Early Rome and the Beginnings
of Roman Imperialism
The Nature of the Evidence
Roman Legends, the Literary
Tradition and their Pitfalls
 Archaeology and the Problems of
Interpretation
 Paucity of Inscriptions (Lapis Niger)

Language
Map of Early
Italy
Broad Outlines
Bronze Age Italy and Greek Influences
(ca. 1800-800 BCE)
 Iron Age Italy and Rome: 1000-750 BCE
(Villanovans)
 Material Conditions: Subsistence
Agriculture
 Etruscans and the Question of
Urbanization

Early Roman Legends as Reflected in
the Historiographical Tradition
Myths of Heterogeneity and the
Policy of Inclusion
Sallust, The Conspiracy of Catiline,
chapter 6 (written between 44 & 40 BCE)
“The city of Rome, as far as I can make out, was
founded and first inhabited by Trojan exiles who, led
by Aeneas, were wandering without a settled home,
and by rustic natives who lived in a state of anarchy
uncontrolled by laws or government. When once
they had come to live together in a walled town,
despite different origins, languages, and habits of
life, they coalesced with amazing ease, and before
long what had been a heterogeneous mob of
migrants was welded into a united nation.”
The Elder Seneca on Early Rome
“Unroll the family tree of any nobleman you like: you will
arrive at low birth if you go back far enough. Why should
I list individuals? I could use the whole city as my
example. Once these hills stood bare and within the
extensive confines of our walls there is nothing more
distinguished than a lowly hut….Can you reproach the
Romans? They could conceal their humble beginnings but
instead they make a display of them and do not regard all
this as great unless it is made obvious that it rose from a
small beginning.”
Controversiae, 1.6.4
Romulus, the Sabine Women, and the Politics
of Inclusion
“ ‘If you regret,’ [the Sabine women] continued, ‘the
relationship that unites you, if you regret the marriage tie,
turn your anger against us; we are the cause of the war,
the cause of the wounds, and even death to both our
husbands and our parents. It will be better for us to perish
than to live, lacking either of you, as widows or as
orphans.’ It was a touching plea, not only to the rank and
file, but to their leaders as well. A stillness fell on them,
and a sudden hush. Then the leaders came forward to
make a truce, and not only did they agree on peace, but
they made one people out of the two. They shared the
sovereignty, but all authority was transferred to Rome. In
this way the population was doubled…”
(Livy, 1.13.3-5)
The Regal Period, 753-510 BCE
Legend, Quasi-History, History
The King List
[Romulus (753-717 BCE)]
 [Numa Pompilius (715-672 BCE)]
 [Tullus Hostilius (672-640 BCE)]
 [Ancus Marcius (640-616 BCE)]
 Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (616-579 BCE)
 Servius Tullius (578-535 BCE)
 Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (534-510 BCE)

Romulus and Remus:
The Native Foundation Legend


Outlines of the Story: Alba Longa, Numitor and Amulius, Rhea
Silvia and Mars, the She-Wolf and the Twins (Folk-Tale Motifs).
“Meanwhile Rome was growing. More and more ground was
coming within the circuit of its walls. Indeed, the rapid expansion
of the enclosed area was out of proportion to the actual population,
and evidently indicated an eye to the future. In antiquity, the
founder of a new settlement, in order to increase its population,
would as a matter of course shark up a lot of homeless and
destitute folk and pretend that they were “born of earth” to be his
progeny; Romulus now followed a similar course: to help fill his
big new town, he threw open, in the ground--now enclosed-between the two copses as you go up the Capitoline Hill, a place of
asylum for fugitives. All the lowliest elements from neighboring
peoples fled here for refuge: some free, some slaves, and all of them
wanting a fresh start. That mob was the first real addition to the
City’s strength, the first step to its future greatness.”
– Livy, History of Rome, Book One, chapter 8
She-Wolf and Twins
(Bologna, early 4th century BCE)
Capitoline She-Wolf
(Etruscan, ca. 500 BCE)
The Etruscan Monarchy at Rome



