The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City
264
The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City
264eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
From humble beginnings, Rome became perhaps the greatest intercontinental power in the world. Why did this historic city become so much more influential than its neighbor, nearby Latium, which was peopled by more or less the same stock? Over the years, historians, political analysts, and sociologists have discussed this question ad infinitum, without considering one underlying factor that led to the rise of Rome--the geology now hidden by the modern city.
This book demonstrates the important link between the history of Rome and its geologic setting in a lively, fact-filled narrative sure to interest geology and history buffs and travelers alike. The authors point out that Rome possessed many geographic advantages over surrounding areas: proximity to a major river with access to the sea, plateaus for protection, nearby sources of building materials, and most significantly, clean drinking water from springs in the Apennines. Even the resiliency of Rome's architecture and the stability of life on its hills are underscored by the city's geologic framework.
If carried along with a good city map, this book will expand the understanding of travelers who explore the eternal city's streets. Chapters are arranged geographically, based on each of the seven hills, the Tiber floodplain, ancient creeks that dissected the plateau, and ridges that rise above the right bank. As an added bonus, the last chapter consists of three field trips around the center of Rome, which can be enjoyed on foot or by using public transportation.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781400849376 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
| Publication date: | 10/24/2013 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 264 |
| File size: | 22 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
The Seven Hills of Rome
A Geological Tour of the Eternal CityBy Grant Heiken Renato Funiciello Donatella de Rita
Princeton University Press
Copyright © 2005 Princeton University PressAll right reserved.
Chapter One
A TOURIST'S INTRODUCTION TO THE GEOLOGY OF ROMEAt early midnight, the piazza was a solitude; and it was a delight to behold this untamable water, sporting by itself in the moonshine. -NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, The Marble Faun
THE MONUMENTAL Trevi Fountain in central Rome symbolizes the relationship between the city and its geologic underpinnings. The stone from which sculptors created this work of art, the clean water from springs in the Apennines and volcanic fields near the city-transported by the famous Roman aqueducts-and the stones underfoot are all products of Rome's geologic heritage.
Construction of the fountain began in 1732, following a design by Nicola Salvi and using stone from the region. Travertine, a sedimentary spring deposit from quarries near Tivoli, and marble, a metamorphic rock from Carrara, in northern Italy, were used for the figures. The plaza is paved with small blocks of lava from flows along the Appian Way. For more than two millennia, Rome's fountains have provided neighborhoods with clear, refreshing water from springs in the Apennines, the Alban Hills, and the Sabatini region: a precious resource transported through aqueducts that were built during the Roman era and restored by the popes beginning in the 16th century.
This is your firstvisit to the Eternal City of Rome and, with guidebook and map, you plunge into its historic center. The goal is the Trevi Fountain, one of Italy's most famous landmarks. The trek can be daunting. Myriad small piazzas are connected with narrow streets, twisting this way and that, cars and scooters crowd the pavement, and the modern Roman phalanx-a tour group-impedes your progress. Buildings of all shapes and vintages block your horizon, scaffolding masks the architectural lines of famous landmarks, and resurfacing hides the ancient streets, making it impossible to view the city's past, hidden under its many debris layers.
During a brief visit, how do you get a grip on the geographic and temporal components of Rome, where a remarkable combination of geologic setting, environment, and history has produced a city that attracts millions of visitors every year? One fascinating approach is to imagine that you are able to rise above the Trevi Fountain, pausing at different elevations above the city so you can see Rome through a series of windows: first, just 30 meters, then 300 meters, then 3, 30, 300, and 3,000 kilometers on a side. Examining the setting of Rome from these six perspectives allows us to view the interactions between geologic setting, urban development, natural disasters, and humans' continuing struggle to modify and control the environment
THE 30-METER WINDOW
Approximately 30 meters (98 feet) wide, the Trevi Fountain dominates its small piazza and is one of Rome's most easily recognized landmarks. Most movies filmed in Rome include the requisite scene at (or in) the fountain. Tour leaders and books remark on its ornate sculptures and the way that both the figures and the water emerge from the rock. The piazza actually is a small area, but even at this 30-meter scale, we can learn quite a bit about the importance of geologic setting in the history of Rome and its Empire.
