Rome: A Power Transformed

If one climbs to the top of the Palatine Hill, walks clear over to the other side and peers into a shaded space next to the Domus Augustus, you'll behold some rings of stone--the remains of primitive huts dating from the 9th-7th centuries BC. This encompasses the time of the founding of Rome in 750 BC. Tradition holds that the first leader and king of Rome was Romulus. This would have been the Romulus who, along with his brother Remus, was suckled by a she-wolf. Historians continue to wait patiently for more proof to surface, showing that Romulus and Remus truly lived. However, Rome's Regal Period of kings lasted from from that archaic period until 509 BC.

So began the Republican Age, in which an elected Senate was responsible for law-making, defense of the city, and how the overall economic state should be handled. It was a time of immense growth and ushered in an expansion that made Rome the most powerful force in Italia, and eventually, in the Mediterranean. By the time the start of the 1st century BC rolled around, parts of Italia had managed to stay independent of Rome, but demanded the right to Roman citizenship and the right to vote. They considered themselves "socii"-- Rome's allies. However, to the Romans, they were merely pesky fleas. The Romans attacked these allies, wanted to preserve citizenship and right of voting for Romans, exclusively. If one considers that the "socii" were fellow Italians, then this marked the beginning of what would wind up being a period of almost one-hundred years of civil conflict. And what's interesting is, that the Romans both won and lost. They subjugated the final remnants of other Italian tribes, but in so doing, unified Italia and wound up granting all of these "non-Romans" the citizenship rights they wanted in the first place! 

The Social Wars, as they were called lasted from 91-87 BC. By this time, the Republic, which had dominated for nearly five-hundred years, was showing cracks. Several powerful generals, like Marius and Sulla were immensely successful in bringing new lands and peoples into Rome's dominion. However, the Senate began to fear their power. By the time of Julius Caesar's rise and Marcus Antonius's birth, political tensions both within Rome's city-state and outside, in its provinces were growing like a cancer. Politicians like Cicero and Cato were struggling to keep their Republic afloat, as their power was being eaten away, bit by bit. Conspiracies abounded and elections were manipulated. Generals would appoint their own staff, and senators' ranks were passed down from generation to generation, creating as much of a schism between wealthy nobles and plebs as there had been during the monarchy.

My main character, Antonius, was born into the bloody dictatorship of Sulla, and never had opportunity to see Rome truly operating as a real "Republic". Instead, he grew up in this turbulent period of the generals mentioned before, who were feared because of their great power. And if that wasn't enough, radical politicians were using force and mob presence to control the Senate and populace. 

In short, during Marcus Antonius's lifetime, Rome was one hot mess!

The period following Marius's and Sulla's regimes has been titled as the "Imperatorial Period". Imperators were powerful generals--Marius, Sulla, Pompeius, Caesar, and Antonius. This is the atmosphere in which my next book, Antonius: Second in Command begins.

Interestingly enough, the Latin term "imperator" is also where we get the word "emperor". That alone should give my readers a heads-up about what lies in store for my characters in the trilogy. Read on!

Rome's famous statue, known as the Capitoline Wolf has always held significance, due to its depiction of Romulus and Remus. However, radio-carbon dating has shown that it wasn't of ancient design at all, but instead dates from the 11th or 12th centuries. The two suckling infants were added later.