Rome, Italy

Rome is the capital of Italy. It is Italy's largest and most populous city, located on the Tiber River. The City of Rome boasts 2 1/2 thousand years of history. It was once the largest city in the world. Rome is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church, which controls Vatican City as its sovereign territory. Rome is the third most visited tourist city in Europe. It is the headquarters of three of the world's one hundred largest companies: Enel, ENI and Telecom Italia.

Legend tells us Rome was founded by the twins Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf. According to Roman legend Romulus was the founder of Rome and Remus was his twin brother. Numitor, king of the ancient Italian city of Alba Longa, was deposed by his brother, Amulius. Amulius and Numitor were descendants of fugitives of Troy, and they received the throne of Alba Longa upon their father's death. Numitor received the sovereign powers as his birthright, while Amulius received the royal treasury, to include the gold Aeneas brought with him from Troy. Since Amulius held the treasury he had more power than his brother, and he dethroned Numitor as the rightful king. Amulius was afraid Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, would produce children who would one day overthrow him as king, so he forced Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin, which meant she was made a priestess of the goddess Vesta and was forbidden to marry. Even so, Mars, the god of war, fell in love with Rhea, and she gave birth to twin sons. They were of remarkable size and beauty, and in his rage Amulius ordered the twins and Rhea Silvia killed. Accounts vary as to how he intended to do this--in one account he had Rhea buried alive, the standard punishment for Vestal Virgins who broke their vow of celibacy, and ordered the death of the twins by exposure. In another version, he ordered the twins and Rhea Silvia thrown into the Tiber River. The servant ordered to kill the twins could not do it because they were so beautiful, and instead he placed the twins in a basket and laid the basket on the banks of the Tiber River and left. The river was in flood, and rose gently and carried the basket and the twins downstream. They were kept safe by the river diety, Tiberinus, who made a cradle catch in the roots of a fig tree growing in the Velabrum Swamp. He then brought the twins to the Palatine Hill, where they were adopted by a she-wolf who nursed them and fed them her milk. A woodpecker also brought them food, because, like the wolf, the woodpecker was sacred to Mars. Another version of the legend gives the suggestion that the she wolf, known as Lupa, was actually human, and a courtesan, who were also called she-wolves.

The twins were later found by a king's shepherd, Faustulus, and he and his wife, Acca Larentia raised the twins as their own. The twins grew into bold young men and led a band of warlike shepherds. The twins' noble birth showed in their beauty and size, and as adults they were manly, high-spirited, of invincible courage and daring. Romulus was thought to be the wiser of the two and the more political. In discussions with his neighbors he showed a disposition of command rather than following. Because of these qualities, Romulus and Remus were loved by their equals and the poor alike, but they despised the king's officers, and felt the officers were no braver than they were. They paid no attention to the anger and threats of the king's men, and led lives of men born to nobility. They defended the land against enemies, captured plunderers, did not value sloth and idleness, and avenged those who had been wronged. They became famous throughout Latium for these qualities.

When Romulus and Remus were eighteen years old, an argument occurred between the shepherds of Numitor and the shepherds of Amulius. Numitor's shepherds drove off many of Amulius' cattle, causing Amulius' men to become enraged. Romulus and Remus gathered the shepherds together, found and killed Numitor's shepherds and recovered the lost cattle. To the displeasure of Numitor, Romulus and Remus took into their own company many of the needy men and slaves of Numitor, exhibiting much boldness and temper.

One day Remus was captured and brought before Numitor for punishment. Numitor was in fear of Amulius, and went to Amulius for justice since they were brothers and Amulius had been insulted by the royal servants. The people of Alba Longa also felt Numitor had been wronged, and Amulius was forced to hand Remus over to Numitor to treat as he saw fit. Numitor noticed Remus did not look like the usual shepherd's son and began to question him. After hearing of Remus' daring acts and deeds and of his noble virtues, Numitor asked Remus about his birth. Remus told Numitor he had been found and nursed by a wolf on the banks of the Tiber River. Before long, Numitor realized who Remus was. During this time, Romulus had been engaged elsewhere, and upon his return was told by Faustulus that Remus had been captured by Numitor and told Romulus to go to Remus' aid. Romulus gathered an army to invade Alba Longa and set out to bring Remus back. Faustulus took the cradle in which he found Romulus and Remus and ran to Alba Longa. When he reached the gates of the city he was stopped by the guards, one of which happened to be the servant who had taken the boys to the river. He recognized the cradle and knew Faultulus was telling the truth, and hurried to Amulius to tell him what was happening, bringing Faustulus to Amulius. The servant admitted Romulus and Remus were still alive, but said they lived far away from Alba Longa and worked as herdsmen.

