Crossword Genius

Friend comes to Rome rebuilt as capital (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

palermo

'capital' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'friend comes to rome rebuilt' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a friend).
'comes to' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'rebuilt' indicates anagramming the letters.
'rome' is an anagram of 'ermo'.
'pal'+'ermo'='PALERMO'

'as' is the link.

(Other definitions for palermo that I've seen before include "ity of Italy" , "Capital city of Sicily" , "Italian city" , "Main city of Sicily" , "Sicilian port" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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