[Music] hello and welcome to the history of Rome the founding of Rome is an event wrapped in myth lacking a credible historical record it is impossible to know exactly what led to the establishment of the Eternal City but we do know the legend the Romans told themselves and have some idea of the population migrations that took place in Central Italy at the time so we can Piece together a general timeline of events there may be truth wrapped up in the official Legend and there may not but it is a good story and an important one
to know for students of ancient history it is the story of a refugee Trojan Prince and how his great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandsons would be wet nursed by a She Wolf and later found the greatest city of the ancient World the story of Rome begins with the end of the Trojan War after Troy was finally sacked by the Greeks anas Chief Lieutenant of Hector managed to escape with a few followers they boarded ships and set out into the Mediterranean to find a new home their Odyssey
took them from Asia Minor to the North coast of Africa where anas managed to sew the seeds of the three Punic Wars by seducing the carthaginian queen daido and then abandoning her Virgil writes That in the final moments before she committed suicide da cursed the descendants of both to return Eternal enmity oh my tyrians besiege with hate his progyny and all his race to come make this your offering to my dust No Love No PCT must be between our peoples no but Rise Up from my bones avenging Spirit Hell hath no fury like a woman
scorned after securing an arch enemy for Rome anas sailed to the West Coast of Italy where he and his followers hope to Make a settlement arriving in the territory of laurentum the Trojans were immediately met by armed locals who tried to drive them off but their King latinus decided to make peace rather than war with the foreigners and offered his daughter levinia to anas solidifying an alliance this marriage came as quite a shock to turnis Prince of the ruli a nearby tribe because levinia had already been pledged to him angered by this slap in the
face He led an attack on the combined Trojan and Latin forces the ruli were defeated but King latinus was killed in the fighting leaving anas in control of both the Trojans and the Latin who were rapidly intermarrying into a single people vanquished turnis and the ruli turned North to the rich and Powerful at truskin for help the at truskin were more than willing to lend a hand against the growing Menace of the Trojan infused Latin and attacked but anas in his final Act led the Latins to Victory establishing the Tyber River as the boundary between
the Latins and the atesin we should pause the legend here before we get too far and give an account of the political landscape of pre-roman Italy as historians and archaeologists understand it today who were the Latins who were the atrans Where did they come from and what sort of lives did they lead the origin of the atrans is Debatable however DNA evidence points to a migration from Asia Minor which if true offers a context for the legend of anas's arrival from Troy the atrus were the dominant Force culturally and politically in the Italian Peninsula and
as we will see came to dominate Latin territory in the waning years of the Roman Kingdom they had developed cities and a Confederal State system long before the Latins who remained in traditional tribal affiliations until The foundation of Rome which was the first major settlement in Latin territory that could be called a city the atrans were artists and craftsmen who had set up extensive trading networks that reached all the way to Greece the trading roads between aturia and the Greek cities of magn Gracia in the South ran right through Rome offering a clue as to
the reason for its location the Latins in contrast were simple pastoral herdsmen evidence from Ancient burial mounds suggest the Latin were descended from Balkan migrants who crossed the Adriatic in prehistory mostly Shepherds and Farmers they did not have any sort of advanced arts or crafts what culture they display seems to be little more than a blend of at truscan and Greek elements indeed nothing about later Roman history suggests the Latins were Innovative at all in art religion or letters they excelled at Warfare and engineering and Administrating but were merely students of philosophy never instructors their
gods to take one obvious example are little more than an adaption of the Greek pantheon Zeus becoming Jupiter Hera becoming Juno and so forth what bound the Latins together was a Common Language distinct from the atran language to the North and the imported Greek in the South Latin of course forms the basis for half the languages in Europe and its Vocabulary still dominates the legal profession but enough humorless anthropology after anas died his young son ascanius grew to be king the town built by the Trojan settlers had become too small for the exploding population and
ascanius led a group East to found a new settlement called albalonga which would become the of the growing Latin Kingdom generation upon generation followed and the Latins became powerful and secure the kingship was passed from Father to son until finally it rested upon the head of a man named numor numor had a brother named amulius who coveted the throne and decided to seize power for himself numor was driven from albalonga all his sons were killed and his daughter Ray Silvia was forced to become a vestial virgin to ensure she would bear no children who could
threaten Ulus however after taking the vows Ry was the victim of rape and consequently gave Birth to twin boys Ry declared that the god Mars was the father but to no avail and for the crime of allowing herself to be raped she was thrown in prison the Twins were sent to be drowned in the Tyber however the men entrusted with the task found the River flooded and left the boys in the sluggish water rather than slogging their way to the river itself and when the waters were seeded the babies were left alive and well in
the reeds Here Legend states that a She Wolf coming to the river to quench her thirst found the babies and offered her teets for them to suckle on a herdsman Came Upon the scene and gathered the children up from the wolf who had been gently licking them and took them home with him even Livy acknowledges that the story of the wolf is a fable and postulates that it may have Arisen because the herdsman's wife was a named Wolf the herdsman and his wife raised The boys named ramulus and RIS as their own and soon they
grew to be men apparently the boys took a liking to fighting the local brigands who raided the countryside and began taking the fight to the robbers raiding their camps and stealing from them the criminals angered by the theft of their booty set a trap for the twins Romulus managed to escape but Remis was captured the brigin took Remis to the local land owner who turned out to be none other than the Exiled numor and claimed Ramis and his brother had been caught stealing numor his cattle and that he should be punished numor was immediately reminded
