Early Rome

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The city of Rome is located on the Italian Peninsula. A peninsula is a landform with water on three sides. Rome has existed for about 2,700 years, and at one time, it was one of the wealthiest and most powerful cities in the world. Look at the map.

During its early history, Rome ruled only a small part of the Italian Peninsula. Later on, Rome ruled all of the area around the Mediterranean Sea. So by comparison, Rome ruled only a little territory during the first hundred years of its history.

Rome wasn't built in a day!

Rome was small for most of its early history. When Rome's territory was limited to a bit of land around a small city, it could be threatened by outside invaders. It also lacked the resources and population to take over additional territory. But, from about the 300s BCE, Rome started to become wealthy and powerful. As Rome's wealth grew, so did its population. As Rome's population grew, so did the size of its army, helping Rome take over new territory.

The city of Rome's location gave the people who lived there a number of geographical advantages.

Rome's local geography helped the city survive in an unsafe ancient world. It had a regular water supply from the Tiber River. The hills protected it from hostile neighbors. The mountains to the east protected it from enemy states.

This map shows the location of some of early Rome's neighbors.

This map shows the location of some early Latin, Sabine, and Etruscan settlements around the 9th century BCE. It also shows where early Rome's large defensive wall, called the Servian Wall, would be built many centuries later.

The forum: the heart of Rome

Over time, the different hill settlements started to interact more and more with one another. As a result, they started building shops, courts, temples, monuments, and common meeting places in the valley below the hills. This space was called the forum.

This map shows the forum's location in the early city of Rome. In addition to buildings, the forum had a large open space in the center, where big crowds would gather during political speeches.

The city of Rome was located at one of the Tiber River's only fords, or places where the river could be crossed without bridges or boats.

Should we ask for directions?

Because of the ford, many roads ran through Rome, helping Romans and others travel to and from many different places. And just like roads today, ancient roads had names to tell them apart.

If you wanted to visit Latium, you'd probably take the Via Latina, or the Latin Road. On this map, it is labeled "Road to Latin Cities." If you wanted to go to the coast, you'd probably take the Via Salaria, or the Salt Road. It is labeled "Road to Sabine cities." The Via Salaria is an ancient route from the Apennines to the salt marshes near the sea.

Just like people today, Romans were interested in their own history. Many Romans learned about their city's past through myths and legends. But the majority of Romans were illiterate, meaning they could not read or write.

Memories are hard to burn

Around 390 BCE, an army of Gauls attacked Rome. They started a fire that burned down the part of the city where Rome's written records were kept. But many of Rome's stories and symbols were so memorable that they survived for thousands of years, even until today.

The most well-known early Roman legend was about the twin brothers Romulus and Remus.

Romans passed down this legend from generation to generation for hundreds of years, so there were many different versions. But most Romans would have been familiar with the basic outline of the legend.

The twins and the wolf: the symbol of Rome

This large, bronze statue is called the Capitoline Wolf. It shows the twins, Romulus and Remus, being cared for by a female wolf, as the legend describes. Ancient Romans used this image as one of the symbols of Rome. Even today, the city of Rome uses the Capitoline Wolf as its unofficial symbol.

Another important Roman myth was about a Trojan man named Aeneas (ih-NEE-uhs). His story was passed down by storytellers, artists, and writers for hundreds of years.

The passage below shows a summary of that story, including the connection to the myth of Romulus and Remus. .

After the Trojan war, Aeneas, the son of the goddess Venus, left in search of a new home. He traveled as far as ancient Italy. There, he worked with local people to conquer much of the territory around the River Tiber, fulfilling a prophecy from the Roman god Jupiter.

Jupiter's prophecy also said that Aeneas's descendents, a pair of twins, would build a divine, eternal city. This city would be on the land that Aeneas conquered. That city would become known and feared across all the world as the place from which a mighty empire ruled.

prophecy: a statement predicting the future

divine: godlike

eternal: lasting forever

Although most Romans were illiterate, some wealthy Romans could read and write very well. A few of them became historians, or scholars who used sources, such as government records, letters, or interviews, to understand what happened in the past.

It's all old latin to me!

Sometimes even ancient historians struggled to use the few sources they had from Rome's early history. Although these historians spoke and read Latin, the Latin language had changed over time. That meant that older sources often used words or phrases that were unfamiliar to early historians. This is what the Greek historian Polybius, writing in the 120s BCE, wrote about a copy of a treaty that Rome and Carthage made about 400 years earlier:

I give . . . as accurate a translation as I can of this treaty, but the modern language has developed so many differences from the ancient Roman tongue that the best scholars among the Romans themselves have great difficulty in interpreting certain points, even after much study.

tongue: language

The following narrative, or story, is written in the way that ancient Romans might describe the beginning of Rome. Read the story.

