Geography of Ancient Italy

Cities Roma –Capital of Italy –Seat of government for the Roman Empire –Nicknamed “The Mistress of Italy” because it was the chief city –Location: On the Tiber River, just north of the seaport of Ostia –Built on seven (7) hills –Named after Romulus, first king of Rome

Roma

Cities Brundisium –Seat of government for the province of Calabria –The city in which the Roman poet Vergil (Aeneid, Eclogues, Georgics) died –Located on the eastern shore of Italy on the Adriatic Sea –Eastern terminus (end) of the Via Appia

Brundisium Roma

Cities Syracusae –Seat of government for the province of Sicily –The city in which the Greek scientist Archimedes lived –Located on the eastern shore of Sicily on the Mediterranean Sea –Defeated by Rome in 241 BC and turned into a Roman province

Brundisium Roma Syracusae

Cities Carthago –The sworn enemy of Roma –Home to Hannibal, the greatest general to battle the Romans –Originally a Phoenician colony –Mythical home to Dido (from the Aeneid) –Fought three wars against Rome and lost all three –Located in modern Tunisia

Brundisium Roma Syracusae Carthago

Cities Ostia –The seaport for Rome –Located at the mouth of the Tiber River on the Tyrrhenian Sea –Still a useful seaport today

Brundisium Roma Syracusae Carthago Ostia

Cities Pompeii and Herculaneum –Cities destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79 –The cities are almost perfectly preserved due to the ash and lava from the eruption –Excavating is going on there today –Now the cities are major tourist attractions

Brundisium Roma Syracusae Carthago Ostia Pompeii and Herculaneum

Road Via Appia –The Appian Way, named for Appius Claudius, a statesman who ordered the road to be built in 312 BC –Made from stones, pebbles, rocks, and sand –Stretches from Roma to Brundisium –Still in use today

Brundisium Roma Syracusae Carthago Ostia Via Appia Pompeii and Herculaneum

Mountains Apennines –Mountains that run down the center of Italy –Known as the “backbone of Italy” Alps –Mountain range to the north of Italy –Hannibal crossed these with elephants in the Second Punic War (Carthage and Rome)

Brundisium Roma Syracusae Carthago Ostia Via Appia A l p s A p e n n i n e s Pompeii and Herculaneum

Mountains Mt. Vesuvius –Volcano that erupted in AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing thousands Mt. Etna –Active volcano on the northeastern corner of Sicily

Brundisium Roma Syracusae Carthago Ostia Via Appia A l p s A p e n n i n e s Pompeii and Herculaneum Mt. Vesuvius Mt. Etna

Seas Mediterranean Sea –Located to the south –Literally means “sea in the middle of the land” –The Romans called it “Mare Nostrum”—Our Sea, because Rome held the land on both sides of it at the height of the Empire Tyrrhenian Sea –Separates Italy from the islands of Corsica and Sardinia Adriatic Sea –Separates Italy from the Balkan Peninsula (including Greece)

Brundisium Roma Syracusae Carthago Ostia Via Appia A l p s A p e n n i n e s Pompeii and Herculaneum Mt. Vesuvius Mt. Etna M e d i t e r r a n e a n S e a Tyrrhenian Sea Adriatic Sea

Islands Sicilia –Originally a Greek colony –Became a Roman province after its conquest in 241 BC Sardinia –Originally a Phoenician colony –Roman province after First Punic War ended in 238 BC Corsica –Originally a Greek, then a Phoenician colony –Roman province after First Punic War ended in 238 BC –Now a French island

Brundisium Roma Syracusae Carthago Ostia Via Appia A l p s A p e n n i n e s Pompeii and Herculaneum Mt. Vesuvius Mt. Etna Mediterranean Sea Tyrrhenian Sea Adriatic Sea Sicily Sardinia Corsica

Rivers Tiber –Rome’s river –Extends from Ostia into the Apennine Mountains –Deep enough to be navigable by ships Po –River in the north of Italy –Usually considered the northern border of Italy during time of Caesar ( BC )

Brundisium Roma Syracusae Carthago Ostia Via Appia A l p s A p e n n i n e s Pompeii and Herculaneum Mt. Vesuvius Mt. Etna Mediterranean Sea Tyrrhenian Sea Adriatic Sea Sicily Sardinia Corsica Po R. Tiber R.