Rome: Total War revolves around Rome. The long campaign goals for each faction include taking Rome. So why not start with the city that everyone wants?
Area: 1,285 square km
Population: 2.627 million (2012)
Ethinicity: 90.5% Italian 4.7% Non-Italian Europeans 4.8% Non-Italian Non-Europeans
Religion: Roman Catholic, Islamic minority
The founding of Rome is linked to Aeneas, the Trojan escapee, but this is where the Roman story really began.
According to Roman legend, the twins Romulus and Remus were the founders of Rome. Their mother was Rhea Silvia. Now, Rhea was the daughter of the king of Alba Longa, Numitor. But then Numitor's brother, Amulius, usurped the throne and killed Numitor and his sons. Rhea was forced to become a Vestal Virgin, however, with the help of the war god Mars, she gave birth to the twins Romulus and Remus. Then she had to abandon them in fear of Amulius. Now, we all know the story, but I'll tell you anyway. The two twins were found by a she-wolf who looked after them until they were old enough to fend for themselves. They got jobs as shepherds but then, Remus got into a conflict with Amulius' shepherds. Remus was captured and Amulius learned of his identity. However, Romulus liberated his brother sometime afterwards.
Romulus and Remus got the local tribes to band together and form a city. This is the part where Remus dies. How? Well, Romulus and his supporters built the city on the Palatine Hill, but Remus mocked the new city's walls, claiming that they could not be relied on for defense. In a final insult, Remus jumped over the city wall but was killed by Romulus who said that anyone who dared to follow his twin would be likewise killed. However, Romulus did bury his brother with respect and honour.
The next act of Romulus was the 'The Rape of the Sabine Women'. Basically, Romulus invited the neighbouring tribes to a feast. Then he abducted all the women to provide wives for his city. As you can imagine, the Sabine tribes weren't very happy and declared war on Rome. Eventually, the two sides resolved their grievances and the Sabine king Titus Tatius became co-ruler of Rome alongside Romulus, uniting the Romans and Sabines.
Around this time, not long after the founding of the city, Romulus assembled a class of patricians into the 'Senate'. The word Senate originates from Latin '
What really happened has been lost in the mists of time, but some say that the tribes in the area banded together under some great leader (who was immortalized as Romulus). The settlement itself probably came into existence during the 8th century BC. The tribes that founded Rome were probably a loose confederation of Latin tribes, much like Germania, Gaul, Britannia, Dacia, Scythia, etc. are represented in Rome: Total War. The population of Rome was not very big at the time: a small village. It could be comparable to the size of a small town or village: in the hundreds.
The Romans worshipped a variety of gods, heavily influenced by Greek culture. The Roman gods like Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury were all based on their Greek counterparts. There is also evidence that their religion was heavily influenced by the Etruscans. The Etruscans believed in a sort of Latin animism. However, where as the Romans got their gods from the Greeks, they got their practices from the Etruscans. The Etruscans would not undertake any major task without first consulting their gods.
The Etruscans, being the Romans' immediate neighbour, also influenced the Roman language, art and architecture. For example, the words 'arena', 'autumn', 'belt', 'ceremony', 'market', 'military', 'person/people' and 'satellite' were all originally Etruscan words that were integrated into Latin. What's weird is that Etruscan is not related to any other language on Earth, but an inscription at Lemnos unearthed an alphabet eerily similar to that of the Etruscans. The modern Latin alphabet was influenced by that of the Etruscans, which was derived from the Phoenician alphabet.
The military of Rome at this time was also developing. Where before, the 'army' was a band of warrior-shepherds who occasionally raided other tribes but rarely fought pitched battles, now the Romans employed an army based on the Greek model of warfare, with heavily armoured hoplites and cavalrymen drawn from the higher echelons of society and the poorer citizens forming
At some point in history, Rome was defeated by and eclipsed by the Etruscans, who fought in the phalanx formation but at the time of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, they may have fought in a way that inspired the Camillan reforms (Etruscan hastati, principes, triarii, velites, equites, etc.)
Rome fell under the influence of the Etruscan dynasty, which reached its height under King Servius Tullius. He was apparently the first king to succeed not through an election but with popular support and through blood links. Under him, the armies of Rome fought in such a way that they were called 'phalanx legions'. Tullius was originally an Etruscan slave who rose to power and married the daughter of the first Etruscan king.
He was, unlike his successor, Superbus, a popular king. He introduced several reforms such as the introduction of coins. He, despite opposition from the
His rule saw the expansion of the city's boundaries to include the Quirinal, the Viminal and the Esquiline Hills. He introduced several reforms to Rome. His reign, however, ended brutally when Lucius Tarquinius Superbus murdered him and left his corpse to rot in the streets of Rome.
His career debuts by overthrowing Servius in a brutal coup d'etat. His wife, Tullia, had been urging him to gain more power in the Senate, with the ultimate goal of becoming king. He sowed discontent for Servius among the patrician senators and persuaded some of them to join his cause.
Eventually, Tarquinius felt that it was time to overthrow the old but still popular Servius. He went to the Senate, accompanied by a group of armed men and sat on the throne. He declared himself king and ordered the senators to serve him. He denounced Servius, saying that he was a slave whose parents were slaves. He also accused Servius of being an illegitimate king because he had risen to power because the people had supported him and because his mother had supported the decision. He criticized Servius for ruining Rome by improving the situation of the poor and ignoring the wealthy, for distributing excess land to the poor and not the rich, and for introducing the census so the rich people could be kept in line.
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That's all I could do today, will do some more when I have time.
[This message has been edited by Mons Badonicus (edited 11-15-2015 @ 04:09 PM).]