Amulius became alarmed and enraged, and quickly sent a friend of Numitor to him to see if he had possibly heard of any possibility of the twins being alive. As the man entered Numitor's house he found Numitor embracing Remus, which confirmed Remus was Numitor's grandson. The man advised Numitor and Remus to act quickly as Romulus was marching on the city with an army of men who hated and feared Amulius. Remus incited the citizens of the city to revolt at the same time Romulus was attacking the city. Amilius, out of sheer confusion, was taken prisoner without any resistence. He was soon put to death.

After Amulius' death the people of the city offered Romulus and Remus the joint crown, but the twins refused as long as their grandfather, Numitor, was still living. They also would not live in the city as subjects. After restoring the kingship to Numitor and properly honoring their mother, the two left Alba Longa to found their own city along the slopes of the Palatine Hill. Before leaving Alba Longa they took with them fugitives, runaway slaves and anyone who wanted a second chance.

Once Romulus and Remus arrived at Palatine Hill they began to argue over where the city should be. Romulus was intent on building the city on the Palatine Hill, but Remus wanted to build on Aventine Hill, which was easily fortified. One story says they agreed to settle their argument by testing their abilitues as augurs and by the will of the deities. They each sat on the ground a distance apart and Remus saw six vultures, considered to be sacred by Mars, while Romulus saw twelve. Remus was enraged by Romulus' victory, claiming that since he saw the six vultures first he should have won. Romulus started to build walls on the Palatine hill where his city's boundary was to be on April 21, 753 BC. Remus ridiculed some of the work and obstructed other parts. He jeered the walls, saying they were too low, and to prove it he leaped over the walls. This was an omen of bad luck, since this implied that the city fortifications would be easily breached. Romulus became angry, and picking up a rock, killed Remus, stating, "So perish every one that shall hereafter leap over my wall." Romulus buried Remus, and then continued to build his city, naming it Roma after himself, and serving as its first king.

The first citizens of Rome were fugitives and outlaws to whom Romulus gave the settlement on the Capitoline Hill. Romulus divided the people of Rome who were able to fight into regiments of 3,000 infantry and 300 calvary. He called these regiments "legions". The rest of the people became the populice of the city, and out of the populace he hand selected 100 of the most noble men to serve as a council for the city, calling them Patricians and their council the Roman Senate. He called them Patricians not only because they were the fathers of legitimate sons, but also because he intended the great and the wealthy to treat the weak and the poor as fathers treat their sons. This symbolically delineates the inauguration of the patron-client relationship, known as clientela, which was central to Roman culture and society, and was later passed down to medieval societies.

Romulus spread the reputation of Rome as an asylum of all who desired a second chance. As a result, Rome attracted a population of exiles, refugees, murders, criminals and runaway slaves. The population of Rome grew so much that five of the seven hills of Rome were settled: the Capitoline Hill, the Aventine Hill, the Caelian Hill, the Quirinal Hill and the Palatine Hill. However, Romulus realized another problem was rising: few of the foreigners had wives, so Romulus decided he needed to fill the city with women too.

To solve the problem of not enough women, Romulus held a festival, the Consualia, inviting all the neighboring Sabine tribe to be his guests. The Sabine came en masse, and brought their daughters with them. Romulus planned to kidnap all the women and take them back to Rome as citizens. When the Sabines arrived Romulus sat amongst the senators, dressed in purple. The signal for the onsalught was to be his rising and folding his cloak, and then throwing it around himself again. Armed with swords, many of his followers kept their eyes on him, and when he gave the signal his nobles drew their swords, rushed in with shouts, and captured the Sabine's daughters. They also permitted and encouraged the men to escape unharmed. There were 700 Sabine women captured and taken back to Rome. This event has been remembered in various works of art as the "Rape of the Sabine Women"
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The Sabines were numerous and war-like, but now they found themselves bound by precious hostages and fearing for their daughters. They sent ambassadors with reasonable and moderate demands that Romulus should give back their young women, disavow his deed of violence, and then by persuasion and legal enactment, establish a friendly relationship between the two peoples. Romulus would not surrender the young women, and demanded that the Sabines should allow their marriage with the Romans, causing long deliberations and extensive preparations for war. While most of the Sabines were still busy with war preparations, the peole of a few other cities banded together against the Romans, and in a battle they were defeated and surrended their cities to Romulus with the territory to be divided and the people to be transported to Rome. Romulus divided all the acquired territory among the citizens, except that which belong to the parents of the young women, having the owners keep it for themselves.

