The Scope of Rome

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I've got a question for some of our fine European members!

I am reading this book called 'Rome: From Village to Empire'. Great book so far...

They have just started the discussion of the initial development of the seven hills of Rome. What they have not done however is provide a map or a description of the topography.

Are these hills miles apart? How big are they?

 

I can look for something more specific if you want, but so far I can tell you the hills are spaced out enough to make separate villages (which they did) and the space between them (where the forum was set up) was big enough to fit a swamp. Nowadays, a hill is about a normal city quarter. You can walk between them at ease and sometimes it's really close, like from the Capitole to the Palatine, but there's a reason why they have subway.

 

So would you say a mile (1.5 km) between on average...?

I'm only looking for a ballpark figure to form a mental picture.

 

Hmm... I'd rather find a city map in google, maybe the current one, and calculate the distance to be sure. Sometimes it's going to be a mile, sometimes maybe even less, sometimes probably more. They don't exactly sit in a circle around the forum.

 

Here's a good map showing the hills of Rome. Just for the record, the hills are: Palatine, Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline, Viminal, Quirinal, and Capitoline. Great stuff! I love Roman history.

You can compare the bare hills to where they are in a Roman City map...Here's another good one: Rome