The city of Rome was built on the left bank of the Tiber river during the iron age for a number of important reasons. First of all the left side of the Tiber was more developed than the right side, in that it contains two important roads: the Via Salaria, that allowed the transportation of the salt to the North of the Italian peninsula. As a matter of fact the salt was used to preserve food and, in the republican age to pay the soldiers, practice that gave birth to the word " salary" that is still used today in English.Furthermore,the left side was flanked by another important road, the Via Campana and allowed the Romans to be in contact with the Greeks of the south of Italy, long time before that the Appian way was built.
The geography of Rome was also influenced by its island, the Tiberinian Island that allowed the Romans to connect it to both sides of the Tiber by two bridges during the Republican age,the Cestius and the Fabricius bridge.On the other hand, a little bit at the south of the Island, the water bed of the Tiber was very low and people and animals could cross the other side of the river without the need of a bridge.
The first inhabitants of Rome settled on the left side of the river because from the Palatine and the Capitol hill they could control the traffic of goods and ships.the First city dwellers used these hills also to defend themselves from the attacks coming from other hills and from the river itself.For all this reasons in antiquity Rome's geographical position was better than the geographical position of Athens. In fact, Rome was not too exposed to the attacks from the sea, since it is far from the mouth of the Tiber 18 miles.Moreover, the major filter of Rome was the creation of its first colony, the castrum of Ostia, that was founded in the fourth century BCE to stop eventual attacks coming from the sea. Athens, instead, faces directly the sea; its port, the Piraeus, was connected by walls to the city, elements that instead of making Athens safer, made it more exposed to the attacks of the Persians first and of the Spartans later.
The geography of Rome was also influenced by its island, the Tiberinian Island that allowed the Romans to connect it to both sides of the Tiber by two bridges during the Republican age,the Cestius and the Fabricius bridge.On the other hand, a little bit at the south of the Island, the water bed of the Tiber was very low and people and animals could cross the other side of the river without the need of a bridge.
The first inhabitants of Rome settled on the left side of the river because from the Palatine and the Capitol hill they could control the traffic of goods and ships.the First city dwellers used these hills also to defend themselves from the attacks coming from other hills and from the river itself.For all this reasons in antiquity Rome's geographical position was better than the geographical position of Athens. In fact, Rome was not too exposed to the attacks from the sea, since it is far from the mouth of the Tiber 18 miles.Moreover, the major filter of Rome was the creation of its first colony, the castrum of Ostia, that was founded in the fourth century BCE to stop eventual attacks coming from the sea. Athens, instead, faces directly the sea; its port, the Piraeus, was connected by walls to the city, elements that instead of making Athens safer, made it more exposed to the attacks of the Persians first and of the Spartans later.
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