414 empires and dynasties: Rome Ancus Marcius was Sabine by ancestry, and his successor, Tarquinius Priscus, also called Tarquin I (r 616–578 b.c.e.), was Etruscan The Etruscans were the dominant military and political power in the region of Italy where Rome was situated Tarquinius Priscus undertook major public works in Rome, which was expanding because of trade The city was the best place to cross the Tiber River, and many merchants passed through it Tarquinius Priscus drained the swamp at the base of Palatine Hill and built the Roman Forum on the newly dry land He also built the Capitol, in which temples to Rome’s patron gods would be housed, and in it he built the temple to Jupiter, Rome’s chief god By the time of Tarquinius Superbus, meaning Tarquin the Proud (r 534–510 b.c.e.), Rome had about 40,000 residents and had formed an aristocracy of wealthy people, called patricians In 510 b.c.e Sextus, a son of Tarquinius Superbus, raped an aristocrat’s daughter, Lucretia This enraged the aristocrats, and under the leadership of Lucius Junius Brutus they rebelled and threw the Tarquin family out of Rome They established the Roman Republic, which was ruled by the Senate, composed of aristocrats Tarquinius Superbus returned with an Etruscan army to retake Rome but was stymied by the Romans Probably under the leadership of Brutus, Rome formed an alliance with other cities in the region; united, they defeated the Etruscans at Aricia in 506 b.c.e and formed into independent city states THE REPUBLIC (CA 509–27 B.C.E.) Although ultimate political authority rested with the Senate, the new constitution for Roman government called for two executives, called consuls, to run the government jointly for one year at a time, with an annual election of consuls by the Senate One of the first of the early consuls was Brutus, who served in 509 b.c.e In times of war the Senate could appoint a dictator who would rule with almost absolute power Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, who was dictator in 458 b.c.e., set an important precedent by voluntarily relinquishing his power after defeating Rome’s enemies, even though he could have used the army he commanded to make himself king Marcus Furius Camillus may have been dictator as many as five times He may have first been declared dictator in 390 b.c.e., when Gauls sacked Rome Perhaps he rallied the spirits of the Romans and persuaded them to rebuild their city In 367 b.c.e he was declared dictator when the Gauls threatened to invade Rome, again He seems to have followed the precedent set by Cincinnatus by relinquishing his dictatorships when his tasks were done For the dictatorship of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus in 217 b.c.e archaeology has found evidence to support the basic events found in Roman accounts Fabius served as consul in 233, 228, 215, 214, and 209 b.c.e and was named dictator in 217 b.c.e He was sarcastically nicknamed “Cuncator,” meaning the Delayer, because of his policy of avoiding direct confrontations with Hannibal’s army, always trying to draw the Carthaginian army away from attacking the city of Rome Later, after other commanders suffered disastrous losses in direct confrontations with Hannibal’s forces, the nickname became one of honor, in recognition of the wisdom of his delaying tactics Fabius opposed the plans of Publius Cornelius Scipio, also known as Scipio the Elder Scipio served as consul in 205 and 194 b.c.e In 205 b.c.e Rome was still at war with Carthage Scipio wanted to take the war overseas by attacking the city of Carthage Fabius and other senators regarded this plan as too dangerous, and the Senate refused to fund Fabius’s military plans Scipio went to Sicily and raised and equipped an army In 204 b.c.e the Senate refused financial and military support to Scipio’s venture but gave its consent to his invading North Africa Scipio succeeded in leading his forces to victory and ending the war An office representing the plebeians, or common people, in government had evolved, called the “tribune.” Tiberius Gracchus and his younger brother Gaius Gracchus tried to use the office of tribune to reform Roman society When the Senate blocked his reforms, Tiberius Gracchus took the matter to the popular assembly, the Concilium Plebis, which passed his reforms He ran for reelection as tribune, and on election day he and hundreds of his supporters were murdered by followers of the Senate Gaius Gracchus served two terms as tribune (123–22 b.c.e.) He tried to enact his brother’s reforms and was mostly successful After he was defeated for a third term, Gaius Gracchus and his supporters were set upon by henchmen of the Senate; about 3,000 of them were murdered in a day, with Gaius Gracchus either committing suicide or being murdered by bounty hunters eager to collect a reward of gold Powerful individual leaders gradually gathered to themselves the power to run Rome Among them was Gaius Marius, who served as consul seven times between 107 and 86 b.c.e He was a political and social reformer as well as a military leader, and he was willing to use the threat of his troops, who were more loyal to him than to Rome, to enforce his wishes over opposition by the Senate Much of his work was undone by Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who was dictator from 82 to 79 b.c.e He was a successful general who championed aristocratic dominance of society and government He ruled with almost absolute power and condemned to death without trial thousands of people, with his soldiers enforcing terror in the streets of the city of Rome He set a precedent for Roman military commanders by taking control of the city by military force In an effort to shore up the privileges of the Senate, he rewrote Roman laws, placing courts under patrician control and granting patrician jurists immunity from prosecution for taking bribes So thorough was he in restructuring Roman law that later Romans confessed that even though they disliked some of the laws, they did not know how to change them all and keep Roman society intact Sulla chose to retire in 79 b.c.e JULIUS CAESAR (100–44 B.C.E.) The next powerful figure was Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, later known as Pompey the Great As a military commander he