The seismic history of a site is the list of earthquake-caused effects that have been observed in a place through time, expressed as macroseismic intensity degrees. A comprehensive review of sources and literature on the effects of earthquakes in Rome is presented in order to reconsider the macroseismic intensities of 15 seismic events that occurred between 1349 and 1979, all catalogued with a local intensity (I)>5. Notably, the damage effects were georeferenced and overlaid onto historical maps of Rome, contextualizing the impacts within the city’s spatial extent during each earthquake. In total, approximately 500 damage reports were analyzed. For each event, the intensity in Rome was assessed and assigned using both the EMS-98 and MCS scales. Unlike past estimations, the new intensity assessments highlight that very rarely the seismic impact in Rome exceeds the threshold of the degree 6, both for EMS-98 and MCS. Furthermore, it is evidenced that almost all damage observations are related to buildings (monuments, churches, houses) settled within the historical centre. This suggests that Rome’s seismic history pertains primarily to a confined area within the historic center rather than being representative of the city’s current extent, which is approximately up to 30 times larger, depending on the historical period. The revision revealed two main open questions: the estimation of intensity in large urban centers and the homogeneity of the seismic history of a city that has undergone major urban expansion.