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Rome
The capital of
Italy and ancient capital of the
Roman Empire. The greatest city of the ancient world,
according to legend founded in 753 B.C. by Romulus and named after him, but possibly in
reality either from Ruma, a former name of the
River Tiber, of
Etruscan origin, or from Greek rhein, 'to flow' or rhome,
'strength'. This last suggestion is supported by its other name, Valentia (latin valens,
'strong'). It acquired a new significance as the seat of the papacy.
Rome developed as a group of villages
on seven hills on the east bank of the Tiber, and was ruled until 500 BC by seven kings,
of whom the last three are believed to have been
Etruscan. After the last of these,
Tarquinius Superbus, had been expelled, a republic was set up (510 BC), ruled by a senate
and two consuls. The plebeians increasingly challenged the dominant power of the
patricians, until by 300 BC they had obtained the right to hold any office. The political
organization was extended to include
tribunes,
quaestors,
aediles,
censors and
praetors. A
code of law was drawn up (451 BC) by the
decemvirs.
Rome expanded its power to neighboring
peoples in Italy (5th-3rd centuries BC), defeated
Carthage in the
Punic Wars (264-241 BC,
218-201 BC and 149-146 BC) and gained territory in
Spain,
Sicily,
Sardinia,
Corsica and
North Africa.
Macedon was made a Roman province (146 BC) and the whole of
Greece was
subjugated by 27 BC.
The task of governing the
Mediterranean
world resulted in class dissent in Rome, notably when the brothers
Gracchus
attempted to
reform the agrarian laws (2nd century BC). Civil war broke out, and the republic was
further destabilized by the rivalry between
Marius and
Sulla
and by that between
Pompey
and
Caesar.
After the disintegration of the
1st Triumvirate,
Caesar established a dictatorship (48-44 BC). On his assassination, civil war
restarted and the
2nd Triumvirate was created. This resulted in war between
Antony and
Octavian, and the republic collapsed when the latter took absolute power as emperor with
the title of
Augustus (27 BC).
In the two centuries after the reign of
Augustus the
Roman Empire
reached its greatest scope, encircling the
Mediterranean,
reaching north to the
Rhine, the
Danube and
central
Scotland and
spreading into
Armenia
and
Mesopotamia.
A well-developed system of communications, the use of
Latin as a
universal language, and the growth of trade and industry united the empire.
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