To begin with, why is such a large fountain located in such a claustrophobic space? Seeing it for the first time, visitors are frequently amazed that such an astounding monument is seemingly tucked into a corner of a crowded city. It's important to remember that, despite their sometime glorious appearances, Roman fountains for 2,400 years served the practical purpose of providing water for the populace. A neighborhood fountain supplied this precious fluid for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and flushing public toilets. During the Republican period and the Imperial dynasties, Rome had an abundant supply of clean water from several sources, thanks to its geologic setting and extraordinary engineering. The water infrastructure was later rebuilt and restored under the popes. The Trevi Fountain, among others, was and still is supplied by the Vergine aqueduct (Aqua Virgo), which brought water from springs at Salone, 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of central Rome, via a circuitous route that enters the city from the north. Inaugurated in 19 B.C., the aqueduct was damaged during the siege of Rome by the Ostrogoths in A.D. 537-38 and was reconstructed near the end of the 15th century. Most of the Vergine aqueduct is underground and passes immediately under the Piazza Trevi. Three streets converge at this fountain, so it is possible that its name may have derived from tre vie (three streets).
The first fountain at Trevi was a utilitarian model, built for Pope Nicholas V in 1453 and derided as the "village well." Bernini had this fountain destroyed in anticipation of erecting one of his own design. In fact, his design was not used, but his influence resulted in the fountain being moved from the south to the north side of the piazza, its present location. After an intense competition between sculptors in 1730, the design of Nicola Salvi was selected. Construction of the new fountain took thirty years, between 1732 and 1762, using two architects, ten sculptors, and many assistants. The fountain's travertine base emulates nature, with rough stones, cascades, crevices, grottoes, and carved representations of thirty plant species. The figures, including Oceanus (Neptune) and the Tritons, are carved in Carrara marble, one of the finest natural materials used by the greatest sculptors.
Although the fountain once supplied fresh water to the neighborhood, the flowing cascades are now recirculated and are no longer potable. If you're thirsty, however, fontanelle (small water fountains) along the shallow steps leading down to the fountain provide clear, cool, drinkable water.
Tired? The Trevi's steps are an excellent place to sit for a while and look around. The rounded paving stones below your feet are sanpietrini, blocks cut from lava that flowed from one of the volcanoes of the Alban Hills to the edge of what are now Rome's city limits. These stones are the same type Imperial Rome laid down for heavily traveled roads throughout its empire.
Although you can't see it, beneath the sanpietrini there is plentiful evidence of both anthropogenic (human-related) and geologic events. Immediately below is a 5- to 10-meter-thick (16- to 30-foot) layer of debris left by man's activities; it is mostly within these debris layers that archeologists find clues to the city's complex history. Below the debris is a 60-meter-deep (197-foot) channel cut by the Tiber River as it flowed into a sea much lower than today's Tyrrhenian Sea. Sea level has since risen during the latest warm cycle of the Earth's atmosphere, and the Tiber valley has been subsequently filled in with river sands, gravel, and mud. Beneath this alluvium is a thick sequence of fossiliferous sandstone and mudstone layers that were deposited in an ancient seabed 2 to 3 million years ago.
We could go still deeper, but we'll stop here, let you catch your breath, then return to street level and begin our rise above the Trevi Fountain's neighborhood.
More about the Stone Used in the Trevi Fountain Peter Rockwell, an American sculptor living in Rome, is an expert on the history of stone carving. When he analyzed the features, sculpting techniques, and construction of the Trevi Fountain, he found that the fountain is 89.2 percent travertine, 7.2 percent marble, and 3.6 percent travertine breccia. The principal stone used for the base of the fountain (the scogliera da sola) is travertine, a porous calcium carbonate spring deposit. Roman travertine was (and continues to be) quarried near Tivoli, east of Rome, where bicarbonate mineral warm water issues from springs found along faults at the base of the Apennines and flows into a sedimentary basin.
Travertine is a particularly useful rock type: for the geologist, it provides clues to the dynamic history of the Apennines and adjacent sedimentary basins; for the hydrologist, it reveals information about the evolution of the springwaters; and for the archeologist or art historian, it contributes to the provenance of many sculptural pieces.
