Early Rome
Foundation, Etruscan Rome, and Roman Independence
Foundation
Contrary to legend, Rome was not created suddenly by Romulus and Remus, but grew gradually. Clusters of graves and the foundations of circular huts found at the site date from the 900s B.C.E., and some sources assert it was inhabited as early as 1500.
In the 900s, more than one local hilltop supported its own village, each inhabited by a different ethnic group. Then, around the city’s mythical date of foundation in the 700s, two villages merged into one town between the Palatine and Quirinal hills. Where among the above dates the ‘true’ birth of Rome falls is debatable.
In any case, Rome definitely existed from the 700s forward. Until the 600s, it remained a primitive town - just a scattering of huts on the edge of a swamp, inhabited by people who lacked even a written alphabet. Then in 616, Rome fell under the rule of a relatively-advanced people called the Etruscans, and everything changed.
Etruscan Romea>
The Etruscans seized control of Rome peacefully, by negotiation and diplomacy with the city’s early leaders. Thus began an arrangement which can be crudely simplified into a give-and-take deal where both parties got what they wanted. The Etruscans wanted a bridge over the Tiber river at a critical point which Rome controlled, and the Romans sought to improve their living conditions to resemble those enjoyed by the Etruscans.
Rome got the better half of the deal. The Etruscans got a bridge, and the Romans got all the fixings of civilization and military power. Improvements gained by Rome during its single century under its foreign kings include: a written alphabet, roads, bridges, specialized public buildings, the draining of a swamp on the future site of the Forum, tiled roofs, and a new socio-political-military system. Rome became a city.
Roman Independence
By 510 Rome decided its Etruscan overlords had outlived their usefulness and worn out their welcome. The city rebelled. According to Livy, aristocrats under Lucius Jucinius Brutus expelled the Etruscan king, Tarquin the Proud, because the ruler’s son raped Brutus’ sister Lucretia, leading to her suicide. At least as likely, this may have been a pretext for a rebellion already being planned, or else just the final insult which spurred an already discontent populace into action.
The Etruscans tried to re-establish control over Rome by force. Supported by allied forces from another Etruscan city, Tarquin launched a counter-attack against the rebellious Romans. Livy claims Tarquin’s forces were repelled at the Tiber bridge, but in reality, the Etruscans may have retaken the city briefly, then failed to hold it.
The Romans cemented their independence in 506, at the battle of Aricia. Together with forces from nearby Latin cities, Rome inflicted a major defeat on the Etruscans; this settled the matter. Tired of kings, the Romans then instituted a republic to guard their hard-won freedom.
Sources
1. Scarre, Chris. The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome. New York: Penguin Books, 1995. Penguin Putnam inc., New York 10014.*
2. Encyclopedia Britannica Macropaedia,15th Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica, inc. Jaroh E. Safro, Chairman of the Board. Jorge Aguilar-Canz, President. Chicago: 2005.
*note: Much information in this source was verbatim repetition of Livy’s history.
[1] It should be noted that modern knowledge of this period is derived mostly from archaeology and the word of the Roman historian Livy, who lived much later. Livy often took poetic license with historical events in his writing, so his version of events might be inaccurate.
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