Rome's Beginnings:

Legend tells us that Rome was founded by the twins Romulus and Remus in 753 BC. The city began as villages on seven hills along the Tiber River. Their neighbors included the Etruscans to the north and Greeks in southern Italy.

In 509 BC, the Romans overthrew their king and set up a republic. The Republic was ruled by two consuls, who were elected by a lawmaking body called the senate. Male citizens with money and property were the only people allowed to vote.

The Romans fought their neighbors to protect their land, gradually expanding their territory. By the middle of the 3rd century BC they controlled all of the Italian peninsula. A century later (146 BC) the Romans defeated the people of Carthage - a powerful trading center in North Africa. This made Rome the most powerful city in the Mediterranean.