This enraged the Sabines even more, and caused them to appoint Titus Tatius as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of all the Sabines, who then marched his army on Rome. The city was difficult to access, having its fortress on Capitoline Hill, where a guard had been stationed with Tarpeius as the captain. Supposedly Tarpeia, the daughter of the commander, betrayed the citadel to the Sabines, having her heart set on the golden armlets that she saw them wearing, and in payment for her treachery she asked for these armlets. Tatius agreed, so Tarpeia opened the gates at night, letting the Sabines in. Once inside Tatius ordered his Sabines not to begrudge Tarpeia anything they wore on their left arms. Tatius was the first to take from his arm not only his armlet, but also his shield and give them to Tarpeia, and his men followed suit. Tarpeia was smitten by the gold and buried under the shields, and she died from the number and weight of them.

With the Sabines controlling Capitoline Hill, Romulus angrily challenged them to battle and Tatius accepted. The Sabines marched down Capitoline Hill and battled the Romans between the hills in a swampy area which would one day be known as the Roman Forum. The Sabines overran the Romans and they were forced back behind the walls of Rome upon the Palatine Hill. From behind the walls, the Romans began to flee the battle. Romulus bowed down and prayed to Jupiter and the Romans rallied back to Romulus and made a stand. Romulus led the Romans on and they drove the Sabines back to where the Temple of Vesta would later stand.

As the Sabines were preparing to renew battle, they were stopped by the sight of their ravaged daughters rushing from the city of Rome through the infantry and the dead bodies. The Sabine women ran up to their husbands and fathers, some with young children in their arms. Both armies were so moved to compassion, they drew apart to give the women a place between the battle lines. The Sabine women begged their Roman husbands and Sabine fahters and brothers to accept one another and live as one. With sorrow on both sides of the battle, they made a truce and the leaders held a conference. It was decided that Romulus and Tatius would rule as joint kings of the Romans, which now included the newly added Sabines.

Rome doubled in size. The Sabines inhabited Quirinal Hill and the Romans inhabited Palatine Hill. The two nations chose a third hill to serve as the center of government and administration for the city of Rome--the Capitoline Hill. From the Sabines 100 new noblemen were selected to become Patricians and joined the ranks of the Senate. The legions were doubled in size, from 3,000 infantry and 300 calvary to 6,000 infantry and 600 calvary. The cultures of the Romans and the Sabines also combined, and the Sabines adopted the Roman calendar, and the Romans adopted the armor and obling shield of the Sabines.

After five years of joint rule Tatius was assassinated by foreign ambassadors and Romulus became the sole king of the Romans. He introduced legislations that prevented adultry and murder. As king of Rome he was not only commander-in-chief of the army, abut also the city's chief judicial authority. His judgement of many crimes were held in place for over six hundred years without a single case being reported in Rome of his judgements being questioned.

Under Romulus' administration, the people of Rome were divided into three tribes: one for Latins (Ramnes), a second for Sabines (Titites), and a third for Etruscans (Luceres). These three tribes became the Romans. Each tribe had a tribune who represented their respective tribes in all civil, religious and military affairs. When in the city they were the magistrates of their tribes and performed sacrifices on their behalf. In times of war they were Rome's military commanders. The Ramnes derived their name from Romulus, the Tities from Titus Tatius, and the Luceres from an Etruscan title of honor.

