Key Context: The Romans connected their origins to the Trojan War through Aeneas, creating a mythological lineage that linked them to the epic traditions of Greece whilst asserting their own unique destiny.
c. 1184 BC - Fall of Troy
Aeneas flees with his father Anchises and son Ascanius, carrying the sacred Penates.
753 BC - Romulus founds Rome
After killing his brother Remus, Romulus becomes the first king.
509 BC - Republic established
Expulsion of the Tarquins; first consuls elected.
Political Significance: The Julian family (including Julius Caesar and Augustus) claimed descent from Iulus/Ascanius, giving them divine ancestry through Venus.
This phrase encapsulated the ideal of shared governance - power belonged neither to a king nor to any single institution, but to the partnership of Senate and People.
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus ("the Proud") embodied everything Romans came to despise about monarchy. He ruled without consulting the Senate, used violence to suppress opposition, and accumulated wealth through exploitation.
The event that triggered the Republic's foundation was deeply personal yet profoundly political.
Lucretia, a paragon of Roman virtue (pudicitia), is violated by Sextus Tarquinius, the king's son.
She summons her father and husband, confesses what happened, and takes her own life to preserve her family's honour.
Her suicide galvanises the Roman nobility, led by Lucius Junius Brutus, to swear an oath to expel the Tarquins.
They vow never again to allow monarchical rule in Rome.
Modern historians debate whether these events occurred as described, but their symbolic importance is clear.
Lucius Junius Brutus, previously thought a harmless fool, reveals his true nature by pulling the knife from Lucretia's body and swearing the foundational oath of the Republic:
For centuries to come, anyone accused of seeking kingly power (regnum) faced the ultimate political crime in Roman eyes.
This transformation from monarchical to republican values shaped Roman political culture for centuries.
However, the Late Republic would see ambitious individuals attempting to restore monarchical power whilst claiming to defend republican traditions.
The Roman Republic attempted to balance different forms of government in what Polybius called a "mixed constitution."
Consuls provided executive leadership and military command
The Senate offered experienced guidance and continuity
Popular assemblies allowed citizen participation in legislation and elections
SPQR suggested partnership between Senate and People - power shared between the wise and the many.
The patricians (aristocratic families) initially monopolised political power, whilst the plebeians (common citizens) had to fight for political rights.
The Struggle of the Orders: A series of conflicts through which plebeians gradually won political rights and representation.
The theoretical equality embedded in SPQR created a powerful ideal that politicians would invoke throughout Republican history.
Even autocrats like Caesar and Augustus would need to respect this ideal, at least in form - demonstrating the enduring power of Republican ideology.
Trojan ancestry through Aeneas; divine lineage through Venus and Mars; foundation by Romulus in 753 BC
Tarquinius expelled in 509 BC; Lucretia's sacrifice; Brutus's oath against kings; birth of libertas
Mixed constitution; balance of consuls, Senate, and assemblies; ideal of shared governance