The true story of the founding of Rome
This mosaic on the floor of the Vittorio Emanuele Gallery is one of many examples of works of art inspired by the legend of Romulus and Remus.
Rome wasn't built in a day, and according to archaeological evidence, neither was it founded by Romulus and Remus. From the Etruscans to the Sabines, several peoples contributed to creating the ancient kingdom which inspired many legends.
The civilization of the Etruscans had a considerable impact on the city's geography, architecture, government, commerce and agriculture. They created excellent schools to which wealthy Romans sent their sons, just as they would later send them to Greek institutes. Some of Rome 's most famous institutions , such as the Forum and the Senate, already existed in the 6th century BCE. However, even the accounts of the most famous historians, including Fabius, Livy and Plutarch, chronicled the history of the empire by anchoring themselves in legend.
ACCORDING TO LEGEND…
The story of the founding of Rome begins in Alba Longa, or Alba the Long, the first "city" of Lazio, a region of central-western Italy, then occupied by the Latins. This had been inhabited by farming communities since the Bronze Age and was known to the ancient Greeks, which may explain why Aeneas, a Trojan prince, is said to have established it around 1150 BCE.
According to the historian Livy, no sexual assault took place on Sabine women. Here, Hersilia separates Romulus and the Sabine king, Tatius.
According to legend, the brothers Amulius and Numitor, two descendants of Aeneas, fought for the throne of Alba Longa. Amulius triumphed, killed the sons of Numitor and exiled his daughter, Rhea Silvia, conferring on her the role of vestal virgin in order to deprive her of any descendants. Thanks to divine intervention, however, she gave birth to two twins: Romulus and Remus.
Threatened by these potential pretenders to the throne, Amulius had Rhea Silvia beheaded and the babies thrown into the Tiber. Miraculously, a wolf rescued and cared for the boys until a shepherd, Faustulus, adopted them and raised them on Palatine Hill in present-day Rome.
The brothers then established the city of Rome on the banks of the Tiber, in an area narrow enough to be crossed, and endowed with hills giving them a good defensive position. The land between the hills, on the other hand, was quite marshy and not very fertile; the twins were soon arguing, disagreeing as to the exact limits of the city, and Romulus killed Remus.
Color engraving of a 16th century view of Capitoline Hill from the Farnese Gardens, Europe's first private botanical garden.
With the outlaws and criminals he had recruited, Romulus threw a party, invited the neighboring tribe of the Sabines, who refused attempts at marriage with the Romans, and took the opportunity to kidnap the young Sabines. . According to legend, the role of Roman wives suited the latter, and when the men of their original people came to retrieve them, they prevented them from fighting against the Romans. The Sabines eventually remained in Rome and became part of the new city.
WHAT ARCHEOLOGY SAYS
According to archaeological evidence, the true origins of Rome would have been far less spectacular than legendary accounts. The early Romans were Latin farmers and shepherds living in small village huts on the Esquiline and Palatine hills. The Sabines, a people living north of the city, split soon after its founding, and some of them moved south and united with the people of Rome.
Ruins of a Comitium in Salerno, Italy, where assemblies of Roman courts met to elect local magistrates and where popular assemblies were held.
Rome remained relatively primitive until the 7th century BCE, when the Etruscans, who controlled a whole series of city-states to the north, began to take control of the city.
THE KINGS OF ROME
While modern scholars discount some accounts of ancient Roman historians, they agree that during the first phase of its history, from around 753 to 509 BCE, Rome was ruled by kings. According to the writings, Romulus was the first monarch of Rome, followed by Numa Pompilius, a Sabine, and in 616 BCE, by an Etruscan named Tarquin the Elder.
The kings had almost absolute power, acting as administrative, judicial, military and religious leaders. A Senate acted as an advisory council. The king selected his members, later known as patricians, from among the members of the great families of the city. Unlike later monarchs, Roman kingship was not hereditary: after the death of a king, a period known as an interregnum occurred. During this, the Senate chose a new sovereign, who was then elected by the people of Rome. The chosen king had to gain the approval of the gods as well as imperium , the power to command, before assuming the throne.
ETRUSCAN INFLUENCES
Coin from the Pontus region in Asia Minor, depicting a pantheistic god.
The Etruscans ruled over a confederation of city-states that stretched from Bologna to the Bay of Naples. Although their origin is unclear, we do know that they used a version of the Greek alphabet and, according to some ancient sources, came from Asia Minor. Around 650 BCE they already had a dominant presence in the region and, wishing to take advantage of its strategic position on the Tiber, took control of Rome.
Under the Etruscan kings, Rome, which was then only a series of villages, became a real city. The Etruscans drained the marshes that surrounded it, built underground sewers, and laid out roads and bridges. They created the cattle market, the Forum Boarium, as well as the Forum Romanum, the central market and meeting place that became the heart of the empire. Towards the end of this period of Etruscan influence, the first temple of Jupiter was built on the Capitol; this temple, although rebuilt many times, became the symbol of the power of Rome.
Built as a mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian on the banks of the Tiber, Castel Sant'Angelo is now a museum.
FROM KINGDOM TO REPUBLIC
The Age of Kings of Rome ended in 509 BCE when the Romans expelled the last Etruscan king, Tarquinius Superbus. As told by historians such as Livy, the son of Tarquin the Superb, Sextus, raped Lucretius, wife of the great-nephew of the king; the latter, feeling that her honor and her virtue had been stolen from her, then took her own life. Her uncle Brutus swore to avenge her and embarked on the revolution, in a quest to reject the monarchy. For the Roman people, the story of Lucretius symbolizes the tyrannical powers of the monarch over the state, which is why it is cited as the event that gave birth to the Roman Republic.
Tourists visit the Roman Forum, Rome, Italy.
Once the monarchy was overthrown, the Romans established a republic, which flourished until 30 BCE. For nearly five centuries, Rome became a dominant Western power, seizing territories across the Mediterranean, creating a huge and efficient army, and learning to administer its vast provinces.
Source : websites