of his twin grandsons and realizing that they would be the same age as Remis was now began to suspect that the boys were his blood numor began making inquiries and soon learned the particulars of their upbringing and became convinced that they were his daughter's children the Herdsman knowing RIS was in nur's custody and having himself long suspected that his two boys were of Royal Blood decided to tell Romulus the whole story of their Discovery By The River from this plan was hatched to return numor to the throne with ramulus leading one group of men and
Ramis another they surprised and killed amulius and brought numor back to Abal longa numor told the story of his brother's treachery and the Circumstances of his grandson's birth and the people shouted unanimous consent that new Mur be king once again after newor became king Romulus and RIS decided to found a new settlement at the spot where they had been left to drown there are two accounts of what happened next one states that trouble arose when the question of who would be senior in the new city was raised they decided to allow the gods to the
side and each retired to the top of a hill ramulus the Palatine and Remis the Aventine to await a sign soon enough six vultur landed at the feet of Remis and when his followers made this known to Romulus 12 vultures immediately landed at romulus's feet a fight broke out with one side claiming Primacy of arrival and the other claiming Primacy of number in this fight Remis was killed the other more famous story is that Remis mocking his brother jumped over the partially completed walls and Romulus in a fit of anger Killed him swearing so perish
whoever shall overleap my battlements either way Romulus obtained sole power the city was named for him and he became its first king the legendary date of foundation is April the 21st 753 BC did it happen like this almost certainly not after the sack of Rome in 386 BC most of the early historical record was lost and with it the specifics we need for an accurate telling of the story but archaeological Evidence seems to support the broader Strokes of the legend settlements have been found on the Palatine Hill that date from the 800s BC suggesting that
the legendary chronology is at least in the ballpark the general story of a struggle between the Latin and at truscan people ending with ostensible Latin autonomy south of the Tyber also fits our understanding of the ethnic and cult C Al landscape of the era it is doubtful that the site of Rome Was chosen because it marked where the twins had been sent to die more likely an easy River Crossing coupled with the natural defenses offered by the nearby Hills Drew settlers to the area and of course as already noted the site lay on the trade
Road between aturia and magn Gracia without any real data to draw from later Roman historians use common mythological elements to construct a conventional founding Legend indoan an culture produced numerous examples of The Divine twin mythe including Castor and poock and Idis and lindus of Thieves the motif of infant exposure gone wrong crops up in the biographies of both Perseus and Moses and of course most will recognize the Virgin birth element from Christianity but Tales of miraculous or virgin births have surrounded important legendary and historical figures from Millennium the addition of anas gives Rome a lofty
ancestor and connects their City to the Greek civilization the Romans so admired however it happened a settlement was established at the bend in the Tyber this settlement grew and came to dominate its neighboring communities then the entire Italian Peninsula then the entire Mediterranean next we will cover Rome's unsavory Beginnings who the first Romans were whose women they stole to ensure that there would be a second generation Of Romans and whether Romulus great soldier that he was died or simply faded away [Music] hello and welcome to the history of Rome last time we discussed the events
that led up to the birth of Rome covering the arrival of anas into Italy and the story of the twins Romulus and Remis today we will cover the remainder of romulus's Life his questionable morality and his ultimate disappearance From the world of men after after Romulus founded the city it became apparent that he would need to attract settlers in order to ensure its survival to this end he opened up the city to what could tactfully be described as colorful characters but put simply they were the drags of society fugitives escaped slaves debtors and criminals all
flocked to the new town to start fresh and ramulus welcomed them with open Arms the first order of business in true Roman fashion was to establish an army ramulus ed through his new subjects and divided them into able-bodied men of military age and well everyone else most sources agree that the first Legions consisted of 3,000 foot soldiers and 300 Cavalry but accounts differ as to whether there was initially just one Legion or whether there were many soldiers in those days had to equip themselves so only well to-do citizens Could enlist with the richest citizens serving
in the Cavalry because they were the only ones who could afford horses this meant that the interests of the army were in those early days firmly squared with the interests of the society it defended at least the middle and upper classes of that Society in later years the legions were filled with mercenary soldiers whose interests often diverged from those of the actual citizens of Rome who had long since Given up fighting for themselves here the seeds would be swn for civil war Decline and ultimately destruction but for now Rome's army fought for the people not
against them from the remaining mly assembly of the those not called to Arms Romulus created a council of 100 Senators to help him govern either because that number was enough for his purposes or because there were only a 100 men respectable enough to be given such Responsibility the descendants of these men would become the Patrician class of later Rome who would find themselves constantly at odds with the plebian class the descendants of the remaining unwashed masses Rome was now ready to defend and govern itself but there was just one problem the new arrivals were almost
entire irely male without any women around the dream of Rome would die after a single Generation so delegations were sent around to the neighboring communities to ask for intermarriage rights but wherever they went they were refused fathers did not want their daughters married to the Romans who after all were nothing more than a collection of Despicable castoffs the Romans resented these rejections and so ramulus thought up a Surefire way to acquire wives for his people they would steal them The Romans invited all the neighboring communities to a great Festival honoring Neptune they spared no expense
