Roman Kingdom

  General Description   The Regal Period refers to the period at the end of the Iron Age during which Rome developed as a uncleared settlement in the heart of Latium (modern-day Lazio), ruled over by ’Etruscan kings’. Although there is archaeological evidence for the permanent occupation of Rome from the Iron Age ’centuries before’ the city’s mythic foundation date of 754 BCE, ^[1] perhaps from as early as 1000 BCE, ^[2] we have chosen to begin this polity in 716, with the traditional death date of the city’s legendary founder Romulus. ^[3] The city prospered during this time, which saw the development of many of the institutions - political administration, legal system, religious practices - characteristic of the later Roman Republic. The last king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (534-509 BCE), was expelled from Rome for his and his family’s tyrannical excesses. In his place, the leading Roman elites established an aristocratic city-state, ushering in the Republican period. ^[4]
Population and political organization
By end of the Regal Period, Rome was a well-developed city-state, boasting civic infrastructure (marsh drainage, roads), political institutions (assemblies, Senate), monuments (temples), and a powerful military. It held at least one third of the area of Latium vetus (Old Latium) ^[5] and had a population of 20,000-50,000 people.
According to legend, Rome became a city when the eponymous founder Romulus slew his twin brother Remus, both outcasts from a nearby Latium settlement, in a contest over where to found their new city. Numa Pompilius (r. 715-673 BCE), of Sabine origin, was the next king. Pompilius is traditionally credited with establishing ’all the major religious institutions of the state, including the calendar and the priesthoods’. ^[6] Starting with Tarquinius Priscus (r. 616-579 BCE), Rome was ruled by a series of kings of Etruscan descent, who could thus draw on the legacy of this powerful and complex culture from north-central Italy (around modern-day Etruria). The Roman king served as chief legislator, military commander, highest judge and chief priest. ^{[7] [8]} Archaeological remains found on the Palatine Hill dating to the late 8th century BCE suggest that the king lived in a palace from the earliest times. Rome’s relationship with other settlements in Latium, particularly on military matters, were important. ^[9] The hereditary clan system (gens) formed the basis of the Roman nobility, ^[10] likely serving first as the king’s advisors, although administrative structures gradually became more institutionalized (for example, through the establishment of a formal senate and voting assemblies) throughout the late 8th and 7th centuries BCE.
The city of Rome, with a population somewhere between 14,000 and 57,000 during this period, fared well in military and economic terms. Several kings claimed important victories over nearby settlements in Latium and Etruria, expanding Rome’s sphere of influence and establishing economic connections throughout central Italy. The Via Salaria (’salt road’) and the Sacra Via in Rome were in existence from the beginning of the Roman Kingdom ^[11] - although at this time the roads would not have been paved. A port known as Caere was situated 50 kilometres northwest of Rome. ^[12] The first bridge, thought to be the Pons Sublicius, may have been built in 642 BCE under Ancus Marcius. ^[12] Roman kings also reclaimed marshland and carried out drainage works. ^[13]

[1]: (Cornell 1995, 80) Tim J. Cornell. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC). London: Routledge.

[2]: (Cornell 1995, 72) Tim J. Cornell. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC). London: Routledge.

[3]: (Martin 2012, 42) Thomas R. Martin. 2012. Ancient Rome: From Romulus to Justinian. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

[4]: (Cornell 1995, 118, 120) Tim J. Cornell. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC). London: Routledge.

[5]: (Cornell 1995, 205) Tim J. Cornell. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC). London: Routledge.

[6]: (Cornell 1995, 120) Tim J. Cornell. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC). London: Routledge.

[7]: (Adkins and Adkins 1998, 62) Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins. 1998. Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[8]: (Cornell 1995, 252) Tim J. Cornell. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC). London: Routledge.

[9]: (Armstrong 2016, 73) Jeremy Armstrong. 2016. War and Society in Early Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[10]: (Cornell 1995, 115) Tim J. Cornell. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC). London: Routledge.

[11]: (Cornell 1995, 48, 96) Tim J. Cornell. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC). London: Routledge.

[12]: (Cornell 1995, 128) Tim J. Cornell. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC). London: Routledge.

[13]: (Cornell 1995, 164) Tim J. Cornell. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC). London: Routledge.