Origins of Rome
In ~800 BC, Latins were pastoral herdsmen and farmers descended from Balkan migrants, with little developed art, religion, or writing. Etruscans were skilled craftsmen with extensive trade networks, including routes through Rome. Rome's location was strategic due to its easy Tiber crossing, defensive hills, and position on trade routes. Its founding story is largely mythical because early records were lost, but its broader picture of Latin–Etruscan conflict and a Latin sphere south of the Tiber broadly fits archaeology. The legend was constructed later using common mythological elements and influences from other cultures.
Soldiers equipped themselves; the richest provided horses. A 100-man Senate advised the king and became the basis of the later patrician class.
Timeline
Legends of foundation
- ~12 BCE: Aeneas arrived in Latium, inherited the kingdom, and established the Tiber as the boundary with the Etruscans.
- ~12-8 BCE: Aeneas' son Ascanius founded Alba Longa; generations later, Numitor was exiled by Amulius, while his daughter Rhea Silvia gave birth to Romulus and Remus, who were abandoned by the river and adopted by a she-wolf.
- ~8 BCE: Romulus and Remus discovered their ancestry, killed Amulius, and restored Numitor to the throne.
- ~8 BCE: Romulus and Remus chose the place where they had been abandoned to found a new city; Remus was killed in the dispute.
- 753 BCE: Romulus traditionally founded Rome and became its first king.
Romulus's institutions
- ~8 BCE: Romulus established a Senate of 100, an army of ~3,000 infantry and 300 cavalry, and seized women from neighboring communities.
- ~8 BCE: After repelling attacks, conflict with the Sabines ended in peace and political union under two kings, three tribes, and a Senate expanded by 100 Sabines.
- ~8 BCE: Romulus established the Comitia Curiata, with 30 collective votes from three tribes divided into ten curiae; the army doubled to ~6,000.
- ~8 BCE: The Sabine king died, leaving Romulus as sole ruler; he then fought neighboring peoples for ~40 years and died.