ABSTRACT
Background According to Roman mythology, the brothers Romulus and Remus founded the city of Rome in the eighth century BC. For several centuries thereafter, the city remained a minor power on the Italian peninsula. The First Punic War against Carthage (264-241 BC) saw the Romans conquer territory outside the Italian mainland for the first time. In the Second Punic War (218-202 BC), Rome was almost crushed by the great Carthaginian general Hannibal, but ultimately prevailed and established its dominance over the Western Mediterranean. Rome’s expansion continued relentlessly until it reached its territorial peak in the second century AD. Along the way, the original republican form of government collapsed as a result of prolonged civil wars, most notably those between Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Gaius Marius, Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great), and Mark Antony and Octavian. The Republic gave way to an Empire which lasted from the establishment of Octavian as the Emperor Augustus at the end of the first century BC to the collapse of Rome in the fifth century AD. The focus of this chapter is on the Republic and the years between the start of the First Punic War and the creation of the Empire (although some reference is made to earlier and later periods for the sake of comparison).
