Rome is a city in a country called Italy. Italy begins just south of the Swiss Alps and soon becomes a peninsula running to the southeast between the Adriatic and the Mediterranean Seas. Rome is located halfway along the Italian peninsula. The peninsula is about 650 miles long and is no more than 125 miles wide. The Apennine Mountains run down the whole length of the peninsula like a spine and at places rise to a height of 9,500 feet.
     Romeís main river is the Tiber River. Roman settlements grew here because of good soil and farming.  The Romans grew wheat to make bread. They also grew beans, cabbage, lettuce, figs and other fruit. The most important crop was grapes. Grapes were used to make wine. In Rome there was plenty of rocky soil, where grapevines grew. They poured wine into cuts and wounds to help the wounds heal. The Romans most valuable trade was wine.
     The Tiber River was and still is a great highway for traveling between the mountains and the Mediterranean coast. Today there is a large modern city beside the Tiber River, and on the northern edge of the Latium plain. The Latium plain was surrounded by inactive volcanoes. The hills around Rome were suitable for growing market crops. As Rome developed it expanded across the seven hills. Hills were used to protect the city from attacks.  The mountain ranges in the north and along the peninsula affect rainfall.  Mountain ranges lack rich soil, so there was more sheep herding then farming on the mountain sides. Rome wasnít built where the Tiber empties into the Mediterranean, because pirates might suddenly attack such a spot. It was built fifteen miles up the River.

Temperature + Landforms

January -                    52  F
July-                          85  F
September-                 78  F
Spring-                       warm and showery
Summer-                    very hot and dry
Fall-                           warm with rain
Winter-                       cold
Highest mountain         Mont. Blanc 15,771 ft
Highest waterfall          Frua Cascade 470 ft