Ancient Rome People


The Seven Kings of Rome
It was under the Roman Kings that the Roman ability to create an empire of sorts first came to the fore, even though any original intentions will hardly have been of an imperial nature.

In all there was said to have been seven kings of Rome covering a period of over two hundred years.

The first king of Rome was the mythical Romulus (753-715 BC), the fabled founder, was the first. To him is attributed the founding, the extension to four of the Roman hill, - the Capitoline, Aventine, Caelian and Quirinal -, and the infamous rape of the Sabine women.

The second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius (715-673 BC) , owing to the influence of his adviser, the nymph and prophetess Egeria, enjoyed a peaceful reign.

The third king, however, Tullius Hositilius (673 - 642 BC), was responsible for the destruction of Alba Longa and the removal of its inhabitants to Rome.
With the literal destruction of this opponent they took over the sacred festivals of Latium and all the regional prestige and status that came with it.

The fourth king, Ancus Marcius (642 - 617 BC) , extended the city further, built the first bridge across the across the Tiber and founded Ostia at the mouth of that river to serve Rome as a seaport.- All evidence of the city's increasing power.

The fifth king, Tarquinius Priscus (617 - 579 BC), was an Etruscan, though how he secured his kingship is unknown. He continued the work of conquest, but found time to build the first sewer, the Cloaca Maxima, laid out the Circus Maximus, and began to erect on the Capitoline Hill a great temple to Jupiter.

The sixth king, Servius Tullius (579 - 535 BC), was a celebrated monarch of great achievements. He made the division of the people into tribes and classes, thus setting up a constitution in which wealth was the dominant consideration. Also he is said to have enlarged the city by building a wall around it, five miles in circumference with nineteen gates, embracing all the seven hills of Rome. He transferred the regional festival of Diana from Aricia to the Aventine Hill of Rome. Shortly afterwards a massive temple of ca. 60 metres length and 50 width (begun by Tarquinius Priscus) was dedicated on the Capitoline Hill to Jupiter.

The seventh king, Tarquinius Superbus (534 - 510 BC) , was Rome's last. He continued with great vigour the work of extending the power of the city, and the founding of colonies by him was the beginning of Rome's path to supremacy of the world. But on other matters Tarquinius was less politically astute. He irritated the people by the burdens he placed upon them. And when his son Sextus outraged Lucretia, the wife of a prominent Roman, Tarquinius was exiled, the lead being taken by a rich citizen named Brutus, whose father's property he had seized.
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Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus
Gaius Gracchus Gaius Marius
Sulla Pompey
Julius Caesar
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Roman Emperors

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Marcus Aurelius


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