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The peoples that inhabited the Italian peninsula before the rise and development of Rome were very diverse, with different languages, different artistic and religious expressions, and varied social structures. Many of them had their origin in the migrations of Indo-European origin, which arrived on the peninsula around the 13th century BC, although there were also previously settled peoples. The Etruscans formed the first great civilization on the Italian peninsula, transmitting the alphabet and numbers to the Romans, along with many elements of architecture, art, religion, and clothing; the toga and the Etruscan-style Doric column are some examples. On the other hand, pre-Roman Italy was strongly influenced by neighboring Greece, with its already well-defined characteristics,
According to tradition, Rome was founded in 753 BC on the banks of the Tiber River. But beyond the legend, there is certainty that a city-state developed on the seven hills from villages of Latin and Sabine tribes that grew on its slopes and that were unified between the 9th and 8th centuries BC. It was the beginning of a history that would span more than a millennium, developing the largest empire of its time and a culture of fundamental importance in our Western civilization.
We will see below a schematic chronology of the history of ancient Rome, divided into five stages.
The foundation and the seven kings of Rome
A Latin colony from Alba Longa had settled around Monte Palatino, perhaps to monitor the advance of the Etruscans on the other side of the natural limit that was the Tiber River. And at the same time, groups of sabinos moved from the mountains, since that place was the confluence of roads and an important site at that time for trade, especially salt. These villages were unified in a coalition or league of the seven hills, the Septimontium , the germ of the future Rome. And for its birth a third element is added: the advance of the Etruscans towards the south, towards Campania through Lazio, turning the agglomeration of villages into a city that took on an Etruscan name: Rome. Thus, the basis of Rome was the fusion of Latins, Sabines and Etruscans.
Legend has it that seven kings ruled Rome during its first 250 years of life, and that Romulus was the first of them. But there is more certainty that it was an Etruscan king who developed the structure of the city towards the end of the 7th century BC. According to the founding myth, the second king of Rome would have been Numa Pompilius, who lived between the years 753 and 673 BC. He was a Sabine who is credited with having pacified Rome during his reign and having introduced changes in its social structure, such as the creation of the main religious institutions and the organization of artisans into eight corporations.
The Roman Republic: emergence and development
In the year 509 BC, Tarquin the Proud was overthrown and the monarchy abolished, which was replaced by a system of government exercised by magistrates elected in assemblies of citizens: the Roman Republic. In this system of government, the people had the right to appeal the decisions of the magistrates, both those referring to daily life and the laws. But from the beginning the government of the city was in the hands of the wealthier classes and the nobles. Rome never became a democracy like that of Athens, since the Roman Republic always maintained an oligarchic and plutocratic government, with some periods of a populist nature that, in many cases, were interrupted with blood and fire.
With an army based on legions, Rome conquered new lands and began a geographic expansion from a relatively powerful city-state on the peninsula to a territorial state, soon to become a vast empire. This stage of the Republic includes the Punic Wars, three long and bloody armed conflicts between the years 264 and 146 BC between the two main powers of the Mediterranean, Carthage, in North Africa, and Rome in Europe.
The decline of the Roman Republic
Until the year 133 BC, there were no major political conflicts in a Rome focused on its expansion, so foreign policy and military campaigns were its main concern, while political power was concentrated in the Roman Senate. But in previous decades, military campaigns led to citizens having to leave their farms to fight, so many farmers were unable to maintain their farms and went bankrupt. Social conflicts were generated that were expressed in the year 133 BC in the murder of Tiberio Graco and 300 of his followers, following his proposals as tribune of the common people. The conflict between the Senate and the commoners continued with the election of Tiberius’ brother, Gaius Gracchus, who was assassinated along with 3,000 followers on Capitoline Hill. Political conflicts, as bloody as the terrible confrontation between Mario and Sulla, continued until Julius Caesar seized power in Rome with his army in 49 BC, and ruled as dictator. It is important to say that the term “decitator” in Roman politics does not have the same connotations as it does today. Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15 (theIdes of March) of the year 44 BC by Gaius Cassius, his own godson Marco Brutus and other senators opposed to his power and, after several conflicts Gaius Octavio, great-nephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar, would assume the government of Rome in the year 29 before Christ with the title of emperor emperor and the name of Augustus granted by the Senate. Thus the stage of the Roman Republic was closed and an imperial monarchy was established.
the principality
The Roman Senate proclaimed Octavian Augustus as princeps , first citizen, and from this derives the historical name for the period, the principality. In addition, he was granted the position of imperium proconsulare , which entailed military command over the entire empire, together with the title of Augustus , equated with emperor. The unification of power in an Augustus allowed profound political, economic and military changes to be made, putting an end, many times manu militari , to the multiple conflicts that were taking place. Thus a period of political stability was generated which was called the Pax Romana .
The position of “Augusto” was established as hereditary, and several dynasties succeeded one another, among others the Julio-Claudia, interrupted with the suicide of Nero in the year 68; the Flavia, during which the Roman Coliseum was built; Antonina and Severa. In this last dynasty there were rebellions and invasions, as well as serious economic problems and strong social destabilization, which began to degrade the cohesion of the empire.
The dominated
The principality extended between the assumption of Octavian as Augustus until the year 284, when Diocletian changed the title of princeps to that of dominus ., equivalent to an absolute monarchy. Towards the end of the 3rd century, in the extensive Roman Empire, uprisings and resistance movements were taking place on several fronts, for which Diocletian divided the power until then concentrated in the emperor, and in the year 285 he first granted Maximian the rank of Caesar, later elevating it to that of Augustus. Maximian ruled the west of the empire, while Diocletian ruled the east. Shortly after, in the year 293, Diocletian established a Tetrarchy, dividing the government between four regents, two Augusti and two Caesars, although the new structure did not imply sharing power, since the main and final authority continued to reside in Diocletian, and the Caesars were in charge of executing the measures that the Augusts had. This system of government lasted until the year 324, when,
Constantine rebuilt the city of Byzantium, which would come to be called Constantinople, and which would be the capital of the empire from the year 330. Constantine adopted the Christian religion as official. Christianity became the sole and compulsory religion under pain of death during the reign of Theodosius I, sparking religious clashes throughout the empire. On the death of Theodosius I, in the year 395, the Roman Empire was divided into the Eastern Empire, based in Constantinople, which would last throughout the Middle Ages under the name of the Byzantine Empire, and the Western Empire, Based in Rome, it disintegrates in the year 476 when a Germanic tribe conquers the city legendarily founded by Romulus.
Sources
Carandini, Andrea. Rome: Day One . New Jersey, Princeton University, 2007.
deGrummond, Nancy T. History of ancient Italic people . Britannica Encyclopedia, 2015.
Kelly, Christopher. The Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2006
Secco Ellauri, Oscar. The Roman Empire in the 1st and 2nd centuries; the Flavians. Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Kapelusz. 1965
