Umbilicus Urbis Romae
The ''Umbilicus Urbis Romae'' ()—"Navel of the City of Rome"—was the symbolic centre of the city from which, and to which, all distances in Ancient Rome were measured. It was situated in the Roman Forum where its remnants can still be seen. These remains are located beside the Arch of Septimius Severus and the Vulcanal, behind the Rostra. Originally covered in marble, the ''Umbilicus'' is now a forlorn-looking brick core some 2 metres high and 4.45 metres in diameter. History Roman legend related that Romulus, when he founded the city, had a circular pit dug in the Forum. The first fruits of the year were thrown into this pit as a sacrifice and all new citizens of Rome had to throw in a handful of dirt from their place of origin. The ''Mundus'' (Latin, "world"), known only from literary sources, was an underground structure considered a gate to the underworld. It may be that the ''Umbilicus Urbis Romae'' was the external (above ground) part of the subterranean ''Mundus''. The ...
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