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Latium

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a large plain between the Mediterranean Sea and the Apennine Mountains

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people began inhabiting Latium (area around Rome) in the 10th century BCE

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their language was the ancestor of Latin

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they believed that their city was created by gods

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Janus, with two heads

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Virgil's Rome legend

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the first people were aborigines

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"people who were there from the origin"

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lived to the north of Rome

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moved down and invaded Rome

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at the same time, a second group from Turkey (Troiani) sailed to Rome

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were led by a man Aeneas

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had to escape from Troy

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founded Lavinium (today Pomezia)

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the port city for Latium

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Trojans assimilated with the aborigines, and a new people was born, the Latini

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the son of Aeneas, Ascanius, founded the city of Alba Longa

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most probably at Lake Albano, south east of Rome

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the city was destroyed by Rome in the 7th century

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the last king of Alba Longa, Numitor

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father to Rhea Silvia

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Numitor's reign was usurped by Numitor's younger brother Amulius

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dethroned Numitor and became king

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killed Numitor's male heirs and forced Rhea Silvia to become a vestal virgin

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Mars appeared and lay with Rhea Silvia

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gave birth to sons Romulus and Remus

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she was supposed to be customarily put to death after disobeying her vows

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King Amulius was afraid of the wrath of Mars

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so imprisoned her and ordered the twin sons to be killed by exposure to natural elements to save wrath of Mars

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servant takes pity on the twins and put in a basket onto the River Tiber

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discovered by a she-wolf Lupa

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were fed by a woodpecker

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shepherd and his wife found them: Faustulus and Acca Larentia

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after they grew up, King Amulius' shepherds found them, Remus captured and took them before the king

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Romulus freed his brother and killed King Amulius

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rejected the citizens' offer of the crown of Alba Longa and instead reinstated Nimitor as king

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left Alba Longa seeking to found their own city

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quarreled over the location

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Romulus wished to start the city on the Palatine Hill

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Remus wished to found it on the Aventine Hill

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they agreed to consult augury, a type of prophecy in which birds are examined and observed to determine what actions or persons the gods favor

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remained at a standstill and continued to quarrel until Romulus began to dig trenches and build walls around his hill: the Palatine Hill

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in response to Romulus' construction, Remus made fun of the wall and his brother's city

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Remus jumped over Romulus' wall

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Romulus killed him

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Romulus mournfully buries his brother, bestowing upon him full funeral honors

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Remus' death and founding of Rome are dated by Livy to April 21st, 753 BCE

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divided into 30 regions

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each part had a main village

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each a kind of people

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at the site where Rome was founded, you have three of these groups, or populi Albenses

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Velienses

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Latinienses

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Querquetulani

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the top of each hill occupied by a village

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each city had foundation myths

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founded by an Alban or Trojan ancestor

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from this time we have only a few clues and artifacts to be interpreted, e.g. vases found in burial pits

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between end of Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age, around 10th century BC

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something is changing in this area

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Etruria (north of Rome)

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small villages scattered around the river valleys

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Latin vases were different based on the time it came from

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we find these in graves

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9th century BC

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small villages are abandoned

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people move to live in fewer, larger sites

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many people moved to Rome

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bodies are placed in coffins instead of urns

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people begin to write on the vases

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8th century BC

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vases change more in terms of function

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princely graves

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villages are being unified into cities with political organizations