in preparing and promoting the celebration and on the appointed day a great crowd filled Rome including famously the sabines all was going well and no one suspected a thing until Romulus suddenly gave a signal and the men of Rome seized all the visiting women they could capture the festival was broken up and the parents of deceased women fled the City cursing the treachery of the Romans the seized women were naturally horrified at their predicament but Romulus went to them and claimed that it was their parents who were to blame because they had been too proud
to Wed their daughters to Roman men further he said they would all be treated better in Rome than anywhere else because the Roman men would feel obligated to work off the guilt over what they had done apparently this mollified the women but It did nothing for their parents and brothers attacks followed in succession from the victimized communities but each was repelled by Romulus and the Roman forces finally only the sabines had not yet sought Revenge they waited and planned rather than immediately taking up arms when the time was right the sabines bribed a young girl
to let them into the Citadel of the city and took it before the Romans could react ramulus Immediately mustered his army and launched a Counterattack a brief battle was joined but neither side could gain the upper hand finally the Sabine Women Daughters of one side and husbands of the other intervened throwing themselves between the two pleading with them to Halt Livy writes we are mothers now they cried our children are your sons your grandsons do not put on them the stain of paraside if our marriage if the Relationship between you is hateful to you turn
your hatred against us we are the cause of strife on our account our husbands and fathers lie wounded or dead and we would rather die ourselves than live either widowed or orphaned their entreaties moved the opposing armies and peace was made or ultimately joining the Romans and sabines into one political entity the abduction episode has lodged itself in the western imagination Commonly referred to as the rape of the Sabine Women the event has been depicted by countless painters including Nicholas pan John Paul Rubin and Pablo Picasso Shak Lou David depicted the conclusion of the story
in his intervention of the Sabine Women anyone who has read Waters ship down will remember that the entire second half of the book is taken up with an adventure to secure female rabbits for the new Warren no doubt taking its inspiration of the Roman example Although in that case Hazel and his followers were far more ethical in their solution after the sabines joined with the Romans a power sharing agreement was reached and Romulus agreed to rule jointly with tacus the Sabine King the newly integrated citizens of the city were divided into three tribes the first
being made of Romans the second sabines and the third the remaining population mostly of at truscan origin 100 leading sabines were then added to The Senate doubling its size leadership thus established ramulus formed the first great citizen assembly the kamita kuata to do so he divided the tribes further into 10 cuier naming each one after an abducted Sabine woman to honor them for their role in the peacemaking each cier cast one Collective vote making for 30 total and the assembly was tasked with electing various magistrates and enacting routine laws Thus the original political Constitution was
settled the Kings reigned supreme but from the beginning both Aristocrats and commoners were involved in the legislative and judicial functions of state it was at this point as well that the legions doubled in size to approximately 6,000 men a number that would stand for the remainder of the Empire the power sharing agreement with tasus lasted all of 5 years the Sabine King for whatever reason assaulted some Envoys from linium and when he later arrived in that City for routine religious Services he was set upon by a mob and killed Romulus not seeking war with levinia
and no doubt secretly welcoming the death of his rival did nothing to avenge the death of his co-ruler the sabines were outraged but fear of romulus's power and his apparently Divine Mission held their tongues Romulus now reigned Supreme once again for the next 40 years the Romans Fought continuously against hostile neighbors usually at truscan cities in the North By the time of romulus's death he had made the Romans a power to be reckoned with the details of his passing confirm his status as a mythological figure one day Seated on the throne he was reviewing his
troops and a storm kicked up thunder clapped and Romulus was enveloped by a cloud when the storm dissipated the throne was empty and Romulus was gone the Senators who stood Beside him searched but no trace of Romulus was ever found living notes that Romulus was always more popular with the people than he was with the Senate and that it is entirely possible he was murdered by the Senators who stood beside him I find it part of Livy's charm that he would go out of his way to offer a more plausible explanation for the death of
such an obviously fictitious character the life of Romulus is a Convenient myth who founded Rome Romulus where does the name come from Romulus who organized the legions Romulus who divided up the tribes organized the Senate and began the citizens assembly Romulus Romulus Romulus it is possible that the stories Grew From the life of a real person but most likely Romulus was created out of necessity to answer questions later Romans had about their own past it seems comically naive of the Romans to believe That so much could be owed to a single man but when we
look at our own almost religious veneration of George Washington it begins to make sense in 500 years will historians be reporting that George Washington was born of a chry tree and had wooden teeth to prove it that he flew over the Delaware River defeated the British Army and designed the Constitution all by himself it seems crazy but as time goes by the subtleties of actual events are Compressed into small digestible units Horatio Gates has already been pushed from the collective Consciousness and is known only to historians but it was his victory at Saratoga not Washington's
that led the French to support the Revolution and thus ensure its success that story though is too complicated most Americans don't even know how critical French involvement was let alone that Washington had little to do with securing it Washington beat the British that is the story of the American Revolution as the years pass will the name of Madison be lost Hamilton even the great Thomas Jefferson whose Fame is second to none may yet fall under the Juggernaut that is this mythical Washington as he like Romulus becomes the answer to all questions about the founding of