Ancient Roman narrative

After the Trojan War, Aeneas, son of the goddess Venus, conquered all of Italy. Many generations later, his descendants Romulus and Remus, sons of the god Mars, founded our eternal city of Rome. Our city was first ruled by Romulus himself. Six more kings came afterward. But the seventh and final king was a tyrant who abused his power. So, the people of Rome removed him from the throne. This is how our great civilization began.

An ancient Roman history exhibit

For hundreds of years, Romans preserved a hut that was thought to be Romulus's old home. People from all over the Roman world could visit it. In the 1st century BCE, the hut accidentally burned down while priests were using it for a religious ritual. This accident upset many Romans. The ancient historian Cassius Dio wrote that many Romans believed the hut's destruction was a sign that Rome's old traditions had ended forever.

The following narrative is written in the way that a historian today might describe the beginning of Rome. Read the narrative.

Historian's narrative today

Sometime around the 11th century BCE, Latin shepherds started to settle around the ford in the Tiber River. People in these settlements started to trade with their neighbors, the Etruscans, by the 8th century. Around the 7th century, several neighboring groups began to merge into a larger city called Rome. Kings likely governed Rome for most of its early history. But, according to legends, some Roman elders were unhappy with Rome's later kings. So, they decided they would never have another king.

Working together to solve ancient mysteries

Almost no records survive from Rome's earliest history. So, historians sometimes work with archaeologists to figure out how the early city worked.

One team of researchers recently tried to find the location of Romulus's ancient hut. They found a rock slab with holes in it, and the holes match the way Romulus's hut would have been built. But, these researchers are still not certain that this is actually where Romulus's hut used to be.

Look again at the two narratives of early Rome's history. Re-read each narrative.

Ancient Roman narrative

After the Trojan War, Aeneas, son of the goddess Venus, conquered all of Italy. Many generations later, his descendants Romulus and Remus, sons of the god Mars, founded our eternal city of Rome. Our city was first ruled by Romulus himself. Six more kings came afterwards. But the seventh and final king was a tyrant who abused his power. So, the people of Rome removed him from the throne. This is how our great civilization began.

Historian's narrative today

These features are found in the ancient Roman narrative:

The ancient Roman narrative focuses on how important heroes such as Aeneas and Romulus were involved in the founding of Rome. These figures were supposed to make Rome seem important and powerful.
Think about who the audiences of the passages might be. The ancient Roman narrative writes about "our city" and "our great civilization." This phrasing suggests that the author thinks his readers are part of a common group with a shared history.

This feature is found in both narratives:

Think about how the passages end. A king is removed in both passages. This is where ancient historians and today's historians agree.

These features are found in the narrative from a historian today:

The passage written by a present-day historian consists of facts that can be proven with evidence.
For example, it describes how several ancient settlements gradually merged together into the city of Rome.
The present-day historian's narrative mentions kings. But, it also mentions shepherds, elders, people who are trading, and different groups of ordinary people.

Who lived in early Rome?

Early in its history, the city of Rome was located in the middle of several different ancient groups. Etruscans, Sabines, and Latins all lived close to early Rome. By the 700s BCE, many people from these groups had come to live in Rome.

As the city grew, one of Rome's first kings divided the city into different districts to help govern it better. Before this, early Rome had been loosely divided into Etruscan, Latin, and Sabine areas. So, the king made each area into a separate district called a tribus, or "a third" in Latin. Some scholars think tribus is the origin of the word "tribe."

Most Romans were illiterate, but some wealthy Romans could read and write very well. A few of them became historians, or scholars who used sources, such as government records, letters, or interviews, to understand what happened in the past.

Other than the works of a small number of ancient Roman writers, there are almost no written sources available to present-day historians who want to understand Rome's early history.

It's all old latin to me!

tongue: language

According to ancient writers living hundreds of years later, all kinds of people decided to move to early Rome. The city was especially appealing to people who did not have chances for a good life at home. But many others thought that moving to early Rome would be risky. The city was still small and not well organized, and many people thought it was full of wild and untrustworthy new inhabitants.

Would you move to Rome?

