The ancient Romans created a legend to explain the birth of their country. It begins with Aeneas, the Trojan hero already a part of Greek mythology. In order to escape the destruction of the city of Troy, Aeneas flees to Italy. There he begins a family line that
Will eventually produce kings. The twin brothers from the family, Romulus and Remus, are abandoned on the banks of the Tiber River, which runs through Rome. The twins are rescued by a she-wolf and helped by a shepherd. Later the brothers argue, and Romulus kills Remus. Romulus eventually founds the city of Rome on the banks of the Tiber, where he had been rescued.
People have been living in the low hills surrounding Rome since at least the tenth or eleventh century b. c. By the seventh century b. c., Rome was an established city-state, which consisted of the city and the surrounding region. For a time, it was ruled by Etruscan kings from Etruria, to the north. The Etruscans were a powerful people. Under their leadership, Rome was expanding its territory and developing a warlike culture.
The legend of Rome's founding is the subject of this sculpture, which shows the wolf that rescued the twin brothers, Romulus and Remus.
In 509 B. C., the Romans rebelled and exiled the last Etruscan king, Tarquin the Proud, and founded a republic.5 Under a government led by two elected consuls and the Senate, the Romans enlarged their empire by conquering their neighbors. By about 270 b. c., the Romans controlled the entire Italian penisula and were ready to challenge the other powers on the Mediterranean Sea.
World History