America count hands working patiently over years no doubt transformed Rome from a collection of shepherds into a Origional power but their names have been lost and their deeds have been rolled into the biography of a single mythical man the early days of Rome stand in stark contrast to its later greatness to say that the mighty Empire came from humble roots would be a gross understatement and entirely misleading I've always found it odd that more was not done to alter the details of Rome's unsavory Beginnings founded by A man who killed his own brother and was
raised by a the city's initial inhabitants were thieves Crooks and Beggars such an unappealing lot that they could not find a single woman who would have them they resorted to kidnapping to protect their ill-gotten wives they then proceeded to make war on their new in-laws there is not a single sympathetic figure in the whole bunch you almost find yourself rooting for the at truskin to put this Rabel down and Restore some decency to the world but alas the Romans were strong and would not be conquered even if they were tot bastards and this is the
moral of Rome's birth the Romans won and grew and thrived not because they were right or good or moral or God's chosen people but because they were strong and knew how to win in battle might may not make right but it will make a Thousand-Year civilization join me next time as we discuss romulus's successors to the Throne Rome's religious Awakening and how the kings were finally run out of town a transcript of this podcast and additional information can be found as always at the historyof rome. [Music] blogspot.com hello and welcome to the history of Rome
last time we finished with the death of Romulus first and greatest king of Rome today we will cover his first three successors who they were and what Roles they played in the evolution of Roman law and Society I call this section the seven Kings of Rome because common historical nomenclature always refers to the seven Kings of Rome so though we will only be talking about three kings it seemed appropriate to use the phrase as a title even if it isn't technically accurate just remember there were seven Kings of Rome oh by the way in reality
there were almost certainly more than seven Kings Of Rome the the idea that seven successive Kings could Reign for an average of 35 years each stretches credulity nowhere else in the history of mankind have seven monarchs in a row manage such continuous good luck the story is handed down to us of Numa and hostilius and Martius and the tarquins are no doubt apocryphal meant to cover the ground between Romulus and the founding of the Republic while explaining the evolution of the city's Culture at the same time so just remember even though there weren't really seven
Kings of Rome there were seven Kings of Rome after Romulus died or disappeared there was a crisis who would lead the Romans now that their first and only King was gone trouble arose not just from the question of which particular man would Reign but also from the question of what tribe he would be from the sabines who had suffered the sole Rule of Romulus in silence now wished to see one of their own placed upon the throne the Romans found this idea Preposterous but the sabines refused all Roman candidates and the Romans in turn refused
all Sabine candidates to avoid a slip into Anarchy it was decided that each senator in succession would Reign for a single day until an acceptable man was found to rule this was the first instance in Roman history of an interregnum or period between official Sovereigns a compromise was finally proposed that allowed the Romans to choose whomever they wished without Sabine veto as long as the man was a Sabine the Romans agreed to this and picked a man of universal renown Numa pulus the sabines delighted by the choice agreed at once and Messengers were sent to
Numa to present him with the good news to the amazement of everyone however numer refused the offer and it was only after much cajoling that He agreed to take the throne you see Numa was a bit of an oddbird he disdained all luxury and had devoted his life to religious contemplation he often took long walks alone and it was believed that on these strolls he conversed with the Gods Not that this concerned anyone quite the opposite it only enhanced his reputation that the gods spoke to him but still not exactly a man you usually find
at the head of a growing military power Newman did not Even live in Rome he resided in a nearby town and was for the most part put off by the violence and greed of the city this second king of Rome was the opposite of Romulus in almost every way where Romulus was Brash Numa was reserved where Romulus was a warrior Numa was a pacifist where ramulus sought glory and fame Numa sought peace and Solitude overnight he changed the trajectory of Rome's march to Greatness when Numa arrived in Rome he Found a warmongering population of brutes
who had known 40 years of war and when he died he left Rome a population of farmers who had known 40 Years of Peace the remarkable transformation was due entirely to numa's introduction of religion to the city he turned the people's attention away from the battlefield and towards the heavens Desiring peace more than anything else Numa devis comp Le Lex religious rights to occupy the time of the now Demobilized Army so they would not grow restless and provoke unnecessary Wars he instilled in the Romans an everlasting fear and awe of the Gods which would last
for the remainder of the Empire Numa is credited with the foundation of the most important religious institutions in Rome he imported the Vestal virgins and established the laws governing their watch over the Eternal Flame he created the Office of pontifex Maximus the high Priest of Rome who would be be responsible for the maintenance of all religious services and in an act of remarkable foresight declined to serve in that role himself establishing a sovereign religious realm that could not be meddled with by future kings he believed that later Kings would be so caught up in war
making that they would neglect their religious duties and bring the Wrath of the Gods upon the city the office of pontifex Maximus would remain An independent Authority until the title was claimed for the Emperors by Augustus at the dawn of the Imperium at the end of the EMP ire the title was passed to the popes who hold it to this day 2600 years after its Inception just as Romulus is the answer to all questions about the founding of the city Numa is the answer to all questions about the origin of religious practices who divided regular
days from holy days Numa who created the Priesthood of Mars Numa did the priesthood of quinius Numa who built the altar to Jupiter Numa of course in the development of Roman culture Numa is second only to Romulus in importance and to some he was even more important makavelli writes and for anyone who considers Roman history carefully it is clear how much religion helped in the commanding of armies in inspiring the plebians in keeping men good and in making the wicked feel shame thus if one Were to debate about the prince to whom Rome owed the
