Rome was founded on the banks of which river?

Rome was founded on the banks of which river? The answer is the Tiber.

The Tiber is the river most closely associated with Rome, which tradition says was founded on its eastern bank in 753 BC. The river helped make the site valuable: it offered water, a crossing point and a route linking the inland city with the Mediterranean port of Ostia.

Roman legend places Romulus and Remus in the Tiber’s story. The twins were said to have been abandoned on the river and rescued by a she-wolf before Romulus founded Rome. Tiber Island, positioned near an ancient ford, later became an important crossing and remains a distinctive feature of the city.

The Tiber also supported Roman commerce. Ships could travel roughly 100 kilometres upstream, carrying grain, stone, timber and other goods. It is sometimes confused with Italy’s Po or Arno, but those rivers are associated with different regions; Rome’s historic river is the Tiber.