ANCIENT ROME

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History Learning Site > A History of Ancient Rome > Romulus and Remus

Romulus is given the credit for founding Ancient Rome – so legend has it. Children in Roman schools were taught the story and it became almost set in stone.

What is legend of Romulus and Remus?

Romulus and Remus were twin brothers. They were abandoned by their parents as babies and put into a basket that was then placed into the River Tiber. The basket ran aground and the twins were discovered by a female wolf. The wolf nursed the babies for a short time before they were found by a shepherd. The shepherd then brought up the twins.



When Romulus and Remus became adults, they decided to found a city where the wolf had found them. The brothers quarrelled over where the site should be and Remus was killed by his brother. This left Romulus the sole founder of the new city and he gave his name to it – Rome. The date given for the founding of Rome is 753 BC.

This story, of course, is only a legend. The actual growth of Rome is less exotic and interesting. The city of Rome grew out of a number of settlements that existed around seven hills that were near the River Tiber. The settlements were near the river for the obvious reasons of a water supply. The Tiber was also narrow enough at this point to be bridged. However, the area also suffered because of the nearness of the river. Each settlement was separated from the other by marshland. Each individual settlement was vulnerable to attack as a single settlement. By joining together they were stronger. To join together, the marshland had to be drained. This was something that took years to do. The legend of Romulus and Remus gives the impression that Rome was created very quickly; the truth was very different.

The early people of Rome were from a tribe called Latins. They were from the Plains of Latium. The Latins were successful farmers and traders and they became rich and successful. Therefore, Rome from its early days was a rich city. This was to create jealousy and to bring the city of Rome into conflict with areas surrounding the city. In particular, the Romans fought against the Etruscans and the Samnites.

For this reason, the leaders of Rome invested in an army. This skilled force both protected the city and expanded its power. By 300 BC, the Romans controlled most of the Italian peninsula

Roman houses were so well built, if you were rich, that many examples of Roman houses exist throughout the Roman Empire. If you were poor in Rome, you lived in simple flats or apartments - the inside of these places was symbolic of your lack of wealth. These flats were known as insulae and only contained two rooms at the most. People tended to use them only for sleeping as they had to work, visit the baths (as their flats had no running water) and they usually ate in local inns as cooking in these flats was not safe.

Rich family homes were very different. The rich lived in single-storey houses which were built around a central hall known as an atrium. Atrium had rooms opening up off of them and they were also open to the weather as they had no roofs. Many atriums had a trough built into their design so that water could be collected when it rained.




A Roman Atrium

Beyond an atrium was a second open courtyard known as a peristylum. This area included a garden and it also had rooms opening up off of it. In the homes of the wealthy, the gardens served as a meeting point so they were designed to be shady and comfortable so that people could meet in them regardless of whether the sun was fierce.

The main rooms were decorated with coloured plaster walls and, if they could be afforded, mosaics. These decorated floors were a statement of your wealth and importance. The grander mosaics had to be done by experts and they were expensive. A master mosaic craftsman would map out the picture while those who worked for him did the actual work in making a mosaic. Probably the most famous Roman mosaic in Britain is at Fishbourne Palace in West Sussex.


Mosaic at Fishbourne Palace


Ancient Rome was the largest city in the then known world. It is thought that Rome’s population was over 1 million people when the city was at the height of its power. From Rome, the heart of government beat; military decisions were taken and the vast wealth Rome earned was invested in a series of magnificent buildings.

To start with, many buildings in Rome were built around the forum. Traditionally, this had been a market place and an area where people met. Therefore, it would have been a natural place to put government buildings, temples and palaces. As Rome grew, however, the forum became more and more crowded. Therefore, a second city centre was planned and built some distance from the forum but still in Rome itself.

Rome itself had some magnificent buildings erected within the city. Some exist to this day, all be it in a less wonderful state. The most famous is probably the Colosseum where thousands of Roman citizens would gather for their entertainment – be it animals fighting or gladiators etc. Such grand buildings were constructed so that emperors would be remembered by future generations. The Colosseum was built on the orders of the Emperor Vespasian and completed when the Emperor Titus was in power. The building was finally completed in AD 80.

