The Eternal City

    Rome can be called the Eternal City. Every year on April 21, the Romans celebrate the birthday of their magnificent city.

   Il-Natale-di-Roma, or the birth of Rome, is a special time of year. Then there are the celebrations in honor of the city's glorious history. Rome is a city where the ancient and the modern coexist harmoniously, but on April 21 the city's rich ancient past comes to life with historical parades and reenactments of key scenes from the history of the Roman Empire and celebrations that take place throughout the city.

   Few cities can boast a history like the legendary Rome, founded on April 21, 753 BC. The date comes down to us from the ancient Roman historian Marcus Terentius Varro, who wrote in the first century AD about the birth of Rome. But the real story begins long before 753, when a beautiful Vestal (priestess of Vesta, goddess of the hearth), named Rhea Silvia, caught the eye of the pagan war god Mars. After her seduction by Mars, Rhea soon gave birth to two handsome twin sons, named Romulus and Remus. Rejected by the king, Rhea's two disgraced sons were abandoned in a basket on the banks of the Tiber River.

   But the story of two sons of Mars can never end there. The basket with the two babies floated down the Tiber River and reached the shore near what is now the Palatine Hill, one of Rome's seven hills. There the two babies were rescued by a she-wolf who nursed the two babies until they were found by the shepherd Faustulus. When they grew up, the two brothers asked to found a city on the banks of the Tiber near the place where the basket in which they had been as babies had stopped. A city ruled by the two brothers was not created because, after intense rivalry, Romulus killed Remus and founded the city of Rome himself on April 21, 753 BC.

     

    If we should be ashamed of our age, then Rome should be proud because she is already 2777 years old! The Old Town always celebrates in Grand Style! Gladiator shows, parades, historical reenactments,    gastronomic events that highlight traditional Italian foods and concerts that take place around Rome's birthday. The historical parade is the event where you can glimpse all levels of Roman life from goddesses and Vestals, priestesses of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth, to gladiators and prisoners of war.

    As an added bonus, many of Rome's museums and archaeological sites are open to the public for free on April 21. And of course, birthday events wouldn't be complete without fireworks.

    Please rate my work and vote for my blog on: 

Follow ZigZag Library