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Troy falls, leading Aeneas to Latium where his descendants eventually produce Romulus and Remus. Romulus marks the sacred boundary of Rome, populates the young city, and establishes the Senate. Kingship passes through Numa Pompilius, who establishes religious rites, down to Tarquin the Proud. Sextus Tarquinius abuses Lucretia, driving Lucius Junius Brutus to expel the monarchy and swear that Rome will never again endure a king.
Lucius Junius Brutus condemns his own sons to execution after discovering their plot to restore the Tarquins, proving allegiance to law above blood. Lars Porsena besieges Rome, but Horatius Cocles holds the wooden bridge alone while Mucius Scaevola burns his right hand to demonstrate Roman resolve. Debt drives plebeians to secede to the Sacred Mount until Menenius Agrippa uses the fable of the belly and limbs to reconcile the orders. Coriolanus marches against his homeland until his mother deters him.
Patricians and plebeians suspend standard magistracies to appoint ten men, the Decemvirs, to compile Rome's first written legal code. Appius Claudius abuses his judicial authority to claim the freeborn woman Verginia as a slave, forcing her father Vergenius to kill her publicly to protect her liberty. Outraged citizens execute or exile the tyrants and restore the tribunate. Written law gains permanent standing, yet political friction between patricians and common citizens persists.
The Canuleian law legalizes marriage between patricians and plebeians, eroding hereditary social boundaries. Patricians open military tribuneships with consular power to plebeians while reserving the consulship whenever possible. Military campaigns expand beyond Latium into Etruscan territory, marked by Cornelius Cossus slaying the King of Veii in hand-to-hand combat to win the rare supreme spoils. Rome introduces soldier pay, transforming citizen levies into a standing seasonal force.
Marcus Furius Camillus captures the Etruscan city of Veii after a ten-year siege using an underground tunnel. Exile leaves Camillus distant when Senonian Gauls under Brennus defeat the Roman army at the Allia and sack the city. Gauls demand gold for ransom, declaring woe to the vanquished, until Camillus returns to drive the invaders out by iron rather than gold. Rebuilding begins immediately despite plebeian proposals to abandon Rome's ruins for Veii.
Camillus stabilizes central Italy through repeated military victories while citizens reconstruct their destroyed homes. Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, hero of the Capitol defense, attempts to champion indebted plebeians but faces execution for suspected royal ambitions. The Licinian-Sextian laws pass after years of political stalemate, guaranteeing that one consul must be a plebeian and restricting land ownership. The consulship opens to commoners, fundamentally reshaping the Roman ruling class.
Pestilence leads Rome to introduce theatrical plays, while Marcus Curtius dramatically leaps into a mysterious chasm in the Forum to appease the gods. Mountainous Samnites attack Campania, prompting Capua to surrender itself completely to Rome for protection. Roman armies march into the First Samnite War, securing victories at Mount Gaurus under Marcus Valerius Corvus. Domestic mutiny among unpaid garrisons forces dictator Marcus Valerius Corvus to grant broad debt relief and amnesty.
Latin allies demand equal political rights and a joint consul, sparking the Latin War when Rome refuses. Manlius Torquatus executes his own son for engaging the enemy against strict orders, reinforcing absolute military discipline. At the Battle of Vesuvius, consul Decius Mus performs the rite of devotio, solemnly sacrificing his life to the underworld gods to guarantee victory. Rome disbands the Latin League, incorporating vanquished towns directly into the expanding Roman state.
A foundational chronicle tracing Rome from legendary origins through early republican wars and internal political conflicts.