Travertine breccia was at one time a uniform, thin-layered, brittle spring deposit that was broken by faults. The angular pieces of rock were then cemented by younger travertine as water flowed through the rubble-the final product is a "breccia." The famous Carrara marble is a metamorphic rock (limestone that has been altered by high temperatures and pressures) from northwestern Italy.
THE 300-METER WINDOW
Centered on the Trevi Fountain, a 300-meter-square (984-foot) window offers a view that includes parts of the Trevi and Colonna neighborhoods. Immediately east of the fountain, the natural terrain rises 40 meters (134 feet) until it meets the lower walls of the Quirinal Palace. The Quirinal Hill, one of those famous "seven hills of Rome," was a residential area in Imperial Roman times, was the site of the pope's summer palace, then the home of the Italian royal family, and, most recently, the official residence of Italy's president.
Much of this area is underlain by the sands and muds of an alluvial plain deposited when the Tiber overflowed its banks. Until the 1950s, the Tiber regularly ravaged central Rome with floodwaters that reached as far as the lower Via del Tritone-just beyond the northwestern edge of this view.
The Quirinal Palace was constructed on the edge of a plateau; the flat area was built up from the alluvium and marsh deposits of an early Tiber River, which in turn were overlain by deposits of consolidated volcanic ash from the Alban Hills and Sabatini volcanic fields. These volcanic ash deposits were deposited by fast-moving flows of hot gas and ash from eruptions between 600,000 and 300,000 years ago. Blocks from consolidated ash deposits (tuffs) have been used throughout the history of Rome (and, indeed, throughout the world) as a common building stone. There is ample proof that tuff deposits also offer a stable foundation for construction; overlying buildings have been minimally affected by Rome's earthquakes.
In this view we can see that the Tiber's tributaries have cut ravines and small valleys through the Quirinal Hill. These erosion channels, as well as the Tiber's ancient channel, were most likely carved when sea level was lower and are now partly filled with alluvium. The Via del Tritone, mentioned previously, follows what was an alluvium-filled ravine that has also been partly filled in with man-made debris.
Our geologic information about Roman sites is based on extremely rare outcrops, underground quarries, and engineering drill holes. Geologic mapping within a city is always a challenge because so much terrain is covered with the debris from several millennia of human activities. Fortunately for us, many Roman and Italian organizations have spent decades producing an interdisciplinary study of the geology of Rome.
THE 3-KILOMETER WINDOW
Pulling back farther gives us a 3-kilometer-wide (1.86-mile) window through which we can view a large piece of Rome's historic center, including all of the famous "seven hills." To thoroughly explore this 9-square-kilometer (3.5-square-mile), densely packed city center with its varied, complex history in a single week would challenge even the most dedicated tourist. From this vantage point, however, the geologic framework of the city becomes more understandable.
The tuff plateau, with its seven hills, is easy to identify on a relief map; it consists of a sequence of ancient sedimentary rocks left by the Tiber and volcanic rocks (tuffs) from the Alban Hills and Sabatini volcanic fields. Here are the Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Capitoline, Celian, Aventine, and Palatine hills, as well as the Pincian, which is part of the same plateau that now hosts the vast Villa Borghese Park. Many ancient Roman ruins occupy these hills, the most famous of which are visible near the Roman for a and the Colosseum. Massive tuff deposits from volcanoes changed the course of the Tiber and narrowed its valley floor to create what became a strategically located city that could be strongly defended but had easy access to water transportation. The floors of small tributaries were convenient, open sites for markets, theaters such as the Theater of Marcellus, and larger public structures like the Colosseum and the Pantheon. The plateau's tuff deposits were also the source of stone used for early city walls and the foundations of the great buildings of Imperial Rome.
Development of a densely packed city on the Tiber floodplain began during medieval times. The plain, once occupied chiefly by Roman theaters, temples, and army training facilities-all easily cleaned (and repaired) after a flood-now began to accumulate homes and businesses as well. Floods submerged such built-up areas as the now-well-known Piazza Navona and the Trastevere neighborhoods. If these later generations had followed the urban planning strategies of their ancestors, there would have been far less damage and loss of life during post-Imperial city growth. Planning ways to mitigate the effects of flooding was a standard process for early Romans-one that should be adopted even today in the world's cities.
