Having established settlements on the Palatine and Aventine Hills, respectively, the two fought, and Remus was killed. By tradition, Rome was founded on that day, 21 April 753 BC, with Romulus becoming the first of seven kings. Remains of Iron Age settlement have been discovered on the Palatine Hill, and evidence of even earlier Bronze Age occupation in the region, so perhaps that story isn\u2019t pure myth.<\/p>\n
The last of the seven mythical kings, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus \u2013 Tarquin the Proud \u2013 was a tyrannical ruler. His son, Sextus Tarquinius, was also a criminal; Sextus\u2019 rape of another man\u2019s wife, Lucretia, and her subsequent suicide was the highly disturbing episode that, according to the historian Livy (writing some five centuries later), prompted the expulsion of the king and the foundation of the Roman Republic<\/a> in 509 BC.<\/p>\n Rome would be governed by a senate headed by two consuls, ensuring that no one man had complete power. In that nascent republic, the centre of civic life, as well as religion, commerce and entertainment, was the Roman Forum, still a fascinating place to visit today.<\/p>\n Initially a relatively small settlement with limited influence, over the following five centuries of the republic Rome grew as its territory expanded. Its power swelled throughout what\u2019s now Italy, then across and around the Mediterranean with wars against the Macedonians and with Carthage in the third and second centuries BC.<\/p>\n By the end of the Third Punic War<\/a> in 146 BC, Roman territory covered parts of the Iberian Peninsula and what\u2019s now Tunisia. The following century, as a result of conquests by generals including Julius Caesar<\/a>, it grew to encompass much of mainland western Europe, swathes of coastal North Africa and the Middle East.<\/p>\n Successful generals became very wealthy \u2013 and the spoils of their victories, which included money, artefacts and vast numbers of enslaved people<\/a>, were used to build monuments to their glory. One of the earliest examples is the Temple of Castor and Pollux, associated with a Roman triumph over other Italians at the battle of Lake Regillus in 495 BC.<\/p>\n Later figures during this period of conquest and expansion, including Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (known as Pompey the Great) and Julius Caesar, also left their marks on the city. The latter bought some very expensive land to build a new forum, north-east of the Roman Forum. And the former built a great theatre on the Campus Martius (Field of Mars), sadly no longer surviving \u2013 but infamous as the site of Julius Caesar\u2019s assassination<\/a> in 44 BC.<\/p>\n This companion piece accompanies our podcast miniseries History\u2019s Greatest Cities. Listen to the full episode on Rome<\/a> with Shushma Malik and\u00a0Paul Bloomfield, then explore the entire series<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> Caesar\u2019s death sparked a tussle for power that erupted into civil war, ending when his adopted son, Octavian, defeated Mark Antony at the battle of Actium<\/a> in 31 BC. Four years later, the senate awarded him the title Augustus, the first emperor of Rome<\/a>.<\/p>\n During his lengthy rule (until AD 14), Augustus oversaw major building projects. He finished Julius Caesar\u2019s Forum, expanding it into the Campus Martius, where soldiers had traditionally mustered before heading out to war. And in 13 BC, the senate ordered the creation of the Ara Pacis \u2013 an altar dedicated to Augustus, celebrating the peace he\u2019d secured across the now-vast empire \u2013 which now stands next to his mausoleum.<\/p>\n Successive emperors vied to outdo the one before in expanding, improving and beautifying the city. Trajan (ruled AD 98\u2013117) built the towering column carved with reliefs commemorating his campaigns in what\u2019s now Romania. Hadrian (ruled AD 117\u2013138) \u2013 builder of the wall in Roman Britain<\/a> \u2013 comprehensively rebuilt the Pantheon, the only ancient building that\u2019s remained largely intact over the past two millennia. And several emperors built palaces on the Palatine, from which the English word palace is derived.<\/p>\n Alongside these religious and monumental buildings designed to glorify themselves, emperors also acted as benefactors to the people of the city and the empire. The Colosseum is a famous example \u2013 probably Rome\u2019s first permanent amphitheatre, it was commissioned by Vespasian in AD 72 and finished by his son, Titus, in AD 80. Its construction partly funded by the war in Judea.<\/p>\n There were also porticos around central Rome where people could congregate in the evening, as well as tavernas and restaurants \u2013 some of which would have been very cheap \u2013 and of course shops and other places to buy and sell. Visit Trajan\u2019s Markets to get an idea of these kinds of amenities.<\/p>\n Another factor that had an impact on the physical landscape of Rome over the following centuries was the arrival of Christianity<\/a>, probably only about 20 or 30 years or so after the death of Christ.