Engraving reprinted from Urbis Romae totius olim orbis domitricis situs ... P. Ligorio Inventor. 
Pirro Ligorio first published the map in Rome in 1552, then in a smaller format in 1553. His plate, made in 1570, was printed unchanged by Braun & Hogenberg; it was reprinted several times during the 17th and 18th centuries, including in David Köhler's Descriptio orbis antiqui, published in Nuremberg by Christoph Weigel c. 1720.

TRANSLATION OF CAPTION: Layout of the city of Rome with the remains of the old monuments as they can still be seen today, drawn by Pyrrhus Ligorius of Naples. Rome 1570.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "The city of Rome, famed all over the world, is also the queen, the head and the embellishment of the whole world, situated on the River Tiber, built by Romulus in the 11th year of the rule of Ezekiel, the king of Judah, and given the name Rome by him. According to Pliny, this city had 30 open and seven closed gates. Rome also has seven hills; the Capitol is the main hill on which the famous temple of the great heathen god Jupiter was found, surpassing all the marvellous works of the Egyptians. The Field of Mars is adorned with wonderful buildings between the city and the Tiber."

Braun G. & Hogenberg F. and the Civitates Orbis Terrarum.

The Civitates Orbis Terrarum, or the "Braun & Hogenberg", is a six-volume town atlas and the greatest book of town views and plans ever published: 363 engravings, sometimes beautifully coloured. It was one of the best-selling works in the last quarter of the 16th century. Georg Braun wrote the text accompanying the plans and views on the verso. A large number of the plates were engraved after the original drawings of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), who was a professional artist. The first volume was published in Latin in 1572, and the sixth in 1617. Frans Hogenberg created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were cartographers Daniel Freese and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Translations appeared in German and French.

Following the original publication of Volume 1 of the Civitates in 1572, seven further editions of 1575, 1577, 1582, 1588, 1593, 1599 and 1612 can be identified. Vol.2, first issued in 1575, was followed by further editions in 1597 and in 1612. The next volumes appeared in 1581, 1588, 1593, 1599 and 1606. The German translation of the first volume appeared from 1574 on, and the French edition from 1575 on.

Several printers were involved: Theodor Graminaeus, Heinrich von Aich, Gottfried von Kempen, Johannis Sinniger, Bertram Buchholtz and Peter von Brachel, who all worked in Cologne.

Georg Braun (1541-1622)

Georg Braun was born in Cologne in 1541. After his studies in Cologne, he entered the Jesuit Order as a novice. In 1561 he obtained his bachelor's degree, and in 1562 his Magister Artium. Although he left the Jesuit Order, he studied theology, gaining a licentiate in theology.

Frans Hogenberg (1535-1590)

Frans Hogenberg was a Flemish and German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. He was born in Mechelen as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg.

By the end of the 1560s, Frans Hogenberg was employed upon Abraham Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published in 1570; he is named an engraver of numerous maps. In 1568 he was banned from Antwerp by the Duke of Alva and travelled to London, where he stayed a few years before emigrating to Cologne. He immediately embarked on his two most important works, the Civitates, published in 1572 and the Geschichtsblätter, which appeared in several series from 1569 until about 1587.

Thanks to large-scale projects like the Geschichtsblätter and the Civitates, Hogenberg's social circumstances improved with each passing year. He died as a wealthy man in Cologne in 1590.