Ancus Marcius was Sabine by ancestry, and his successor,
Tarquinius Priscus, also called Tarquin I (r. 616–578 b.c.e.),
was Etruscan. Th e Etruscans were the dominant military
and political power in the region of Italy where Rome was
situated. Tarquinius Priscus undertook major public works
in Rome, which was expanding because of trade. Th e city was
the best place to cross the Tiber River, and many merchants
passed through it. Tarquinius Priscus drained the swamp at
the base of Palatine Hill and built the Roman Forum on the
newly dry land. He also built the Capitol, in which temples to
Rome’s patron gods would be housed, and in it he built the
temple to Jupiter, Rome’s chief god.
By the time of Tarquinius Superbus, meaning Tarquin
the Proud (r. 534–510 b.c.e.), Rome had about 40,000 resi-
dents and had formed an aristocracy of wealthy people, called
patricians. In 510 b.c.e. Sextus, a son of Tarquinius Super-
bus, raped an aristocrat’s daughter, Lucretia. Th is enraged the
aristocrats, and under the leadership of Lucius Junius Brutus
they rebelled and threw the Tarquin family out of Rome. Th ey
established the Roman Republic, which was ruled by the Sen-
ate, composed of aristocrats. Tarquinius Superbus returned
with an Etruscan army to retake Rome but was stymied by
the Romans. Probably under the leadership of Brutus, Rome
formed an alliance with other cities in the region; united, they
defeated the Etruscans at Aricia in 506 b.c.e. and formed into
independent city states.
THE REPUBLIC (CA. 509–27 B.C.E.)
Although ultimate political authority rested with the Senate,
the new constitution for Roman government called for two
executives, called consuls, to run the government jointly for
one year at a time, with an annual election of consuls by the
Senate. One of the fi rst of the early consuls was Brutus, who
served in 509 b.c.e. In times of war the Senate could appoint
a dictator who would rule with almost absolute power. Lucius
Quinctius Cincinnatus, who was dictator in 458 b.c.e., set an
important precedent by voluntarily relinquishing his power
aft er defeating Rome’s enemies, even though he could have
used the army he commanded to make himself king.
Marcus Furius Camillus may have been dictator as many
as fi ve times. He may have fi rst been declared dictator in 390
b.c.e., when Gauls sacked Rome. Perhaps he rallied the spirits
of the Romans and persuaded them to rebuild their city. In
367 b.c.e. he was declared dictator when the Gauls threatened
to invade Rome, again. He seems to have followed the prec-
edent set by Cincinnatus by relinquishing his dictatorships
when his tasks were done.
For the dictatorship of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verru-
cosus in 217 b.c.e. archaeology has found evidence to support
the basic events found in Roman accounts. Fabius served as
consul in 233, 228, 215, 214, and 209 b.c.e. and was named
dictator in 217 b.c.e. He was sarcastically nicknamed “Cun-
cator,” meaning the Delayer, because of his policy of avoiding
direct confrontations with Hannibal’s army, always trying
to draw the Carthaginian army away from attacking the city
of Rome. Later, aft er other commanders suff ered disastrous
losses in direct confrontations with Hannibal’s forces, the
nickname became one of honor, in recognition of the wisdom
of his delaying tactics.
Fabius opposed the plans of Publius Cornelius Scipio,
also known as Scipio the Elder. Scipio served as consul in
205 and 194 b.c.e. In 205 b.c.e. Rome was still at war with
Carthage. Scipio wanted to take the war overseas by attack-
ing the city of Carthage. Fabius and other senators regarded
this plan as too dangerous, and the Senate refused to fund
Fabius’s military plans. Scipio went to Sicily and raised and
equipped an army. In 204 b.c.e. the Senate refused fi nancial
and military support to Scipio’s venture but gave its consent
to his invading North Africa. Scipio succeeded in leading his
forces to victory and ending the war.
An offi ce representing the plebeians, or common people,
in government had evolved, called the “tribune.” Tiberius
Gracchus and his younger brother Gaius Gracchus tried to use
the offi ce of tribune to reform Roman society. When the Sen-
ate blocked his reforms, Tiberius Gracchus took the matter to
the popular assembly, the Concilium Plebis, which passed his
reforms. He ran for reelection as tribune, and on election day
he and hundreds of his supporters were murdered by follow-
ers of the Senate. Gaius Gracchus served two terms as tribune
(123–22 b.c.e.) He tried to enact his brother’s reforms and was
mostly successful. Aft er he was defeated for a third term, Gaius
Gracchus and his supporters were set upon by henchmen of
the Senate; about 3,000 of them were murdered in a day, with
Gaius Gracchus either committing suicide or being murdered
by bounty hunters eager to collect a reward of gold.
Powerful individual leaders gradually gathered to them-
selves the power to run Rome. Among them was Gaius Marius,
who served as consul seven times between 107 and 86 b.c.e. He
was a political and social reformer as well as a military leader,
and he was willing to use the threat of his troops, who were
more loyal to him than to Rome, to enforce his wishes over op-
position by the Senate. Much of his work was undone by Lucius
Cornelius Sulla, who was dictator from 82 to 79 b.c.e. He was a
successful general who championed aristocratic dominance of
society and government. He ruled with almost absolute power
and condemned to death without trial thousands of people,
with his soldiers enforcing terror in the streets of the city of
Rome. He set a precedent for Roman military commanders by
taking control of the city by military force. In an eff ort to shore
up the privileges of the Senate, he rewrote Roman laws, placing
courts under patrician control and granting patrician jurists
immunity from prosecution for taking bribes. So thorough
was he in restructuring Roman law that later Romans con-
fessed that even though they disliked some of the laws, they
did not know how to change them all and keep Roman society
intact. Sulla chose to retire in 79 b.c.eJULIUS CAESAR (100–44 B.C.E.)
Th e next powerful fi gure was Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, later
known as Pompey the Great. As a military commander he414 empires and dynasties: Rome