Source 1 is a description of the Republic of Rome from Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 – 43 BC). Cicero was a writer and philosopher who is famous for his vast collection of private letters to various individuals, such as Titus Pomponius Atticus to whom he wrote to without fear about every day Rome and it’s politics. Cicero in this source proclaims Rome to be founded on an amazing location tactfully thought out by Romulus. “The site of the city – a matter which calls for the most careful consideration”. Cicero explains how Romulus when deciding to found Rome did so with “unbelievable foresight”.
However the ancient story of Romulus and Remus states that the brothers decided to build a city on the site of their abandonment. If this is to be believed (and it was by all in Rome at the time) then this shows that the foundation of Rome was more sentimental than tactful, nevertheless, this does not mean the placement of this city was not fortunate or advantageous. However there was some thought that went into the settling of Rome on the part of Romulus. The story tells that Rome was to be build on a hill which provides a natural defence for the city, something Cicero had also spoken about in his passage.
As to the natural defences of the city itself” “being set about on all sides by steep and precipitous hills”. Rome was built next to the river Tiber giving the city access to the sea allowing it to establish trade routes with the rest of the world, and due to Rome’s centrality maximum trade routes could be acquired on both land and water, allowing Rome to prosper. Coastal cities are usually the norm when creating a trading nation however not entirely necessary. Plenty of countries old and new have used rivers to transport goods, such as the Danube trade route running in a diagonal line from north-west to south-east Europe.
Cicero understood the importance of trade for the Roman Republic as he states, “The river would enable his city to receive from the sea what she needed and to export by it her own surplus”. However although Cicero describes the Tiber river as “a copious and smooth-flowing river with a broad estuary on the sea”, he doesn’t mention the disadvantages of the Tiber. The Tiber river is shallow making it impossible for big ships and boats to navigate through it hindering trading possibilities for the Roman Republic. Furthermore due to the amount of silt in the river, debris will accumulate on Tiber island blocking the flowing water.
This flaw in the foundation of Rome is highlighted in source 2, “water which overflowed from the river”. If the blockage is not dealt with Rome will flood. Linking to the previous paragraph, another disadvantage of the positioning of Rome is that although on a hill it is surrounded in a circular fashion by other hills creating a bowl of low ground in the centre. As Rome is built on a flood plain explained in source 2, “where are now the forums, was once occupied by wet swamps”, if the city expands to this central bowl area (which it does) then it is at risk of flooding.
The city centres (forums) of Rome was built in this low ground hence when the Tiber floods the water naturally flows into this bowl of low ground. “a ditch was drenched with water which overflowed from the river. ” are the words used by Ovid when describing Rome in source 2. This problem was solved in 600BC with the creation of the Cloaca Maxima. Source 1 also states that “Romulus chose a site with a good supply of springs” which is true, Romes foundation site had springs however not enough to support a growing population.
Although Romulus may have chose a site with fresh water he did not chose a site where it had enough causing a shortage of water the more people there were. This is why aqueducts were created, to source water from other places and transport them back to Rome as they didn’t have enough in the first place. Due to the circle of hills surrounding Rome, during summer months hot air rises to the top of the seven hills and created a hot stuffy weather that engulfs Rome causing unbearable discomfort. However Rome has very fertile lands due to the volcanic soil from Vesuvius.
Neither points are made by either Cicero or Ovid. Neither source gives a balanced accurate description of the city but both are useful in depicting some aspects of Rome and its location that are good and bad. Both are arguably unreliable however, as source 1 sensationalises Rome to be the perfect city and source 2 does not give enough detail about the question at hand. To conclude, I strongly agree that Cicero was not giving an accurate picture of Rome. His love for his city and heritage clouded his vision to the practicality of the location Rome was founded upon.
