No stranger to tremors, the Eternal City's famous monuments have survived several seismic shocks over the centuries. No extensive damage was reported after yesterday's quake but there was one fatality in Ardea on the Lazio coast just south of the capital.

Striking at around 2pm Central European time and lasting 10 seconds, yesterday's tremor reached 4.5 on the Richter Scale. The epicentre of the quake was 5 miles west of Anzio, some 40 km from Rome, and 12.4 km below the surface.

The shock was felt mostly along the Lazio coastline and in the Alban Hills south of Rome where many residents actually ran from their homes in panic as the quake hit. Holidaymakers at the beach already put off by the unusually inclement weather distanced themselves from the water's edge and delays followed the quake at Rome's international airport in Fiumicino where the air traffic control tower is reported to have wobbled.

A pensioner in Ardea, close to the epicentre, died during the quake after scaling a ladder to mend the roof of his house, however, it is thought that he had been unwell for some time and the death may not have been related to the actual quake.

The last reported earth tremor in the area was in 1919 according to Dr. Massimo Cocco, of the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology in Rome. However, in a region with such a richly documented history, it was not the first recorded earthquake.

The first earthquake mentioned in Livy's History of Rome was in 358 B.C. when the Forum was split open by the Gods and since no amount of earth could fill the void Rome must be prepared to sacrifice its sons to close up the ground and become a great city. On hearing this a young and valiant soldier called Marcus Curtius leaped into the chasm, fully armed and mounted, thus quenching the Gods' hunger and giving the ancient Romans the phrase "The Curtian Gulf" which describes the act of taking the right path to truth whatever its consequence.

Modern Rome's authorities are probably more worried about the damage yesterday's quake may have done to the city's famous ancient monuments and a round of checks and controls by the city's legions of archaeologists and art experts are certain to follow. The Coliseum has been rocked on numerous occasions including in 443 A.D., 477 (when the city is reported to have "shook for forty days") and in 508 when the inner arena is believed to have collapsed. The giant amphitheatre, site of the infamous gladiatorial combats, survived further quakes including powerful tremors in 1231, 1349 (mentioned by Petrarch) and 1703 suffering considerable damage on each occasion.

Many other monuments have been hit by earthquakes including The Templum Pacis (Temple of Peace) in 191, The Circus Maximus in 454 and the original St. Peter's Basilica, built by the Emperor Constantine, the roof of which collapsed in 801. Just 46 years later the giant Basilica of Maxentius, the last and biggest pagan basilica built on the Roman Forum, was largely reduced to rubble following an earthquake.

However, yesterday's relatively weak quake is unlikely to have resulted in any such dramatic damage. Because it was quite close to the surface, what the residents of Rome and Lazio felt as a seemingly powerful quake, in reality was just a tiny blip on the region's history.

Anthony Smith,
23 August 2005