After the creation of the three tribes, the Comitia Curiata were instituted. To form the basis of this, Romulus divided each of the tribes into ten curiae, with thirty curiae deriving their names from thirty Sabine women whom Romulus and his men had kidnapped. Each of the individual curiae were subdivided into ten gentes, which formed the basis for the nomen in the Roman naming convention. When Romulus would convene the Comitia Curiate and lay proposals from either him or the senate before the Curiate for ratification, the ten gentes within each curia would cast a vote, with the collective vote of the curia going to the majority of the gentes. This formed the basis for the modern Electorial College.

Romulus, being a military man, formed his own personal guard, the Celeres. The consisted of Rome's three hundred finest horsemen who were under the command of the Celerum Tribune, who was also the Tribune for the Ramnes tribe. The Celeres derived their name from their leader, a close friend of Romulus named Celers, who helped Romulus slay Remus and found the city of Rome. This military unit functioned much like the Praetorian Guard of Augustus as it was responsible for Romulus' personal safety and the security of Rome while the legions were on her borders. The relationship between Romulus and his Tribune is similar to the relationship between the Roman Dictator and his Magister Equitum. Celer, as the Celerum Tribune, occupied the second place in the state, and in the absence of Romulus he had the rights of convoking the Conitia and commanding the armies.

From the founding of Rome until he died, Romulus waged wars and expanded his territory. He conquered many neighboring cities, and gained unequaled control over the area of Latium, Tuscany, Umbria, and Abruzzo. In what would become the traditional Roman style of warfare, although Romulus lost battles, he never lost a single war in which he fought.

After his final wars against the Etruscans, Numitor, the king of Alba Longa, and Rolumus' biological grandfather, died. The people of Alba Longa offered the crown to Romulus, believing he was the one rightful ruler of the city as the blood heir to Numitor. Romulus accepted dominion over the city, but gained much favor with the city's people by placing the government in the hands of the people of the city. Once a year, Romulus appointed a governor over the city, a man who was selected by the people of Alba Longa.

During later years Romulus grew to rely less and less on the Senate. Though this was legal it went against tradition. The Senate essentially lost its influence, holding no say in the administration of the city. The Senate could only be convened when Romulus called for it and once assembled mostly sat in silence and listened to his edicts. The Senators soon found their only advantage over the commoners was that they learned what Romulus decreed before the commoners did. On his own authority, he divided the territory acquired in war among his soldiers without the wish or consent of the Patricians. The Patricians thought he was insulting their Senate outright, and they grew to hate him, but feared him too much to defy him and show him their displeasure.

Romulus' life ended in the thirty eighth year of his reign with a supernatural disappearance, if he was not slain by the Senate. One day when he and all the people had gone to the Campus Martius, a sudden storm arose. It became so dark people fled in terror. When the storm was over, the Romans returned, but to their surprise Romulus had disappeared. The people sent for him, but no one could find him. The people were amazed and all were talking about this sudden disappearance, wondering what could have happened to their king. One of the Senators stood and called for silence. After he calmed the people he told them he had seen Romulus carried up into the heavens. He said Romulus had called out that he was going to live with the dieties, and wished his peole to worship him as the god Quirinus. In response the Romans built a temple on the hill where the Senator said Romulus had risen to heaven. The hill was called Quirinal Hill in Romulus' honor and for many years the Romans worshiped Romulus from that very spot. As the god Quirinus, Romulus joined Jupitor and Mars in the Archiac Triad. Quirinus was depicted as a bearded warrior in both religious and battle clothing wielding a spear, so he is viewed as a god of war and as the strength of the Roman people, but more importantly, as the diefied likeness of the city of Rome itself. Quirinus recieved a Flamen Maior called the Flamen Quirinalis, who oversaw his worship and rituals. The Romans even called themselves Quirites in his honor. After Romulus' death, he was succeeded by Numa Pompilius as the second King of Rome.

After a victorious World War II, Italian fascism rose to power, guided by Benito Mussolini, who marched on the city in 1922. Eventually he declared a new empire and allied Italy with Germany. There was a period of rapid population growth until World War II, during which Rome was damaged by both allied bombing and Nazi occupation. After Mussolini was executed and the war ended, a referendum in 1946 abolished monarchy in favor of the Italian Republic. There was tremendous growth in Rome after World War II, and it became a very fashionable city in the 1950's and 1960's--the years of "la dolce vita" (The Sweet Life).