Rome also had numerous triumphal arches constructed throughout the city to celebrate military victories. These served a dual purpose. First, they were a celebration of the military victories the Romans had and, second, they were a reminder to the people of Rome of how powerful the army was.

As with any city, Rome had its rich and poor areas. The poor could only afford to live in wooden houses which were a serious fire risk in a hot country like Italy. On a number of occasions, Rome suffered severe damage as a result of fires starting in the city’s slums. The slums were also dangerous places to go to if you had any money as crime was very common. The Emperor Augustus created a police force to patrol the city but the poor areas remained all but untamed. However, for the influential people of Rome, this was of little importance as they never visited such areas.

Roman entertainment, like Roman roads, Roman baths, Roman villas etc, is etched in people's minds today as a result of recent films. Many people will know of the Roman gladiators, chariot racing, the Colosseum in Rome as we have a great deal of writing and other evidence about these things from the times of the Romans themselves.




Chariot racing

One of the most famous buildings in Rome is the Colosseum. This building is now a major tourist attraction on Rome. In Ancient Rome it was also a major attraction for those who wanted to see the various events that were put on at this vast building. The Colosseum could hold over 50,000 people and the viewing public were well looked after by the authorities. The temperature in Rome in the summer could be very hot and the audience at the Colosseum was protected from the sun by a huge canopy that was put over the top of the stadium when needed.


Inside the ruins of the Colosseuem

The events staged at the Colosseum were many. Nearly all of them involved death and destruction. There were the well known gladiator fights and the feeding of Christians to lions. There were also a number of lesser known events such as mock sea battles involving ships, animal circus acts, animals fighting animals and animal hunts.

All sorts of animals were kept in cages below the Colosseum. Wild cats, buffaloes, bears and elephants would all be kept and then made to fight one another. In some parts of the Roman Empire, certain animals died out because their type was in such demand by those who ran entertainment in Rome itself. It is thought that on the day the Colosseum opened, over 5,000 animals were killed.

However, animals were the secondary part of the 'show'. Those who came to the Colosseum came to see people fight. Famous gladiators had a huge following but many gladiators were the Roman equivalent of 'canon fodder' - there to entertain and be killed. Many of these gladiators were slaves or prisoners-of-war. The casualty rate per 'show' was massive - near enough 50% died each show. Those gladiators who had fought well but had not won their fight could be spared by the emperor if he was present at an event - a thumbs up meant life, and a thumbs down meant death. The Roman writer Seneca wrote that for a gladiator "the only exit is death."

These shows were usually free to the public. The emperors believed it was a good way to keep the people of Ancient Rome happy and content with the way the city was being governed. The government provided free bread and free entertainment - a combination they believed would keep happy the many unemployed people in Rome.

The Colosseum was the greatest building in Ancient Rome but much smaller amphitheatres were built in Roman Britain and gladiatorial fights may have occurred in these. Cirencester had an amphitheatre.

Chariot racing was put on at the Circus Maximus. This was equally popular with the people of Ancient Rome and going to a race was seen as a family event.

To many people today, Roman entertainment was cruel. However, not all forms of entertainment involved violence. Many educated Romans were appalled by the cruelty of the events put on at the Colosseum. They went to the theatre. However, records from the time indicate that theatres rarely put on serious works, preferring to show what we would now call farces and comedies. Poetry readings were also given in theatres.



Though mosaics could be spectacular, furniture, even in the homes of the rich, tended to be basic. Stools were common as opposed to chairs and reclining couches were used. Beds were simple affairs with 'springs' being provided by leather straps that criss-crossed a bed frame.

Houses also had water piped straight to them - unlike flats and apartments. Lead pipes brought water to a house. However, these pipes were taxed according to size - the larger the pipes, the more the tax. Archaeologists can usually tell the wealth of an owner of a Roman house by simply looking at the size of the lead pipes that brought water to that house.

