The Myths and Reality of Ancient Rome

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​Ancient Rome

​Use the handout to take notes about the Myths and the reality of Ancient Rome;

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• The city of Rome was built on 7 hills

along the Tiber River about 15 miles
from the coast which helped
protect the city from sea invasions

• The Tiber River connected Rome to

the Mediterranean Sea and helped
Rome become an important center
of trade

•The legend of twin brothers, Romulus
and Remus tells of the founding of Rome
in 753 BCE

•Their dad was Mars, the Roman god of
war, and their mom was the daughter of
a king

•When they were babies, their evil uncle
threw them in the Tiber River to prevent
them from becoming king

•Instead of drowning, the twins were
rescued by a wolf and later raised by a
shepherd and his wife

• When the twins were older, they

decided to build a city along the
Tiber River, but they couldn’t agree
on an actual site

• When Remus jumped over a wall

Romulus was building, an enraged
Romulus killed his brother

• Romulus finished building his city and

named it Rome, after himself

Romulus and Remus

A nice story, but this is

more likely…

•During the 700s BCE, Latins settled in small
villages throughout the 7 hills

•Eventually the small villages united
together to form the city of Rome

•The Latins were not the only group living
on the Italian peninsula

ROME

ROME

Greek colonists in Southern Italy

Etruscans in Northern Italy

• Around 620 BCE, Rome came under the

control of the Etruscan kings

• Under the Etruscans, Rome grew larger

and prosperous

• The Romans learned how to build with

brick, use arches, and how to drain
marshy lands

• The center of the city, the Forum,

became the seat of the Roman
government

• In 509 BCE, the Romans overthrew the

Etruscans and established the

which would last for the next 500 years