Loyola University Chicago

Meeting Days: Tuesday and Thursday

Meeting Times: 9:30 - 10:45 am

Roma Aeterna, the Eternal City, umbilicus mundi, the navel of the world… Which nobody can deny! The most glorious and marvellous of glorious and marvellous cities once began as a small settlement along the banks of the river Tiber – according to legend founded by Romulus and Remus, in 753 BC. It grew to become the capital of one of the largest empires the world has ever seen. Kings, consuls and emperors have ruled the city and its empire throughout the centuries. The city of Rome became the centre of power, wealth, and culture.

After centuries of expansion, the Roman Republic was gradually transformed into an empire, with an emperor on the throne. Octavian (who became known as Augustus) supposedly "restored" the Republic, but effectively became the first Roman emperor. Rome flourished! Huge temples were built to honour the gods, not to forget the "divine" emperors themselves. Enormous public structures and buildings were being put up. Literature and poetry, architecture, the arts… All reached higher, even the highest levels of perfection. Rhetoric and politics were closely connected throughout all of Roman history, including the time during the Empire – when public speaking seemed to have been less relevant, seeing that the emperors hardly allowed for political manoeuvring space for others. Roman law developed, and became a relatively sophisticated system of rules and regulations. Religion was a determining factor for practically everything in Roman society, hence a crucial feature of daily life. Even with the arrival of Christianity one could argue that almost all things continued as before. Most of all: Rome remained the centre of the world. Until today… Perhaps as no other city in the world, Roma Aeterna has left her mark on Western civilisation. As no other city in the world, "SHE" speaks to the imagination: in the past, the present, and the future!