Houses were also centrally heated by what was known as a hypocaust. This was under-floor heating. Slaves were charged with keeping the hypocaust both clean and alight during the day. This system of heating was also used to keep some Roman baths hot if they had no access to naturally heated water.

Some Roman villas in Britain have survived in such good condition that we have a very clear idea about how the rich lived and what their homes were like. When the Romans left Britain, it appears that some villas were covered with dirt to 'trap' into them the spirits of the Romans - thus, they could not 'escape'. In 1960, a workman found substantial ancient building rubble at Fishbourne, West Sussex, while digging a trench. In 1961 a trial excavation took place and what was essentially a complete Roman villa was found. A huge variety of Roman homes can also be found at Pompeii, of course.


Education was very important to the Ancient Romans. The rich people in Ancient Rome put a great deal of faith in education. While the poor in Ancient Rome did not receive a formal education, many still learned to read and write. Children from rich families, however, were well schooled and were taught by a private tutor at home or went to what we would recognise as schools. In general, schools as we would recognise them, were for boys only. Also, Roman schools were rarely an individual building but an extension of a shop - separated from the crowd by a mere curtain!


Boys being educated

Learning in Roman schools was based on fear. Boys were beaten for the slightest offence as a belief existed that a boy would learn correctly and accurately if he feared being caned if he got something wrong. For boys who continued to get things wrong, some schools had a policy of having pupils held down by two slaves while his tutor beat him with a leather whip.

There was not a great deal of subject choice in a Roman school. Therefore a boredom threshold must have been quickly reached by children. This must have been made worse, by the fact that the school day was longer than children now are used to. It seems likely that during the school day, a child would rise at sunrise (not wanting to be late as this would lead to a caning), work all day with a short break at lunch, and then home to be in bed by sunset for the next day. Lessons were simply learned by heart. Children did not need to know why something was right - only to know that it was right and that they would escape a beating. Lessons were also simply dictated as there were no books as they were simply too expensive.

There were two types of schools in Ancient Rome. The first type of school was for younger children aged up to 11 or 12 where they learned to read and write and to do basic mathematics. At these schools, children worked on an abacus to learn basic mathematics. For writing, they used a stylus and a wax tablet. Older children would go to more advanced schools where they did specific studies on topics such as public speaking. They would also study the writings of the great intellects of Ancient Rome such as Cicero. Girls rarely went to these schools as they were allowed to get married at the age of 12 whereas boys had to wait until they were 14 to get married.

Children worked a seven-day week - there was no break for the weekend! However, this was not as dire as it appears. There were many school holidays - religious holidays (and there were many of them) meant that children did not have to go to school. Market days also resulted in school closures and children also had a summer holiday!

In general, girls did go to school. Girls from rich families did receive an education, but this was done at home. Here they were taught how to run a good household and how to be a good wife in general - in preparation for the time they got married. Part of their education would have been music, sewing and the competent running of a kitchen.

For boys, practice made perfect. They were not allowed to write on what we would consider to be paper as it was very expensive. Boys first practised on a wax tablet. Only when they had shown that they could write well, were they allowed to write on paper - which was made on the Ancient Egyptian method of papyrus reeds. Their 'pens' were quills and their ink was a mixture of gum, soot and, sometimes, the ink from an octopus.

Trade was vital to Ancient Rome. The empire cost a vast sum of money to run and trade brought in much of that money. The population of the city of Rome was one million and such a vast population required all manner of things brought back via trade.

The Roman Empire was criss-crossed with trade routes. There were sea routes that covered the Mediterranean and Black Seas and numerous land routes using the roads built by the Romans. Trade and moving the Roman Army around were the two principle reasons for building roads.

