Ancient Rome: From Village to Republic

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Bronze chariot inlaid with ivory · Etruscan, Italy, 2nd quarter of the 6th century BCE
The Etruscans, who ruled early Rome around 600 BCE, made this parade chariot; Rome borrowed much from their culture.

Rome began as a small city on the Italian peninsula, built along the Tiber River in a region called Latium. Its location gave it access to trade routes, since Greek merchants sailed up the Tiber to trade with local peoples, bringing Greek gods and ideas into early Roman culture. Around 600 BCE, the Etruscans, a powerful people from central Italy, took control of Rome and ruled it as a monarchy for several generations, leaving their mark on the city even as their harsh rule planted the seeds of rebellion.

According to Roman tradition, the last Etruscan king, Tarquin the Proud, was overthrown after his son committed a terrible crime, sparking outrage among the Roman people. In 509 BCE, the Romans drove out the king and vowed never again to be ruled by a tyrant, declaring their government a res publica, or public thing, the origin of our word republic. Archaeological evidence suggests this story has some basis in real events, even if the details were shaped over time to reflect Roman values like respect for law and freedom from tyranny.

In the early Republic, power was shared among elected officials, but not equally among all citizens. Roman society was divided into two main classes: the patricians, a small group of wealthy noble families who alone could hold public office and sit in the Senate, and the plebeians, the common people who made up most of the population. Two elected officials called consuls led the government and commanded the army each year, sharing power so that no single person could become too strong, a system designed to prevent Rome from ever returning to one-man rule.

The plebeians did not accept this inequality quietly. In a long political struggle historians call the Conflict of the Orders, beginning around 494 BCE, plebeians, the farmers, artisans, merchants, laborers, and soldiers who made up most of Rome, used a powerful weapon: they walked out of the city and refused to work or fight until their demands were met. Because Rome depended on plebeians to grow its food and fill its army, the patricians agreed to share power rather than lose the city's workers and defenders. The agreements changed the Roman political system. Plebeians gained their own assembly and elected officials called tribunes, who could veto unfair decisions. Around 450 BCE, Rome's laws were written down on the Twelve Tables so judges could not twist them, and plebeians eventually won the right to become consuls and senators. Through peaceful negotiation, the Republic became more representative of its people.

Adapted from Studio Aletheia's World Builders Academy curriculum library, drawing on classical world history resources on the ancient Mediterranean world.