THE 30-KILOMETER WINDOW
Looking down at Rome through a window 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) square, we can see most of the modern city, its suburbs, and the ring road (Gran Raccordo Annulare). This view extends well beyond the original walls of the Imperial city, nearly reaching an area under control of the Etruscans in what was the city of Veii, 16 kilometers (10 miles) north of Rome.
The Tiber River follows a structural depression created late in the geologic history of the region, when the land was being pulled apart by movements of the Earth's crust. At this scale, we see the Tiber crossing Rome from the north, then turning southwest toward the Tyrrhenian Sea. The hills west of the river (Monte Mario and the Janiculum [Gianicolo]) are composed of million-year-old marine mudstones and sandstones, evidence of a time when the region was beneath the sea.
Eruptions in volcanic fields located southeast and northwest of Rome created two plateaus that descend toward the Tiber. Rapidly moving flows of ash and gas from explosive volcanic eruptions dammed the river with deposits of ash (tuffs) and changed its course. Both of the volcanic fields, the Sabatini to the northwest and the Alban Hills southeast of Rome, have played an important role in creating the terrain that we see today: gentle plateaus pinching the Tiber floodplain and creating high ground for the city. In geologic terms, the volcanic fields are young-the most recent eruptions occurred in the Alban Hills about 3,500 years ago. Roman writers such as Livy and Pliny the Younger recount tales of explosions and "rains of fire" in the Alban Hills, but none of these events have been verified. A recent study by two of the coauthors supports the hypothesis that large bursts of gas in Lake Albano in historic times buried sections of the volcanic slopes with mud.
As the Tiber River leaves central Rome and the narrow valley that was created between upfaulted sedimentary rocks and volcanic ash plateaus, the slope of the riverbed decreases and the flow is placid as the river approaches the sea. This is the head of the Tiber delta, which has been expanding into the sea since the river first reached the coastline. The major Imperial Roman seaport of Ostia (now Ostia Antica), near the window's southwest corner, is now 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the sea, landlocked by the silts and sands of the growing river delta. The Tiber and its delta were key factors in the mercantile and military successes of the Roman Empire, making it possible to establish ports near Rome and thus ship materials and goods upriver into the city.
THE 300-KILOMETER WINDOW
At the 300-kilometer (186-mile) scale, which encompasses all of the Italian Peninsula, we can see many geologic components that have affected the history of Rome and its interactions with other peoples. Terrain had a great impact on the early growth of the Roman Empire and still influences Italy's natural resources and transportation systems. We'll look at several of these features more closely.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Seven Hills of Rome by Grant Heiken Renato Funiciello Donatella de Rita Copyright © 2005 by Princeton University Press . Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
| Foreword | vii | |
| Preface | ix | |
| Chapter 1 | A Tourist's Introduction to the Geology of Rome | 1 |
| Timelines | 18 | |
| Chapter 2 | Center of the Western World-The Capitoline (Campidoglio) Hill | 27 |
| Chapter 3 | Palaces and Gardens-The Palatine (Palatino) Hill | 37 |
| Chapter 4 | The Aventine (Aventino) Hill | 51 |
| Chapter 5 | The Tiber Floodplain, Commerce, and Tragedy | 59 |
| Chapter 6 | The Tiber's Tributaries in Rome-Clogged with Humankind's Debris | 85 |
| Chapter 7 | The Western Heights-Janiculum, Vatican, and Monte Mario | 110 |
| Chapter 8 | The Celian (Celio) Hill | 123 |
| Chapter 9 | Largest of the Seven Hills-The Esquiline (Esquilino) | 153 |
| Chapter 10 | Upper Class-The Viminal (Viminale) and Quirinal (Quirinale) Hills | 162 |
| Chapter 11 | Field Trips in and around Rome | 174 |
| The Seven Hills of Rome in Fifteen Stops | 174 | |
| Panoramas, Piazzas, and Plateaus | 195 | |
| A Field Trip to Rome, the City of Water | 216 | |
| Acknowledgments | 229 | |
| Further Reading | 231 | |
| Index | 237 |
What People are Saying About This
It is most fitting that this book, the first of its kind, should be published on Rome, the most fascinating, ancient—but currently thriving—city in the world. The Seven Hills of Rome covers more history and geology than any other travel book I have read, and it draws readers in by helping them understand how the benefits of geographical structure play out in everyday life; for example, the authors demonstrate that the golden wines from the Alban Hills are the result of vineyards located on the tuff plateaus or in crater bottoms. Throughout the book, the reader feels part of a very personal journey through the countryside.
