Download The 7 Kings of Rome

The 7 Kings of Rome
They started it all!
Focus
This presentation will focus on the
Monarchy and at the end of it you will be
able to name the 3 periods of Roman
history as well as each king and several
facts about him.
Overview
Generally Roman history is divided into 3 eras
with each being defined by the type of
government at the time. Thus, we have the
following time periods:
• Monarchy (Kings) from 753BC – 509BC
• Republic (Consuls) from 509BC – 27BC
• The Republic is further divided
– During the Early Republic, the Romans conquered the rest
of Italy.
– During the Late Republic, the Romans conquered several
other lands outside of Italy.
• Empire 27BC-476BC
To Start with...
Before we can get to the 7 kings of Rome, we
need to go back in time just a bit. Virgil
chronicles the origin of the Romans in the
Aeneid as originating with Aeneas who was
the son of Venus. His son, Ascanius, who was
also called Iulus, became king of Alba Longa.
Eventually, the 12th king after Ascanius was
Numitor, who would become the
grandfather of Romulus. Romulus would be
the one to found Rome in 753 BC.
The Legend Begins
Once upon a time, according to
Plutarch, the king of Alba Longa was
Numitor. Numitor had a daughter
named Rhea Silvia and a brother
named Amulius. Amulius wanted to
be king, so he dethroned his brother
and made Rhea Silvia a
Vestal Virgin, hoping to keep her from having children who could lay
claim to the throne. But, Rhea Silvia did become pregnant and the
punishment for breaking the vow of chastity was being buried alive.
Rhea Silvia maintained that Mars raped her and some Romans
thought Amulius might be the father, so they refused to allow her to
be killed. She gave birth to twins who where promptly exposed, by
being thrown into a flooded Tiber River.
The Birth of Romulus
Luckily, they were nursed by a she wolf
until a shepherd, named Faustulus,
found them and raised them as his own.
One day, it so happened that Remus
came into contact with Numitor, who
realized that Remus could be his
grandson. Numitor convinced Remus to
join him in taking back his throne, while
Romulus gathered men to go get his
brother. Together, Romulus and Remus
were able to defeat Amulius and get
Numitor back his throne, but they
decided to found their own city. But in
doing so, Romulus killed his brother
Remus, for jumping over the walls he
was building to fortify their city.
Romulus
• 753-716 BC
• founded Rome (1st King)
• Stole women from the neighboring
Sabines to populate Rome
• Is credited with establishing the
Senate
• Is said to have not died as much as
ascended to heaven during a
thunderstorm (the other possibility
is that he was murdered by
senators, each taking a piece of his
body)
• Known as Quirinus after his
deification
Numa Pompilius
• 715-673 BC
• Reluctantly served after having been picked by the Romans because
the Sabines stated it was their turn to have a king
• Credited with establishing religion, in that he formalized rites and
rituals, brought over the Vestal Virgins from Alba Longa and created
a priesthood
• Credited with a calendar reform which moved from 10 months to 12
months, to assist with keeping up with the religious rituals
• Built the temple of Janus, a 2 headed god of
beginnings and doorways. The doors to his temple
were open during war and closed during times of
peace. (They were never opened during Numa’s
reign.)
• Credited with establishing the boundaries of Rome
Tullius Hostilius
• 673-641 BC
• Was a Latin, since it was their turn again
• For as much as Numa was peaceful,
Tullus was hostile
• He defeated the Albans and destroyed
Alba Longa; Legend has it
Curia
that the dispute was settled by each side sending 3 brothers
to fight for their city
• Is credited with building the Curia Hostilia, a larger senate
house after the Albans were absorbed into Rome
• Turned to religion after being struck by the plague and in
performing a religious ritual was struck by lightning
Ancus Marcius
• 641-616 BC
• Defeated the “Old Latins” (those who had not
joined Rome with Tatius and Romulus)
• Added the Aventine and Janiculum hills by
fortifying them and thus including them inside
the city’s walls
• Is credited with building the first aqueduct
 Is credited with establishing the port
Ostia
 Is credited with creating the manner in
which the Romans declared war.
