The legend has it that the historical foundations of Rome start with Aeneas, son of Priam, a Trojan hero second only to Hector, escaped the massacrea by fleeing the fortress and adventuring to Latium in Italy, the land of the Latini. Much of what we know today is from the accounts of ancient writers such as Livy and Herodotus. Aeneas became the progenitor of the Romans through his son Ascanios, the first king to reign in the new capital of Latium, Alba Longa. Two descendents of the Alba Longa Kings, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, would go on to become the founders of Rome. Over a dispute about who should be in charge the two brothers quarreled resulting in the murder of Remus, leaving Romulus as the first King of Rome. The traditional date of Romulus' sole reign and the subsequent founding of the city, April 21, 753 BC, is still celebrated with festivals and parades today.
The earliest evidence of human habitation in the Latium region which included the city of Rome, dates from the Bronze Age (c.1500 BC), but the earliest established, and permanent, settlements began to form in the 8th century BC. At that time archeology indicates two closely related peoples in the area, the Latins and Sabines. These agrarian Italic peoples were tribal in origin, with a social hierarchy that dominated Rome's early form of government and throughout its claim to power in the region. The continuing development of the city was largely influenced by Rome's northern neighbors, the Etruscans. The Etruscans, threatened by the growing power and influence of the Latin city to their south, would soon supplant Romulus, and subsequent Latin Kings, with Kings of their own.
In the matter of just a few centuries, Rome grew from a very small village in central Italy to the absolute dominant power of the entire peninsula. In a few more centuries, the Roman Empire`s might reached as far north as Britain, east to Persia and in the south it encompassed the whole of Northern Africa. Rome's extraordinary achievements and the unparalleled string of influential people shaped the whole of Europe and even the rest of the world.
The saying "All Roads Lead to Rome" alludes to this central hub of technology, literature, culture and architecture in the ancient world. The engineers of the Roman age created an unparalleled network of roads in ancient history. Approximately 50,000 miles (80,000 km) of roads spread Roman civilization, influence and the mighty legions throughout the western world. They built strong arched bridges, and mastered the concept of "running water" using aqueducts that, among other things, supplied public baths rivaling today's modern water facilities. At the height of its power in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, the Roman Empire consisted of some 2.2 million square miles (5.7 million sq. km). 60 million people (or as much as 1/5 of the world's population) claimed citizenship of Rome and as many as 120 million people may have lived within its borders. The greatest empire the earth has ever known is more than just a collection of facts and figures. It represents both the glorious achievement and at times contemptible behavior of mankind.
One super powered nation, encompassing thousands of cultures kept order, stability and civilization in an ancient world fraught with turmoil. The fall of Rome, and the centuries of Dark Ages that followed illustrates the awesome responsibility, reach and impact of the Empire.
Even today, Roman law and foundation of government forms the basis of several modern democracies. Her monuments still stand millennia later, awing and inspiring us. Her language, while for all intensive purposes lies dormant and unspoken, forms the basis or penetrates the deepest fibers of many modern tongues.
Her final faith, Christianity, was spread like wild-fire through the highly connected system of roads and intermingled cultures of the western world. What else has Rome given us?
In this "History of Rome" series, we will explore the development of the Roman Empire and the events that built it. From the foundations as a Republic through the Fall of the West, from the great conquerors to the conquered.
Piece by historical piece, we'll delve into the events and people that shaped not just an era, but the history of an entire planet.