L. Tarquinius Priscus (616-579 BCE), Servius Tullius
(578-535 BCE), L. Tarquinius Superbus (534-510 BCE)
Lapis Niger or “Black Stone” (around 500 BCE?);
archaic Latin inscription (“to or for the king”)
King Servius Tullius (traditional dates: 578-535 BCE)
 Temple to Diana on the Aventine
 New Geographical Tribes (21: 17 rural, 4 urban);
replaces ethnicity with geography as basis of
political organization (attempt to break power of the
great clans?)
 Centuriate Assembly: creates a citizen-army based
on property. 60 centuries of 100 men = 1 legion
(legio). As voting assembly, 193 units divided into 5
classes based on wealth, with the first two classes
making a majority (probably limited to a yes/no
vote)
Lapis Niger
“Black Stone”
th
Early 6
century BCE
Developments Attributed to King
Servius Tullius (578-535 BCE)


Enlargement of Urban Area (L 1.44.3; DH 4.13.2)
Defensive (Servian) Wall and Four Urban Regions
(L 1.44.3 and 1.43.13; DH 4.13.3 and 4.14.1)

26 Tribes and 4 Urban Region Tribes (DH 4.15.1, a
variant number)




Centuriate System (L 1.43; DH 4.16)
Roman Census (L 1.42.5; DH 4.15.6)
Temple to Diana on Aventine (L 1.45.2-3; DH 4.25.3-26)
Sources: L=Livy (late first century BCE); DH=Dionysius of
Halicarnassus (late first century BCE-early first century CE)
Etruria and Early Rome




Etruscan Heyday: ca. 700-500 BCE
The Question of Origins: Immigrants or Autochthonous?
 Herodotus (5th century BCE), Histories 1.94--from Lydia in
Asia Minor
 Dionysius of Halicarnassus (first century CE), Roman
Antiquities 1.25-30--Indigenous
Etruscans and Urbanization at Rome
 Public Building (Capitoline Temple to Jupiter Optimus
Maximus)
 Drainage of Marshes
 Development of Forum
Etruscan Contributions
 Alphabet (via Greeks)
 Fasces and Sella Curulis
 Lictors
Line Map of
Etruria and
Latium
Etruscan Power and Etruscan Cities
“This people…in ancient times possessed great territory and founded many
notable cities. Likewise, they also availed themselves of powerful naval forces
and were masters of the sea over a long period, they caused the sea along Italy
to be named Tyrrhenian after them…They were also the authors of the
dignity that surrounds the heads of state, providing their rulers with lictors
and an ivory stool and a toga with a purple band; and in connection with
their houses they invented the peristyle, a useful device for avoiding the
confusion connected with the attending throngs; and these things were
adopted for the most part by the Romans, who added to their embellishment
and transferred them to their own political institutions. Letters and the
teaching about nature and the gods they also brought to greater perfection,
and they elaborated the art of divination by thunder and lightning more than
all other men; and for this reason the Romans, who rule practically the entire
inhabited world, show honor to these men even to this day and employ them
as interpreters of the omens of Jupiter as they appear in thunder and
lightning.”
~ Diodorus, 5.40.1-2
Aristocratic Banqueting Scene
Tomb of the Leopards
Fifth Century BCE
Sarcophagus of the Amazons
Sarcophagus of the Bride and Groom
(ca. 525 BCE)
Gold Necklace from Vulci (ca. 650 BCE)
Chimaera from Arezzo
The Apollo of Veii
ca. 500 BCE
Fall of the Monarchy and the
Beginnings of the Republic
Tarquinius Superbus, Sextus Tarquinius,
The Rape of Lucretia, and Brutus
 Traditional Date for the Foundation of the
Republic—510 BCE
 Patres, 100 advisers under Romulus (Livy,
1.8.7)
 300 Senators, 2 annually-elected consuls,
imperium

