Something About the Seven Hills of Rome

That was then, this is now.

Have you ever been out and about and, then, stopped and asked to answer a trivia question before you continue? Yeah, I haven't either, but I periodically wonder how I would respond. Worse, I worry about what someone will ask. Have my years of having my nose in trivia books been worth my time? Have all my evil studies amounted to anything?

Johnny Dixon, Professor Childermass, and Fergie fall victim to such a thing during the visit to 1453 Constantinople in The Trolley to Yesterday (1989). They're crisscrossing the city underground, where they are stopped by unseen sentential who asks three questions before they can pass. If they answer wrong – well, there is an omen of their potential death floating nearby to encourage correct answers. One question asks they name the seven hills of Rome. These hills are east of the river Tiber and within the city walls, likely well-known to history or geography majors.

I would have ended up in the spectral boat with the bodies of my companions. What if they turned tail and ran back from where they came? Would the so-called Guardian of the Sunken Palace be able to do anything? What if they had said the Janiculan? It's a hill, yes, but not traditionally counted among the more popular seven. Now that I think about it, what sort of public relations firms dotted those seven hills to make them so dang special? 

At any rate, I found this video recently and thought I’d share it. Darius Arya, with Ancient Rome Live from the American Institute for Roman Culture, presents a 30-minute program exploring the history of the hills and talking about how each is unique.

Now to come up with a mnemonic device for Aventine, Capitoline, Caelian, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal, and Viminal.