Rome celebrates its 2,777th birthday with historic festivities

By Baris Seckin

ROME (AA) - Rome, one of the world's oldest and most celebrated cities, on Sunday celebrated its 2,777th birthday with events to promote its historical and cultural significance.

The Historical Group of Rome (Gruppo Storico Romano), a non-profit founded in 1970 known for its activities to promote the Italian capital's historical and cultural heritage, organized a series of events to mark the legendary city’s birthday.

Volunteers of the group dressed as soldiers, legionnaires, and senators from the era of republican and imperial Rome marched through the city center.

Starting from the Circus Maximus, the historical city's central hippodrome area, the procession passed through significant landmarks such as Piazza Venezia, Via dei Fori Imperiali, and the ancient Colosseum, before traveling full circle to end up at the Circus Maximus.

There the public could take in visual shows on the founding of Rome, its historical development, and life in ancient Rome.

Both Romans and tourists visiting the city showed great interest in the procession and shows, often stopping to snap photos.

The legendary founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus, marked as taking place on April 21, 753 BC, was proposed by the Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro, who lived in the first century BC.