Timeline of the Layers of Rome: From the Sabines to the Founding of the Republic

When digging through the layers of Rome, one can easily be overwhelmed by the immensity and complexity of its vast history. Depending on where one draws the line concerning the end of Roman history, the breadth of material can vary by as much as a thousand years. It is the aim of the Layers of Rome project to organize this monumental body of information into a concise timeline of Roman history, highlighting the most pivotal moments. What follows is an extended look at, and analysis of, three key moments in Roman history following the foundation of the city.

752 – Abduction of the Sabines

(Figure 1)

Francisco Pradilla - Rapto de las sabinas, Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francisco_Pradilla_-_Rapto_de_las_sabinas.jpg

First-century BC historian Titus Livius recounts that Romulus, to swell the population of his city and the ranks of his warband, opened the city gates to all the refuse of Italy – runaways, murderers, and thieves. Such men made Rome’s army powerful, but it became apparent that this prowess would not last a generation, as Rome lacked women and their neighbors had no desire to debase themselves by giving over their daughters to ‘Romulus’ cesspool.’1 Everywhere, the Roman envoys were spurned by the proud Italic2 tribes. Thus, Romulus conceived a plot. He ordered elaborate preparations for sacred games and sent invitations to all the neighboring cities. The response was emphatic and energetic, and great multitudes came to Rome; among them, the whole of the Sabine population, with its wives and families. When the games were to begin and the spectators distracted, a signal was given, and the Romans abducted the young Sabine women and expelled the men. Romulus is said to have personally assured each of the shaken women that they would not be slaves, but wives, accordingly entitled to property, citizenship, and most important to them, they would be the mothers of free men. Months passed and a Sabine army stood before Rome to reclaim their lost daughters. The Sabines stormed the Capitoline citadel and a furious battle for the city began. Amidst the fighting, the Sabine women intervened and threw themselves between the two armies holding their newborn babies, imploring, “It were better that we perish than live widowed or fatherless without one or other of you.”3 Moved by the pleas of their beloved wives and daughters, the fighting ceased. A treaty was struck that united the Romans and Sabines into one state, greatly increasing the Romans’ power and securing their future.

The most common title of this account, the “Rape of the Sabines,” is a misleading translation. The word rape comes from the Latin rapere – to carry off. This word is cognate with the more familiar word, rapture. If indeed the event occurred as described, it likely would have taken place on August 21st, the traditional date for the beginning of the festival of Neptunus Equester. This date could explain why it took the Sabines and their allies so long to respond as the end of the campaign season fell (at least for the Romans) on October 19th. Their armies could not have been mustered until after the autumn harvest and winter had passed which, if it is assumed the Italic tribes shared similar martial customs with those of the Romans, would put the start of their campaign season in March.

However, it’s important to note that this story, typical of all Roman history before the 4th century BC, is more myth and legend than reliable history. Titus Livius, or Livy, is not to blame for the fabulous elements in his histories; he is instead trying to preserve what little remains of memories whose record was reduced to ash nearly 350 years before. When Rome was sacked by the Senones in 390 BC, the Gallic invaders put the great houses and public buildings of the city to the torch, thus condemning to the flames all existing historical documents housed within them. Livy acknowledged the stories he had pieced together from a patchwork of pious pagan legend and the self-aggrandizing oral histories of the Patrician families were, at best, flimsy reflections of actual events.

(Figure 2)

Scène du retour du guerrier - Carafa di Noja, Nola - Musée archéologique national de Naples - inv 9364, Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sc%C3%A8ne_du_retour_du_guerrier_-_Carafa_di_Noja,_Nola_-_Mus%C3%A9e_arch%C3%A9ologique_national_de_Naples_-_inv_9364.jpg

Livy’s account does contain some possible kernels of genuine historical detail. The strikingly barbarous, primitive action of abducting the females of rival tribes removes the stately image most often associated with the Romans and reveals an earlier existence as iron age Italic raiders.

Livy tells us that Romulus spoke to each of the abducted women individually, indicating that Rome was likely no greater in size than a village – perhaps only a few hundred households scattered atop each of the seven small hills. The very fact that Rome was considered among the most powerful settlements in the region also paints a picture of the sum total of the Romans’ enemies – nothing more than warring clans under tribal chiefs, with small villages no more than a few miles from each other.

600 BC – Construction of the Cloaca Maxima

(Figure 3)

Rome: Cloaca Maxima (Great Sewer) General View. c.6th C. B.C., vault 2nd C. B.C. https://jstor.org/stable/community.13919773.

In its earliest years, Rome existed only upon its seven hilltops, with the valley between them consisting of uninhabitable marshland and stagnant pools. To conquer this wetland for the growing city, the fifth king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus, ordered the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, the Great Drain. A canal was dug and embankments constructed along the course of a stream that ran through the valley between the seven hills, emptying into the Tiber. The land that emerged from the murk would be used to construct Roman Forum, uniting the hilltops around the center of government, religion, and commerce. The canal, used also to carry away the city’s human waste, would eventually be covered (for obvious reasons). It was also expanded over the next millennia with the new branches constructed to service the growing city. To this day, the Cloaca Maxima remains beneath the streets of Rome, with sections still serving as a functioning sewer.

509 BC – Founding of the Republic

(Figure 4)

Henri Pinta, Le serment de Brutus, Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henri_Pinta_Le_serment_de_Brutus.JPG

After 250 years and seven kings, Rome was ruled by the hated and corrupt King Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. The impetus for revolt did not arise until the noblewoman, Lucretia, was raped in her home by Sextus Tarquinius, the son of the king. Scandalized and violated, she sent for her husband, Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus; her father, chief magistrate Spurius Lucretius; and two witnesses, Lucius Junius Brutus and Publius Valerius Publicola. To them she recounted the attack and made the men swear they would avenge her honor. She then plunged a dagger into her own heart. The four men swore an oath of vengeance upon the Tarquins for Sextus’ crime and paraded the corpse of Lucretia through the forum. The Roman people were outraged at the sight of the violated body of Lucretia. Brutus, as a magistrate, took charge, convening the gathering crowd into a lawful assembly, and proposing the expulsion of the Tarquins, abolition of the monarchy, and establishment of a republic. The assembly passed the propositions. The king, away on campaign, returned to Rome with his army to find the gates barred. His army then mutinied, and the king and his sons were banished from the lands of the Republic. Brutus and Lucretius were elected the first Consuls and swore an oath to never again suffer a tyrant to rule Rome.

These three moments spanning 250 years mark a crucial period of transition for Roman civilization. We see the Romans transform from iron age Italic raiders to some semblance of the Romans that would come to rule the known world.

References:

1. Marcus Tullius Cicero, “Letters to Atticus”

2. The non-Roman Italic language speaking peoples of the Italian peninsula

3. Titus Livius, “The History of Rome, Book I”