most I think Numa would sooner obtain the first place for where there is religion one can easily introduce arms but where there are arms but no religion the former can only be introduced with difficulty perhaps numa's most famous addition to Rome was the Temple of Janice the gates of the temple were to remain open while Rome was at War and be closed in times of peace for the Entirety of numa's Reign the doors stayed shut but after his passing they remained open almost continuously numa's dream of Peace it would seem died with him and his
Reign would be an anomaly in Roman history of numa's Rome Livy writes once Rome's neighbors had considered her no more than an armed camp in their midst threatening the general peace now they came to Revere her so profoundly as a community dedicated wholly to worship That the mere thought of offering her violence seemed to them like sacrilege numer reigned 43 years and died in 673 BC his successor to the throne tulus hostilius did his level best to banish forever this image of Rome as a city of docile farmer priests just as Numa was the opposite
of Romulus tulus was the opposite of Numa he longed for a return to the Marshal virtues of Romulus he believed Numa had left the Roman soft and dangerously unprepared For what tulus saw as inevitable attack from eternally hostile neighbors the Peace of the previous decades could not hold forever and if Rome was to live it had to fight with this in mind tulus looked around for a clash that would reinvigorate the warrior Spirit of his people and found it in the place of romulus's birth a cattle raing dispute along the border between Rome and Alba
led to mutual recriminations and for tulus this Was enough of a pretext and War was declared he even managed to arrange things so that the Romans looked like the grieved party who were being dragged against their will into battle armies from both sides Advanced on one another but before the order for full scale engagement was given medius the leader of the albins approached tullus with an unusual proposal there was nothing to be gained the Albin said in a bloody struggle between two Familial people when the atrans SAT at both their doorsteps eagerly awaiting any opportunity
to invade a fight between Alba and Rome would deplete the strength of both Victor and vanquished leaving the door wide open for the atrans to make them all slaves medus proposed that single combat should decide their quarrel that way their respective armies could still keep the ambitious at truskin in check toas agreed reluctantly seeing the logic of Med's argument though it would not be single combat per se that would decide things each Army's ranks held three brothers triplets who were chosen to fight for the fate of their people this fight between the Roman Hara and
the Albin CTI is an episode like the rape of the Sabine women that has found its way into countless works of art and literature most famously in the oath of the Hara by jacqu L David that great lover of Antiquity in front of the opposing Army as the two sets of Brothers squared off the fight was Furious and in quick succession two of the Romans lay dead horatius the remaining brother knowing he could not take all three of his enemies at once ran up a nearby Hill forcing the three curiot to chase him as the
first neared horatius turned abruptly and killed him the second Albin brother arrived too late to help and horatius fought and killed him as well The third curiot weary from the Chase and from wound sustained in the earlier fight was no match at all upon rival he fell to his knees and horatius did not fight him so much as execute him plunging his sword down the poor bastard's throat the Romans cheered their Victory and the Albin grumbling at medus his deal were forced to withdraw and supplicate themselves to Roman rule but medus aware of how precarious
his Authority was in the aftermath of this non- Dee to Rome conspired to release his people from subjugation he induced VA the nearest at truscan city and as we will later see an important early rival of Rome to attack the Romans the Albin media said would be called upon to Aid Rome and he promised that at a decisive moment in the battle the Albans would desert leaving the Roman flank unguarded VA jumped at the opportunity to crush Rome and attacked immediately just as Medus predicted tus called upon the Albin to join the fight and the
armies gathered to do battle just as the fight was about to begin medius ordered the Albin to withdraw the Roman soldiers were shock to see their Ally suddenly leaving but tulus thinking quickly addressed his troops telling them that it was his plan for the Albans to sneak around behind the enemy the Romans heartened marched into battle with confidence and defeated the Vites back in Camp however tus ordered the arrest of medius and had him brought before the Roman troops tus then revealed the treachery of the Albin leader and to the horror of his Men passed
without trial a sentence of death by dismemberment their leader dead then ordered the destruction of Al belonga itself he ordered the city destroyed and the citizens relocated to Rome where they would become Romans forever wiping Allba from the map tus ran 32 years and died in 642 BC the return to Arms was his lasting Legacy and the incorporation of the albins was his most important contribution to the growth of the city henceforth Rome's neighbors returned to their view of the city as little more than an armed camp and work tirelessly to defeat the Roman Menace
never again would Rome enjoy an extended period of uninterrupted peace despite the efforts Made by ts's successor anus marcius the grandson of Numa to bring the population back to his grandfather's vision of Peace Les is known or told about anus than any of his predecessors but we do know that he attempted to follow in the footsteps of his grandfathers but with far less success avenge conspired to force War upon him and despite his natural proclivities he accepted his fate and led the Romans into battle a confederation of Latin communities who Chafed under Roman dominance took
anas's succession as the perfect opportunity to attack believing they had another Numa on their hands who would be an easy mark But anus accepted the challenge and the Roman forces battle tested by their years under tulus routed each in turn the defeated inhabitants were forced like the Albans to abandon their homes and settle in Rome while Romans were sent to settle the vacated towns through this policy the population of the city Swelled and the surrounding Countryside was filled with subjects loyal to Rome at the outset of the fight with the Latins ankus made his most
important contribution to Roman society dissatisfied with the halfhazard way War Began between Rome and her enemies he decided to inject a sacred ritual introducing something of Numa into the barbarism of armed conflict a specific formula was prescribed as to how exactly the Romans would declare war on an enemy Too tedious to spell out here but it involves sending envoys into enemy territory announcing the war to the first man met in an official pronouncement making more official declarations at appointed times waiting 33 days and finally throwing a spear into enemy territory signaling the beginning of hostilities
