Early Years of Rome

By Maggie Montler

(Modified by William Jones)

The Trojan War

• Historians believe that the

Trojan war was an actual

war; possibly many wars

strung together by myth

• Poseidon and Jupiter

decide to marry off the

sea goddess, and in

doing so, made Hera,

Aphrodite, and Athena,

jealous of each other, and

fight over a golden apple

inscribed with “to the

fairest of them all”

• Paris is chosen to pick the most beautiful of them and chooses Aphrodite, because she offered him the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen of Sparta.

• Paris stole her away to Troy, and the war began.

• The war finally ended with the Trojan Horse and the sacking of Troy after ten years

Aeneas • Trojan Prince and General and

Son of Venus

• Escaped the sacking of Troy with his father and son (his wife, Creusa, did not survive the escape)

• Landed in Carthage and had a year long affair with Their Queen, Dido.

• After leaving Carthage and Dido (when she found out about his departure, she cursed him and his descendants and committed suicide)

• He lands in Italy, and marries the daughter of King Latinus, Lavinia.

• Founds Lavinium after his wife.

Ascanius

• Aeneus’s son from his marriage with

Creusa or Lavinia ( the legends differ)

• Founded Alba Longa and was it’s first

King.

Rhea Silvia • The daughter of King

Numitor, who was thrown from the throne by his brother, Amulius

• Amulius killed her brothers and forced her to become a Vestal Virgin

• Mars visited her and she conceived the twins Romulus and Remus

Romulus and Remus • The sons of Rhea Silvia and the God

Mars were sent down the River Tiber by their uncle

• Saved by a she-wolf who suckled them

• Found by a shepherd who raised them after the she-wolf

• Overthrew Amulius and put Numitor back on the throne

• Wanted to found new city

• Argued over name of the city and who would rule it ending up in Remus’s death and Romulus becoming King and naming the city Rome

• Romulus carries out the Rape of the Sabine Women

• Romulus disappears in a storm and is worshipped as a god

Rape of the Sabine Women

• Carried out by Romulus to bring women into his city

• He held a festival and invited the Sabines, and then stole the women that came.

• Went to war but long enough after the Rape, that the Sabine women had gotten used to Roman life

• As the war reached them, the women begged them to be peaceful and discontinue the war

• The two leaders listened, and the war ended

A Tradition Gets Started

• For good fortune and in order that Romans

should never forget where its mothers came

from, it became tradition that husbands carry

their brides across the threshold of their new

home upon first entering it, just as the first

Sabine Women had been carried into their

new homes by their Roman husbands. That

tradition has survived for over 2700 years

and is still observed by many peoples across

the world. • Taken from http://www.suite101.com/content/the-rape-of-the-sabine-women-a65647

• It seems ironic that such a joyous tradition arises

from an event known throughout history as the

Rape of the Sabine Women. It is important to

note that the Sabine Women were not raped as

the contemporary definition of rape would

suggest. Rape in Roman antiquity referred to the

act of abduction and not sexual violation;

nonetheless it was a capital crime. The Rape of

the Sabine Women was only glorified by

Romans because it was an act necessary for

survival and not personal pleasure. • Taken from http://www.suite101.com/content/the-rape-of-the-sabine-women-a65647

Numa Pompilius

• The second King of Rome

• Ruled form 715-674b.c.

• A Sabine, but chosen to rule by the Roman people

• Under his rule, Rome went from a warring city to a peaceful one

• Egeria was his Nymph friend who acted as his advisor.

• Founded the temple of Janus and the 12th month to the calendar

• Founded the temple of Vesta and the Vestal Virgins

Tullus Hostilius

• The third King of Rome

• Ruled from 673-641b.c.

• Was quick to start wars

and did so often

• Began the Triplet Dispute

• Killed by Jupiter for

wrongful practice of

Religion

Horatii and Curiatii

• Two sets of triplets— Horatii were Roman and Curiatii were Alba Longan

• Rome and Alba Longa were plundering each other, and since both the Kings were war-crazy, Started a war

• The Alba Longan King is Killed, and Meteus Fettus was elected to rule.

• The two leaders have a conference and decide to use two sets of triplets to fight for them

• The Horatii and Curiatii were chosen

• After some fighting, two of the Horatii are killed, and the Curiatii are weakened

