ABSTRACT
The site of ancient Rome was marked by seven hills in the plain beside the Tiber River. At the site of Rome an island in the Tiber provided the easiest place in a long distance to cross the river, and the favorable geographical situation contributed to the importance that the city early attained. There is evidence of human habitation on the site of Rome from the second millennium B.c. onward, and Latin tribes probably settled on the several hills from the tenth century B.c. onward. From the area of the Colosseum the Sacred Way ran westward to the base of the Capitoline Hill. The forum of Vespasian is somewhat further along the Via dei Fori Imperiali in the direction of the Colosseum. The Arch of Constantine was erected in a.d. 315 by the Senate and people of Rome to commemorate the important victory of Constantine over Maxentius in a battle that began at Saxa Rubra.