the entire process may seem a bit overwrought but it demonstrates the Roman desire to infuse all aspects of life with the rule Of law even if the end result was Savage bloodshed after the campaign against the Latins anus won an important Victory against the vites gaining control of the masan forest and extending Roman territory all the way to the Sea the consequences of this event cannot be overstated through Osa the Port Town founded by anus at the mouth of the Tyber all initial Roman foray into the Mediterranean were launched and Received anus reigned 24 years
and died in 617 BC at his death Rome found itself immeasurably strengthened by the addition of count count L new citizens a neighborhood free of enemies and a port to call its very own we will leave the story here and pick up next time with the final three kings the Tarin Dynasty the last of which would show himself to be such a tyrant that the very idea of monarchy would be hateful to Romans Forever After even forcing the Emperors To semantically cloak their activities so as not to be accused of monarchism as I said earlier
the lives of these kings are apocryphal biographies designed to explain the origin of the development of Rome to later Romans what is mostly being fleshed out in the story of these First Kings is the relationship between the two most important pillars of Roman society war and religion the warlike Romulus is followed By the religious Numa who is followed by the warlike tulus until finally the two pillars are joined in anus the religious King who is dragged into battle by Fate this interplay is instructive and offers a neat and capitalization of their character the Romans are
a warlike people tempered by Rel religion not a religious people forged into Warriors ultimately it is war not prayer that defines the Romans imagine if it had been the opposite a people founded by a Religious pacifist and succeeded by a warrior who was then succeeded by a pacifist who was then succeeded by a warrior dragged by fate into a religious life it paints a very different picture the Romans are Fighters through and through though makaveli's point is well taken without religious tempering it is doubtful the Romans could have sustained a republic based upon the rule
of law and would have remained an unremarkable tribe of violent Barbarians to sum up the Romans were soldiers who took Oaths seriously not priests who took swordsmanship seriously join me next time as we discuss the last days of the Roman monarchy and what was so bad about tarquinius suurus the last king of Rome that led the city to transform itself into a republic that lasted for 500 years [Music] hello and welcome to the history of Rome so far we've covered four of the seven Kings of Rome ramulus numo pulus tus hostilius and anus Marcus today
we will discuss the final three the so-called Tarin Dynasty the father tarquinius priscus a decent if manipulative King his adopted son and successor cus tulus and finally his real son tarquinius Superbus who usurped his adopted brother and was then himself usurped by a Fed Up mob marking him forever with the infamy of being the Last king of Rome Lucius tarquinius priscus was born in Tarin one of the 12 cities of aturia the son of a Corinthian Exile named amarius Tarin the name by which history remembers him was a shrewd businessman who became wealthy but due
to his racially mixed Heritage he was only admitted so far up the at truscan social and political ladder Ang at being denied the respect he felt he deserved he decided to move to Rome a city famous For offering men a fresh start in Rome Tarin made an immediate Splash he gave lavishly funding public projects Charities and anything else that would bring him Renown it did not take long for tarwin to come to the attention of anus Marcus the agent King in his final years anus brought Tarin into his confidence leading to a close relationship that
resulted in Tarin ultimately being made guardian of anas's two sons when the King died Died Tarin knew an opportunity when he saw it and after anus died he sent the two boys away on a hunting trip he then Lobby the Senate to hold elections for a new king immediately to avoid any possible threat to the city brought on by the vacuum and Leadership Tarkin had made a lot of friends in the short time he had been in Rome and his further generosity no doubt convinced any fence hitters that he was the man for the job
he was selected in a landslide and Became the fifth king of Rome one of his first acts demonstrating his characteristic shrewdness was to expand the Senate by another 100 men bringing their total number to 300 the new senators were wholly obligated to Tarin for their positions and predictably supported him in everything that he did leaving the Senate little more than a rubber stamp for tarwin's policies this could have proven disastrous if Tarin had been an Incompetent or tyrannical leader but he proved to be a conscientious and able King both as an administrator and military commander
soon after his election Rome found itself at War again with some of its Latin neighbors Tarin easily routed his opponents and returned to Rome with a great deal of plunder he decided to celebrate his victory by throwing public games the likes of which had never been seen but there was no Stadium large Enough for tarkin's vision so he ordered a hippodrome built between the Palatine and Aventine Hills this Hippodrome when completed would become known as the circus Maximus one of the greatest sports venues in the ancient world it would remain in continuous use for the
thousand near existence of the Empire immediately after work began on the circus Maximus Rome found itself embroiled in a fight with the remaining independent Sabine communities they had Never gotten over having half their population annexed by the Romans and now sought to challenge the upstart for control of the region tarwin again led the Romans to Victory defeating the sabines with strategy as well as Brute Force destroying a bridge the sabines had used to cross into Roman territory cutting off any Escape Route he then smashed them against the river to celebrate this Victory tarwin inaugurated one
of the most famous of All Roman Traditions the Triumph later years would set guidelines for what constituted an official Triumph but the basic parts were put in place by Tarin the leader of the Victorious Army rides into the city on a chariot drawn by four horses the legions follow with prisoners of the vanquished Army and all manner of plunder seized from the enemy to be awarded a Triumph was the greatest honor a Roman general could receive more will be said later about the traditional Elements of a Triumph so for now we will simply note for