The most important port was Ostia as it was the nearest major port to Rome itself. Ostia was situated at the mouth of the River Tiber and was only 15 miles from Rome. Many ships travelled between Ostia and the major North African city of Carthage, a journey that took between three and five days. Ships also arrived from Spain and France at Ostia. All their goods could be quickly moved to Rome itself as they were taken in barges to the city up the River Tiber after slaves had transferred the products from the merchant ships to the barges. Ironically, Ostia was to play a major part in the downfall of Rome when Alaric the Goth captured Ostia in AD 409 knowing that this would starve Rome of much needed food.

The Romans did what they could to make sea journeys safe - lighthouses were built as were safe harbours and docks. The Roman Navy did what it could to make the Mediterranean Sea safe from pirates.

The Romans made trade as easy as possible. There was only one currency used and there were no complicating customs dues. Trade was also encouraged by many years of peace within the Empire. Trade was vital to the success of the Empire. When the Empire collapsed, trade throughout the lands that had once made up the Roman Empire, also collapsed. The Mediterranean Sea became a dangerous place for merchants as there were no powers to control the activities of pirates who marauded as far north as the English Channel.

What was acquired from where?

The Romans imported a whole variety of materials: beef, corn, glassware, iron, lead, leather, marble, olive oil, perfumes, purple dye, silk, silver, spices, timber, tin and wine. The main trading partners were in Spain, France, the Middle East and North Africa.

Britain exported lead, woollen products and tin. In return, it imported from Rome wine, olive oil, pottery and papyrus. British traders relied on the Romans to provide security within the Empire. When this collapsed and Europe was seemingly overrun by Barbarians, no one could guarantee traders that their produce would get through. Also, without the power of Rome, who would be willing to buy what was produced in Britain and other parts of Europe?


The fall of Ancient Rome started from about AD 190. The Roman Empire was attacked by tribes such as the Goths and the Vandals. Civil wars in parts of the empire further weakened the rule of Rome and respect for Roman law dwindled as a result.

Why was the empire attacked by fierce tribes people? Tribes such as the Goths wanted to move south into parts of Europe that experienced a better climate that would assist their farming. This could only bring them into conflict with the Romans. At about AD 190, Rome also experienced a succession of poor emperors who simply were not capable of doing the job.

The Roman Army was spread throughout Western Europe. Each part of the army had its own idea as to who should be emperor. When one part of the army succeeded in putting its own man into the position of emperor, another part of the army would fight to put its own man in power. Between AD 211 and AD 284, there were twenty-three 'soldier-emperors' - and twenty of these men were killed by rivals! Clearly law and order and respect for that within Rome itself was at fault.

in AD 284, the emperor Diocletian realised that something had to be done or Rome and its empire would disintegrate. He decided to divide the Roman Empire in two to make it easier to rule - he created the Western Empire and the Eastern Empire, each with its own leader. This split geographically was all but a north to south divide between the empire with Spain, France, England, Italy and parts of Germany forming the Western Empire and all areas to the east of this were in the Eastern Empire.

However, Diocletian faced more than just administrative problems. More and more military defences had to be built across the whole empire. This cost money that Rome did not have. To pay for these, taxes were increased and extra coins were minted. This lead to inflation causing prices to rise. Therefore, the people of Rome were less than favourable towards those who led them.

With threats from tribes in northern Europe, financial problems in Rome itself and a civilian population becoming more and more discontented, Rome could ill afford further major issues.

In AD 307, Constantine became emperor. He ruled from AD 307 to AD 337. Constantine was Rome's first Christian emperor and he is considered to have been a strong ruler.

He believed that Rome as a city was too far away from vital areas of the empire to be of value from a governmental level. Constantine, therefore, moved the capital of the empire to a new city – Constantinople. This was a new city that was built on the old city of Byzantium. Whatever the motives were, Constantine’s decision was a poor one. Constantinople was much further east than Rome and firmly in the eastern empire. This left the western empire very vulnerable – though the eastern empire was hardly free from attacks.

The Ostrogoths attacked the western empire via the eastern empire. The Huns, a fierce tribe from Asia, attacked the western empire. The Franks, Visigoths,and Burgundians all made large inroads into the western empire.

