RICINA.
IIOM.a
was proclaimed emperor by Ricimer, who died,
however, only forty days after the sack of Rome.
Rioina. 1. (Ricinensis), a town in Picenum,
colonized by the Emperor Severus. Its mines
are on the River Potenza, near Macerata.—2.
Une of the Ebuda; Insulae, or the Hebrides.
Rigodolum (now Reol), a town ofthe Treviri
in Gallia Belgica, distant three days' march
from Mogontiacum.
[Ripheoo, or, more correctly, Rhipeos ('P«r-
>c)i8Tiojan warrior, who joined the band of
<Eneas the night that Troy was burned, and
fought with great bravery until he was at length
overpoweied by superior numbers: he is com¬
mended for ms piety and justice.]
Robigos or Robigo, is described by some
Latin writers as a divinity worshipped for the
purpose of averting blight or too great heat
from the young corn-fields. The festival of the
Robigalia was celebrated on the twenty-fifth of
April, and was said to have been instituted by
Numa. But considering the uncertainty ofthe
ancients themselves as to whether the divinity
was masculine or feminine, and that the Ro¬
mans did not pay divine honors to any evil de¬
mon, it is probable that the divinity Robigus or
Robigo is only an abstraction of the later Ro¬
mans from the festival of the Robigalia.
Robus, a fortress in the territory ofthe Rau-
raei, in Gallia Belgica, which was built by Va¬
lentinian near Basilia, A.D. 374.
Roma (Romanus : now Rome), the capital of
Italy and ofthe world, was situated on the left
bank of the River Tiber, on the northwestern
confines of Latium, about sixteen miles from
tfee sea.—A. History of the City. Rome is
aaid to have been a colony from Alba Longa,
and to have been founded by Romulus about
BC 753. Fid. Romulus. All traditions agree
■hat the original city comprised only the Mons
Palatinus or Palatium, and some portion of the
ground immediately below it. It was surround¬
ed by walls, which followed the line of the Po-
mosrium (vid. Did. of Antiq., s. v ), and was built
in a square form, whence it was called Roma
Quadrata. This city on the Palatine was in¬
habited only by Latins. On the neighboring
hills there also existed from the earliest times
settlements of Sabines and Etruscans The
Sabine town, probably called Quirium, and in¬
habited by Quirites, was situated on the bills to
the north of the Palatine, that is, the Quirinalis
and Capitolinus, or Capitolium, on the latter of
which hills was the Sabine Arx or citadel.
These Latin and Sabine towns afterward be¬
came united, according to tradition, in the reign
of Romulus, and the two nations formed one
collective body, known under the name of
" Populus Romanus (et) Quirites." The Etrus¬
cans were settled on Mons Calius, and extend¬
ed over Mons Cispius and Mons Oppius, which
are part of the Esquiline. These Etruscans
were at an early period incorporated in the
Roman state, but were compelled to abandon
their seats on the hills, and to take up their
abode in the plains between the Cselius and the
Esquiline, whence the Vicus Tuscus derived its
name. Under the kings the city rapidly grew
in population and in size. Ancus Maicius add¬
ed the Mons Aventinus to the city. Tie same
king also built a fortress on the Janicvlns, a hill
on the other side of the Tiber, as t r itecti >r.
against the Etruscans, and cor.nected it with
the city by means ofthe Pons Sublicius Rome
was still further improved and enlarged 1 v Tar
quinius Priscus and Servius Tullius The for¬
mer of these kings constructed the vast sewers
(cloaca), by which the lower part of the city be-
tween the Palatine and Capitol was diained,
and which still remain without a stone dis¬
placed. He also laid out the Circu3 Maximus
and the Forum, and, according to some tradi
tions, commenced the erection ofthe Capitoline
temple, which was finished by Tarquinius Su¬
perbus. The completion of the city, however,
was ascribed to Servius Tullius. This king
added the Mons Viminalis and Mor.s Esquilinus,
and surrounded the whole city with a line of
fortifications, which comprised all the seven
hills of Rome (Palatinus, Capitolinus, Quiri
nalis, Calius, Aventinus, Viminalis, Esquilinus)
Hence Rome was called Urbs Septicollis. These
fortifications were about seven miles in circum¬
ference. A_t the same time, Servius extended
the pomcerium so as to make the sacred in
closure ofthe city identical with its walls. In
B.C. 390 Rome was entirely destroyed by the
Gauls, with the exception of a few houses on
the Palatine. On the departure of the barbari¬
ans it was rebuilt in great haste and confusion,
without any attention to regularity, and with
narrow and crooked streets Ater the con¬
quest ofthe Carthaginians and of the monarchs
of Macedonia and Syria, the city began to be
adorned with many public buildings and hand.
some private houses; and it was still further
embellished by Augustus, who introduced great
improvements into all parts of the city, and both
erected many public buildings himself, and in
duced all the leading nobles of his court to fol¬
low his example. So greatly had the appear¬
ance of the city improved during his long and
prosperous reign, that he used to boast that he
j had found the city of brick, and had left it of
marble. Still the main features of the city re¬
mained the same ; and the narrow streets and
mean houses formed a striking and disagreeable
contrast to the splendid public buildings and
magnificent palaces which had been recently
erected. The great fire at Rome in the reign of
Nero (A.D. 64) destroyed two thirds ofthe city.
Nero availed himself of this opportunity to in
dulge his passion for building ; and the eity now
assumed a more regular and stately appearance.
The new streets were made both wide and
stiaight; the height of the houses was restrict¬
ed ; and a certain part of each was required to
be built of Gabian or Alban stone, which was
proof against fire. Rome had long since ex¬
tended beyond the walls of Servius Tullius;
but down to the third century of the Christian
era the walls of this monarch continued to mark
the limits of the city properly so called. These
walls, however, had long since been rendered
quite useless, and the city wis therefore left
without any fortifications. Accordingly, theEm-
peror Aurelian determined to surround Rome
with new walls, which embraced the city of
Servius Tullius and all the suburbs which had
subsequently grown up around it, such as the
M. Janiculus on the right bank of the Tiber
and the Collis Hortulm um or Mons Pincianus ot
745
|