Natale di Roma: The city turns 2,771 years old on 4/21/18

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Historical groups evoke ancient Roman traditions with Natale di Roma.


The capital celebrates its 2,771st birthday on Saturday 21 April, with events also taking place on the days either side of the anniversary. Known as Natale di Roma, the annual birthday celebration is based on the legendary founding of Rome by Romulus in 753 BC.

The traditional birthday celebrations are centred in the Circus Maximus and include the trench-digging ritual, known as the tracciato del solco, at 15.00 on 21 April. This tradition recalls the founding of ancient Roman towns when a trench or mundus was dug and offerings thrown into it to encourage the gods to watch over the town's inhabitants.


This event is followed at 16.00 by a re-enactment of the agricultural Palilia ceremony. Dating back to before the founding of Rome, the ceremony was held in honour of the goddess Pales, protector of flocks and herds, and involved vestal virgins distributing straw and the ashes and blood of sacrificed animals before jumping over a bonfire three times.

The Circus Maximus will also host historical re-enactments including gladiator fights, aimed at children, on 20 April from 14.30-15.30.

The main event is a costumed parade, featuring more than 2,000 gladiators, senators, vestal virgins and priestesses, which begins and ends at the Circus Maximus, departing at 11.15 on Sunday 22 April. The pageant is organised by the Gruppo Storico Romano, an historical dramatic society which, for more than 20 years, has brought history to life by re-enacting battles, historic events, and displays of ancient theatre and dance in the city centre.

For full Natale di Roma events programme see the Gruppo Storico Romano website.


https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/rome-celebrates-2771st-birthday-on-21-april-2018.html

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Looks like a fun event! Perhaps I will go to it some day.
 
Almost every year there is a parade in Rome. Clubs from all over Italy participate. From Puglia too. From my area they are part of the “Legio 2 Augusta”.

Something like this:
 
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Another Rome Birthday:

 
Another Legio 2 Augusta in Chester U.K. :
 
Municipal museums free for Rome's 2,771st birthday on 21 April.


Rome's city-run museums open their doors for free on the occasion of Natale di Roma - the city's 2,771st birthday - on Saturday 21 April.
The free museum initiative is part of the city's weekend-long birthday celebrations which include an open-air party with live music and street theatre on Sunday 22 April.

https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/rome-city-museums-free-on-21-april.html

Late April seems like a good time to visit Rome.
 
One more Roman Club from Apulia:

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I'm very surprised. We never hold Roman "re-creations" where I come from. It's all about the Medieval period in terms of identification. I don't think most people would say the Romans were "Italian".
 
I'm very surprised. We never hold Roman "re-creations" where I come from. It's all about the Medieval period in terms of identification. I don't think most people would say the Romans were "Italian".

At the beginning of Rome, all the Italic Tribes from Center and South Italy, including the Apulians (Dauni, Iapigi, and Messapi), interacted strictly with the Original Italic Romans.
So from our Perspective, the 1st Romans were Full fledged Italian.
For most of Puglia, the connection with Rome, with the initial Pros and Cons, started around the 3rd Century BC, long before the Empire was a thing.
The Apulians became an important asset of the Roman Army, and the Messapi a Respected part of the Roman Cavalry.
For example: after the Julius Caesar assasination, Octavius Augustus, on his way back from Greece, landed and stayed in the South of Puglia before being escorted to Rome by the local Cavalry still loyal to Cesare and Marco Antonio.
Puglia has Amphitheaters, Roman theatres, Roads, Monuments, ....
After the inital frictions with the Romans, Apulians were an integrated part of the Roman Army and Legions long before Cesare, during, and after the Roman expansion.

Legion of Leccesi (Puglia)

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same people in Rome:

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I'm very surprised. We never hold Roman"re-creations" where I come from. It's all about the Medieval period in terms of identification. I don't think most people would say the Romans were "Italian".
If you look at the lyrics of the Italian national anthem, it makes many references to ancient Rome.

I don't think many people would say the Aztecs were "Mexican". But I doubt they would deny they had a big impact on their heritage.

Nevertheless, I can appreciate your sentiments. For example, my dad’s town celebrates a medieval festival that honors the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II. He re-founded Altamura in the 1200s, after it had been abandoned for over 300 years. They identify strongly with this time period.
 

If you look at the lyrics of the Italian national anthem, it makes many references to ancient Rome.

I don't think many people would say the Aztecs were "Mexican". But I doubt they would deny they had a big impact on their heritage.

Nevertheless, I can appreciate your sentiments. For example, my dad’s town celebrates a medieval festival that honors the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II. He re-founded Altamura in the 1200s, after it had been abandoned for over 300 years. They identify strongly with this time period.

That's exactly right. I didn't mean that we don't descend from the Romans.

However, it's a fact that the culture of Liguria, and Emilia, and Toscana, my "home" provinces, is quite different from the culture of Rome. Our culture is Catholic, not pagan, our language is Italian, not Latin, and we were forged in the crucible of the Middle Ages, including the horrors of the fall, the Byzantine War, and particularly with reference to the growth of the comuni. Our customs are not those of Rome. Even the food is different.

History matters as well as genetics, and even there, the "Romans" of our area were different than the "Romans" in other areas of Italy (we were never homogeneous genetically), and there's the difference genetically introduced by the Langobardi as well, even if it is a minority component.
 

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