English · Idiom Historical

The City of the Seven Hills

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

Rome, built on seven hills (Urbs septacollis}. The hills are the Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquilme, Palatine, Quirinal, and Viminal.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Mountains & stone Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “The City of the Seven Hills” mean?

Rome, built on seven hills (Urbs septacollis}. The hills are the Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquilme, Palatine, Quirinal, and Viminal.

Is “The City of the Seven Hills” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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