Horatii and Curatii • The last surviving Horatii

tricks the Curatii and kills

them

• He arrives home and

finds out that his sister

was engaged to one of

the Curatii

• She is angry so, he kills

her

Ancus Marcius

• The fourth King of Rome

• Grandson of Numa Pompilius

• Religious as Numa, but as Capable in war as Hostilius

• He built Rome’s port Ostia on the Tyrrhenum Sea

• Was befriended by Tarquinius Priscus

• Died after 24 years of ruling

Tarquinius Priscus

• The Fifth King of Rome

• Born rich

• From the Etruscan town of Tarquinii

• His wife was a fortun teller and told him that he must go to Rome

• Ancus Marcius was his children’s guardian

• Elected King while Marcius’s sons were away

• Fought Latins; won and was attacked by the Sabines; won

• Assanitated by sons

Servius Tullius

• The sixth king of Rome

• Born a slave and served Tarquinus

• Was seen asleep with hair on fire; when he woke up, it went out

• Tarquinius’s wife took it as an omen and raised him as a son

• Became the King after Tarquinius died

• Started the first census

Tarquinus Superbus

• Seventh king of Rome

• Son of Tarquinus Priscus

• Married one of the

daughters of Servius

Tullius and brother

married the other

• He and his brother’s wife

killed their siblings, and

got married

• Killed his father and

became King

Early Roman Government

• 600 B.C. - Etruscan king took power in Rome

• Over next 100 years, Rome grew from hilltop

villages to a city covering 500 sq. miles

– Kings ordered construction of temples, public centers

– Most famous = Forum, center of Rome’s political life

• Last king, Tarquin the Proud - a harsh tyrant

– Overthrown in 509 B.C.

• Ended Roman monarchy

Horatius holds the Bridge to Rome • The Roman people threw out

Tarquinius Superbus, who then went to the Etruscans for help, and they gave him an army

• He went back to take Rome back, and all the people around the walled part of Rome, ran to it for safety, across the Tiber River by bridge

• Horatius, a young soldier, noticed that they had forgotten to get rid of the bridge, do that the advancing army couldn’t cross the river.

• He, while standing on the bridge, held back the whole army while his fellow soldiers cut it down

• When it fell, he jumped into the Tiber and swam to safety, leaving the army thinking that Rome must be protected by the Gods

Rape of Lucretia • Lucretia was the wife of Collatinus

• He was bragging about her while drinking saying that she was the best wife ever

• They checked on his story, and all agreed that she was the best

• Sextus Tarquinius had a desire to “take her honour”

• He snuck into her room at night, and told her that if she made a sound he would kill her and if she didn’t do what he said,he would kill her and a slave, and frame her for adultery with the slave. He raped her

• She told her husband and father what had happened, and after they swore vengeance on him, she killed herself, while ther husband and father went out to kill Sextus Tarquinius

The Early Roman Republic

• Romans replaced monarchy with a REPUBLIC

– REPUBLIC - A form of government in which power

rests with the citizens who had the right to vote for

their leaders

• From Latin “res publica” meaning “public

affairs”

• Free-born male citizens could vote

The Roman Republic

• They voted for Officials

• Had written laws

• Three parts: The Consuls, The Senate, and the Assemblies

SPQR

• SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus ("The Senate and the Roman People”). This is the official signature of the government during the Roman Republic.

• This initialism was stamped on buildings all over Rome.

• This means that the combination of the Senate and the Roman people makes them both sovereign.

Patricians and Plebeians

• In the early

Roman Republic,

different groups

struggled for

power

– Patricians

– Plebeians

Patricians and Plebeians

• PATRICIANS

• Wealthy landowners

• Had most of power

• Inherited power,

social status

• Claimed ancestry =

authority to make

laws for Rome

• PLEBEIANS

• Farmers, artisans,

merchants

• Majority of population

• Had the right to vote

• Barred by law from

holding high

government jobs

Patricians and Plebeians

• 494B.C. Allowed Plebeians to:

– Form their own assembly

– Elect tribunes -

representatives / officers

– Power to veto unlawful acts

of magistrates

• Tribunes protected rights of

plebeians from unfair acts by

patrician officials

Twelve Tables

• Plebeians soon forced the creation of a written

law code

– Without written laws, patrician officials could

interpret laws to suit themselves

• 451 B.C. - officials wrote down Rome’s laws

– Written on 12 tablets (tables)

– Hung in Forum

• Gave plebeians knowledge of their protection

under the law

• Law

• Big contribution, mainly the rights of individuals.

• Rights under the law.

• Innocent until proven guilty.

• Burden of proof on accuser.

• Punishment for actions.

• The legal system also became basis of most Western countries’ legal systems.

• England, the U.S., and other Anglosphere countries, while heavily influenced by the Roman system and its reliance on rights, operate by common law.

Why Study Ancient Rome?

ｷ Romance languages trace origins to language of Romans.

ｷ The U.S. is a republican government. Rome set the stage for these republics.

ｷ Christianity arose during the Roman empire, and is still one of the world’s main religions.

ｷ Tensions between rich and poor affect society today, as they did in the days of the patricians and the plebeians.

ｷ Classical sculpture and architecture admired and copied today

ｷ Greek and Roman mythology is still widely read

ｷ Civil service still exists

ｷ Sporting events, though not as violent as gladiator games, remain popular

Finis

Sources • "Aeneas." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Aeneas." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Ancus Marcius." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Early Years of Rome." Uniservity. 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Horatii and Curiatii." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Horatii and Curiatii." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Horatius at the Bridge." Ancient Rome for Kids. 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Horatius." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Lucretia." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Numa." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Rape of the Sabine Women." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Rhea Silvia." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Roman Republic." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Romulus and Remus." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Servius Tullius." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Tarquinius Pricsus." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Tarquinus Superbus." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Trojan Horse." 6 Feb. 2009.

• "Tullus." 6 Feb. 2009.