Makes a good story, but almost certainly false.
Rome was founded between 753-728 BC. Rome was initially a kingdom. Romulus, the first king, took a hundred of the noblest men of Rome to form an advisory senate to aid him. These families would form the Patricians. Rome had seven kings according to tradition before it formed into the Roman Republic. A lot of Rome’s history was lost about this era because of the Gauls sacking Rome in 390BC. After a series of wars, the Roman Republic began to gain more and more territory within the Italian peninsula. First they defeated the Sabines, then the Samnites. They had several conflicts within the Etruscans during this period and the Etruscans were losing much of their power to the Republic. Ultimately the Etruscans were fully absorbed around the 370s by the Romans.[1]
This is Pyrrhus. General, king, and wearer of strange hats.
However
Rome’s true emergence onto the world stage was the Pyrrhic War. At this point,
Rome dominated central and northern Italy but the south was held by Greek city
states. Rome came into conflict with these states and the city states asked for
help from Epirus. The king of Epirus, Pyrrhus, invaded Rome and defeated them
many times on the battlefield[2]. However, the Romans
refused give in. At the battle of Asculum, Pyrrhus lost a significant portion
of his forces but ultimately won. This is where we get the term “Pyrrhic
victory.” Another interesting fact was
the Carthaginians actually supported the Romans during this war. Carthage
viewed Pyrrhus as a far greater threat than the Romans. Rome and Carthage even signed a treaty putting
them into an alliance with one another.
Pyrrhus was defeated and left the Italian peninsula. Rome then claimed
the lower parts of the Italy for themselves.
This map sort of spoils the outcome if you didn't know.
Now that you have a brief history of the expansion of Rome there are a few important details about Roman politics that I have to get into. The heads of the Roman Republic were two consuls. Consuls were effectively the president and commander in chief of the Rome Republic. The consuls were elected to serve one year terms and each consul switched command of Rome (or Imperium as they referred to it) each month. Each consul had veto power over the other so as to keep each other in line[3]. The senate, on the other hand, had largely an advisory role over the consuls. They also handled the civil management within the city, they also could make decrees to local governors which were almost always followed. However if the decree violated what the popular assembly had passed in terms of law, the popular assembly law would trump them. The popular assembly was the law making body of the Roman government and there were a few assemblies just to make thing more confusing. So there is a summary of how the Roman government works. 523
Now that you have a brief history of the expansion of Rome there are a few important details about Roman politics that I have to get into. The heads of the Roman Republic were two consuls. Consuls were effectively the president and commander in chief of the Rome Republic. The consuls were elected to serve one year terms and each consul switched command of Rome (or Imperium as they referred to it) each month. Each consul had veto power over the other so as to keep each other in line[3]. The senate, on the other hand, had largely an advisory role over the consuls. They also handled the civil management within the city, they also could make decrees to local governors which were almost always followed. However if the decree violated what the popular assembly had passed in terms of law, the popular assembly law would trump them. The popular assembly was the law making body of the Roman government and there were a few assemblies just to make thing more confusing. So there is a summary of how the Roman government works. 523
The wolf's statue face is always hilarious.
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