When was Rome founded?

The tale of founding Rome is recounted in traditional stories. According to the tradition, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus founded Rome on April 21, 753 B.C. The legends claims that, in an argument over where the city would be located and who would rule the city, Remus was killed by his brother Romulus and named the city after his name. This is the best known story for the founding of the Rome.

Remus and Romulus were the sons of the Rhea Silvia, the daughter of King Numitor of Alba Longa. Alba Longa was a ancient city situated in the Alban Hills southeast of the would be Rome. Before the birth of twins, Numitor was removed suddenly and forcefully by his younger brother Amulius, Amulius forced Rhea to become a vestal virgin so that she would not give birth the rival claimants of his title. Though, Rhea was impregnated by the war god Mars and gave birth to the twin brothers, Romulus and Remus. Amulius ordered to drowned the infants in the bank of Tiber river. However, they survived and washed ashore at the foot of the Palatine hill, where they were nurtured and fed by a she-wolf until they were recovered by the shepherd Faustulus.

The twin brothers were nurtured by Faustulus and his wife until they were fully grown. The twin brothers later became the leader of a band of young shepherd warriors. After getting knowledge of their true identity the twin brothers attacked Alba Longa and killed the evil king and restored the throne to their grandfather. After resorting the throne to their grandfather the twins then decided to found a new town on the site where they were they had been saved as an infants. They soon involved in a petty quarrel which led Romulus to slain his brother Remus. Romulus then became the ruler and named the city “Rome” after his name.

Its journey from a republic to an empire

The ancient Rome had two major periods of history. The first was the Roman Republic which lasted from 509 BC to 27 BC. During this period there was no single period of Rome. The government was run by the elected officials. The second period was the Roman Empire which lasted from 27 BC to 476 AD. During this period the government was led by an emperor.

Julius Caeser was a Roman general and governor. He used his power to become a dictator which led the Roman Republic Government to an end. Caeser’s enemies did not wanted him to end the Roman Republic and become king, so they assassinated him in 44 BC.

After Caeser’s death, a second Triumvirate formed between Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus. Octavian was adopted by Caeser and he legally become Caeser’s heir. The Second Triumvirate ruled for ten years till 33 BC. However, it began to split when Octavian removed Lepidus from power in 36 BC. When the Second Triumvirate came to an end, a civil war began between Mark Antony and Octavian. Octavian built a powerful base in Rome. In the meantime Mark Antony who had allied with Cleopatra VII of Egypt, was with his army in the eastern portion of the empire. Octavian defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and became the most powerful man in Rome. In 27 BC, he named himself as "Augustus" and became the first Emperor of Rome. This marked the beginning of the Roman Empire. It was the most prospectus time of ancient Rome during the first period of Roman Empire. The Roman Empire expanded to cover its largest expanse and became very wealthy.