- Founded in 753 B.C.E
- Legend has it that two Demi god twins Romulus and Remus founded Rome
- It was actually picked by settlers for its strategic location and fertile land
- Built on 7 rolling hills at a curve on Tiber River, near the center of the Italian peninsula
- Midway between the Alps and Italys southern tip
- Near midpoint of the Mediterranean sea
- A historian wrote : "the hills, the river to bring us produce from the inland regions and seaborne commerce from abroad, the sea itself, near enough for convience yet not so near as to bring danger from foreign fleets, ... all these advantages make it of all places in the world the best for a city destined to grow great.
- Earliest in that land were prehistoric
- From 1000-500 BCE, 3 groups fought for control: Latins, Greeks, and Etruscans
- Latins built original settlement - a group of wooden huts atop one of the seven hills, Palatine. Considered the "First Romans"
- Between 750 and 600 BCE, Greeks established colonies alone southern Italy and Sicily. Making them prosperous and commercially active.
- Brought all of Italy (and Rome) closer to Greek civilization
- Etruscans were native to northern Italy - skilled metalworkers and engineers
- Etruscans STRONGLY influenced the development of Rome with their writing and architecture.
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