The Settlement of Rome Was Founded on the Hill Known As Palatine

Early Rome

Study Guide – Accommodated

Founding of Rome

·  The settlement of Rome was founded on the hill known as Palatine.

·  Legend has it that a Trojan prince, Aeneas, lead his people west.

·  The Latins were the first settlers in the land near where Rome was settled.

·  Romulus founded and became the first king of the city which he named Rome.

The Etruscans

·  A people called the Etruscans came from the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor.

·  They built cities on hilltops and surrounded them with thick walls.

·  They were highly civilized:

o  They traded on the seas, used iron tools, mined precious minerals for metalwork and had a strong army.

o  Women danced, took part in public celebrations and could own property.

o  They had three classes of people in their social order – upper class (wealthy), middle class (farmers and workers), lower class (slaves).

·  They had many gods and built temples and sculptures of them to worship the gods.

·  Priestly soothsayers read omens as signs of what might happen in the future.

·  They buried their dead in tombs beneath the ground called catacombs.

·  Outside each Etruscan city was a necropolis (cemetery) made up of acres of tombs.

Etruscan and Romans

·  Lucius Tarquinius became the first Etruscan ruler of Rome.

·  Etruscans made many contributions to Roman civilization:

o  Gladiatorial games began as fights between slaves at Etruscan masters’ funerals.

o  A triumph was a parade-like procession honoring a hero returning from battle.

§  The fasces was bundle of rods that became the symbol of Roman authority.

o  The Etruscans built the first temple to their gods on the Capitoline hill.

o  The Capitoline is the center of Rome’s municipal or city government.

o  Romans believed the place where two streets met was the mundus or meeting point for the worlds of the living and the dead. It was marked by a stone.