Rome History, Italy

The Eternal City, the Cradle of the Republic, the Pinnacle of Western Civilization… these and many others are the aliases of Rome. The beginning of this city played a vital role in the coursing and mapping of world history and has been the subject of both myths and facts alike. Poets and patrons made and told stories about this magnificent city of the gods. In hearing so, one may recall the tale of Prince Aeneas when he started the founding of a city that was later to be named Rome, after the fall of Troy from the Greeks; or the tale of the founder twins Romulus and Remus who were raised by a she-wolf as infants.

The city of Rome is one of the oldest and the most preserved to date. There are speculations that set the proximate era of its establishment. Despite the claims of the Romans that they were able to establish the eternal city in 753 B.C., views and analyses of modern historians suggest that the recognition of Rome as a city was not proven until over a century later in 625 B.C.

Rome started as a small settlement in Latin-speaking vicinity on the Western side of the Italian Peninsula. This group of people where the first Roman predecessors came about is called the Latiums. During the early development of Rome, its type of rule is actually monarchic in nature. This political arrangement continued even after the takeover of the Etruscans. However, after the last three Etruscan monarchs that ruled Rome, the concept of a “Republic” came to being, following the ouster of the last monarch in the year 510 B.C.

The onset of this new political era in the timeline of Rome brought about neo-political and neo-social structures. Some of these include the senate- political body composed of nobles that serve as advisors to the consul and the imperium- the entity that embodies the civil and executive power of the consul. One of the most notable changes in the newly formed structure is the classification or stratification of citizenship. During this period, there are four categories of citizenship based on political and social functions. These groups are the slaves, the plebeians (free people or the working class), the equestrians   (members of the Roman Army) and the patricians (nobles). From 625 B.C. until the middle of the third century A.D., Rome had assessed its presence as the greatest empire that was ever built.

The rich history of Rome was largely fueled by political undertakings, in 69 A.D. there were even four emperors at the same time. The changes in the social system from monarchic to republic to the time of emperors are but fragments of a very colorful and larger than life historical ‘facts and figures’ that is Rome.

The fall of the Roman Empire to the Visigoths in 476 A.D., last roman emperor was Romulus Augustulus, has not been extravagantly portrayed in the chronicles of the Roman existence for it is plainly dwarfed by the beauty and grandeur that was Rome.

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• Top things to see in Rome
  review by MadSuh posted more then 30 days ago
  I really think that walking around in the city is probably the most relaxing. Wherever you look, you see history and not just any history. We started out at the Pantheon and I was probably again the most amazed about this building that was built in 27b.c. When you walk into the Pantheon, you can...
• Favorite attraction in Rome
  review by cipristb posted more then 30 days ago
  The Pantheon was built for the first time in the year 27 AD bt Agrippa, but suffered a serious fire in year 80 so that was rebuilt in the same form by the Emperor Hadrian in 127. In the year 609 the Pantheon came into the custody of the pope Bonifaciu the forth who transformed the it in a...
• Rome requires much time
  review by Wazling posted more then 30 days ago
  Rome is really great. Sometimes a bit crowded in the season, but if you know the city, you can always find lovely places, bars and restaurants. I have discovered some very nice narrow streets, not crowded, only locals were there with their pictoresque old houses. If you want to see Rome and not...

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Read our members' travel tips about Rome

• The catacombs
  travel tip by Wazling posted more then 30 days ago
  The Catacombs of St.Callixtus (San Callisto) are among the largest and most important of Rome. They originated around the middle of the 2nd Century. and form a burial complex of 15 hectares of expansion, with the ductal network of about...
• Santa Maria della Concezione
  travel tip by Wazling posted more then 30 days ago
  If you want to see some interesting thing in Rome, you should visit the Ossuarium of the church 'Santa Maria della Concezione'. Over 4000 skelettons of Kapuziner monks are positioned here, and even crosses and cristian smybols like the...
• The Vatican Museum
  travel tip by MadSuh posted more then 30 days ago
  The Vatican Museum - While most people only go to the Vatican Museum to see the Sixteenth Chapel, there are a ton of other things to see there. There is a great collection of Roman statues as well as Egyptian, Roman, and Etruscan artwork...

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