The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City

by Grant Heiken, Renato Funiciello, Donatella De Rita

From humble beginnings, Rome became perhaps the greatest intercontinental power in the world. Why did this historic city become so much more influential than its neighbor, nearby Latium, which was peopled by more or less the same stock? Over the years, historians, political analysts, and sociologists have discussed this question ad infinitum , without considering one underlying factor that led to the rise of Rome--the geology now hidden by the modern city.


This book demonstrates the important link between the history of Rome and its geologic setting in a lively, fact-filled narrative sure to interest geology and history buffs and travelers alike. The authors point out that Rome possessed many geographic advantages over surrounding proximity to a major river with access to the sea, plateaus for protection, nearby sources of building materials, and most significantly, clean drinking water from springs in the Apennines. Even the resiliency of Rome's architecture and the stability of life on its hills are underscored by the city's geologic framework.


If carried along with a good city map, this book will expand the understanding of travelers who explore the eternal city's streets. Chapters are arranged geographically, based on each of the seven hills, the Tiber floodplain, ancient creeks that dissected the plateau, and ridges that rise above the right bank. As an added bonus, the last chapter consists of three field trips around the center of Rome, which can be enjoyed on foot or by using public transportation.

Genres: History, Italy, Science

264 pages, Hardcover

First published July 5, 2005

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I'm not a geologist; my background in the field consists of The Magic School Bus Explores Inside the Earth computer game sometime in 3-5 grade, various ranger talks and museum exhibits at national parks here in the states, and family in-jokes about end-of-the-world scenarios brought on by the eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera (mostly consisting of how we'll have to finally eat the Easy Mac in the pantry, but might have to make it with beer). I know a little bit more about Roman history, thanks to 4 years of Latin in secondary school, but once we get beyond the Classical age, everything gets a bit vague.

I guess what I'm saying is this is very much a layman's review.

In spite of that, I still really enjoyed this book. It's written as if you're walking around Rome with the narrator, which let me reminisce about my own family's trip to the eternal city, and very much put me right back there, in spite of the memories being half a lifetime ago.

I also found it really interesting to read about the implications of geology for a city. It's really the first time I've considered the subject on those terms--usually when you're learning about rock formation and geologic processes, you're at Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Mammoth Cave, or Mt. St. Helen's. The earth did these things, and these fantastic caves/geysers/canyons/etc. resulted, these are the small minute changes still happening today, humans might be having this effect now that we've started doing these things, and so forth.

Whereas in contrast, Rome is a patch of land that has had people inhabiting it for the past 14,000 years or so; people who kept fairly decent accounts of history for at least the past 3,000. Not only is there geologic evidence of volcanoes/earthquakes/floods/etc., there are written accounts. Not only are there natural geologic processes building up and tearing down these hills, there's all of the artificial human changes: buildings and quarries and tunnels and landfills and infrastructure.

Parts of it do read like a textbook, and no, the photos aren't quite the full-color national geographic vistas we've come to take for granted. Still, if you're interested in a more geologic discussion of Roman history, particularly the interaction of the Romans with the geologic limits and resources of their home, you might find this an interesting read. I certainly did.

[Kaj · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Seven Hills of Rome" is like the novelization of a geological map. A tremendous amount of the book is dedicated to dissecting the strata of each individual hill in Rome. Most of these hills are basically identical- volcanic tuff and human waste overlying older sedimentary rocks, so the book is very repetitive. Everything is well-researched, and clearly written, but simultaneously too basic and too detailed for me to enjoy. I imagine it would be useful to someone who is really excited about the minutia of both geologic and engineering history, but knows nothing about either, and also has no idea how to read a map.

Unfortunately, this book has no room for geologic stories. I was hoping to read about the use of Imperial Porphyry, or the cinnabar mines, or Vulcan mythology and volcanoes, or brand new things I know nothing about. These stories are all directly relevant, but were omitted- why? Because they were too topical for these serious scientists? Because the authors didn't imagine that people would want to read interesting stories rather than a breakdown of the same stratigraphic sequence over and over? Because they didn't want to research anything not immediately in their wheelhouse? It's so wrong to speculate.

By far the most interesting sections of the book were about the sources of fresh water and the engineering geology of ancient Rome. (The Colosseum is collapsed asymmetrically because it was built half on soft sediments that magnified earthquakes. Cool!) It's clear that the authors take special personal interest in these subjects, and uniquely in this book, tried to convey that interest to the readers. If they had tried to convey the interesting aspects of other fields of Roman geology, I might have thought that the book was more successful overall.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a book for a strong interest in Rome or in geology, this is a super fun read. I kept a map of the city handy for reference and was amazed by how much I learned about a city I have visited on five occasions. Story of Rome's abundant fresh water, for instant, is covered in more detail than I have encountered elsewhere. Think fountains, aqueducts, and Roman baths! The discussion of building materials was also very informative.

[Jerrid Kruse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps a bit esoteric and really requires a solid spatial understanding of Rome. Yet the book provides scientifically sound and interesting background in the geologically influenced history of Rome.

[Lucia Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is fairly good at describing the geological facts of the city of Rome. I am reading it for background on a story I am writing and it has some very nice facts I never even realized. I wasn't happy overall but only because I had hoped it was more detail of the terrain during ancient Rome. This was for the entirety of history, so that issue is because of me.

Warning though, it is an extremely dry read and not a lot of pure enjoyment from the reading itself.