Rome

"Roma is the pillar that holds our entire enterprise aloft. She cannot waver; which means neither can you."

- Cesare Borgia to his allies.

Rome, or Roma to its residents, is the capital city of Italy.

During the Renaissance, Rome was the capital of the and headquarters of the Italian sect of the Templar Order. Also, as part of Rome's liberation, the city became the base for the Italian branch of the Assassin Order.

Beginning of an empire
According to legend, two brothers were given a choice, consisting of the money or the kingdom; one chose the kingdom while the other chose the money. Both brothers went on to have fine daughters, but the one with the money used it to hire mercenaries, who stole the kingdom from his brother, the King, and imprisoned his niece in the process. Whilst she was jailed, however, she gave birth to twin boys, being Romulus and Remus.

The new king ordered that the children and her be killed, though his daughter pleaded that her cousin be spared, to which he ordered that only the twins be executed, while his niece was not to be harmed. As the servants feared the river because of high tide, instead of drowning the twins, they simply placed them near the shallow section of the river, thinking they would die when the tide came instead.

Despite this, the twins floated down the river until they were found and cared for by a wolf and a bird. Soon enough, a shepherd saw the twins and, remembering a rumor about the twins living, he took care of them and raised them as his own until the old king caught wind of their survival. Together they reclaimed the city, and when their grandfather asked them to guard over the city and become its rulers, they refused the offer, as they believed it was their grandfather's kingdom, and not theirs. From there, they decided to build their own city, which would later be called Rome, named by Romulus after he killed his brother for control and power.

Archaeological evidence supports that Rome did in fact grow from pastoral settlements on Colle Palatino, the future site of the Roman Forum, upon which there are several caves. Eventually, the Republic of Rome was founded in c. 510 BCE, and the successful and wealthy Republic gave birth to the imperial Roman Empires c. 27 BCE, which were sprawling territories ruled by succeeding emperors.

In 476, the Western Roman Empire fell, and the Roman Catholic Church managed to take power in 756. After that, Rome became an economic and cultural powerhouse in Europe, even though Florence surpassed Rome as the centre of the Italian Renaissance. Due to the rivalry between the two cities, the papacy spent vast amounts of money to create cultural masterworks.

Roman era
On 15 March 45 BCE, Gaius Julius Caesar was killed by the Assassins, led by Marcus Junius Brutus.

In the year 41, the Assassin Leonius assassinated the Templar Caligula in Rome, whom he stabbed with a dagger.

Saint Peter established the Church in Rome before his crucifixion in the Circus of Nero circa 68 CE.

Renaissance
In 1476, Rodrigo Borgia, Grand Master of the Templar Order and a powerful figure in Vatican politics briefly left the city to discuss his Order's plans, before returning to affirm Papal approval. Assent was given by Pope Sixtus IV, and the Templars were provided with military support for their endeavors.

In 1492, Rodrigo became Pope Alexander VI, and head of the Papal States and Catholic Church. Ruling from Rome, he was left alone by the Assassins for the most part, until 1499, when Ezio Auditore da Firenze learned that the Vatican Vault was located in Rome, beneath the Sistine Chapel.

In 1500, following the siege by Cesare Borgia on the Assassin headquarters of Monteriggioni, Ezio returned to Rome to exact his revenge. At the time, the city had fallen far behind those of Florence and Venice, and had grown stagnant in terms of development, due to the influence of the Borgia.

The Borgia maintained oppression over the city with towers located throughout Rome, which prevented shops from opening. In order to free Rome of the Borgia influence, Ezio killed the overlords of the towers and burned the structures themselves to the ground, taking them over for the Assassin Order afterwards.

Additionally, due to the loss of Monteriggioni, Ezio established the Assassins Guild in Rome, and set up its headquarters on Tiber Island. By recruiting several Roman civilians as Assassin apprentices, the Brotherhood worked to free Rome of Templar control, which was accomplished by the death of Rodrigo in 1503 and the subsequent Pope Julius II having Cesare arrested.

Three years later, the Hermeticists kidnapped Leonardo da Vinci to open the Temple of Pythagoras beneath Rome. Ezio rescued him, and the duo discovered the Pythagorean Vault inside the Temple, which gave the coordinates for the Grand Temple in North America.

Modern times
In 2012, Assassin Clay Kaczmarek was tasked to infiltrate the Abstergo laboratory in Rome, as Subject 16 of the Animus Project. Clay remained in the lab for the remainder of his physical life, until the consequences of the bleeding effect drove him insane and led him to commit suicide. Clay would continue to provide assistance within the Animus to his successor, Desmond Miles.

In September 2012, Desmond Miles was captured by the Templars and brought to their facility in Rome. There, Desmond was marked Subject 17 of the Aniums Project, in which Warren Vidic examined Desmond's ancestor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's memories for a week. Desmond subsequently escaped from the facility with the help of Lucy Stillman, who in reality was a Templar part of Project Siren. Desmond and Lucy escaped to an Assassin hideout nearby, where Desmond relived Ezio's memories in order to gain his abilities through the bleedng effect. Once Vidic and the Templars located the Assassins, Desmond and his team were forced to relocate to another safer location in Monteriggioni.

On October 10 2012, Desmond Miles, Lucy Stillman, Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings returned to Rome to retrieve the Apple of Eden, after Desmond had relived Ezio's memories in Rome and found that the Assassin had locked the Piece of Eden in the Colosseum Vault, as well as leaving the password to unlock the Vault on the wall of the Sanctuary, where they were stationed.

On December 12 2012, Desmond returned to Rome, to the same Abstergo laboratory he had been held in months before, to rescue his father who had been captured by the Templar Daniel Cross. Desmond fought his way to Warren Vidic's office, killing Cross and many Abstergo guards along the way. Desmond managed to rescue his father and kill Vidic using his Apple of Eden, which he also used to escape the laboratory.

As well as this, Abstergo Industries used Rome as a simulated location, for the first and second stage of training for the recruits in their Animi Training Program.

Layout
The city was divided into four districts: Centro, Antico, Campagna, and the Vaticano district. With the exception of the Vaticano district, these were also subdivided into 12 territories, each one controlled by a Borgia tower.

Landmarks in Rome included the Pantheon, the Colosseo, the Passetto di Borgo, the Castel Sant'Angelo and the Capella Sistina.

Trivia

 * The city of Rome was the second largest map in the Assassin's Creed series, with the Frontier of Assassin's Creed III being the largest to date.
 * In-game, the city was tilted roughly 15 degrees to the right from real life.
 * While Rome and Florence's architecture were historically similar during the game's time period, the developers of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood designed Rome with its later Baroque style to be more familiar to their audience.
 * The area where Ezio climbed up to the Castello from the river in Assassin's Creed II was unreachable in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, with fencing and blockades along the Castello and Vaticano district.
 * The buildings seen north of the Passetto di Borgo in Assassin's Creed II did not appear in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
 * In the Assassin's Creed series, there are two bridges that can clearly be seen that lead into the Vatican district of Rome:  The Ponte Sant'Angelo bridge, leading first into Castel Sant'Angelo, and the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II bridge, which lies west of the Ponte Sant'Angelo bridge.  While both bridges can be seen once you reach Rome in Assassin's Creed II, the Ponte Vittorio Emauele II bridge is missing in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.  In real-life, the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II bridge was designed in the 19th century (1886 specifically) and wasn't even innaugurated until 1911.