trivia sake that it was tarquinius priscus who celebrated the first one right around this time a fantastic story reached the king the head of a slave sleeping child had suddenly burst into flames though the child remained unhe hurt and did not wake up Witnesses testified that they had seen the event with their own eyes and that the Flames only disappeared when the child awoke Tarkin's wife believed it was an omen of the child's future greatness and implored the king to adopt him so as to invite Destiny into their house and not have it break down
their doors Tarin agreed in the child cus tulus was adopted by the king he raised the boy as his own and The Omen bore out as the boy grew into a capable leader and eventual Heir parent to the Throne all was progressing nicely for Tarin but trouble was brewing the sons Of anus had not forgotten how Tarin denied them their Birthright and resolved to reclaim what they felt was theirs knowing they could never get close to the king the brothers enticed two men to do their dirty work for them the two men arrived at the
palace and pretended to have a loud quarrel eventually demanding the king settle their dispute Tarin came to see what all the commotion was about and agreed to settle the fight but as he sat to Adjudicate one of the men pulled out an axe he had hidden in his robe and lodged it in the back of the king's head tarwin fell and the two men attempted to escape but they were immediately captured tarwin's wife tanaquil seeing the severity of the wound immediately cleared the room and brought cus tus in to help herend to the king over
the body she told cus that nothing could be done for Tarin but that it was imperative the men responsible for the crime should not Sit on the throne she implored cus to take part in a charade to guarantee that neither of anas's sons would ever be king throwing open a window and addressing the crowd that had by this time gathered tanaquil told them that her husband's wound was only superficial and that the king would be back on his feet soon in the meantime she told him to obey cus who would act as king until Taron
could resume his duties at this point of course of course the King was Already dead Tarin reigned 37 years and died in 579 BC cus performed the duties of king for a time as if he was merely acting in twinstead going so far as to reserve judgment in some legal disputes claiming that he must consult with the king the sons of anus believing their plot had failed and seeing CIA secure on the throne went into Exile not long after the transfer of power VA launched an attack on Rome and cus marched to meet Them completely
destroying the vi Army cus returned to Rome a beloved savior at this point clearly in command of the throne the death of Taron was announced no one questioned sirus's continued reign as king and the plan hatched by tanaquil was brought to a successful conclusion cus would be the second to last king of Rome and by all accounts the last good one he was responsible for the final reconfiguration of Roman society prior to the establishment of The Republic a reconfiguration that would have a profound effect on the way that public would ultimately be governed Desiring to
take stock of the city's resources wealth and population he instituted the first census based upon the data he received he divided landowning Romans known as a sigui into five classes nominally divided by wealth the idea was to establish who could provide what when War inevitably came knocking the first class was the richest Able to provide a helmet round Shield bronze breastplate leg armor sword and spear the second class provided all the same equipment as the first save for the breastplate the third provided the same as the second but for the leg armor only a spear
and Javelin were required of the fourth class and the fifth provided merely slings and Stones sandwiching these classes were the richest of the rich already separately designated as equites Cavalry men able to provide Horses and the poorest of the poor I.E most of the population who were Exempted from military service men aged 18 to 40 from the five classes fored from the legions when the need which was often arose the classes did not serve a strictly military function they also formed the basis of the new Roman Electoral College the old tribal assembly created by Romulus
the Kam kurata was surpassed by servus as new Comm Centuriata each of the classes were further divided into centuries which voted as blocks the centuries however were not equal in size the first class which was the smallest was divided into 80 C centuries the second third and fourth classes each had 20 the fifth by far the largest was composed of 30 the small group of equites were divided into 12 centuries and the landless masses were granted just one elections being determined by a simple majority the Equites in the first class held between them all the
votes they needed to control who would hold office and what policies would be pursued there was some logic to the wildly skewed voting system the wealthy shouldered the financial burdens of both State and Military and thus felt entirely justified in their strangle hold on power the bulk of the population however would come to view the system as entirely unjust and would eventually have to take drastic steps For their voices to be heard cia's Reign was progressing nicely the Latin communities even contributed funds to build a temple to Diana in Rome admitting once and for all
that Rome was the capital of Lum however all was not well just as anas's Sons were the undoing of Tarin so would the sons of Tarin the undoing of cus cus believed he had covered this obvious Threat by marrying his daughters to the two Tarin boys Lucius and herun But this was not enough for Lucius who felt he had been tricked out of his rightful succession though his new wife was non-committal about this alleged Injustice his brother Arun who could not have cared one way or the other found himself married to a woman Tulia who
resented his lack of ambition and admired lucius's drive toia further despised her own sister for not supporting an obviously great man in his quest for the throne evil took hold of Them and not being particularly creative they decided to Simply kill their unwanted mates so they could beat together and pursue the crown at Full Throttle the newlyweds began a whisper campaign against cus pointing out his low birth and the fact that he had never been truly elected to the richest in Rome they alleged that the census was no more than a trick to expose their
wealth so cus could snatch it up and hand it over to his lowborn friends Lucius grew Ever more bold as he gained support until finally he decided to make his move he went to the Palace while cus was away and sat upon the throne demanding that the Senate assembled before him when they did out of a mixture of fear and confusion he demanded they kneel before him and hail him King Tarin he was in the midst of a lengthy speech degrading cus when the Old King appeared demanding an explanation a scuffle ensued between the supporters
