Chapters
Rome’s power, which lasted more than ten centuries, began in 753 BCE. After the destruction of Troy, Aeneas fled a cursed earth ravaged by the Achaean storm. His journey ended only in distant Italy, where he decided to found a new city.
He came to where the Tiber River cuts through barren soil. There was also the settlement of Aeneas who, after short fights, defeated Turnus, king of the Rutul tribe, and married Avalinia, daughter of the Latino king. This is how the great history of Rome begins. Several generations after Aeneas, Rhea, daughter of Numitor, was born. Thanks to the god Mars, she fell into the grave, giving birth to the twins Romulus and Remus. It should also be added that Numitor was deposed from the throne by his brother Amulius. Who at the same time gave Rea to the vestal. Upon hearing of the death of Numitor’s descendants, Amulius ordered her sons to be thrown to the Tiber. By a lucky coincidence, the twins survived and were found by the she-wolf who fed them. Soon Remus and Romulus avenged their grandfather and founded a new settlement with his consent. Two gables – the Capitoline Hill and the Palatine Hill – became the foundations of the city. The brothers, as it happens in legends, soon quarrelled over the reign. As a result of the fight, Romulus killed Remus and became the ruler of Roma. The further history of the city of Romulus was as turbulent as its beginnings. Quite happily, the Romans established friendly relations with the Quirinit tribe, who settled on a nearby hill, henceforth known as the Quirinal. Then, other mounds were seized – Esquilin, Viminal, Celius and Aventine1.
Romulus was succeeded by Numa Pompilius, a calm, moderate and pious chief. It was he who built temples in honour of the Roman gods. Another was Tullus Hostilius, who was the complete opposite of his predecessor. He boldly led his people into battle. He led him to war with Alba, which the Albanian dictator2ended to his detriment due to the lost duel of units3. The first battle was won by the Romans. Then Hostilius turned against the Etruscan Veys and ended the duel with a victory. After this brave but not very pious king came the reign of Ancus Marcius. He referred to the tradition of Numa and at the same time strengthened the estate’s division of the people – into plebs and patricians4. Strangely enough, after the death of Ancus, Etruscan Tarkvinius the Elder ascended the throne of Rome. It should be noted that the election of the ruler belonged to the people’s assembly, the so-called tribus. The first of the Tarquinius again dealt with the religiosity of the Romans, without referring to the glorious deeds of his predecessors. After him, Servius Tullius reigned, and reformed the army and the class division of the estates. Centuries were established, which were not only military formations but also groups voting on the king’s projects. Servius Tullius also surrounded Rome with a wall, which created greater opportunities in the event of an attack by an enemy tribe. How strange it was that this wise ruler was overthrown – he was succeeded by Tarquinius Superbus, which means Proud. The coup by surprise took the senate, which now had to minister to the tyrant. Anyway, the second Tarquinius did not take into account the opinion of the senators. However, in the war, he turned out to be an intelligent and wise ruler. He successfully campaigned against the Etruscans and the Latins, only strengthening dominion over their neighbours to the north and south. And at the moment when Tarquinius Proud was triumphing in foreign politics, in his own backyard, speaking a bit of a sports language, he found a rebellion. The people in 510 BCE ended the hegemony of one ruler and elected the first two consuls at the same time – Lucius Julius Brutus and Tarquinius Collatine5 against the crimes and dissolute life of the king.
War of the States
After the expulsion of Tarquinius the Proud, there was a time of unrest, as the defeated ruler demanded the return of the throne. Therefore, he called on the Latin and Etruscan allies who fought with Rome. Brutus settled the war in his favour, and the lost Tarquinius (after another unsuccessful intrigue) died in 496 BCE Unfortunately, even the death of the last of the Tarquins did not determine the welfare of the inhabitants of Roma. Dissatisfied with the rule of the patriciate, the plebs decided to take matters into their own hands and take armed action against the oppressors. The civil war was prevented only by the oratorical sense of Agrippa Menenius6. The plebeians thus received the positions of tribunes who, from then on, had similar powers in the lower part of the society as the consuls among the patricians. Unfortunately, the crowd’s agitation grew. The flowery speeches of Gnaeus Martius known as Coriolanus did not help. It was he who led the Roman legions into battle during the wars with Volsci and Aequi7, which coincided with state riots. The debauchery of the tribunes led to the exile of Coriolanus, who hid with the Volsci family and became one of the commanders-in-chief of the troops that this militant tribe sent against Rome. The war that this brilliant commander had arranged for them finally sobered up the tribunes, senators and consuls. Coriolanus departed from the city gates as a special message, led by the chief’s mother, entered his camp. Unfortunately, Coriolan paid for treason to the Wolskom – he was murdered in 488 BCE. The next skirmishes between the plebs and the patricians did not have to wait long. The commoners’ revolt led to the disorganization of the army. At the same time, taking advantage of the confusion, the Aequas attacked the allied Latin tribe. Rome came out against them. And he would probably have lost this war if the swiftly recruited soldiers led by the dictator Cincinnatus had not entered the fray. Eventually, the opposing parties came to an agreement. The Romans have grown up to their next great achievement, this time in the field of law. Well, at the turn of 450/449 BCE, they wrote down the law, henceforth called the Law of the Twelve Tables. At that time, the offices of consuls and tribunes were abolished, and a new post was created – 10 decemvirs. One of them, despite the clear law8, did not want to step down. It was only through the military outburst of united social strata that the new tyranny ended. The next concessions to the commoners did not come soon. Rome faced danger again. Etruscan Veii was against him. The sense of Marcus Camillus led to t