The Hills of Rome by Caroline Vout - 9781107678712

The Hills of RomeSignature of an Eternal City\nAuthor(s): Caroline Vout\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9781107678712, 978-1107678712\nSynopsis\nRome is 'the city of seven hills'. This book examines the need for the 'seven hills' clich, its origins, development, impact and borrowing. It explores how the clich relates to Rome's real volcanic terrain and how it is fundamental to how we define this. Its chronological remit is capacious: Varro, Virgil and Claudian at one end, on, through the work of Renaissance antiquarians, to embrace frescoes and nineteenth-century engravings. These artists and authors celebrated the hills and the views from these hills, in an attempt to capture Rome holistically. By studying their efforts, this book confronts the problems of encapsulating Rome and 'cityness' more broadly and indeed the artificiality of any representation, whether a painting, poem or map. In this s.