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[German Version] I. Greco-Roman Antiquity 1. The picture (imaginaire, myth, idea) that the Romans developed of themselves, their city, and their rule (Imperium Romanum) has …

[German Version] I. History In ancient times, the ager vaticanus extended on the right side of the Tiber, below the Vatican Hill from which it acquired it name. Crossed by the Via Cornelia, it was connected with Rome by a bridge that was probably built under Nero. From the emperors Caligula and Nero onward, a circus was built for races, with an Egyptian obelisk as its meta (since the 16th cent. the center of St. Peter’s Square). Soon afterwards, a naumachia was erected further upstream on the Tiber.The Via Cornelia was lined by tombs, especially from the 2nd century onward. In the mid-2nd century, the belief arose that the apostle Peter had been executed in the circus and buried alongside the road. A memorial monument was erected next to his alleged tomb, which has yet to be found. It served as an orientation landmark when Emperor Constantine the Great erected a roofed cem…

[German Version] I. History and Archaeology 1. History and archaeology. On a favorable site, on the road from Etruria to Latium and Campania, at a ford over the Tiber about 30 km from its mouth, and also on the road from the coast going in the direction of the Apennines, and in fertile lands by the river, there were small settlements from at least the 14th century bce (esp. on the Capitol). According to legend, Rome was then founded in 753 bce by Romulus, who became its first king. Other legends make Aeneas, son of Anchises …