<\/p>\n The first Christian emperor, however, was Constantine<\/a>, who is believed to have converted to Christianity in AD 312; the first known dedicated churches in Rome were built later that century. You can visit one of the earliest beneath the 12th-century Basilica of San Clemente, on the Via di San Giovanni in Laterano.<\/p>\n During this time, Rome\u2019s power was challenged in various regions. In AD 286, the emperor Diocletian had decided to divide the empire into east and west. The wealthy city that became the eastern seat of power, Constantinople, was already in the ascendancy. Though there was still a senate in Rome, and an incredibly powerful symbolism to the city, it increasingly suffered security problems. And in AD 410, Rome was sacked by the Visigoths<\/a> \u2013 the first time in some 800 years that the city itself had actually been physically attacked.<\/p>\n A different kind of power remained in Rome, though: that of the Catholic Church. So while some ancient monuments were dismantled or allowed to fall into ruin over the following centuries, and the population dwindled to just a few thousand, the papacy remained \u2013 most of the time, anyway. But the power that lay behind the idea of the Roman emperor endured and, after the Frankish king Charlemagne<\/a> conquered Italy, in AD 800 he was crowned as an emperor in charge of governing the Roman empire \u2013 a hugely symbolic event.<\/p>\n Over the next few centuries, the city suffered some of its hardest days. It was riven by local conflict, external attacks, even a schism after the papacy moved to Avignon<\/a> in 1309; the Black Death<\/a> also took its toll.<\/p>\n From the 15th century, though, political, financial and cultural capital returned to Rome during the Renaissance<\/a>. Wealth arrived with families such as the Borgias<\/a>, funding the creation of great art and architecture; Michelangelo<\/a>, Raphael and Cellini<\/a> were drawn to work in the Vatican, and villas and palaces were built around Rome to accommodate the immensely rich people who patronised such artists.<\/p>\n Over the next few centuries, styles evolved. St Peter\u2019s Basilica in the Vatican, begun in 1506 at the zenith of the Renaissance, had become an opulent Baroque edifice by the time it was completed in 1626. Francesco Borromini continued the theme with his churches and other work across Rome, adapting Classical forms into Baroque structures.<\/p>\n The 18th century saw the installation of rococo monuments such as the Trevi Fountain \u2013 itself built on the site of an ancient Roman original \u2013 and Spanish Steps. All the while, aristocratic visitors from Britain and elsewhere \u2013 so-called Grand Tourists \u2013 were collecting artworks and taking back these ideas.<\/p>\n The French Revolution<\/a> in the late 18th century, and the revolutions that rocked much of Europe in 1848<\/a>, had an impact on Rome, which briefly returned to a republic in 1849. Two key figures of the time were Giuseppe Manzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, who both held offices in that republic, and who helped to drive the Risorgimento \u2013 unification movement \u2013 through the 1860s and early 1870s, essentially creating the kingdom of Italy.<\/p>\n Rome, though, was not immediately its capital; that was first Turin, then Florence, until the seat of government settled in Rome in the 1870s. That reunification is celebrated in the grandiose white marble confection of the Victor Emmanuel II Monument, built from 1885 to honour the first king of the reunified Italy.<\/p>\n Following the First World War<\/a>, when Italy fought the Austro-Hungarian empire on its northern borders, nationalist sentiments swelled. The main beneficiary was Benito Mussolini<\/a>, who saw himself as a new Emperor Augustus, and focused on building back the glory of Rome through the Fascist state he established after seizing power in 1922.<\/p>\n As part of that process, to imprint his mark on the \u2018Eternal City\u2019, he built the vast Via dei Fori Imperiali, a triumphal route leading from the Victor Emmanuel Monument to the Colosseum \u2013 ironically, cutting through and destroying parts of the ancient forums.<\/p>\n Italy became a republic once again after the Second World War<\/a>. And in the decades since \u2013 some politically turbulent, many triumphant \u2013 it has continued to restore and reinvent. Hosting the 1960 Summer Olympics sparked major rebuilding work. Since then, in fashion, film and music as well as sport, it\u2019s once again become a powerhouse, as well as an extraordinary place to visit \u2013 for its modern spirit as much as its astonishingly long, varied history.<\/p>\n Read more about historical travel<\/strong><\/p>\nFrom kingdom to republic<\/h2>\n
History\u2019s Greatest Cities: A HistoryExtra<\/em> podcast series<\/h2>\n
<\/li>\n<\/ul>![\""Cities\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/02\/Cities-new-Sq-c8695f6.jpg?quality=45&resize=556,556"\" "\\"\"Cities\\"\/")
<\/div><\/div> <\/div> <\/section>From republic to empire<\/h2>\n
From empire to papacy<\/h2>\n
From Grand Tourist hotspot to Italian capital<\/h2>\n