Rome

===Etymology===
According to the Ancient Romans' [[Founding of Rome|founding myth]],<ref name="livy1797">{{cite book |publisher=Printed for A.Strahan |last=Livy |others=George Baker (trans.) |title=The history of Rome |year=1797}}</ref> the name ''Roma'' came from the city's founder and first [[Rex (king)|king]], [[Romulus]].<ref name=britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/509038/Romulus-and-Remus |title=Romulus and Remus |encyclopedia=Britannica |date=25 November 2014 |access-date=9 March 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317100831/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/509038/Romulus-and-Remus |archive-date=17 March 2015}}</ref>

However, it is possible that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself.<ref>Cf. Jaan Puhvel: ''Comparative mythology.'' The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London 1989, p. 287.</ref> As early as the 4th century, there have been alternative theories proposed on the origin of the name ''Roma''. Several hypotheses have been advanced focusing on its linguistic roots which however remain uncertain:<ref>Claudio Rendina: ''Roma Ieri, Oggi, Domani''. Newton Compton, Roma, 2007, p. 17.</ref>
* From ''Rumon'' or ''Rumen'', archaic name of the [[Tiber]], which in turn is supposedly related to the Greek verb ῥέω (''rhéō'') 'to flow, stream' and the Latin verb ''ruō'' 'to hurry, rush';{{efn|This hypothesis originates from the Roman Grammarian [[Maurus Servius Honoratus]]. However, the Greek verb descends from the [[Proto-Indo-European root]] [[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/srew-|''*srew-'']] (compare Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (''rheûma'') 'a stream, flow, current', the Thracian river name Στρυμών (''Strumṓn'') and Proto-Germanic ''*strauma-'' 'stream'; if it was related, however, the Latin river name would be expected to begin with **''Frum-'', like Latin ''[[wikt:frigeo|frīgeō]]'' 'to freeze' from the root ''*sreyHg-'') and the Latin verb from [[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₃rew-|''*h₃rew-'']].}}
* From the [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] word 𐌓𐌖𐌌𐌀 (''ruma''), whose root is ''*rum-'' "teat", with possible reference either to the [[Founding of Rome#The legend|totem wolf that adopted and suckled]] the cognately named twins [[Romulus and Remus]], or to the shape of the [[Palatine Hill|Palatine]] and [[Aventine Hill]]s;
* From the Greek word ῥώμη (''rhṓmē''), which means ''strength''.{{efn|This hypothesis originates from [[Plutarch]].}}