We are unlikely to ever know for certain whether Romulus really lived, but regarding the existence of the city that bears his name there is no uncertainty. Distant enough from the sea to protect its first inhabitants from the danger of piracy, the site of Rome lay 20km upstream on the left or eastern bank of the Tiber at its lowest crossing place. This convenient ford, tucked just below an island in the river, was overlooked by a group of hills that harboured an adequate number of freshwater springs, while the surrounding countryside was suitable for tilling, grazing and hunting. The hills themselves were well wooded, fairly precipitous and defensible. In that way, the site allowed escape for early settlers from flooding and some protection against predators. This is the Rome that concerns us here, the non-grandiose Rome of the turbulent centuries when Italy consisted of a patchwork of settlements and peoples, among them the Celts in the north, the Etruscans in the centre, the Sabines next door, the Samnites along the spinal massif and the Greeks on the southern coasts.
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