WHO or WHAT started the
city of Rome and the Roman Empire?

The Legend of Romulus and Remus

In Roman legend, Rome was founded on April 21, 753 B.C. by boy twins Romulus (Born circa 771 B.C., Died July 5th, circa 717 B.C.) and Remus (Born circa 771 B.C., Died April 21nd, circa 753 B.C.), who descended from the Trojan prince Aeneas.

Legend states that after their birth Romulus and Remus were put in a cradle and laid on the banks of the Tiber river in order to escape being murdered. The river, which was in flood, rose and gently carried the cradle and the twins downstream. The boys were rescued by the river god Tiberinus who placed the twins upon the Palatine Hill. There, they were nursed by a she-wolf underneath a fig tree and were fed by a woodpecker until a shepherd found them and took them into his home.

The City of Seven Hills

It was common custom in the centuries before Christ for people in the Roman world to refer to the City of Rome itself as the 'City of Seven Hills'. The references are numerous and consistent. When Romulus and Remus wanted to build a city in the area of the Tibur (Tiber) River (just inland from the coast to afford a greater protection for the city from sea pirates or from the naval warfare of hostile powers), legend states it was divinely decreed that the city had to be on seven hills. The number seven was a universal symbol that signified 'completion' or 'perfection', and the ancients who founded Rome wanted people to know that this particular city was destined to have a world influence and fame, and that it was no ordinary city that was being constructed.

The First of Seven Kings

Romulus, whose name inspired the name Rome, killed Remus in a quarrel over which was to be king of their new city, and became the first of seven Kings of Rome. As the city was bereft of women, legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens.

Romulus and Remus appeared in Roman mythology as the twin sons of the priestess Rhea Silvia, fathered by the god of war Mars. According to the legend recorded as history by Plutarch and Livy, Romulus served as the first King of Rome.

After founding Rome, Romulus not only created the Roman Legions and the Roman Senate, but also added citizens to his new city by abducting the women of the neighboring Sabine tribes, which resulted in the mixture of the Sabines and Romans into one people. Romulus would become ancient Rome's greatest conqueror, adding large amounts of territory and people to the dominion of Rome. After his death, Romulus was deified as the god Quirinus, the divine persona of the Roman people. He is now regarded as an unhistorical figure, and his name a back-formation from the name Rome, which may ultimately derive from a word for "river".

The Beginning of the Roman Empire

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of the city-state of Rome, founded on the Italian peninsula around 800 B.C. During its twelve-century existence, the Roman civilization shifted from a monarchy to an oligarchic republic to a vast empire. It came to dominate Western Europe and the entire area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea through conquest and assimilation. The western half of the empire, including Hispania, Gaul, and Italia, eventually succumbed to a number of factors and broke into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. The eastern empire, governed from Constantinople, is referred to as the Byzantine empire after 476 A.D.

According to archaeological evidence, the village of Rome was probably founded by members of two central Italian tribes, the Latins and the Sabines, on the Palatine, Capitoline, and Quirinal Hills. The Etruscans, who had previously settled to the north in Etruria, seem to have integrated into the region by the late 9th century B.C. and formed the aristocratic and monarchial elite. The Etruscans apparently lost power in the area by the late 6th century B.C., and at this point, the original Latin and Sabine tribes reinvented their government by creating a republic, with much greater restraints on the ability of rulers to exercise power.

The Ancient Rome Empire contributed heavily to the development of law, war, art, literature, architecture, and language in the Western world, and its history continues to have a major influence on the world today.