According to the legend the maiden Rhea Silva gave birth to the twins Romulus och Remus. Their father was the God Mars. Rhea Silva’s shame was big and the children were put into a basket in the river Tibern. The basket drifted ashore near the Palatine hills and were found by a she-wolf. The she-wolf took care of the twins and fed them. A shepherd, by the name of Faustulus, found the boys and cared for them. The boys grew up among the shepherds and as adults they decided to build a city upon the Palatine hills. This is supposed to have happened in the year 753 before Christ. The twins could not decide which one of them should be the king of the city. This lead to Romulus killing Remus. This is why the city is called Rome.

What we know is that around the 6th century before Christ a numerous small communities on the seven hills had united and one can say that Rome was created. During this time the castle of the city was situated on Capitolium and the big square was located in Forum Romanum.

The period of glory of Rome occured during the time between the second and the fourth century A.D. During this time numerous fantastic monuments and memorials were built such as the Aurelian ring-wall and Septimus Severus Arch of triumph at Forum Romanum. During this time also Colosseum was built. Colosseum was a gigantic amphitheatre. Pantheon and Castel Sant’ Angelo was also created during this time of glory. Today when one stroll around in Rome and study all these fabolous buildings one can not imagine how people at that time could build such magnificent monuments.

The final centuries of the first thousand years A.D. became very dark years in the roman history. The people were poor and the population decreased substantially. One contributing cause was probably all the wars between the Popes and the Emperors. The conflicts continued as long as until the 13th century. At this moment the Popes had a lot of power but in the 14th century the Popes had to go into exile. The Popes moved to Avignon and stayed there between 1309 and 1378. The decline of Rom did not cease until the 15th century and a phase of rebuildning started. The old St. Peters Basilica from the 4th century was torn down and was rebuilt by Michelangelo and Bramante. The new St. Peters Basilica was opened in 1626. During the Renaissance and the Baroque the Popes were very interested in art and many great artists came to Rome, amongst others Michelangelo, Bernini and Raphael.

In 1798 Rome was occupied by Napoleon and the Pope Pius VII was held captured in France for five years between 1809 and 1814. In the beginning of the 19th century Napoleon incorporated Rome with France and Rome became the second capital of France. When Napoleon fell in 1815 the Pope could return to Rome.

In the 19th century something called the ”Risorgimento” arised, a strong urge to unite Italy. Garibaldi concored Sicily and Naples in 1860 and due to this the southern parts of Italy could be united by the Emperor Victor Emmanuel II. Venice and also the state of the Popes were incorporated and in 1871 Rome became capital of the united Italy.

The conflict between the government and the Popes still continued and not until 1929 the battles ceased and the Vatican became a sovereign state. Benito Mussolini was the leader of Italy and he made sure the Laterantreaty was signed. This meant peace between the government and the Popes.