Ancient Rome: From a Small Village to the Greatest Empire of the Ancient World
Historical period: traditionally founded in 753 BCE; Roman imperial rule in the West ended in 476 CE, while the Eastern Roman Empire continued until 1453 CE.
Chapter 1: The Legendary Birth of Rome
Imagine a small settlement surrounded by hills near the Tiber River in central Italy.
There were no enormous palaces, no vast amphitheaters, and no armies capable of conquering distant lands.
Yet this modest settlement would eventually become the center of an empire that shaped the history of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
According to Roman tradition, Rome was founded in 753 BCE by Romulus.
The legendary story begins with twin brothers, Romulus and Remus, who were supposedly descendants of the Trojan hero Aeneas and members of a royal family in the Italian region of Alba Longa.
Their grandfather had been overthrown, and the infants were abandoned near the Tiber River.
In the famous legend, a she-wolf rescued and nursed them before they were discovered and raised by a shepherd.
As the brothers grew older, they helped restore their grandfather to power.
They then decided to establish a new city.
However, they disagreed over where it should be built and who should rule it. Their argument ended in tragedy, and Romulus became the city’s legendary founder.
Although historians do not consider this story a verified account of Rome’s beginnings, archaeological evidence shows that settlements developed on Rome’s hills during the early first millennium BCE.
Over time, these communities grew into a city influenced by neighboring peoples, particularly the Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans.
Rome’s greatness did not emerge overnight. It grew through centuries of military organization, political adaptation, engineering, trade, and expansion.