The glory days of the Roman Army had passed and the Romans were forced into making deals with the tribes. The Vandals and Visigoths were allowed to live in the Roman Empire as long as they gave a promise to protect the empire from the Huns.

However, in AD 398, the leader of the Visigoths, Alaric, realised that the Roman Army was so thinly spread, that Rome itself was for the taking. Alaric moved cautiously south but in AD 410 he captured the city of Rome. The city was sacked. Roman held territory in Spain, France, northern Africa and England all fell to the various tribes that attacked them.


The ruins of Ancient Rome

In AD 455, Rome was attacked again. This time the damage was done by the Vandals. The city suffered serious damage. In AD 476, the last Roman emperor in the west, Romulus Augustulus, was removed from power by Odovacar, leader of the Goths. This date is usually used by historians as the year the Roman Empire ended. However, Roman rule continued in the eastern empire for a number of years after this date - in modern Greece, Turkey, the Middle East and northern Egypt.


The rich Ancient Romans enjoyed their food. Expensive food, along with a lavish villa, was an obvious way of showing off your wealth to others. If you hosted a banquet at your villa to which other Roman worthies had been invited, it had to go well if your social standing was to be maintained - hence why elaborate and expensive foods were well provided. Roast peacock and ostriches and the like, would be provided.

A different lifestyle also meant that the eating habits of the Ancient Romans were different to ours today. Breakfast (the Romans called this jentaculum) was taken in the master's bedroom and usually consisted of a slice of bread or a wheat pancake eaten with dates and honey. Wine was also drunk. Lunch (the Romans called this prandium) was eaten at about 11.00 a.m. and consisted of a light meal of bread, cheese and possibly some meat. In many senses, everything was geared up towards the main meal of the day - cena. This was eaten in the late afternoon or early evening. If the master of the house had no guests, cena might take about one hour. If he did have guests, then this meal might take as long as four hours. A light supper was usually eaten just before the Romans went to bed, consisting of bread and fruit. The Romans were usually not big meat eaters and a lot of their normal meals involved vegetables, herbs and spices together with a wheat meal that looked like porridge.

However, for a rich man's banquet anything exotic that could be purchased was served. Many meals were served with sauces. The Romans seemed to be particularly fond of sauces as it gave a cook the opportunity to make a dish seem a little bit more exciting that it may have been without the sauce. One particular favourite was garum which was made by mixing up fish waste with salt water and leaving it for several weeks until it was ready for use. By all accounts, it was a salty and highly flavored sauce. Sauces made from vinegar, honey, pepper, herbs and spices were also popular. The Romans seemed to be very keen on sweet food and drink. One of the favoured drinks was called mulsum which was a mixture of boiled wine and honey.

One sign that a meal or a banquet had gone down well was if guests asked for bags to take homes dishes that they had enjoyed. This in particular pleased a master as it showed to everyone who was there that at least some of the courses on offer had been well received.

Most food was either boiled or fried in olive oil. Very few homes needed an oven as so little food was roasted.

Two Roman meals were:
Baked dormice: "Stuff the dormice with minced pork or the meat of other dormice chopped up with herbs, pepper and pine nuts. Sew up the dormice and cook in a small oven."

A sweet: "Take the crusts from a white loaf and break the bread into largish pieces. Soak them in milk. Fry them in hot oil or fat. Pour honey over them and serve."

The writer Petronius wrote about his eating experiences in around AD 60:
"After a generous rubdown with oil, we put on dinner clothes. We were taken into the next room where we found three couches drawn up and a table, very luxuriously laid out, awaiting us.

We were invited to take our seats. Immediately, Egyptian slaves came in and poured ice water over our hands. The starters were served. On a large tray stood a donkey made of bronze. On its back were two baskets, one holding green olives, and the other black. On either side were dormice, dipped in honey and rolled in poppy seed. nearby, on a silver grill, piping hot, lay small sausages. As for wine, we were fairly swimming in it."