IT ALL STARTED 2765 YEARS AGO....

Some countries came into being by aggression. Some by revolution. Some just because the same nationality resided in the same place for ages immemorial. And some just because there had to be a place for people nobody wanted. Those were and are the best. Because the unwanted, the restless, the people who wanted better life – they had a drive and started places like USA, or Canada or Australia. Or Rome.

Ruins of ancient police station

Santa Maria in Trastevere 

The Founding of Rome. (753 BC)

           

            There are times and places in human history which have an enormous influence upon subsequent times.  Or on the Hollywood production. One of them is the Roman Empire. Contrary to the creative Hollywood presentation, it did not somehow come into being full of bloodthirsty, skirt clad, continuously angry people.  How did it come into existence?

            In 8^th century BC the western Mediterranean world was a wild place of different tribes about whom we know only from archaeology. However, that was the time when seeds of a great empire were sown. 20 kilometers east from the mouth of the Tiber River, which drains the western part of central Italy, are remnants of volcanic activity, a number of eroded tufa hills. Everybody knows that Rome is a city of seven hills, but there are many more of them. Those seven hills were part of the original city.

            In the 8^th century not far from that location was a town of Alba Longa. It was ruled by two brothers, Numitor and Amulius. Amulius thought that it would be much better, finer and nobler, if Alba Longa had only one king, namely him. To bring about this pious aim, he overthrew his brother Numitor and killed Numitor’s sons. Numitor had also a daughter, Rhea Silvia. Amulius compelled her to become a Vestal Virgin. This honour should have prevented her from getting married. Amulius overlooked the fact, not lost on today’s unmarried and pregnant women, that not getting married did not mean not having children.  She claimed that the father was the god Mars.

            Amulius did not fall for the god fatherhood, and when she had twin boys, he had them thrown in the river Tiber in a basket. Tiber brought them gently to the foot of the Palatine, where they were rescued by a she wolf, who suckled them. Found by the shepherd Faustulus and his wife, they were rescued and brought up. When they grew up, they learned about their origin, and fixed Amulius – overthrew him and restored their grandfather Numitor to the throne of Alba Longa. However, they did not stay. They came back to the advantageous position of the Palatine hill with some other Alba Longa malcontents and founded a city. It was the first place from the mouth of the river, which could be forded by traders bringing the salt from the sea and a suitable place to build fortification, and collect passage tolls under the guise of ‘protection’.

            When a city was founded, a furrow was ploughed around a sacred district of the future city and the founder was the one who was doing the ploughing. At that time, ploughing was not an unsuitable occupation for princes. What happened next is decently clouded by different legends. The twins, Romulus and Remus, were supposed to rule together. But a city should have only one king. One version says that they watched for flight of birds, and the number should have decided who would be the king. Eventually, Remus saw 12 birds, Romulus only six, but a better species. Back to the drawing board for Remus.

            Romulus started to build a wall around the sacred precinct. Remus made fun of it, saying that it is pretty puny, and to prove it, he jumped over it. In a carefully pretended fit of anger, Romulus killed Remus. Since then, Romans took their building specifications very seriously and Romulus became the sole king.

            However, basically he was a leader of not very numerous band of ruffians. To make sure that his stay on the Palatine and as a leader lasts, he issued a proclamation sending heralds all over central Italy. The proclamation was to the effect that a new city is being built and it needs inhabitants. No previous experience necessary. He got what he asked for – runaway slaves, criminals exiled from their communities and other such prize lot.

            The result was that the newly built town resembled more a fort than a city, with all the rough looking men, and very few women. This could be remedied – Romulus sent messages to surrounding communities, namely the tribe of Sabines. Part of this Italic tribe resided on Esquiline hill. In the message he asked for the ‘right of marriage’, that is that his ruffians could marry girls from other communities. At that time, fathers decided whom their daughters will marry, and one look at the band around Romulus was enough for the fathers. Their collective “NO”! echoed among the seven hills.

            This ‘no’ gave the opportunity to the good men of Rome to show that they did not flee their original communities for nothing.  Ever since the beginning of Rome, the Romans were fond of horse racing. The origins of Circus Maximus or the Great Racetrack, went to the origins of Rome. It was started in the valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills and horse races were a popular entertainment. Romulus announced the day of big races and invited tribes from surrounding hills. They came merrily with their families and without weapons to watch the show. At a sign from Romulus, his men seized young girls. The visitors did not have weapons and could not do anything. “The Rape of Sabines” was an inspiration for many painters of the Renaissance and especially Rubens of the voluptuously painted flesh. Actually, even on the paintings the girls do not look too reluctant.

            There were weddings all over the city and angry Sabine men were preparing for war. However, at that time, only insane people made war during the fast approaching winter. The Sabine warriors were ready to squash the Roman upstarts right after they have sown their grain in the spring.  When both armies (or rather war bands) were close enough and fighting was about to start, suddenly the women appeared, throwing themselves between their brothers, fathers – and husbands and fathers of their children. This effectively put a damper on the whole revenge thing, and Romulus offered a merger of the two communities.

Circus Maximus today

            The Sabine fathers and brothers decided that their daughters and sisters are an ungrateful lot, and accepted Romulus’ offer. Suddenly there were enough citizens in Rome to withstand attacks from others – who considered this place a toll goldmine, or rather salt mine – and Rome took off.  In the legends, Romulus also divided citizens into patricians and plebeians, organized the army and the Senate. For a guy brought up as a shepherd, he did a lot of things and dividing citizens was not the best idea he ever had and it had repercussions later on.

            Romulus was a warrior king, but kind to the less fortunate too. The patricians who were the ruling class of the city-state did not appreciate this. In 715 BC, Romulus vanished during a thunderstorm and was later worshipped as the god Quirinus, the god of Roman citizens. Another version was, that Romulus was murdered by the patricians, who gave out the vanishing story. In Forum Romanum there is a black stone close to the Arch of Septimius Severus. In historical times Romans did not know what it signifies, but were very careful not to build anything on that spot. It was said that it was the burial place of Romulus.