Livy on the First Senate (1.8.7)
“[Romulus] had now no reason to be
dissatisfied with his strength, and proceeded
to add policy to strength. He appointed a
hundred senators, whether because this
number seemed to him sufficient, or because
there were no more than a hundred who
could be designated Fathers (Patres). At all
events, they received the designation of
Fathers from their rank, and their
descendants were called patricians.”
Defensive Imperialism?
Romans, Latins, and Common
Enemies
Pressures on the Early Republic



Aftermath of Expulsion of Etruscan Monarchy
 Battle at Lake Regillus: 496 BCE
 Cassian Treaty (foedus Cassianum): mutual
defensive alliance between Rome and all
Latins based on equality: 493 BCE
12 Etruscan cities to the North
“Hill Peoples”: Aequi (northeast); Volsci
(southeast); Sabines (northeast): 500-350 BCE
Offensive Imperialism?
The Siege of Etruscan Veii
Roman Aristocratic Militaristic Ethos:
Senator’s Proclamation after Romulus’ Rapture,
following Military Action against Veii
‘Quirites, the Father of this City, Romulus,
descended suddenly from the sky at dawn this
morning and appeared to me…. “Go,” he said, “and
declare to the Romans the will of Heaven that my
Rome shall be the capital of the world; so let them
cherish the art of war, and let them know and teach
their children that no human strength can resist
Roman arms”.’
(Livy, 1.16.6-7)
Internal Crises: Patricians and Plebeians



Patricians and non-Patricians (Plebeians)
 Origin: senators created by Romulus: “conscripted
fathers” = patres conscripti. Distinction seems to
become important in the early years of the Republic.
 Minority: population estimates for Archaic Rome-6,600-9,900 adult male citizens; 2,700-4,000 heavy
infantrymen (hoplites); 400-600 adult male
patricians (Raaflaub, Social Struggles, pg. 44).
12 Tables and Nexum: Debt-Bondage (Table VI; cf.
Table III)
War as Palliative (see Livy, Book Two passim: unity in
face of external threats; internal discord in times of
international peace; compare Dionysius, Roman
Antiquities, 10.33)
The Siege of Etruscan Veii
(406-396 BCE)
A question of historicity: the 10-year
duration modeled on the Trojan War?
 War booty and the doubling of Roman
territory
 Control of the Tiber (Fidenae) and the salt
marshes
 Distribution of land to poorer Roman
citizens

Light Green =
Roman territory
Ca. 700 BCE
Yellow-Green =
Roman Territory
Ca. 500 BCE
Yellow Explosion =
Site of Etruscan Veii
Livy on the Sack of Veii
“In a moment the armed soldiers were everywhere hurled
from the walls, and the gates thrown open. A part of the
Romans poured through them in a body, others scaled the
deserted walls; the city was overrun with enemies; the
battle raged in every quarter; then, when there had
already been great carnage, the fighting began to flag, and
the dictator bade the heralds proclaim that those without
arms should be spared. This ended the slaughter. The
unarmed began to give themselves up, and the Romans
scattered, with the dictator’s permission, in quest of
booty.”
Livy, 5.21.12-14
Readings for Next Meeting
Livy, Rome and Italy, 11-34, 37-156
 Doyle, Empires, 11-47

Assignments for Next Meeting
Individual Report on Livy as an historian
and the background and nature of his work
 Individual Report on Doyle, Empires, 11-47


Reports should run approximately 15
minutes
Questions for Readings
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Are there pitfalls in using Livy as an historical
source for early Roman imperialism? What is the
nature of Livian historiography? What do we
know of Livy’s research methods and his
conception of history?
Are there recurrent patterns in Livy’s narrative in
the relationship between Roman domestic politics
and foreign affairs?
What does Doyle mean by “metrocentric,”
“pericentric,” and “systemic” views of
imperialism?