[Thiiiinks.] Venice is a city in Italy. They have canals running through the city, acting like main roads, that they use gondolas in. It's considered one of the more romantic cities of the world.
Rome is another place in Italy. The capital in modern day, but in the past it was one of the biggest empires around. The Roman army was the most powerful in the world, at least the Western one, and Romans were usually...pretty egostical. Most people were seen as barbarian if they weren't Roman.