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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Short description|Geographical heart of Rome, Italy, within the walls of the city}}
{{For2|the film starring Mario Lanza|Seven Hills of Rome (film)|for the album by Mario Lanza|Seven Hills of Rome (album)}}

[[File:Seven Hills of Rome.svg|thumb|400px|Schematic map of Rome showing the seven hills]]
The '''seven hills of Rome''' ({{langx|la|Septem colles/montes Romae}}, {{langx|it|Sette colli di Roma}} {{IPA|it|ˈsɛtte ˈkɔlli di ˈroːma|}}) east of the river [[Tiber]] form the geographical heart of [[Rome]], within the [[Servian Wall|walls]] of the city.

==Hills==
The seven hills are:<ref name="Heiken et al.">{{cite book|last1=Heiken|first1=Grant|last2=Funiciello|first2=Renato|last3=de Rita|first3=Donatella|title=The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6eADAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|date=24 October 2013|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=9780691130385|page=174|chapter=Chapter 11: Field Trips in and Around Rome|access-date=14 February 2019}}</ref>

* [[Aventine Hill]] (Latin: ''Collis Aventinus''; Italian: ''Aventino'')
* [[Caelian Hill]] (''Collis Caelius'', originally the ''Mons Querquetulanus''; ''Celio'')
* [[Capitoline Hill]] (''Mons Capitolinus''; ''Campidoglio'')
* [[Esquiline Hill]] (''Collis Esquilinus''; ''Esquilino'')
* [[Palatine Hill]] (''Collis'' or ''Mons Palatinus''; ''Palatino'')
* [[Quirinal Hill]] (''Collis Quirinalis''; ''Quirinale'')
* [[Viminal Hill]] (''Collis Viminalis''; ''Viminale'')

The [[Vatican Hill]] (Latin ''Collis Vaticanus'') lying northwest of the [[Tiber]], the [[Pincian Hill]] (''Mons Pincius''), lying to the north, the [[Janiculan Hill]] (Latin ''Janiculum''), lying to the west, and the [[Sacred Mount]] (Latin ''Mons Sacer''), lying to the northeast, are not counted among the traditional Seven Hills, being outside the boundaries of the most ancient part of Rome.

Separate also are the seven hills associated with the [[Septimontium]], a proto-urban festival celebrated by the residents of the seven communities associated with the hills or peaks of Rome. These were the [[Oppian Hill|Oppius]], [[Palatine Hill|Palatium]], [[Velian Hill|Velia]], [[Fagutal]], Cermalus, [[Caelian Hill|Caelius]], and [[Cispian Hill|Cispius]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Classical Philology|url=https://archive.org/details/classicalphilol01orggoog|year=1906|publisher=University of Chicago Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/classicalphilol01orggoog/page/n87 71]–}}</ref> These are sometimes confused with the traditional seven hills.

==History==
[[Tradition]] holds that [[Romulus and Remus]] founded the original city on the Palatine Hill on 21 April 753 BC, and that the seven hills were first occupied by small settlements that were not grouped. The seven hills' denizens began to interact, which began to bond the groups. The city of Rome, thus, came into being as these separate settlements acted as a group, draining the marshy valleys between them and turning them into markets (''[[Forum (Roman)|fora]]'' in Latin). Later, in the early 4th century BC, the [[Servian Walls]] were constructed to protect the seven hills.<ref>[http://www.italymagazine.com/dual-language/seven-hills-rome "The Seven Hills of Rome", ''Italy Magazine''] ''italymagazine.com'', accessed 14 February 2019</ref>

In modern Rome, five of the seven hills—the Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline, Quirinal, and Viminal Hills—are now the sites of monuments, buildings, and parks. The Capitoline Hill is the location of Rome's city hall, and the Palatine Hill is part of the main archaeological area.

