The Beginning of the City Called Rome

According to Roman mythology the history of Rome began in 753 B.C. when a basket, floating on the Tiber River, came ashore near an area called seven hills. According to this legend the basket carried twin babies, Romulus and Remus. Their mother was the daughter of a nearby king, and their father, was supposed to be Mars, the god of war. Their uncle was the villain, who had set them in the basket on the river to protect his title to the throne. Mythology also says that the brothers were found by a she-wolf and she took care of the two babies. Then later on a shepherd found them and took them home, where he and his wife both cared for them.

When they grew up, Romulus and Remus got even with their uncle by replacing him on the throne with their grandfather. Then they built a city at a place called the Palatine Hill. Romulus invited fugitives to his hill and gave them wives by having a festival for a nearby tribe, the Sabines, then taking their women.

The legend of Romulus and Remus is really a far out story and yet based on truth. In mythology, Rome had humble beginnings and also in reality. In this legend Rome had a war god as its progenitor and wolf milk in its stomach, implying that its citizens had an ability for warfare, which they would prove many times.

In the beginning of Rome's history, the city was defeated by a people called the Etruscans, the most prominent civilization in Italy prior to Rome's rise to power. The Etruscans influenced Roman civilization, who had migrated to Italy from Asia Minor, around the 12th century B.C. Their history is a mystery, because their language is not related to any language. Their Italian homeland, which was Etruria, was made up of a confederation of city-states. They were known for their work, such as, metalworking and their fine pottery. The Etruscans were at the peak of their rule during the 6th century B.C. However, by the year 500 B.C. their civilization was headed downward, and at around that time the Romans rose up and took control of their city, creating a republic.

A patrician class in the beginning controlled Rome, but eventually the Plebs, or common people, came into power. In 390 B.C., when Greece and Persia were super powers in the world, Rome still in a weak condition was conquered by the Gauls. However,, during the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C., the Romans became conquerors of both central and southern Italy. Then, Roman armies went into Greece, where they were both conquerors and conquered. They defeated the Greek armies, but they were overtaken by Greek culture and brought back to Rome a desire for fine art and literature.

Rome's most powerful adversary was now the city of Carthage, who ruled North Africa and the western Mediterranean. In the Punic Wars, for more than ten long years, Rome was humiliated by having a Carthaginian army on its soil. Neither Rome nor Carthage, led by the great Hannibal, could see victory. So, the end result was that the Carthaginians were forced to withdraw, with the Romans forcing them back to Africa. In 202 B.C. at the battle of Zama, Rome defeated Carthage. Both of the nations had peace for a few decades, then another Punic War began. Rome saw victory once again, destroying Carthage.

Now during the next two hundred years the Roman Empire expanded very swiftly, conquering many of the nations at one time ruled by Alexander the Great, which included Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. While endeavoring to rule the entire Mediterranean world, Rome also defined its own civilization and political organization. With reservations, the city offered citizenship widely to other Italian towns and to those who they felt were beneath them as far as their social standing was concerned.

Then, in the year 60 B.C., a triumvirate, which was a three-man executive board consisting of Gaius Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, and Marcus Licinius Crassus ruled Rome. Caesar had risen to power as a popular democratic leader. He was also a impressive general. During the next ten long years he fought the Gallic Wars, leading a Roman army all the way north to Britain.