History of Rome

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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.

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