— Jill Andrews, California Institute of Technology
The greatest virtue of The Seven Hills of Rome is that it ties the city's human history to its natural history. Now nonspecialists can fully appreciate the extent to which Rome's destiny, its character, even its very appearance, were founded on its unique geological circumstances.
— Rabun Taylor, Harvard University
This book is not a typical geological guidebook: it tackles a geology that is largely hidden in an area that has been urban for almost three millennia. As such it is great fun—a treasure hunt in which the reader is invited to piece together the evolution of Rome as part of the Adrian microplate as well as of Rome the city. From temples and quarries to floods, earthquakes and eruptions, all is here. Well researched and never dull, this book offers a brand new insight into an ancient city.
— Ruth Siddall, University College, London
"This is the only book I'm aware of that fully integrates the culture and history of a city into its geographical and geological setting. Written by three experts in volcanology and in the geology, culture, and history of Rome, the book has much to offer both the general public and professional city planners. The field trips featured provide guidelines that can be effectively applied to other urban settings, and the book provides good sources for further reading and research."—Ian MacGregor, retired Director, Earth Science Division of the National Science Foundation"It is most fitting that this book, the first of its kind, should be published on Rome, the most fascinating, ancient—but currently thriving—city in the world. The Seven Hills of Rome covers more history and geology than any other travel book I have read, and it draws readers in by helping them understand how the benefits of geographical structure play out in everyday life; for example, the authors demonstrate that the golden wines from the Alban Hills are the result of vineyards located on the tuff plateaus or in crater bottoms. Throughout the book, the reader feels part of a very personal journey through the countryside."—Jill Andrews, California Institute of Technology"The greatest virtue of The Seven Hills of Rome is that it ties the city's human history to its natural history. Now nonspecialists can fully appreciate the extent to which Rome's destiny, its character, even its very appearance, were founded on its unique geological circumstances."—Rabun Taylor, Harvard University"Part guidebook, part scholarly resource, all fascinating story, The Seven Hills of Rome weaves together the complex geology and history of Rome's unique locale. The book is throughout a revelation—one that not only illuminates the study of the city's past, but nurtures an appreciation of its present and a concern for its future."—Susan E. Alcock, University of Michigan"This book is not a typical geological guidebook: it tackles a geology that is largely hidden in an area that has been urban for almost three millennia. As such it is great fun—a treasure hunt in which the reader is invited to piece together the evolution of Rome as part of the Adrian microplate as well as of Rome the city. From temples and quarries to floods, earthquakes and eruptions, all is here. Well researched and never dull, this book offers a brand new insight into an ancient city."—Ruth Siddall, University College, London"The authors use their expertise to explain how the landscape and natural resources of the region around Rome made it an inviting place for human habitation, and served as inspirations for Romans' achievements in civil engineering, architecture, and construction. The walking tours featured in the book constitute an insider's travel guide, and the chapters on the seven hills are highly evocative and will please the armchair traveler."—Gail Mahood, Stanford University
The authors use their expertise to explain how the landscape and natural resources of the region around Rome made it an inviting place for human habitation, and served as inspirations for Romans' achievements in civil engineering, architecture, and construction. The walking tours featured in the book constitute an insider's travel guide, and the chapters on the seven hills are highly evocative and will please the armchair traveler.
— Gail Mahood, Stanford University
This is the only book I'm aware of that fully integrates the culture and history of a city into its geographical and geological setting. Written by three experts in volcanology and in the geology, culture, and history of Rome, the book has much to offer both the general public and professional city planners. The field trips featured provide guidelines that can be effectively applied to other urban settings, and the book provides good sources for further reading and research.
— Ian MacGregor, retired Director, Earth Science Division of the National Science Foundation
Part guidebook, part scholarly resource, all fascinating story, The Seven Hills of Rome weaves together the complex geology and history of Rome's unique locale. The book is throughout a revelation—one that not only illuminates the study of the city's past, but nurtures an appreciation of its present and a concern for its future.
— Susan E. Alcock, University of Michigan