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De Rossi, 36, announced his decision at a press conference on Monday – bringing an end to a six-month spell with Argentine side Boca Juniors.
The defensive midfielder, a product of the Roma youth academy, went on to make 616 appearances for his boyhood club before departing this summer – putting him second on the list of the club’s all-time leading appearance makers.
During his career he won the Coppa Italia twice and the Supercoppa once – while he was a part of the Italy side that won the 2006 World Cup, playing in the final.
“I need to be with my family,” De Rossi said at his press conference.
“At 36, these are the things that come into your decision-making. I need to go home.”
He added: “This is a sad day, I would have liked to play another 10 years.
"I've been lucky enough to play against the best players in the world, while representing two great clubs; one, Roma, that is my whole life, the other, Boca, that immediately welcomed me."
De Rossi departed Roma in the summer, following a 20-year association with the club that saw him make his debut in 2001 and go on to inherit the captaincy from another club legend, Francesco Totti, in 2017.
Ahead of his final game for the Giallorossi, De Rossi wrote a heartfelt letter to supporters, thanking them for everything.
"I realise just how lucky I have been,” he wrote. “A good fortune that I have never taken for granted, yet one I can never be grateful enough for receiving.
"It has been a long journey, an eventful and intense one, but always one driven on by the love I have for this club.”
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