''Roma quadrata'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

; ; , ''Tetrágōnos Rhṓmē'') was an area or structure within the original ''

pomerium The ''pomerium'' or ''pomoerium'' was a religious boundary around the city of Rome and cities controlled by Rome. In legal terms, Rome existed only within its ''pomerium''; everything beyond it was simply territory ('' ager'') belonging to Rome ...

'' of the ancient city of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, probably the

Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill (; Classical Latin: ''Palatium''; Neo-Latin: ''Collis/Mons Palatinus''; ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city; it has been called "the first nucleus of the ...

with both its Palatium and Cermalus peaks and their slopes. It apparently dated to the earliest stage of the city's formation. The original meaning had already become obscure to both

and Greek historians by the late

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

(2nd century BC).

References

Ancient sources

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus (, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary style was ''atticistic'' – imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime. ...

, ''Roman Antiquities'', Bk. II, ch. 65 *

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

, ''

Parallel Lives * Culture of ancient Greece Culture of ancient Rome Ancient Greek biographical works Ethics literature History books about ancient Rome Cultural depictions of Gaius Marius Cultural depictions of Mark Antony Cultural depictions of Cicero ...

'', Bk. 1: "Romulus", ch. 9 *

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

, ''

Annals Annals (, from , "year") are a concise history, historical record in which events are arranged chronology, chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction betw ...

'', ch. 12, §24 *

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

, cited in

Solinus __NOTOC__ Gaius Julius Solinus, better known simply as Solinus, was a Latin grammarian, geographer, and compiler who probably flourished in the early 3rd century AD. Historical scholar Theodor Mommsen dates him to the middle of the 3rd century. ...

, ''Polyhistor'', Bk. 1, ch. 17

Modern scholarship

* Brocato, P. "Dalle capanne del Cermalus alla Roma quadrata". Roma Romolo Remo e la fondazione della città (Catalog of the Exhibit) (2000): 284–287. * Carandini, Andrea. Remo e Romolo: dai rioni dei Quiriti alla città dei Romani (775/750-700/675 a. C.). Vol. 210. Einaudi, 2006. * Carandini, Andrea, "The Blessing of the Palatine and the Founding of Roma Quadrata", in Idem, ''Rome: Day One'' (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2011), 50–62. * Castagnoli, F. "Roma Quadrata", ''Studies presented to DM Robinson'', I, St. (1951): 389–399. * Castagnoli, Ferdinando. "Il Tempio Romano: Questioni di Terminologia e di Tipologia". Papers of the British School at Rome (1984): 3–20. * Musti, Domenico. "Varrone nell'insieme delle tradizioni su Roma quadrata". StudUrb 49 (1975): 297–318. * . * Quercioli, Mauro. Le mura e le porte di Roma: dalla Roma quadrata alle mura aureliane, dalla città leonina alle moderne fortificazioni: un singolare itinerario storico tra imponenti porte e possenti bastioni alla riscoperta delle "difese" di Roma. Newton Compton, 1982. * Rykwert, Joseph, ''The Idea of a Town: The Anthropology of Urban Form in Rome, Italy and the Ancient World'' (MIT Press, 1976, 1988)
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Topography of the ancient city of Rome Palatine Hill {{AncientRome-stub

See also

References

Ancient sources

Modern scholarship