ON THIS DAY · 21 APRIL 753 BC
Traditional founding of Rome
Rome is founded — by tradition, on this day, by a fratricide. The city will run the Mediterranean for seven centuries.
WW2 is free in full, and chapter 1 of every atlas is free. A free account opens 3 more chapters a day. Starter, at $9 a month, opens all 21 with no daily limit — see the plans.
The moment in context
To understand why Rome could endure a long war, consider the way it had brought Italy under its control. Over the previous two centuries, defeated peoples became allies. They retained their governments, but when Rome called, they supplied troops. A generation after the war, the Greek historian Polybius reckoned that the network could field more than 700,000 men of fighting age. Rome could draw on far more soldiers than the population of the city itself.
From First Punic War, chapter 1 of The Rise and Fall of Rome, 264 BC – AD 476 (264 BC).
Teach this in 5 minutes
- Why it happened — The socii system: manpower as a constitution. Rome defeated Italian communities, but generally left their laws and local government intact. In return they supplied troops, and some gained…
- The turn — The Mamertine appeal, 264 BC. The Mamertines had seized Messana by massacre, and the Senate was uneasy about helping them. It deadlocked and referred the appeal to the popular…
- What it changed — Rome becomes a naval power in five years. Rome adapted its land forces to fighting at sea. According to the ancient account, a wrecked Carthaginian quinquereme supplied the model for more…
Then ask the room: Rome and Carthage had been allies against Pyrrhus just fourteen years earlier. Why did a dispute over one Sicilian city lead to twenty-three years of war? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
The atlas that shows it
THE FREE PRINTABLE STUDY GUIDE
Get the printable study guide for Rome free. I’ll send you a few short letters, then one when a new atlas opens. That’s all. — Paul
NO TRACKING · YOUR ADDRESS IS USED FOR THE DISPATCH AND NOTHING ELSE · UNSUBSCRIBE ANYTIME