Ancient Rome: adding to current literature

jamessterrett48
Dec 23, 2025
3 min read

Ancient Rome rose from a small town all the way up to controlling the entire Mediterranean. The Ancient town of Rome would never have been expected to rise all the way up to controlling most of the Mediterranean. Rome started as an Iron Age settlement in the 8^th century. Ancient Rome was extremely traditional. Ancient Rome started as a tiny village; they rose all the way up to a world power.

The ancient Italian town of Rome became one of the largest empires the world had ever seen; however, at first, that did not seem like a possibility. The ancient town that became Rome was the 800-750BCE year Iron Age Settlement on the Palatine Hill near the Tiber River. [1] Romulus founded Rome on 753 BCE where the Iron Age settlement was. [2] The city of Rome was founded in an Italian region called “Latium.”[3] Roman legend asserted that Aeneas founded Rome. [4] The Roman story that Romulus and Remus founded Rome may partially be based on truth. [5] Aneas was one of two Trojan men who were allowed to live and leave Troy because they attempted peace and the return of Helen. [6] They were given special treatment and allowed to leave the battlefield around Troy. Rome was a conservative culture with their institutions resistant to frequent change. [7] This information is critical because it helps us to better understand early Rome and its culture. Ancient Rome, initially, was a small town founded in 753 BCE. It was extremely traditional, and it was not obvious, actually completely unexpected for the ancient town of Rome to be a world power throughout the Mediterranean Sea. Ancient Roman culture was extremely traditional and resistant to change. The Roman legend that Romulus and Remus may be partially based on truth/ what actually happened. In the story of Troy, Aeneas was given special treatment that allowed him to leave the area due to his attempts to fix/end the war and return Helen. Also, this shows that the Greeks did not treat everyone equally and also gave important consideration to those who were morally sound. Ancient Greeks were all part of one culture but had very different forms of government; they included: Democracy, Oligarchy, and Dictatorship. Ancient Greek culture also varied by region; between Naval war fleets, naval trade, farming, and a highly specialized military.

Ancient Rome was a key city that developed between 753 BCE and 500 BCE; it created important considerations that allowed greater importance and changed ancient geopolitics.

Ancient Rome was a major power throughout the Mediterranean. Ancient Rome lead the Mediterranean around the 1^st century BCE; however it still was extremely small as recently as the 5^th century BCE.

Bibliography

Livy. The Early History of Rome. Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. London: Penguin Books, 2002.

Carandini, Andrea, and Paolo Carafa, eds. The Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome. 2 vols. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017.

[1] Andrea Carandini and Paolo Carafa, eds. The Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017), 8.

[2] Andrea Carandini and Paolo Carafa, eds. The Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017), 8.

[3] Livy, The Early History of Rome, trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt (London: Penguin Books, 2002), 12.

[4] Livy, The Early History of Rome, trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt (London: Penguin Books, 2002), 12.

[5] Livy, The Early History of Rome, trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt (London: Penguin Books, 2002), 12.

[6] Livy, The Early History of Rome, trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt (London: Penguin Books, 2002), 15.

[7] Livy, The Early History of Rome, trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt (London: Penguin Books, 2002), 11.