This is a summary of how the ancient Roman historian Livy describes early Rome's first inhabitants:

In antiquity, the founder of a new settlement, in order to increase its population, would usually try to round up homeless and destitute people. . . . Romulus also did this: to help fill his big new town, he made Rome into a safe place for all kinds of people. So, many outcasts from the neighboring groups came to Rome. Some of them were free, some slaves, but all of them wanted nothing but a fresh start.

antiquity: ancient times

destitute: extremely poor

Because of the reputation of some of Rome's first inhabitants, not everyone wanted to move there. But others thought there were many new opportunities for a better life in the early city. So, would you have moved to the early city of Rome?

In general, early Romans did not treat each other as equals. Instead, early Roman society was organized into a hierarchy, or series of social ranks. These ranks were mostly determined by two factors:

how much land a person's family owned
how long a person's family had been living in Rome

The Romans with the most land would be on the top of the social hierarchy. Romans with an equal amount of land would usually be ranked by how long their families had lived in Rome. Here is the correct order:

Gaius Marcellus (GAI-us mar-KELL-us): I am the son of Pompilus. My father owned 500 acres of pasture, and his grandfather lived in Rome 100 years ago.
Iulius Fabius (YOOL-ee-us FAY-bee-us): My family and I arrived in Rome 20 years ago, and we have an acre of land next to the river.
Servius Ancius (SIR-vee-us AENK-ee-us): I come from a long line of Roman farm hands. I don't own my own land, but I work on Gaius Marcellus's farm.
Verrus Illyricus (VEHR-us ill-EAR-ick-us): I have just arrived in Rome, and I'm looking to work on a farm.

Why did it matter how long someone lived in Rome?

Wealthy, longtime residents of early Rome were at the top of the social hierarchy for three main reasons:

Longtime residents had the best farmland. They were usually the wealthiest people in Rome.
Longtime residents of early Rome had made many friends and family connections. They could use these connections to make themselves more powerful and important.
Some Romans believed that Rome's first residents and their descendants had much better relationships with Rome's gods than those who had just arrived. As Rome grew, only these people were trusted with duties involving the gods.

People at the top of early Rome's social hierarchy were often called early Rome's patres (PAH-trays), or fathers. Their descendents were known as patricians. Why do you think they were called that?

People at the top of the Roman social hierarchy were called patricians. They owned lots of farmland and came from families that had lived in Rome for a long time. Patricians were often expected to share extra grain from their harvests with Rome's common people, called plebeians. Many plebeians often did not have enough food to feed their families.

A patrician who supported a plebeian was called a patron (PAY-trun). A plebeian who depended on a patron was called a client. Look at the diagram of the early Roman patron-client relationship.

The arrow on the left shows that the patron provides grain and other protections to the client. The arrow on the right shows that the client does work for the patron.

In other words, clients harvest the patron's crops or tend his herds in return for grain and other protections.

What might happen to a patron who stopped helping his clients?

The growth of farming and trade in early Rome allowed some landowners to become extremely wealthy. The wealthier a patron was, the more clients he could support. Sometimes this new wealth provided benefits to early Romans. Other times it created serious problems.

The government of early Rome was made up of a king and a group called the Senate.

Many historians think that there were few written laws in early Rome. Instead, Romans followed unwritten customs, or rules based on how people behaved. Because these rules weren't written down, the king had a lot of influence over them. Here are two ways the king influenced early Rome's customs:

The king judged whether Romans accused of crimes had broken existing Roman customs.
The king sometimes proposed new rules, which would become customs if Romans approved of them.

This system had good sides and bad sides for early Romans.

What happened to Romans who broke the rules?

One of the worst crimes in early Rome was breaking an oath, or a special promise backed up by gods. In Roman custom, anyone who broke an oath could be declared homo sacer (ho-mo SACK-ur), which is Latin for "banned or cursed person." Being declared homo sacer was a common punishment for a patron who broke a promise to a client.

Once a Roman was declared homo sacer, anyone could kill him without being punished. Usually that meant that the banned person ran away and never came back.

The early Roman king was also in charge of overseeing Rome's religion. Roman religion involved hundreds of different gods and goddesses, each with their own unique sacrifices and religious practices. The Roman king's job was to make sure priests performed these religious practices correctly. The Roman sculptures below represent some of the most important gods and goddesses. Look at the sculptures and their descriptions.

According to Roman beliefs, if Rome's leaders did not offer gifts to the gods, the gods would not give the Roman community their support. For example, if Roman priests didn't worship Jupiter properly, Rome might experience drought or flooding. If Roman priests didn't worship Mars properly, Rome could be defeated in battle. Or, if Roman priests didn't worship Minerva properly, Rome's leaders might make bad decisions. So, the king's role in ensuring proper worship was extremely important to early Romans.

Were Rome's gods like patrons?

