A) THE JEWS IN ROME
Even if the evidence of the first presences of the Jewish people dates back to the II century b.C., the massive arrival of the Jews to Rome is connected to the deportations of thousands of them as slaves by empereor Tito after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
Their condition changed time by time until the Jews was allowed to organize free and independent communities, always characterized by a strong feeling of identity and distinction from the other people. Such communities arose nearby the Tiber using the river like primary source of economic and trading activities: the main areas of settlement was at first Trastevere, around to square in Piscinula, and subsequently also on the left river bank, at the Porch of Ottavia where the ghetto would have be built, just in front of the Fabricio Bridge, that for this reason was also known as Pons Judeorum .
In Trastevere it is still present in Vicolo dell'Atleta, in the basement of a restaurant, what is considered the most ancient synagogue, that dates back to the XIII century (pict.A1 and A2), and identified by some scholars as the Nathan ben Jechiel one (1035-1106).