The city built on seven hills . . . and a murder

She certainly is. To freelance means to do particular pieces of work for different organisations, rather than working all the time for a single organisation.

The word may have been introduced by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) in his 1820 novel, Ivanhoe, to describe a “medieval mercenary warrior” or “free-lance” (indicating that the lance is not sworn to any lord’s services, not that the lance is available free of charge) although this is open to doubt. WE’VE just booked a holiday in Rome, the Eternal City.

I know it’s famously built on seven hills, but can you tell me the names of the hills? – M.

There is archaeological evidence of human occupation of the area around what is now Rome from at least 5000 years ago.

Rome is known as the Eternal City because it is so ancient, believed to have been founded in c730 BC.

The city’s name is thought to come from the reputed founder and first ruler, the legendary Romulus.

It is said Romulus and his twin brother, Remus, sons of the god Mars and descendants of the Trojan hero Aeneas, were suckled by a she-wolf after being abandoned in the river Tiber.

They decided to build a city there, however the brothers argued, and Romulus killed Remus, before naming the city after himself.

The seven heights the city stands on are the Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal and Viminal Hills.

Edinburgh, though it is often referred to as the Athens of the North, is also built on seven hills.

They are Arthur’s Seat, Castle Rock and Calton, Corstorphine,Braid, Blackford and Craiglockhart hills.

The city of Sheffield is also said to be built on seven hills, but this isn’t true. However, the US city of Cincinnati is.

NEWSPAPERS often have stories written by freelancers, so I was hoping you could tell me about the origin of the word. My wife says it was something to do with knights, jousting with lances. Is she correct? – C.