Yes! Just like with their patrons, Romans believed they had to cultivate, or constantly take care of, their relationships with the gods. By making sacrifices, Romans thought the gods would then give them special benefits.

Groups of people who regularly sacrificed to a specific god were said to belong to that god's cult. For example, poorer Romans often participated in the cult of Ceres (SEE-reez). They believed Ceres could make harvests bountiful so there would be plenty to share.

Early Romans built one of their first temples to Saturn, the god of agriculture, in the middle of the city.

Romans believed that Ceres protected certain grain crops. Today, we call those grains "cereals."

Early Roman kings were also in command of Rome's army. The king organized troops and led them during battles.

Look at the table describing two types of armies that were common in the ancient world by the 6th century BCE.

Early Rome had a temporary army instead of a professional army.

Rome had a temporary army for three main reasons:

Early Romans thought any family living in early Rome should have to help protect it.
Early Rome did not have enough money for a large professional army.
Early Rome's population was not large enough to have a large professional army and to tend to its farms at the same time.

Having a temporary army helped early Rome survive. But during wars that lasted for several years, many soldiers could not return to their farms to harvest crops. Until they returned, poor soldiers' families had to rely on patrons to get enough to eat.

Many early Romans passed down the history of their city and its kings through legends, or traditional stories. These legends were often about the actions of past kings. Fortunately, many of these legends were written down by ancient writers hundreds of years later.

According to ancient writers, many early Romans knew their seventh king, Lucius Tarquinius (LOO-shee-us tar-KWIN-ee-us), by the nickname Tarquinius Superbus. That nickname meant "Tarquin the Proud." But according to the Roman historian Livy, some early Roman senators thought Lucius Tarquinius was more than proud. They accused him of something much more serious: being a tyrant.

Read the list of accusations made against Lucius Tarquinius.

- To become king, he usurped the throne, or took it by force.
- He took the lands and property of senators who opposed his decisions.
- He executed important Romans without trials in order to get rid of people who spoke up against him.
- He helped his son kidnap the wife of a senator.
- He refused to follow the Roman custom of listening to senators' advice before making decisions.

Are all kings tyrants?

No. Not all kings are tyrants. Ancient and modern writers say that the main role of a king is to make sure that all subjects are treated fairly.

Similarly, not all tyrants are kings. Kings, presidents, or other leaders can all be tyrants.

Imagine you are a wise old senator, skilled at solving Rome's political problems. Some of the other senators are horrified by the way that King Tarquinius is ruling. They propose some ideas to stop him, and they want your advice.

Were senators scared of the king?

Many were. According to the ancient historian Livy, it took a long time for some senators to agree to remove the tyrant. That's because it was dangerous. If their plan failed, the king could execute anyone he thought was involved.

Even if the plan worked, senators worried about who would rule Rome afterwards. There could be even more violence if the army, senators, and other groups started fighting each other for power after the king was gone.

Look at these two narratives, or stories, about what happened to Rome's last king.

An ancient Roman narrative

Romans became fed up with Tarquinius Superbus's cruel behavior, and they decided the king needed to be removed. A group of respected senators gathered a large mob of Romans, and together they demanded that Tarquinius leave Rome immediately. So, the Senate and the people of Rome ended the tyrant's reign once and for all. The king was lucky that he wasn't killed—he was hated so much that senators promised to never let another king rule Rome again.

A present-day historian's narrative

We do not really know how the Roman monarchy fell. It is possible that Rome's common people actually liked Tarquinius Superbus because he tried to weaken senators' and patrons' power over them. But according to some ancient writers, the king treated senators harshly in the process. This treatment made him many enemies. It is most likely that a small group of Rome's wealthy senators threatened the king's life and demanded he leave Rome forever. Ancient Rome was never ruled by a king again.

These features are found in the ancient Roman narrative:

- - This narrative gives both senators and the people of Rome credit for overthrowing the king.
  - This narrative makes it seem like all Romans hated the king.

This feature is found in the narrative from present-day historians:

- - This narrative makes it seem like only Rome's wealthy people had reason to hate the king.

This feature is found in both narratives:

- - These narratives claim that Tarquinius Superbus was the last Roman king.

Why are these stories different?

Ancient Roman authors and historians today have different goals:

- - Almost all ancient Roman authors came from the top of the social hierarchy. But they probably wanted to make it look like they and their ancestors were looking out for all Romans. So in their version of history, they said that all Romans hated the king, and that removing him was the right thing to do.
  - To most people today, it doesn't matter whether overthrowing the Roman king was the right thing to do. Instead, historians want to compare how different Romans thought about the king.

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