The dramatic expansion of Rome originated in the early fourth century BC with the conquest of Veii, the Etruscan city closest to Rome. Then in 390 BC came a setback: raiding Gauls sacked Rome. In response, the Romans built their first fortification wall, ca. 380 BC. Called the Servian Wall after Servius Tullius, a sixth century BC king incorrectly believed to be its builder, this wall, 11km long, enclosed an area of 400ha on the east bank of the Tiber; included were the famous seven hills. The city later developed well beyond the confines of this wall, although the area inside continued to be defined as the city proper. A longer successor, enclosing a much larger area, the Aurelian Wall, the second and final fortification of the ancient city, would come only much later, in AD 271, its construction prompted by the unsettled conditions of the later empire.
In the Samnite Wars of the late fourth and early third centuries BC, the Romans confronted and defeated their neighbors in central Italy, notably the Samnites, the Etruscans, and the Gauls. Soon conflicts spread to the south, to a war with the Greek city of Tarentum (ending in 272 BC), and then to a dispute with Carthage for control of the island of Sicily (the First Punic War, 264—241 BC). By the later third century BC, Rome controlled all peninsular Italy, plus the islands of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia. The absorption in particular of the Etruscan and Greek regions with their rich cultural traditions had a tremendous impact on Roman society. Continuing conflict with Carthage (Second Punic War, 218—201 BC, and Third Punic War, 149—146 bc) led to a decisive Roman victory and to Roman control over the west and central Mediterranean.
To celebrate these ongoing victories, the triumph became an institution: a parade in Rome, paid by the victor from the spoils. From the early second century BC, these triumphs were commemorated by large free-standing arches (see the Arch of Titus and the Arch of Constantine, in Chapters 23 and 25).
From ca. 200 BC, the Romans were increasingly drawn into the conflicts between Hellenistic monarchs in the eastern Mediterranean, with territorial gains often the reward for their military assistance. In 146 BC, Greece fell under de facto Roman control. Shortly thereafter, with the Pergamene inheritance of 133 BC, the province of Asia was established in western Anatolia. The Romans expanded westward, too. In 58—51 BC, Julius Caesar marched into north-west Europe, conquering the area of modern France, Belgium, Germany west of the Rhine, and part of Switzerland. Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, a victim of the civil unrest that marked this turbulent final century of the Roman Republic. Peace came only in 31 BC, when Caesar’s adopted son and successor, Octavian, defeated his rival Mark Antony and the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII at the Battle of Actium off the north-west coast of Greece, thereby securing for Rome possession of the entire eastern Mediterranean. In 27 BC Octavian adopted the title Augustus. The Republic and the period of Roman expansion had come to an end; the Roman Empire had begun.
World History
