During the time of the Republic, the city of Rome existed on 6 or 7 hills1 and was divided into four equal districts that existed within the Pomerium2 and went in a counter-clockwise fashion. These districts were protected by the Servian Wall3, with the center probably between the Velia and Oppian Hill:
- Regio I Suburana
- Regio II Esquilina
- Regio III Collina
- Regio IV Palatina
However, when the city's population grew much larger, four districts were just not enough. Therefore, in 7 BC, the imperator Augustus re-districted Roma according to the population, into fourteen new districts. These would remain unchanged until the collapse of the Western Empire.
- Regio I Porta Capena (Capena Gate)
- Regio II Caelimontium (Caelian Hill)
- Regio III Isis et Serapis (Temple of Isis and Serapis)
- Regio IV Templum Pacis (Temple of Peace)
- Regio V Esquiliae (Esquiline Hill)
- Regio VI Alta Semita (High Lane)
- Regio VII Via Lata (Broad Street)
- Regio VIII Forum Romanum (Roman Forum)
- Regio IX Circus Flaminius (Flaminian Raceway)
- Regio X Palatium (Palatine Hill)
- Regio XI Circus Maximus (Great Raceway)
- Regio XII Piscina Publica (Public Pool)
- Regio XIII Aventinus (Aventine Hill)
- Regio XIV Trans Tiberim (Across the Tiber)
Each district would have two vicimagistri (local magistrates) that served as local mayors and also leaders to the vici4. Each district also had at least one major police and fire station, which the number would grow later on. However, by this time, Rome had grown beyond the Servian Wall and it took a few more centuries until a new fortification called the Aurelian Wall5 was built:
1. Urbs Septicollis - According to classical thought, Rome is a city on seven hills. However, the plateau of the Esquiline Hill lies outside the Servian Wall (Rome originally started within these walls). So technically, there are only six hills.
2. Rome's religious culture began as animism, basically being both material and spiritual. Within these animistic thoughts, there is a spiritual border that surrounds early Rome, called the Pomerium, which one can basically cross just by going through the Servian Wall.
3. Rome's first walled fortification that encompassed the city within it was the Servian Wall. Named after and probably built by Servius Tullius - the sixth Roman King - it was meant to protect Rome in its early days.
4. Within the Roman districts exists numerous neighborhoods, termed vici. The concept of a vici is just as the same the modern understanding of a neighborhood. A normal vicus would have contained an aedicule (local shrine) or fountain as the central plaza (forum) and a type of police force called the vigiles. Somewhere nearby was a firestation for surrounding vici.
5. By this time, the Servian Wall had been decaying for some time. However, the need for a new wall did not come about immediately until the barbarian invasions of Italy. This prompted Emperor Aurelian to build the Aurelian Wall after an encounter with the Vandals near Rome.
Did you know...
The history of Rome spans 2,800 years; from a small Italian village founded around the 9th century BC to a city in the center of a vast civilization that dominated the Mediterranean region for centuries.
