Download Settlement of Ancient Rome

Settlement of
Ancient Rome
Founding
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The Romans had 2 different stories about how Rome was
founded. It is not clear which, if either, is true. Like much of
Rome’s history, the story of their settlement is laced with
mythology.
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The Romans wrote the first history of their civilization 1000
years after the founding of the city. This document states
that the date of founding was April 21, 753 B.C.
Archaeological evidence supports this!
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The first story credits Aeneas with Rome’s founding and the
second story credits Romulus and Remus.
Aeneid
Vergil’s Aeneid.
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In this epic poem, Aeneas, a Trojan prince survives
the Trojan War and escapes to Italy, where he
founds a new Troy, Rome.
This poem is divided into XII books, telling the story
of Aeneas in great detail.
Romulus and Remus
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According to this myth, two twin boys were abandoned
by their mother, thrown into the Tiber River, rescued and
raised by a great she-wolf, and built opposing
settlements on Rome’s hills. Remus ridiculed his
brother’s work and was slain for it. Rome is named for
Romulus, who became Rome’s first ruler.
Why Rome?
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While no one knows
exactly how Rome was
founded or by whom, there
are some environmental
advantages that Rome
itself has that would make
it a strategic location to
start a new and important
city.
Transportation
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Rome is located at the first
place that people can easily
cross the Tiber river, so it is
the natural location of the
main north-south road in
Italy.
The reason you can cross
the Tiber at Rome is that
there is an island in the river
there.
Salt
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There are also
important salt flats
near the city, and
because salt was
so valuable in the
ancient world these
were important to
Rome’s economy.
Various Environments
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As the Romans expanded their empire, they encountered
many different environments. There were deserts, mountains,
swamps, forests, and everything else.
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The Roman soldiers could have let this be a disadvantage
because there were so many different types of terrain on which
to fight.
Instead, they learned how to fight in different ways in order to
conquer these different areas.
They had to learn to split up their big legions into small guerrilla
units that would be able to get around quickly and quietly in the
mountains or forest.
The fact that they were able to so easily adapt to different
environments was one of the reasons that the Roman Army was
so successful.
Mediterranean Sea
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The Mediterranean
Sea provided
Rome with easy
access to trade
because it
connected many
powerful countries
They were able to
get tin from
England, wood
from Germany,
cotton from Egypt,
and silver from
Spain.
The Great Roman Empire
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Rome quickly became the most powerful city of
it’s time.
It brought many new ideas and innovations to
Law, Government, Economics, Art, Music,
Literature, Military, Sports, Engineering,
Architecture, Religion and Education.
Even today there are Roman influences all around
us