A smaller area was covered by the seven peaks associated with the festival of the [[Septimontium]]: the Cispian Hill (''Cispius Mons''), [[Oppian Hill]] (''Oppius Mons''), and Fagutal Hill (''Fagutalis Mons''), three spurs of the Esquiline Hill, along with the Palatium and Cermalus, the peaks of the Palatine Hill, the [[Velian Hill]], a ridge joining the Palatine and Oppian Hills, and the Caelian Hill.

===Other cities with seven hills===
{{Main|List of cities claimed to be built on seven hills}}
[[Sheffield]], [[Istanbul]], [[Lisbon]], [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]] and the [[Massachusetts]] cities of [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Barnes|first=George|title=Like Rome, Worcester has its 7 hills|url=https://www.telegram.com/news/20170815/like-rome-worcester-has-its-7-hills|access-date=9 February 2021|website=telegram.com|language=en}}</ref> [[Somerville, Massachusetts|Somerville]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Hills of Somerville, Mass.|url=https://bostonbasinhills.org/pages/somerville-hills.html|access-date=23 October 2020}}</ref> and [[Newton, Massachusetts|Newton]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=Samuel Francis|url=http://archive.org/details/historyofnewtonm1880smit|title=History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880|date=1880|publisher=Boston : American Logotype Co.|others=UMass Amherst Libraries}}</ref> are also said to have been built on seven hills,<ref>{{Cite web |title=İstanbul'un 7 (Yedi) Tepesi |url=https://istanbul.ktb.gov.tr/TR-276823/istanbul39un-7-yedi-tepesi.html |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=istanbul.ktb.gov.tr}}</ref> following the example of Rome.

==In the New Testament==
In the [[Book of Revelation]], the [[Whore of Babylon]] sits on "seven mountains",<ref>{{bibleverse|Revelation|17:9|KJV}}</ref><ref>The King James Version Bible—the New International Version Bible uses the words "seven hills".</ref> often understood by [[Christians]] as the seven hills of Rome and a reference to the pagan [[Roman Empire]]. [[Protestant]]s later associated them with the [[Catholic Church]] (as the [[Pope]] is patriarch of Rome).<ref>Wall, R. W. (1991). ''New International Biblical Commentary: Revelation'' (207). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.</ref><ref>Bratcher, R. G., & Hatton, H. (1993). ''A Handbook on the Revelation to John''. UBS handbook series; Helps for translators (248). New York: United Bible Societies.</ref><ref>Davis, C. A. (2000). Revelation. The College Press NIV commentary (322). Joplin, Mo.: College Press Pub.</ref><ref>Mounce, R. H. (1997). "The Book of Revelation." ''The New International Commentary on the New Testament'' (315). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.</ref><ref>Beckwith, Isbon T. ''The Apocalypse of John''. New York: MacMillan, 1919; reprinted, Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001.</ref>

==In modern literature==
In a 2019 interview, novelist [[Lindsey Davis]] revealed her plan to set a series of books on the seven hills of Rome, now accomplished with the publication of ''[[A Capitol Death]]'', seventh in the [[Flavia Albia]] series which began with ''[[The Ides of April]]'', set on the Aventine Hill.<ref name="hodder-interview">{{cite web |title=Lindsey Davis interview: A Capitol Death and the Flavia Albia series |url=https://soundcloud.com/hodderbooks/lindsey-davis-interview-a-capitol-death-and-the-flavia-albia-series |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |access-date=10 April 2019 |date=2 April 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
; Other Roman hills
* [[Janiculum|Janiculan Hill (Gianicolo)]]
* [[Mons Sacer]]
* [[Monte Mario]]
* [[Monte Testaccio]], an artificial hill composed primarily of broken [[amphorae]]
* [[Oppian Hill|Oppian Hill (Oppio)]]
* [[Pincian Hill]]
* [[Velian Hill|Velian Hill (Velia)]]

; General
* [[Seven hills (disambiguation)|Seven hills]]
* [[Seven Mountains (Bergen)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Monuments of Rome}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seven Hills Of Rome}}
[[Category:Seven hills of Rome| ]]
[[Category:Cultural lists]]