Topic > The Roman Monarchy

The Roman Monarchy is the first era of Rome. The monarchy shows that the Romans valued the voice of the people and respect for diversity. The Roman monarchy lasted a relatively short period, from 753 to 509 BC. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Roman monarchy began in 753 BC Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus, and Romulus later became king. He killed his brother and founded the city of Rome (which bears his name). Romulus was trying to attract immigrants and outcasts, so Rome amassed a large and diverse group of people. According to legend, the Sabines, a group of people from a nearby city, did not want to marry the Romans. As a solution, "both sides would then make peace with each other after a short war, and the Sabine king, Titus Tatius, would then become co-ruler of Rome together with Romulus, thus cementing Sabine integration into the Roman population." (Evans).After reigning for 40 years, Romulus disappeared from the Field of Mars. Romulus' reign showed the Roman value of respecting diversity because Rome is made up of marginalized people and immigrants. And with the diverse group of people, culture is created by mixing different backgrounds of these immigrants and marginalized people. During the reign of Romulus, the Romans integrated with the Sabines, so Romulus had to listen to Titus Tatius, who ruled alongside him, and the Sabines to maintain a peaceful kingdom for 40 years. There were 6 other kings who succeeded Romulus. Before Romulus there was Numa Pompilius (715-673 BC), elected from the Sabine city of Cures. Numa was known as "a man of peace who established the Roman religion". (Barba) Numa, more importantly, gave his people a pontifex, someone the public could consult on the city's problems or for advice. After Numa Pompilius there was Tullus Hostilius (673-642 BC), during whose reign a war broke out between the Romans, Albans and Etruscans. Tullus was known for being a strong military leader, but according to legend his reign ended when he was struck by lightning from the god Jupiter. The fourth king of the Roman monarchy was Ancus Marcius (642-627 BC). Ancus Marcius was Numa's nephew and expanded Roman territory during his reign. His reign ended when he lost a popular election to Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (534-510 BC), was Etruscan. During his reign, he increased the senate to 100 people, and at the end of his reign Rome became a city-state. Before his reign there was Servius Tullius, appointed by Tarquinius' widow. During his reign he divided people into five classes, advanced the middle class and made it mandatory to own land in order to vote. His reign ended when Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, son of Tarquinius the Elder (the fifth king), assassinated Servius. The last king was Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. Around 509-510 BC there was a great transition from monarchy to republic. Lucius Tarquinius the Proud angered the patricians, who expelled him from the city. The reason for the change was to prevent tyranny and oppressive values. “They were so determined to prevent the re-emergence of a tyrant in Rome that they abolished the monarchy and established a republic giving most executive authority to the king.” (Grant and Kitzinger). Some kings valued the opinion of their people and others gave more power to the government. The second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, took care to listen to the opinion of his people to "prevent the confusion which might arise from the neglect of natural religious rite or the adoption of foreign ones" (Boyle and Woodward). When the patricians drove out Lucius Tarquinius Superbus and completely ended the monarchy, this demonstrated the Roman value of having a voice of the people. Recent kings have focused more on their own power than on.