Roman Republic; Unification of Italy

Ancient Rome went on a long campaign to try to unify Rome between 390BCE- 240BCE.[1] Rome conquered: first the Etruscan city of Veii, secondly, they conquered the Samnites and then thirdly they conquered Epirus. Rome united the Italian city states and the Italian Empires in Italy and later formed Italy as the Roman republic. The Celts originally sacked the Romans in ~500BCE. The Samnites were defeated in three separate wars. Finally, the Romans defeated Pyrus/Epirus and he left Italy. The Romans started out as a kingdom of 35,000 people and quickly expanded to a population of over 484,000 people. The Roman Empire expanded to over 3000 square miles from an initial area of just over 400 square miles. Then ancient Romans started out with seven kings. The last king was particularly cruel, which contributed to a coup. The Roman’s founded a republic that was slightly based on ancient Greece.

[1]  Chris Scarre, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (London: Penguin Books, 1995). Pg. 23

King, Ross. The Shortest History of Ancient Rome. New York: The Experiment Publishing, 2022.

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

The War with Hannibal. Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. London: Penguin Books, 1972.

“Lombards and Byzantines.” In Italy. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed May 7, 2026.

Scarre, Chris. The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome. London: Penguin Books, 1995.