Essay Example on Rome eventually became the Epicenter

Rome eventually became the epicenter of one of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world The people of Rome conquered many of the territories including Greece and Egypt Rome grew from a small town on the Tiber River to become a great power Rome conquered Greece Mesopotamia Egypt and Persia Rome's central location and good climate were factors in its success Because most of Italy is surrounded by water Romans could easily travel by sea Most of Italy has warm dry summers and mild rainy winters Rome s position is ideal because it is surrounded by mountains and is on the Titus River Also the mountains are some what a natural barrier and it is easier to attack going downhill the uphill The Roman Republic started the year 338 BC and ended the year 133 27AC The climate is similar to that of California Italy's mild climate allows people to grow a many crops Grains grapes citrus fruit and olives all grow well there A large food supply was one main key in Rome's early growth The Romans believed their history could be traced back to the great Trojan hero named Aeneas When the Greeks destroyed Troy in the Trojan War Aeneas fled with his followers After a long and dangerous journey he reached Italy The story of this trip is told in the Aeneid a poem written by a poet named Virgil around 20 BC According to the story when Aeneas reached Italy he found several groups of people living there He formed an alliance with one of these groups called the Latins Together they fought the other people of Italy 

After defeating these enemies Aeneas married the daughter of the Latin king Aeneas his son and their descendants became leading rulers in Italy Among the descendants of Aeneas were the founders of Rome According to Roman myths these founders were twin brothers named Remus and Romulus In the story these boys led exciting lives When they were toddlers they were put in a basket and put in the Tiber River They didn't drown because a wolf rescued them surprising The wolf cared for the boys for many years Eventually a shepherd found the boys and adopted them After they grew up Romulus and Remus decided to build a city to mark the spot where the wolf had rescued them While they were planning the city Remus made fun of his brother s ideas In a fit of anger Romulus killed Remus After that he built a city and then named it Rome after himself a bit selfish In the republic the Romans created citizens elected leaders to govern them They voted once a year to prevent any one person from gaining too much power But early Rome had its troubles For one thing Rome was usually at war with nearby countries To lead the country to war the Romans elected dictators rulers with almost absolute power A dictator's power could not last more than six months 

The most famous dictator was Cincinnatus a farmer elected to defeat a major army He resigned as a dictator right after the war and went back to his farm Within Rome the plebeians or common people worked for chance Only the city's patricians the wealthy citizens could be elected to rule Rome When the plebeians elected a council the patricians changed the government At first Rome's laws were not written down People thought that it was unfair to be charged by laws they did not know existed In 450 BC Rome s first legal code was written on twelve bronze tablets and displayed in the forum Rome s public meeting place Although the Romans continued to make laws the Law of the Twelve Tablets remained as the basis of Roman law During the 400s BC the plebeians were not happy that they did not have any say with the government The city's leaders knew that they had to compromise or the plebeians might rise up and overthrow the government So the patricians created positions in the government for the plebeians A tripartite government a government with three parts was established to keep any one group from getting too much power