From "Roma quadrata" to "la grande Roma dei Tarquini" : a study of the literary tradition on Rome's territorial growth under the kings

By the end of the regal period (late 6th c. BC) Rome was by far the greatest non-Greek city in Italy. How she attained her enormous size was a problem for the ancients no less than for the moderns. The former agreed on Rome's birth (the first city of the 8th c. BC on the Palatine's 15 hectares) and completion (all the traditional Seven Hills, ca. 400 hectares); everything in-between was a matter of dispute. The latter, while agreeing on the point of arrival, evidenced by the archaic remains of the 'Servian Wall', reject the point of departure and so the whole literary tradition on Rome's growth, pointing out that the Palatine was inhabited much earlier and the Capitol earlier still; another argument is a hypothetical huge (200–300 hectares) 'proto-urban centre' on Rome's site. The aim of this study is to assess the worth of the ancients' certainty that the Palatine was the city's cradle and see if their writings preserved dependable information on her growth; the results – Rome was in fact founded on the Palatine and had one stage of growth between the 'Romulean' birth and the 'Servian-Tarquinian' achievement – pass well the test of confrontation with the archaeological material. Table of Contents Foreword 1 Introduction 1.1 Rome’s territorial growth in modern scholarship 1.2 Literary tradition on the first Rome and her growth: methodological problems 1.3 The first ‘Servian’ enceinte: archaic or republican? 2 Before the City 2.1 The question of the Septimontium 2.2 Saturnia and Pallanteum/Palatium 3 Rome’s territorial growth in written sources1: The direct dossier 3.1 The growth of the City in our sources 3 1 1 The texts 3 1 2 The direct dossier on the territorial expansion of the City: general remarks 3 1 3 Varro and his successors on Caeles Vibenna and the Caelius 3 1 4 The direct dossier: an appraisal 3.2 Defending the Palatine’s priority:Roma quadrata and the Romulean pomerium 3 2 1 Roma quadrata and the double foundation of the City 3 2 2 The Romulean pomerium 3 2 3 Defending the Palatine’s priority: an appraisal 4 Rome’s territorial growthin written sources 2: The indirect dossier 4.1 Gates and walls within the Servian Wall 4 1 1 The gates intra muros in Varro LL 5 164–165 and Plin NH 3 66 4 1 2 Other gates and walls intra muros 4.2 Other structures attributed to the early kings 4 2 1 Regiae 4 2 2 Other structures 4.3 The indirect dossier on Rome’s territorial growth: conclusions 5 Explaining Rome’s birth and growth Literary tradition and archaeological evidence 5.1 The Early Iron Age settlement(s) on Rome’s site versus the Palatine-located first City 5.2 Material ‘signs’ of the City and her foundation 5 2 1 Status quaestionis 5 2 2 The ‘Palatine wall’ as the sign of the City?What was found in sector 9? 5 2 3 The sign of the birth of the City: the ‘Romulean’ agger 5.3 The passage from the first to the second stage of Rome’s growth between archaeology and the literary tradition 5 3 1 The Quirinal settlement and the Sabine question 5 3 2 Integrating the geminata Urbs: the origin of the Forum Romanum 5 3 3 Integrating the geminata Urbs: the Sacra Via and the Velia 5.4 Beyond the ‘Romulean-Sabine’ City. The date of the Septimontium 5.5 Rome’s birth and growth under the kings: a summing-up Appendix AVarro, De lingua Latina 5.41–56 Appendix B Tac. Ann. 12.24.1–2 Appendix C Urban pagi and the earliest City Tables Figures Abbreviations Bibliography Indices 1. Index of written sources 2. Topographical index 3. General index La 4e de couverture indique : "By the end of the regal period (late 6th c. BC) Rome was by far the greatest non-greek city in Italy. How she attained her enormous size was a problem for the ancients no less than for the moderns. The former agreed on Rome's birth (the firth city of the 8th c. BC on the Palatine's 15 hectares) and completion (all the traditional Seven Hills, ca. 400 hectares) ; evrerything in-between was a matter of dispute. The latter, while agreeing on the point of arrival, evidenced by the archaic remains of the "Servian Wall", reject the point of departure and so the whole literary tradition on Rome's growth, pointing out that the Palatine was inhabited much earlier and the Capitol earlier still ; another argument is a hypothetical huge (200-300 hectares) "proto-urban centre" on Rome's site. The aim of this study is to to assess the worth of the ancients' certainty that the Palatine was the city's cradle and see if their writings preserved dependable information on her growth ; the results - Rome was in fact founded on the Palatine and had one stage of growth between the "Romulean" birth and the "Servian-Tarquinian" achievement - pass well the test of confrontation with the archeological material."