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- The regal period (753-509 BC) and the early republic (509-280 BC) are the
most poorly documented periods of Roman history because historical accounts of
Rome were not written until much later.
- In earliest times, scholars believe that humans were ruled by chieftains or
tribal leaders. These men became the rulers because they were already leaders
in the more powerful clans and families. They usually kept their position as
petty king or tribal chief because of their strength and skill in battle.
- Historians are fairly certain that Rome was ruled by kings during her early
years. Kings Numa Pompilius and Ancus Marcius are legendary figures shrouded in mystery, while the sixth
king, Servius Tullus, emerges as a historical personality.
- Historians are fairly certain that three of Rome's seven kings were Etruscan.
- None of these early kings were absolute rulers; they all required the
support of the ruling aristocracy.
- When societies began to form the earliest civilizations, an all-powerful
ruler or king governed them.
- Early rulers like Hammurabi, Sennacherib, Xerxes, and Pharaoh Ramses I held
immense power while their subjects had few rights except, of course, the right
to obey their rulers.
- The king would dress in a purple trimmed cloak and high - topped boots of
red leather. He sat upon a throne of ivory known as a curule chair. These are
often seen in reliefs and on the reverse of coins and were constructed using
crossed elephant tusks for legs.
- The kings were accompanied by twelve lictors as he traveled about the city.
The lictors each bore a fasces, a bundle of rods which symbolized the power
over life and death held by the King of Rome. The axe symbolized the power to
execute quicly and mercifully, while the rods symbolized the power to punish with
beatings.
- Though the king was commander in time of war, high priest, and judge, he did
not have absolute power when it came to governing Rome. He needed the
agreement of a governing body in order to make such important decisions as going to
war. The Comitia Curiata was formed of representatives from each of the thirty
curiae, or groups of family clans. If approved by the Comitia Curiata, the act
still had to be approved by the Senate, originally one hundred of Rome's wealthy men who served as advisors to the
king.
- It is an interesting fact of Roman history that there are no written
records dating before 350 B.C. that have ever been discovered.
- After that time, records began to be kept by the priests, the Consuls' names
were recorded, and laws were written down. Later three men, Ennius, Naevius
and the famous historian Q. Fabius Pictor began to write histories based on
ancient legends and their own records of current events. Because of this, the seven
kings of Rome possess a status somewhere between legendary and historical.
- There probably were seven kings bearing these names, but the events ascribed
to their reigns before Servius Tullius are probably legendary and allegorical
in character. The warlike character of Tullus Hostilius stands in contrast to the religious emphasis on the events in King Numa's
reign.
- According to epic legend, Tarquin was overthrown because he had raped
Lucretia, a virtuous Roman matron and the daughter of an important citizen.
The History of Rome - Part One 743 - 136 B.C. © Bible History Online (http://www.bible-history.com) |