History
The term Vatican was used in ancient times to identify the marshy area on the right bank of the Tiber River, between the Milvio Bridge and the present Sixtus Bridge. During the monarchy and the republican age, the area was known as Ager Vaticanus. It extended northwards as far as the mouth of the Cremera and southwards at least as far as the Janiculum. In the Imperial age, from the 2nd century A.D., the toponym Vaticanum was applied to an area corresponding roughly to the present Vatican City State.