Rise of the Roman Empire

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Rise of the Roman Empire

The legend about Rome’s origins puts the founding of the city at around 735 B.C. It is said that a Vestal Virgin gave birth to twin boys, Romulus and Remus, and claimed that they were the sons of the god Mars. The Vestal Virgin was the sister of a king. The king believed that she was lying and imprisoned her. He put her two boys in a basket and threw it into the Tiber River. A she-wolf found the twins and raised them. The twins, Romulus and Remus, came back and killed the king and founded the city of Rome. Afterwards Romulus and Remus fought and Remus was killed. Romulus was Rome’s first king and after he died, he became a god and vanished.
The Romans were tribal people who lived in central Italy and like other Latins; they tilled small plots of land pastured cows, pigs and goats and tended flocks of sheep. Moreover, they had a council of elders who chose the Chiefs of the tribes. Around 600 B.C the Etruscans a much more advanced people from the north conquered Rome. Consequently, from that time on, Rome was ruled by kings. The Romans learned many crafts from the Etruscans such as the use of bronze. They borrowed the Etruscan twelve-month calendar, the use of first and last names and developed their alphabet from an Etruscan adaptation of Greek. The Romans adapted many agricultural practices such as the growing of grapes and olives. From the Etruscans the Romans learned military strategy including the use of the unit called the legion which fought in phalanx positions.
In 509 B.C however, the Roman nobles revolted against their king, Tarquin the Proud, and established a republic. By this time, Rome’s society was already divided into two groups, the common people called the Plebeians, and the nobles called the Patricians. The Patricians were the heads of the leading families of Rome. Instead of the king, they elected two consuls. The consuls ruled the state and led the armies, but they had power only for one year. The only people that were allowed to participate in government were Patricians. They ignored the wishes of the Plebeians. Consequently, in 490 the Plebeians revolted. They elected their own leaders called Tribunes and threatened to leave and found their own city if they were not given more rights. Since the Patricians needed Plebeians to serve in their army, they had to give in. This was the...

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...normous indemnity that was imposed, ten thousand talents spread over fifty years, made the Carthaginians practically tributaries to their Roman conquerors. Hannibal would later be exiled and Carthage would never regain its former power. Hopelessly, the Carthaginians tried to stand up to Rome one last time in 151. The city was destroyed and its entire population sold as slaves.
Throughout its early history Rome constantly came up new innovative ideas have the upper hand over its enemies. The Romans were a determined people that believed that ruling the world was their destiny and after the defeat of its’ greatest rival Carthage, they were now masters of the Mediterranean. Rome would never again be threatened until the empire’s fall hundreds of years later. The Romans would now begin to expand their empire past Italy, and with great success, come to rule the Western world.

Works Cited

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1595/Romans.html

Nardo, Don. The Rise of the Roman Empire. Gale Group: 1980

http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/classroom/lesson5.html

Polybuis, Obye. The Rise of the Roman Empire. Viking Penguin: 1980

http://www.hatethemainstream.com/article.php?sid=22

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