Overview of Roman History

1184, B.C.: Trojan War

TW cont.

TW cont

Descendants of Aeneas Create family tree: Aeneas to Romulus

Legend of Romulus up to …  Tell story

Founding of Rome  753 B.C.

Romulus  First King

Numa Pompilius  Second King

Tullus Hostilius  Third king  Tullus was the grandson of Hostius Hostilius who was a Roman hero and served under Romulus.  Tullus Hostilius came to power in 673 BC.

Ancus Marcius  Fourth King

Tarquinius Priscus  Fifth King

Servius Tullius  Sixth King

Tarquinius Superbus  Seventh King  Superbus means 'the haughty one'  descendant from an Etruscan family  son of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus  married to Tullia, the daughter of Servius Tullius  Killed tullias father the become king 

 No election  repealed the recent reforms in the constitution  Waged wars with the Latins and Etruscans  Capitoline Temple (Jupiter Capitolinus)  Cloaca Maxima, the sewerage system that discharged into the Tiber  less politically astute  irritated the people by the burdens he placed upon them  behaved like an autocrat

Rise of the Republic  10 B.C.

First Consuls

Cursus Honorem  2 consuls: Co-presidents

Citizen Army

Expantion of Rome

Heroes of the Roman Republic  Horatius Cocles  Mucius Scaevola  Cloelia  Lucius Quinctus Cincinnatus

Horatius Cocles  Guarded the bridge to Rome  The Etruscans were attacking  Had his comrads destroy the bridge behind him  Held of the Etruscans untill his men had destroyed the bridge behind him  After a quick prayer to the god of the river, he jumped into the river and swam to safety

Gaius Mucius Scaevola  Swore to assassinate the Etruscan King  Snuck into the camp on a day when the soldiers were being paid  Did not know which was the king and who was the scribe  Guessed and killed the man who was the kings scribe  The king had him arrested and threatended to burn him  To prove to Porsenna the he would not yield, he stuck his hand in the fire on the alter  He was allowed to leave the camp alive because he had shown no pain while his hand burned  He arrived back at Rome a hero and was nicknamed ‘Lefty’ because he had destroyed his right in the fire.

Cloelia  Porsonna offered to withdraw his troops in exchange for Roman hostages  Cloelia, along with the oother girls, was exchanged for Roman freedom  When she saw the camp was near the Tiber river, she led a few other girls and they swam across through a shower of spears  Porsonna demanded the return of the girl, and sent her and her choice of the other hostages home again  Honored her by doing this and erecting a statue of a girl on a horse in the Forum in her honor

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus  The entire Roman army and their commander was surrounded  As a desperate measure, the counsel elected Cincinnatus as dictator  The met and gave him this news after finding him plowing in a field  He sent his wife for his toga while he wiped off the dust and sweat  As soon as he put on his toga, he was named dictator and whisked off to Rome  He ordered all the men of military age to carry five days of food and 12 poles to build a palisade around the Etruscans  The palisade was built and the enemy surrendered, having nowhere to go.  Within days of Romes victor, he resigned and went back to his home