of Tarin And those loyal to cus and in the melee the Old King himself was struck and killed serus had reigned 43 years and died in 535 BC Lucius would become known to history as tarquinius Superbus or tarwin the proud the last king of Rome from the start tarwin was the very model of a tyrant he was vain arrogant pompous and dismissive of both the people and the Senate he built monuments to himself at the expense of the rich using the labor of the poor smart enough To understand his shaky position having seized power without
so much as a nod to electoral formalities he chose fear as the basis for his Reign he claimed for himself all legislative and judicial functions and dared anyone to oppose him those who did quickly regretted their choice Tarin arrested tried and executed his opponents completely bypassing the traditional court system he confiscated property whenever he saw fit and arbitrarily reduced the ranks of the Senate leaving it anemic and unable to counter his actions tarwin's misconduct was not confined to the city itself self he sought to consolidate Rome's power over Lum and to this end called the
Council of the local nobility he let them sit all day without making an appearance until one of them Rose to declare that Tarin was making them wait on purpose to show that he could order them around at will just then Tarin finally appeared the king made note of The man who had spoken against him and after the meeting broke up bribed one of the noble slaves to plant a cash of weapons in his master's room the deed done Tarin recalled the council and announced that he had just discovered a plot against his life and fingered
the offensive Noble as its leader they marched as a group to where the noble was staying and discovered the hidden weapons that coupled with his speech from the day before was enough to frame The poor man and he was immediately executed without so much as a trial the remaining Latin nobility whether they believed the charges or not believed that Taron was capable of almost anything and so did nothing to challenge his position in Rome the City and surrounding Countryside thus pacified Tarin sat back to enjoy the fruits of his labor but only poison fruit can
grow from such poisonous seeds a Taron would soon pay the ultimate Price for his underhanded tactics Tarin obviously had engendered no Goodwill in the city and the population waited only for a spark to light them into full Revolt tarwin's own son would provide that spark the young man sexus was invited to a dinner party hosted by katus a local Noble and upon meeting lucrea the lady of the house sexus decided that he must have her inflamed with lust he returned to the house while colaus was off laying Siege To the nearby town of ardia and
raped her his lust faded sexus rode off unaware of what he had set in motion katus riding back to Rome with a certain lucious Junius Brutus was met by a messenger who bid him return to his house at once there surrounded by her father katus and Brutus luria told him what sexus had done and then overwhelmed by shame grabbed a knife and stabbed herself in the heart the three men grief stricken stood over her body and swore That the Tarin would pay for her death returning at once to the encamped Army at ardia Brutus raised
them into Revolt with a stirring speech denouncing the Tarin as oppressive criminals he then led the Army back to Rome where he planned to expel the Tarin once and for all arriving in the city he marched through the streets and found a population slaving away on tarwin's various pet projects and ready for revolution tarwin at this point had Having heard of the Mutiny in Aria had ridden out to take control of the situation but instead found his army gone and himself in Exile from the city he allegedly ruled tarquinius Superbus reigned 24 years and would
die seeking but never regaining the throne back in the city the liberated people declared the Tarin enemies of the state and forever barred them from Rome the Comm centuriata was convened and it was decided that King should never again Rule Rome and that two men should be elected annually to be leaders so the power could never again be concentrated in the hands of a single man katus and Brutus were duly elected and were inaugurated as the first two consoles in Roman history the year was 509 BC and the most famous Republic in the history of
the world was born the story of the ill- fated Tarin Dynasty casts an interesting Shadow over Roman history through the obviously Apocryphal Royal biographies a general outline of actual history begins to emerge as I said in part one Roman culture was derived largely from at truscan and Greek influences so as an instructive parallel we are given the story of a family of Kings who became masters of Rome after immigrating from atoria and were descended from an exiled Greek there in the micro story of the tarquins is the macro story of all Rome this Dramatic if
fictitious account has roots in reality modern historians recognize the dominance of tra had over Rome until the founding of the Republic it is thought that at truscan Kings did indeed command Rome and that they were rejected by a native population wary of their rule though the neatness of this account no doubt misses a reality filled with inner marriage and colliding cultures making it hard to know who was a native Roman and who was a foreign at truscan The story of the Kings also offers a moral that the rans followed to create success and abandon at
their Peril until the ill- fated tarquinius Superbus none of the Kings had been the son of a previous ruler hereditary succession played almost no part in the Ascension of the Kings Angus Marcus was the only one who was even related to one of his predecessors and he was the grandson of Numa not an immediate Heir this stands in stark contrast to the monarchies that Emerged in the Middle Ages that were founded entirely on the passing of power from father to son whatever the merits or abilities of the child Gibbon famously marks the beginning of the
end of the Roman Empire with Marcus aurelius's sentimental choice of his son Commodus and not another more capable man to succeed the Imperium in 177 ad the choice ended five successive transfers of power from the emperor to a man chosen on Merit and not relation the 100-year period of the so-called five good Emperors marked the height of Roman power wealth and stability history has shown again and again that the ship of state is well sailed when leadership is based on great ability and run against the Rocks when it is based upon mere birth the Roman
monarchy was now dead never to return next we move on to the story of the Roman Republic and Trace its Long March through the Italian Peninsula across the Mediterranean and into to Legend next week we will discuss the first days of the Republic who its initial leaders were and what would happen to any man who ever again tried to make himself king of Rome [Music]
