Why Rome is called Caput Mundi?

"Roma Caput Mundi" is a phrase we have heard so many times, and that literally means "Rome, the capital of the world".  But why is Rome called Caput Mundi?

 Rome, founded in 753 BC, over the years has seen its territory expand, to create one of the greatest empires ever existed on the face of the Earth, to the point of becoming without doubt one of the most important and influential cities in history. If we want to know why Rome is called Caput Mundi, this premise is a must.

 The reason why Rome has had this name is exactly this incredible influence that it has been able to achieve over the centuries. But who exactly said it, why then could this sentence be carved over the centuries?

The first to use this phrase was the Latin poet Marco Anneo Lucano, who in 61 after Christ wrote in his poem Pharsalia: "Ipsa, Caput Mundi, bellorum maxima merces, Rome capo facilis" Which means: "Rome itself, the capital of the world, the most important prey of war, easy to subjugate. But there is also another version of the phrase Roma Caput Mundi, or Rome Caput Orbis, whose meaning is still Rome the capital of the world. The first to make mention of it in this sense is the poet Publio Ovidio Nasone, who had written it before Lucan, in 14 BC, in his Amores.

The text of Ovid is as follows: "Tityrus et fruges Aeneiaque arma legentur, Rome triumphanti dum caput orbit erit" This phrase can be translated as: "Tityrus and the messengers and weapons of Aeneas will be read until Rome is the capital of the subjugated world". So if you want to know why Rome is called Caput Mundi, the answer is precisely in the greatness of its empire and in the influence conquered by the city over the centuries. For this reason, the phrase was taken for example in many cases by leaders and figures who wanted to recall the greatness of Rome. The emperor Federico Barbarossa, for example, had in his seal the motto "Rome Caput Urbi regia orbis frena rotunda".

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