Editing Minas Tirith (section)

=== Ancient Rome ===

[[File:Aeneas' Flight from Troy by Federico Barocci.jpg|thumb|[[Aeneas]] escaped the ruin of [[Troy]] to become a hero of Rome, as [[Elendil]] escaped [[Númenor]] to found Minas Tirith.{{sfn|Straubhaar|2007|pp=248–249}} Painting by [[Federico Barocci]], 1598]]

[[Sandra Ballif Straubhaar]] states in ''[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'' that "the most striking similarities" are with [[ancient Rome]]. She identifies several parallels: [[Aeneas]], from [[Troy]], and Elendil, from Númenor, both survive the destruction of their home countries; the brothers [[Romulus and Remus]] found Rome, while the brothers Isildur and Anárion found the Númenórean kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor in Middle-earth; and both Gondor and Rome experienced centuries of "[[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|decadence and decline]]".{{sfn|Straubhaar|2007|pp=248–249}}

Judy Ann Ford adds in ''[[Tolkien Studies]]'' that Minas Tirith was entirely built of stone, and "the only culture within [the Anglo-Saxons'] historical memory that had made places like Minas Tirith was the Roman Empire."<ref name="Ford 2005">{{cite journal |last=Ford |first=Judy Ann |title=The White City: The Lord of the Rings as an Early Medieval Myth of the Restoration of the Roman Empire |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |volume=2 |issue=1 |year=2005 |doi=10.1353/tks.2005.0016 |pages=53–73 |s2cid=170501240 }}</ref> Tolkien intended to create [[a mythology for England]], so that while the [[Third Age]] is ostensibly many thousands of years ago, much of the setting is [[Tolkien and the medieval|medieval]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Fimi |first=Dimitra |author-link=Dimitra Fimi |title=Tolkien, Race, and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits |title-link=Tolkien, Race and Cultural History |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2010 |orig-year=2008 |isbn=978-0-230-21951-9 |oclc=222251097 |pages=50–62}}</ref> She comments that Tolkien's account echoes the decline and [[fall of Rome]], but "with a happy ending", as it "somehow withstood the onslaught of armies from the east, and ... was restored to glory."<ref name="Ford 2005"/> She finds multiple likenesses between Minas Tirith and Rome.<ref name="Ford 2005"/>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;"
|+ Judy Ann Ford's reasons for identifying Minas Tirith with Rome<ref name="Ford 2005"/> 
|-
! Story element !! [[Ancient Rome]] !! [[Gondor]]
|-
| Capital moved under threat || From Rome to [[Ravenna]] in 402 AD || From [[Osgiliath]] to Minas Tirith
|-
| Layout of the city || Walled city, built of stone || Seven walls of indomitable stone
|-
| Architecture || Ravenna's tall [[Basilica of San Vitale]] || The towering stone Hall of Ecthelion
|- 
| Southern rivals who use war-elephants || [[Carthaginians]] || [[Haradrim]]
|- 
| Devastating disease outbreak || [[Antonine Plague]] || Great Plague
|- 
| Language becomes a [[lingua franca]] || [[Latin]] || [[Westron]]
|}