753 av. J C
Roman she-wolf (calcareous stone relief)
Photo Roman Museum of Avenches
Romulus and Remus
When the Greeks seize Troy, prince Enée, son of Venus and the Anchise mortal, succeeds in according to the tradition fleeing in Italy, and approaches close to the mouth of the Tiber. It is combined to indigenous king Latinus, of which it marries the Lavinie girl, and founds Lavinium.
His/her Ascagne son founds Alba the Long one, whose thirteenth king, Numitor, are dethroned by his Amulius brother. This last fact of his/her niece, Rhea Silvia, a vestal dedicated to chastity. However this one, violated by the god Mars, gives the day to twins, Romulus and Remus, who are deposited on the Tiber. The river in rising gives up their cradle at the bottom of a hill, the Palatine one. They are nourished by a she-wolf, then collected by a shepherd.
Arrived at the adulthood, Romulus and Remus gather a troop which succeeds in killing Amulius to restore Numitor on the throne of Alba. Their grandfather encourages them to go to settle elsewhere, and the twins choose the site of Rome.
Romulus like founder of Rome
The observation of the flight of the birds (taken auspices) indicates Romulus like founder. The date allotted to the mythological foundation of Rome east 753 av. J C. Following a quarrel, Remus is killed by his/her brother. This last removes the girls of its neighbors, Sabins, who finally agree to link themselves with the Romans with their king, Titus Tatius.
Romulus equips Rome with a senate, divides the population into thirty curies, gives him institutions, a military organization, before disappearing mysteriously and to be honoured by assimilation with the Quirinus god.
It is Sabin, Numa Pompilius, which succeeds to him and which gives to Rome, according to the councils of the nymph Egérie, his religious organization. Then Tullus Hostilius comes, which destroys Alba the Long one (episode of the combat of Horaces and Curiaces). Lastly, Sabin Ancus Martius founds Ostie.
Three Etruscan kings The Life century is marked by the reign of three Etruscan kings. Tarquin subjects Latin, makes drain the site where the forum will be installed and reinforces the senate. Servius Tullius makes build an enclosure and, to organize a civic army, equips the Romans with a constitution poll-tax based.
Lastly, Tarquin, called the Superb one, engages of great work and builds the temple of Jupiter, Junon and Minerve on Capitole. But this sovereign acts as a tyrant, and one of his/her sons violates Lucrèce, which commits suicide. Brutus assembles the civic body then and orders the closing of the doors of Rome with Tarquin, left in forwarding. At this point in time the Republic would start.
The mythical site
This mythical history receives current excavations of many confirmations. The small plain of Latium is populated, to the VIII E front century J. - C., by pastors and farmers, while the site of Rome, in edge of the Tiber, on the septentrional limits of Latium, is that of an easily flooded basin - the future Forum - surrounded by hills. The presence of an island facilitates the North-South passage there, away from the marshes of the coast; the river is navigable upstream like downstream, and a road of salt, coast towards the Albains mounts and especially towards Sabine, make it possible to supply the stockbreeders of the interior.
Rome towards 509 av. J. - C.
A settlement is attested by the existence of funds of huts on the Palatine one and necropoles towards north. The expansion of Etruscan civilization, until into Campania, results in the conquest of Latium. The VI E century corresponds to one period of great municipal activity and participation in the Mediterranean exchanges.
The heritage of the Etruscans
It is with the Etruscans that Rome owes its name, its wall, the draining of the basin of the Forum (construction of a large sewer, or maximum Cloaca) and the construction of the sanctuary of Capitole. The excavations revealed large private residences. Lastly, populations come from other regions flowed there. Rome of the Etruscan kings seems a flourishing city, where three powers share the administration: the king, the senate and the assembly of the gentiles within the framework of the thirty curies. The end of monarchy results in the advent of an aristocracy. Rome is released from the Etruscan influence only towards 475-470, before folding up itself on itself.