The city of Rome appears for the first time in the Bible in Acts 2:10, when it was noted that "visitors from Rome" were among those who witnessed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on day of Pentecost. For the nerve center of the Empire into which the Christian faith was born, its mention is relatively rare; only 11x, in three books of the NT (8x in Acts, 2x in Romans, and 1x in 2 Tim). Frequency of mention, in this case, has no relation to importance. It was the last city that, as far as we can ascertain, Paul visited. The popular claim by Roman Catholics that the city has the church that Peter founded can easily be dismissed, though the other claim that both Peter and Paul were martyred (and are buried) in the city has more credibility. Though it has lost much of its theological and cultural influence in the Christian world, Rome remains one of the few cities where the original apostles founded churches that continues to stand strong if not to thrive.
The City's Founding & Location
Ancient Rome was founded on a hill, the Palatine, situated on the southern bank of the River Tiber (Tivere in modern Italian). Legends trace its founding to Romulus, one of the twins who were supposed brought up by a she-wolf. Fighting to decide where to site the city they would build the twin fell into a fight in which Remus was killed. The city expanded in due time and eventually came to embrace the seven famous hills of Rome; the Quirinal, Viminal, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Aventine, and the Caelinan, enclosed by the city wall.
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