The Aventine Hill is most outlying hill in Rome, one more to the south, and that one that was, for centuries, always considered almost a foreign body of the city. Imagine that only at the time of Claudius, the fourth emperor of Rome, and therefore in the first century a.D., the Aventine Hill was included in the pomerium, the sacred boundary of the city of Rome (which created the centre of the old city). Even if its origins seem to be not so linked to the fate of Rome, keep in mind how the Aventine Hill was several times the main characters of historical and cultural episodes of the life of Rome.

In fact the Aventine Hill is so outside the city centre that becomes the protagonist of some famous historical events that exude legends and myths. Like Remus, the Romulus' brother, who, in the challenge based on who saw more birds fly in the sky (with the aim of deciding who would have founded the city), chose the Aventine Hill as his point of lookout. It is interesting that this hill is one of the locations where the origins of Rome took place, where an anonymous village was born to found, centuries later, an empire. The myth of Romulus and Remus (that here could know better) sees the Aventine Hill as one of the places where it was  taken place. We can understand how, in some degree, this area was included in the beginning of the roman civilization. The Aventine Hill was also the location of the famous myth about Hercules and Cacus, a giant who argued with the famous greek-roman hero. For this reason Cacus was brutally killed by Hercules. And where used to live Cacus? Right here, in a cave on the Aventine Hill.

But, probably, the name of the hill is forever linked to the famous Secession. We find ourselves in 1924 following the Matteotti's murder, which  in some degree became the beginning of the fascist regime in Italy. Matteotti was a deputy who was killed, and nobody knew who killed him and why. Of course, just because Matteotti was a member of the opposition, a lot of people believed that Mussolini was the instigator. Initially the dictatorship denied any involvement with the crime, denying also the election fraud reported by many members of the Parliament. Mussolini, therefore, to challenge the parliamentarians, asking them to accuse him openly. It was at this moment that some members of the opposition decided to carry out  the parliamentary work at the Aventine Hill, in total protest and opposition to Mussolini, completely leaving the Parliament. But why this hill? Because in the early days of the Republic of Rome in the fifth century b.C., when the social clash between patricians and plebeians was sharp, switched on, and at times even violent, it was the Aventine Hill to be chosen as the site (and also a place in which to live), on the part of the plebeians, initially excluded from any political activity, and the town of Rome.

Finally, a curiosity: what is the origin of the word “Aventine”? Even today, we have not any certain news. There are those who think about the cultivation of oats, that here it was in the archaic age. People who still believe that the name comes from an ancient king of the city of Alba Longa, that here settled. For still others, the term Aventine derives from the Latin phrase ab adventu hominum, a way to name a temple of Diana that existed here. In short, in one way or another, this hill has really made the history of Rome, managing to be of the most iconic, heartfelt and special in the roman world!