The Rise of Rome
In 214 BC, a worried Macedonian king sat down to write a letter. Philip V ruled the mountains that had launched Alexander, yet his cities were shrinking. So he pointed his people toward a rough settlement far to the west and named its secret weapon out loud: Rome had planted almost 70 colonies — and had done it by freeing its slaves and adopting its enemies. A king afraid of losing his kingdom was studying how to be more like Rome.
Key Terms
- Romulus
- The twin who counted 12 vultures atop the Palatine Hill, built a low stone wall, and killed his own brother for jumping over it.
- Remus
- The twin who counted 6 vultures atop the Aventine Hill and lost his life for mocking his brother’s new wall by leaping over it.
- Palatine Hill
- The hill where Romulus counted his vultures, built his sacred wall, and kept the thatched Hut of Romulus standing for centuries.
- Aventine Hill
- The hill where Remus stood and counted his vultures during the contest that split authority between two brothers.
- Augury
- An Iron Age practice of reading the will of the gods by watching the number and flight of birds.
- Tufa
- A soft volcanic rock into which the earliest Palatine settlers cut post-holes and drainage, some surviving from the 9th and 8th centuries BC.
- Pomerium
- A sacred boundary line raised between 750 and 725 BC that no one could cross without permission, on pain of insulting the gods.
- Asylum
- A sanctuary Romulus opened on a neighboring hill, inviting runaways, debtors, and even slaves to cross the line and become citizens.
- Capitoline Hill
- The hill where Romulus marked off a sanctuary between two sacred groves, inviting outcasts to enter as Romans.
- Philip V of Macedon
- A worried king who wrote a letter in 214 BC noting that his own cities were shrinking while Rome had founded almost 70 colonies by freeing slaves and adopting outsiders.
- Consualia
- A festival Romulus’s men used as cover to seize the women of a neighboring people, sparking a war.
- Numa Pompilius
- A Sabine king who came to share Rome’s throne after the Sabines were absorbed rather than crushed, and who founded the Vestal Virgins.
- Fasces
- A bundle of wooden rods strapped around an axe, carried to show a magistrate’s power to punish — though inside Rome’s walls, the axe was removed.
- Lapis Niger
- A slab of black marble in the Roman Forum holding the oldest Latin writing known, an inscription carved around 570 to 550 BC naming the king plainly.
- Vestal Virgins
- Priestesses founded by Numa Pompilius who guarded Rome’s sacred fire under a vow of purity lasting 30 years.
- Ancile
- A sacred shield said to have fallen from heaven, hidden among 11 identical copies so no thief could ever steal the real one.
- Tarquinius Superbus
- The last king of Rome, whose name means "Proud," and who ruled by fear alone instead of law.
- Lucretia
- A Roman noblewoman assaulted by the king’s son, who took her own life before her family out of grief and shame.
- Lucius Junius Brutus
- A man who survived years of suspicion by pretending to be a harmless fool, then swore an oath over a dead noblewoman that no king would ever rule Rome again.
- Pietas
- The Roman virtue of duty, meaning to honor the gods, the state, and the family above your own wishes.