Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, once the center of the Roman Empire and now home to Vatican City.
Legend credits its founding to a pair of twin brothers raised by a wolf, one of whom killed the other in a dispute over whose name the new city would bear.
A Legendary Founding
According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BCE by twin brothers Romulus and Remus, raised as infants by a she-wolf after being abandoned, with Romulus later killing his brother in a dispute and becoming the city's first king.
From Republic to Empire
Rome grew from a small settlement into the capital of the Roman Republic and later the vast Roman Empire, at its height controlling territory spanning three continents and governing tens of millions of people across an unprecedented geographic scale.
A City of Ancient Wonders
The city is home to numerous extraordinary ancient landmarks, including the Colosseum, once the site of gladiatorial combat, the Roman Forum, the political heart of ancient Rome, and the remarkably preserved Pantheon temple.
A City Within a City
Vatican City, an independent city-state and the spiritual and administrative center of the worldwide Catholic Church, sits entirely within Rome's borders, making Rome home to both a national capital and a separate sovereign state.
Nearly Three Millennia of History
Rome has been continuously inhabited for nearly three thousand years, and its historic center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980, drawing millions of visitors annually eager to explore its extraordinary layered history.
