capital of Italy and the Roma province. Located in central Italy on the Tiber River, sixteen miles from the river's mouth and 117 miles northwest of Naples, Rome is the religious, cultural, financial, and commercial center of Italy. Settlement in the region began in the eighth century BCE. Citizens founded the Roman Republic in 509 BCE, and by 275 BCE, Rome dominated Italy. From 275 BCE to 410 AD, Rome was the center of the vast Roman Empire. After the Visigoths sacked the city in 410, Rome became the temporal and spiritual home of the Papacy. Except for 1309-77, Rome served as capital of the Papal States, and it was also considered the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. During the French Revolutionary Wars, France occupied the city and restored the Roman Republic. Napoleon I annexed Rome to the French Empire in 1809, but it was returned to the Pope at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Rome was the scene of an abortive revolt during the Revolutions of 1848. In the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War, Italian troops occupied the city. Rome became the capital city of the Kingdom of Italy, completing Italian unification under one central government.

Webster's New Geographical Dictionary (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1988), 1027; Courtlandt Canby, The Encyclopedia of Historic Places (New York: Facts on File, 1984), 2:785-86.