Rome

Rome exists because the Tiber needed a crossing—and the seven hills at the river's first fordable point offered both defense and access to salt from the coastal marshes. That geographic accident produced the only city to serve as capital of Western civilization twice: first as center of the Roman Empire, then as seat of the Catholic Church.

Legend dates Rome's founding to 753 BC; archaeology confirms settlements from 1000 BC. The hills provided defensible positions; the Tiber connected Rome to the sea while the Via Salaria brought vital salt. By 27 BC, Rome ruled the Mediterranean; by AD 100, one million people lived within its walls—the largest city on Earth. The Empire's fall in 476 reduced Rome to 35,000 survivors squatting among ruins. But the papacy remained, and medieval Rome slowly rebuilt around St. Peter's Basilica. The Renaissance popes commissioned Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bernini to transform Rome into Christianity's showcase.

Italian unification in 1871 made Rome the kingdom's capital—chosen for symbolic weight, not economic logic. Today 2.8 million Romans (4.3 million metro) generate 10% of Italian GDP, almost entirely through government, tourism, and church-related functions. Rome hosts every ministry, 200,000 civil servants, and the €8 billion Vatican economy. Tourism brings 15 million annual visitors. Yet Rome produces little: no major industrial company, no significant tech sector, minimal exports. The economy depends on legacy.

The 2026 trajectory reveals Rome's structural problem: path dependence on heritage limits reinvention. The city struggles to maintain 3,000 years of monuments while housing a modern capital. Traffic, corruption, and crumbling infrastructure define local politics. The 2025 Jubilee Holy Year promises 32 million pilgrims but strains already overwhelmed services. Rome bets that symbolic capital—being Rome—remains economically viable indefinitely. The Eternal City survives on eternity's reputation.