Roman Civilization

THE ROMAN CIVILIZATION

The Roman civilization started along the Tiber river , in the west of Italy . Early inhabitants before 1st millennium BC came from somewhere and settled . They were shepherds who started farming and acquired lands . Better climate and fertile soil promoted their village living Slowly they grew and developed their colonies . Their social life began to expand . Some farmers also raised livestock and began to trade on a small scale . Wealthy farmers built up their estates and brought slaves to work in their fields . The head of the family had the

sole power to run the family the way he liked . He could even sell his children for slavery if they were unwanted in the family . Sometime around 1st millennium BC some other tribe , probably from the eastern Mediterranean side , came and settled in Etruria (now Toscana or Tuscany ) on the northwestern side of the river Tiber . They were a smart and aggressive kind of people . Once settled they made the earlier inhabitants of that area their subordinates . These people were called the Etruscans . They had their own language but they used Greek (Phoenician ) alphabet for their writings and also used the style of Greek art . Historians have found a number of inscriptions of their language , all in brief , but still they are unintelligible . They improved their living status and moved towards the north and south increasing their domain up to Latium The peak of their prosperity and the dignity of their kingship was through the 7th century BC

Rome was founded in 753 BC . Around 600 BC Rome and the whole of Latium came under the rule of Etruscans . They had an advanced civilization They promoted trade and gave the idea of the citizen assembly . Under their rule , Rome grew into a prosperous city . But , with the urbanization of Latium and the prosperity of wealthy farmers and business people , a new social class developed in Rome that was more powerful . Thus , in 509 BC the Romans took over the rule of Rome by throwing out the last king of the Etruscans and started the Roman Republic . It consisted of two elected consuls serving for only one year , and the senate , which was the powerful government body of the Roman Republic . All the senators were the members of Rome 's richest families who were called the patricians . They were so powerful that they also controlled the assembly that elected the consuls . The rest of the citizens were called the plebeians . They had no say in the government (They only gained rights in the government after 287 BC Thus , there were the most powerful upper class people (the patricians ordinary citizens and the slaves . By 396 BC Rome had become the largest city in Italy . The Romans expanded their empire , gained full control over the Mediterranean coasts up to Spain , and conquered Greece and Macedonia by 140 BC . Wealthy Romans were getting more and more wealthy through business , tax revenues and the looted property of the defeated landlords , and thus...