The mantle of Western Civilization so brandished by the
Greeks would be transferred to their natural successors the Romans. Legend has
it that the Rome itself was built by Romulus who killed his brother Remus after
arguing about the site location for the city. Virgil saw the Romans as the
descendants of the city state of Troy who had so valiantly (but ultimately
unsuccessfully) battled the Achaean Greeks in the period between 1194-1184 BC
in what was to be known as the Trojan Wars (The same conflict described by
Homer in his epic poem The Iliad). However it is more likely that the Romans
emerged from a settlement population of Italian origin who developed along the
Tiber River.
The First Roman King was indeed named Romulus (753-716 BCE)
and early Roman history was very much entangled with the history of the
Etruscans who around 900-500 BC were the dominant group on the Italian
peninsula
However the kingdom collapsed in 509 BC with L. Tarquin
Superbus serving as its last monarch. Events leading to the downfall of the
last king were bought to a head by a revolt of the nobility. This followed the
saga of the rape of the aristocrat woman Lucretia by the king’s son. It would
be replaced by the Republic.
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