Social Studies 10

Roman Geography

Geography of Ancient Rome Italy is shaped like a

boot. It extends 960 km into the Mediterranean Sea. Its average width is 160 km. It is three times as big as Greece.

Unlike in Greece, harbours were hard to find in Italy. Most were located on the western coast. Italy is, therefore, orientated towards the West while the Greeks focused more on the East.

Geography of Ancient Rome Like Greece there are few

rivers in Italy. There are three main rivers in Italy: the Po, the Arno and the Tiber. The city of Rome developed around the Tiber.

The Romans built a port, Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber to accommodate ships too large to travel up the river to Rome. They controlled trade on the river and the Mediterranean.

Geography of Ancient Rome Mountains in Italy and

Greece made communication and transportation difficult. Mountains offered protection for both the civilizations. The Alps provided those in Italy with protection from Northern invaders. While the Greece developed as separate city-states, the mountains would not prevent the Romans from being unified under one ruler.

Geography of Ancient Rome Rome had three main

agricultural areas: the Northern Plain, Etruria, and Latium. Their main crops were olives, grapes and wheat. Like the Greeks, the Romans needed colonies to feed their growing population. The Romans were, however, much more productive farmers.

Geography of Ancient Rome Unlike the Greeks,

the Romans had many natural resources to assist their economy. They used limestone, marble and concrete (volcanic dust and water) and timber for building materials.