The Forum of Ancient Rome

As legend has it, Rome was founded in 753 B.C. by Romulus and Remus. A line of seven kings followed in non-hereditary succession. All the kings after Romulus were elected by the senate.

Rome’s era as a monarchy ended in 509 B.C. with the overthrow of its seventh king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, whom ancient historians portrayed as cruel and tyrannical. Rome turned from a monarchy into a republic, a world derived from res publica, or “property of the people.” 

The power of the monarch passed to two annually elected magistrates called consuls. They also served as commanders in chief of the army. The magistrates, though elected by the people, were drawn largely from the Senate, which was dominated by the patricians, or the descendants of the original senators from the time of Romulus.

Politics in the early republic was marked by the long struggle between patricians and plebeians (the common people), who eventually attained some political power through years of concessions from patricians.

Shown here are public spaces of Ancient Rome, called the Forum.