Tarquinius Priscus
• 616-579 BC
• Was an Etruscan (The Etruscans had been gaining power and were an up
and coming civilization.)
• When he and his wife, Tanaquil, first came to Rome an eagle took the hat
off his head and then replaced it. Tanaquil would later use this as an
omen foretelling of his divine right to power.
• Had been a friend of Ancus Marcius and was considered to be
“very honest”, but after convincing the sons of Ancus Marcius
to go hunting he presented himself as candidate for the job of
king and won it due to his honest rep.
• Doubled the size of the cavalry.
• Added 100 less wealthy noble seats to the senate.
• Defeated the Sabines, who had not joined Rome.
• Possibly started the Temple of Iupiter Capitolinus
• Was assassinated by the sons of Ancus Marcius
Servius Tullius
• 579-535 BC
• When Tarquinius Superbus was asassinated, Tanaquil claimed
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
he was merely wounded and that Servius
Tullius would act for him and should be treated as the king. (Servius was
married to Tanaquil’s daughter and may have once been their slave.)
He established that a citizen’s tribe is determined by where they lived
and not family or amount of property.
He created the census in which the liability for military service was
determined by amount of property. Each group was a century of 100
members. The richest could provide a horse and could be cavalry; the
poorest would serve as infantry since they could only bring sticks and
stones with them.
The highest ranking centuries or classes got to vote first and thus their
vote was worth more.
The first census numbered 80,000 capable of bearing arms.
He added the Quirinal, Viminal and Esquiline hills to Rome.
He is credited with building the Temple of Diana.
He is credited with the first walls (The Servian Wall) but it
was not built until much later.
Tarquinius Superbus
• 535-509 BC (The last king)
• Was married to Tullia who was the daughter of Servius
Tullius and convinced him to dethrone Servius.
• Tarquinius Superbus went to the senate claiming that
Servius was just a slave and physically threw the
elderly king out of the Curia. Servius was killed in the
streets.
• Made Rome the head of the Latin League.
• Finished or built the Temple of Iupiter Capitolinus or
Iupiter Optimus Maximus which became the religious
focal point.
• Built the Cloaca Maxima, a large sewer/drainage
ditch. It allowed the forum as well as surrounding
areas to be drained.
Down with the kings
The downfall of Tarquinius Superbus was his son Sextus. Legend
has it that Sextus and other nobles had been away fighting when
they decided to go check on the wives. Only Lucretia, the wife of
his cousin, was behaving appropriately. This caused Sextus to
desire her and he forced her to have sex with him by threatening
to ruin her pious reputation.
King is a four letter word!
Lucretia killed herself and her suicide and
Sextus’ crime were avenged by Lucius Junius
Brutus. Lucius Junius Brutus pretended to
be stupid after his father and uncle had
been killed by Superbus. Thus, he had all
the more reason to want to get rid of
Superbus.
Lucius Junius Brutus
A Republic is born
The republic is born. Lucius Junius Brutus is credited with
helping to shape the Roman constitution. In it, the office of
consul was created. There would be 2 consuls elected by the
Comitia Centuriata, each serving for only a year. Brutus and
Lucretia’s husband were the first 2. Brutus added nonaristocrats to the emaciated senate, thus establishing the
patricians and the plebeians.
Then What?
The position of Ponitfex
Maximus, or chief priest, was
created to uphold the
religious duties of the former
kings. The office of king was
forbidden. However, a
dictator could be named in an
emergency, but was supposed
to resign after no more than 6
months. This is what
eventually allowed the
republic to become an empire
ruled by emperors and not
kings.
Augustus as Pontifex Maximus
Assignment
When the Romans ousted the kings for their
deplorable actions; they had the chance to create
the government they wanted. They chose a
government not unlike our own form of
government, which was able to last for nearly 500
years. Your original post should answer the
following: How would you adapt a modern form of
government to create a form of government that
would stand the test of time? Your response post
should evaluate the government of your
classmates’ for practicality. Please remember to
use proper English, including spelling, grammar
and punctuation. You must both post and respond
to a classmate for full credit.