Rome: Rise of the RepublicThe Legend- People of Rome believed they were a people of Destiny- Claimed noble Trojan ancestry from Aeneaso Hector’s royal cousin who survived Troy’s fallo Aeneas’s mother was the Roman Goddess Venuso Virgil’s epic, the Aeneid, details mythical journey- Aeneas’s grand-daughter became Rome’s mothero Rhea Silvia, a Vestal Virgin, impregnated by Marso Twins, Rhomulus + Remus, cast out by Rheas familyo Raised by a she-wolf, and then rescued by a kind shepherdo Remus later slain by Rhomulus- became founder of Rome- Divine heritage used to explain Rome’s ascentVenus- Goddess of sexuality, love, etc.Mars- God of war, farm, fields and fertility- masculinityThe True Origins of Rome- 750-550 BC: Era of “Magna Gaecia”- Greater Greeceo Greeks colonized Southern Italy and Sicilyo Trade partners with Etruscans of Northern Italy- C. 753 BC: Rome is born on Palatine Hillo Primitive farming village under Etruscan rule- 670-510 BC: Etruscan “Golden Age”o Romans overthrew Etruscan kings c. 509- 509-264 BC: Rise of Roman Republico Rome conquers Italian Peninsula by 264 BC- 264-133 BC: Mediterranean