If you find that your schedule simply won’t allow you to visit Rome (Italy) this year, then you might want to adopt another tactic. Fire up the chariot, call in the litter! You can visit Rome without even renewing your passport, for the United States is full of cities, large and small, that pay homage to the Eterna.
There are no less than ten American cities that bear the name Rome! (See map above.) You’ll find them in Georgia, Indiana, Ohio (2 actually), Iowa, Mississippi, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. Some such cities even bear a physical resemblance to their Italian cousin: Rome, Georgia is built on seven hills while history suggests that Rome, Oregon is so named because rock formations in the area reminded settlers of the ruins of ancient Rome.
No need to stop there, however! Make a swing through Italy, Texas or Palatine, Illinois! What fun! The trip gets more exciting if you make a special point of paying homage to ancient Rome’s founders, Romulus and Remus, by making a couple of stops in the towns that bear their names in Michigan. Though Remus, Michigan is not really named for one of the mythological babies (it takes its name from a local surveyor), local legend says that the presence of large numbers of wolves in the area of Romulus, Michigan reminded early settlers of the La Lupa, the She-Wolf who saved the lives of Romulus and Remus and thereby enabled the foundation of the city of Rome. In fact, according to the minutes of the first Township meeting, officers voted to enact a “$2 bounty on every wolf ‘catched’ in the Town of Romulus….” Yee Ha!
