Ch 8, Sec 1: Rome’s Beginnings

No one truly knows…

Geography of Rome• Present day Italy• A peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea• Split between the Alps and the Apennines Mountains• City of Rome was located on the Tiber River– Protected the city– Good source of water– Trading port

Benefit of the Mountains

• Allowed people to move around easier than the mountains in Greece

• Good for farming• Allowed communication between groups• Larger population than any other group of

people

Who were the Latins

• Crossed into Italy around 1500-1000 BC• Settled Rome in the middle of Italy• Built Rome on a set of hills– Good farm land– Easy to protect– Good for trade

Romulus and Remus• Twin brothers given up at birth• Found by a wolf and nursed to health• Shepherd found them and raised them to adulthood• Boys built the city of Rome• Remus made fun of his brother’s wall and they

couldn’t decide on who should be king• Romulus killed his brother and became king

Aeneid (ih-need)• Epic story of Aeneas (ih-nee-uhs)• Led the Trojans around the

Mediterranean• Landed at the mouth of the Tiber

River• Married the king’s daughter of

the Latins• Founder of the Romans

Early Influences• Greece influence:– Farming olives and grapes– Alphabet– Architecture– Literature

Early Influences

• Etruscans (ih-truhs-kuhnz) influence:– Built up the cities with streets, brick buildings, and

temples– Gave them new styles of clothes– Organized their army

Etruscan Rule

• Ruled Rome with dominance• Had control for 100 years• Rome became very wealthy and powerful• Had to much power under the Tarquin family

and were overthrown • Start of the Republic of Rome

What’s a Republic?• A form of government in which the leader is

not a king or queen but someone put in office by citizens with the right to vote

• Citizens have the power• Romans went to war for 200 years• Kicked out the Latins, Etruscans, and Greeks

Rome became strong with it’s army• Every male land owner served• Good problem solvers• Could not leave the army without death• Split each army into legions of 6,000 men each• Each soldier had a sword, spear, and shield

Gaining New Lands

• Eventually controlled all of Italy• Built roads from Rome to all of their territories• Put military bases around Italy• Gave full citizenship to certain groups of people

like the Latins– Could vote and serve in the gov’t

• Made others allies– Paid taxes and provided troops– Could become citizens in the future

Section summary

• The Latins settled the region of Rome on the west side of Italy. The region’s geography, as well as Etruscan and Greek ideas, helped Rome grow

• In 509 B.C. the Romans overthrew Etruscan rule and established a republic. By late 275 B.C., Roman legions had conquered most of Italy.