Rome History

6. Rome is Italy’s capital city and was founded on April 21, 753 BC. That makes the city more than 2,500 years old!

7. Rome was also the capital of the Roman Empire, which was—about 2,000 years ago—the most powerful and rich empire around. The city was full of people who came to worship at the city’s famous temples, to shop in its busy shopping streets and to live in its apartment buildings, many of the same things that people in Rome do today.

8. After the Roman Empire fell, Rome became the capital of Christianity. The Pope is still based in Rome, actually in the Vatican City, which is one of the smallest countries in the world.

9. Italy bursted with artistic talents during the years called the Renaissance, 1400–1500s. These were the years of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael, great painters, sculptors and inventors who changed art forever. You can see their famous works throughout Italy and beyond.

10. Italy only became a country in 1861, 150 years ago.