Rome: The Roman Kingdom

Did you hear that the king of Sweden grew up in a wolf's lair and was nursed by a wolf? No, probably not, because that's simply not true. We know that because we can read about his childhood in the papers. But Rome's earliest history sounds this strange. Because there are no written sources from the time.

The Roman writers who described what happened lived much later, and mixed reality with legend. But we do know that for about 200 years the city of Rome is ruled by kings. It's the year 753 bce and this is Romulus. According to legend he and his twin brother are nursed by a she wolf. But Romulus kills his brother and now he is the first king of Rome.

He decides everything himself, but needs some help. So he sets up an advisory board of 100 men: The senate. Romulus speaks Latin and the word 'senate' comes from the latin word for old man: senex. These men are the heads of their families. After the first king's reign these families are considered more important.

They become a kind of nobility: the patricians. The senate hasn't got a huge amount of power, but this increases when Romulus dies. From now on it's the senate that decides who will become the next king. The king is elected for life. Rome has become an elective monarchy.

This version of a monarchy differs from the monarchies of modern times in two ways: the king is elected and the title is not inherited by the king's children or family. At this time, there is nothing special about Rome, it's just one town among many in this central part of the Italian peninsula: The Latium region. Rome's inhabitants come from three groups of people, or tribes. A tribe from the Apennine mountains, the Sabines, recently split into two parts. One part moved to Latium just before the foundation of Rome, and now they move into the city.

North of Latium, In Etruria, lives the most advanced people of this era; the Etruscans. They are skilled in working with Iron, and they build advanced roads and aqueducts. These skills, they bring with them to Rome. The third group is the one already living in Latium. Romulus' people.

The Latins. The Latins are the biggest group so it's their language - Latin - that becomes the one spoken in Rome. The Senate is chosen from these three groups. Sabines, Etruscans, and Latins. Besides the Patricians there is another class of people in Rome: "ordinary" people like merchants and craftsfolk: Plebeians.

Roman society is full of inequality. There is a huge gap between patricians and plebeians, poor and rich, between men and women and between freemen and slaves. All in all, Rome has seven kings. Not much is known about the first ones, except for legends. But we are reasonably sure that the last three are Etruscans.

The seventh and last king is Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. The legend tells that he seizes power - with the help of his wife - by killing the old king, his father in law. Because of this many Romans dislike the new king and his queen from the start. Lucius Tarquinius Superbus refuses to elect new senators when old ones die, or are expelled from the state. The senators become fewer and the power of the senate decreases.

Scandals plague the King and his family. The king's son rapes a patrician woman. She commits suicide. The Romans have had enough. In the year 509 bce they chase the royal family out of the city.

Now the senate holds the power. The monarchy has been abolished. Rome has become a republic.