Rome

Rome

Contemptuous Remus immediately crossed the line, and Romulus killed him. Romulus later said he regretted killing his brother, but life goes on. He built his city on the Palatine Hill, and called it Rome. When Romulus founded Rome in 753 BC, he made himself the king. Being a brand new city, it had very few people. Romulus built up the population by allowing anybody who wanted to live there, including criminals who flocked to the city. This caused a shortage of women. To get some, the Romans hosted athletic games and invited their neighbors, the Sabines. While they were at the games, some of the Romans sneaked off and stole the Sabine women (Burrell 14-15). Realizing what had happened, the Sabines prepared their army. Expecting this, the Romans were ready and the two forces lined up preparing to fight. Surprisingly, some of the women ran into the no-man's-land in between the armies. This is what their leader said: We were just daughters a short while ago, now we are both wives and daughters. We did not choose our husbands - they chose us. We want this fighting to stop. If it goes ahead, many will be slain. When our fathers are dead, we shall be orphans, but if our husbands die, we shall be widows. We lose either way. (Burrell, 14-15) Surprisingly, the two armies listened and put down their weapons. Since anyone was allowed to reside, Rome had great diversity in its people. There were three main ethnic groups: the Romans, who were first generation, the Sabines, and the Latins, who Romulus is descended from. The Sabines lived in the mountains east of the Tiber and north of the Latins. Later on, another group of people called the Etruscans started moving in. They were unique in that their language had no relation to any other known language, the only one like that. Romulus established a government with a king, who was imperium, Over all persons and in all causes supreme (Adcock 6). Romulus chose one hundred fathers to form the Senate. These people and their descendants are known as Patricians, from the Latin word pater, meaning father. He divided the people into three tribes, mentioned above, and each tribe was divided into smaller curiae. The succession of kings wasn't hereditary. The previous king appointed someone, and that person had to show the good will of heaven. Once king he had to keep the pax deorum, Latin for peace of the gods. Romulus created an army that was to have three thousand infantry and three hundred horsemen, one-third from each tribe. This was a national guard, with people keeping their day jobs. When Romulus died in 717 BC, the two main tribes, the Romans and the Sabines, couldn't decide how to pick a king. Finally it was decided that the Romans would pick a Sabine king. They picked Numa Pompilius. This is what Plutarch had to say about him: He banished all luxury and softness from his own home, and... in private he devoted himself not to amusement... but to the worship of the immortal gods. (Nardo 19) One of Pompilius' notable achievements was rearranging the calendar so it had twelve months instead of ten. The third king, Tullus Hostilius, was a war monger. He believed his subjects would grow soft if they weren't engaged in a war. Conquering neighboring people, including Alba Longa, he extended Rome's rule out to twelve miles. Supposedly the gods got angry with him and killed him with a lightning bolt (Burrell, 12). The fourth king, Ancus Martius, was a Sabine. He extended Rome's boundary to the sea and built the Pons Sublicus, the first bridge across the Tiber. He also captured the Janiculum hill on the far bank. The fifth king, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, was the first Etruscan king. He got the throne when he persuaded Martius to send his sons away. He was an architect king. He built the capitol temple, drained the marsh between the Paletine and Aventine Hills, built the Cloaca Maxima, or great sewer, and designed the Circus Maximus. The sixth king was Servius Tullius, another Etruscan. He divided the citizens into five social classes, from richest to poorest. All but the poorest had to provide soldiers. The seventh, and final, king was Tarquinius Superbus. He was a bad king. He got the throne by marrying Tullius' daughter, Tullia. He then pushed Tullius down a flight of stairs. He sent men to finish him off, but Tullia ran over her father with a cisium, Latin for a light, two-wheeled carriage. As king, he paid absolutely no attention to what the people wanted. According to Asimov, when he was off at war with the Volscians, the Senate voted to exile him, and he wasn't let back into the city. After his reign, the people vowed never to have a king again, and a law was made where anybody who even talked about having a king back was executed. A senator named Brutus said, I swear, and you, o gods, I call to witness that I will drive [away]... Tarquinius Superbus, together with his wicked wife and his whole family, with fire and sword and every