The World of the Romans

1229 Years in 1000 Words or Less

Historians believe that the town of Rome, the heart of the Roman Empire, was founded in 753 BC. The civilization we refer to as “Rome” actually went through three phases – the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire.

The Kingdom of Rome was ruled by a succession of seven kings. There are no written records from the time of the Kingdom, so little is known about that period. After the first King, Romulus, all the Kings of Rome were elected by the Senate to serve for life, rather than inheriting the throne by right of birth. The Kings appointed a Tribune (an officer responsible for upholding and defending the rights of the people), who was second in rank to the King, upon ascending the throne and the Tribune left office upon the King’s death. The Kings also selected other high-ranking officers and the members of the Senate. The Senate was made up of 300 Senators - 100 Senators each from the three ancient tribes of Rome: the Ramnes (Latins), Tities (Sabines), and Luceres (Etruscans). Under the monarchy, the Senate had very little power or authority - their chief function was to advise the King and serve as his council. Proposed legislation was brought before the Senate and, if the Senators approved it, the King could either veto it or accept it as law. By custom, the King was supposed to ask the advice of the Senate on all major issues, but he was free to accept or reject their advice as he saw fit.

Many legends that have inspired artists for centuries are rooted in the days of the Kingdom of Rome, including the rape of the Sabine women, the establishment of the Vestal Virgins at Rome, and the rape of Lucretia. The rape of Lucretia by King Sextus Tarquinius in 509 BC brought about the end of the Kingdom of Rome. Lucretia was the wife of one powerful Senator and daughter of another. After the attack, Lucretia committed suicide and the King’s nephew had her body paraded in the Roman Forum, which led to a mass uprising. In the end, the King and his family were deposed and expelled, and the Republic of Rome was established.

In the Republic, a new office was created to replace the leadership of the King – the Consul. The Consul was elected by the Senate for a one-year term. The former powers of the kings were divided among the Consul and several other officers. The Senate also created the *idea* of a dictatorship – where one man could be granted complete authority over civil and military matters within the Empire and was not legally responsible for his actions, making him unquestionable. Dictatorships in the Empire were limited to a maximum of six months per term, and were elected by the Senate during severe emergencies, crises and periods of extreme turbulence within the empire – periods when the slow and cumbersome system of government would put the safety of the Empire at risk.

The Republic of Rome was established in 509 BC and lasted 482 years, until 27 BC. The Roman Senate gradually developed a Roman Constitution centered on the core principles of a separation of powers and a system of checks and balances on those powers, except in times of dire emergency. The Constitution of the Roman Republic was not like the modern American Constitution however. Roman society was very rank-based, with the aristocrats (called “patricians”), who traced their ancestry back to the original Roman Kingdom and/or the three original Roman tribes, ruled over the far more numerous common people (called “plebeians”).

The size of the Roman Empire expanded dramatically during the Republic, through both conquest and alliance. The Kingdom of Rome had controlled central Italy, by the end of the Roman Republic the Roman Empire controlled the entire Italian peninsula, North Africa, the Iberian peninsula, Greece, all of modern France, and much of the Middle East.

The founding of Imperial Rome was not the result of a revolution, like the founding of the Republic had been - it was actually the result of a slow process. The Republic had been weakened by several wars, which brought about a lengthy crisis that resulted in the appointment of Julius Caesar as perpetual dictator in 44 BC. The Republic was further weakened by Mark Antony’s defeat at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, followed by the Senate granting Octavian (the nephew of Julius Caesar) the ability to reform the Republic as a Principate with himself as Rome’s “first citizen” or “princes.” Octavian became the first Emperor and took the title of “Augustus” (meaning venerable or majestic) in 27 BC.

Rome continued to expand under the Emperors, reaching its greatest extent under Emperor Trajan (who reigned 98 – 117 AD) when Rome controlled approximately four million miles of land territory. The vast size of the Roman Empire proved so cumbersome that in the 3rd century AD Emperor Diocletian divided the responsibility for the empire between four co-emperors. This act created the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire. Western historians generally refer to the history of the Western Empire as “Rome” or “Roman” and the Eastern Empire as the Byzantine Empire. The crumbling Western Empire finally ended in 476 AD when Emperor Romulus Augustus was forced to abdicate to Odoacer, a German warlord. The Eastern, or Byzantine Empire, finally ended in 1453 AD with the death of Constantine XI and the capture of Constantinople by the Turks.

Thus, the history of the Roman Empire (the Western portion) stretches from 753 BC to 476 AD – 1229 years! Even though it appears, from the artwork and written accounts, that fashions changed much more slowly in Rome than they did even in the European Middle Ages, there were still many changes in clothing styles over 1000+ years.

Why does all this timeline stuff matter?

A basic understanding of the timeline of Rome matters because "Ancient Rome" is often thought of as being homogeneous. Obviously a "Roman man" wears a tunic with stripes at the shoulders (clavi) and a toga, right? A "Roman woman" wears a gap-sleeved tunica, a stola, and a palla, doesn't she? In actuality, Roman culture and society changed and evolved over the centuries. A Roman man or woman living in Italy in the 5th century would not dress like their 1st century counterparts any more than you and I would go about our daily business dressed like 16th century colonists. If we want to strive for greater authenticity, it's not enough to just look at information about "Roman" things; we need to look at specific points of time within the timeline of Rome.