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[[File:ss_ancientrome_shewolf01_3094.jpg|frame|Romulus and Remus, Rome's legendary founders]]
 
The Eternal City, Rome, has several origin tales. ''[[The Aeneid (Literature)|The Aeneid]]'' recounts the wanderings of refugees from [[Rape, Pillage and Burn|the sack]] of Troy who founded the Latin people.<ref>[[The More You Know|That's where the name of the language comes from.]]</ref> ''The Aeneid'' also says the Trojans are founders of the Roman people though the city [[Foreshadowing|hasn't been founded yet.]] Later, Romulus and Remus, the [[Ur Example]] of people who were [[Raised Byby Wolves]], founded the city itself on the curiously precise date April 21st, 753 BCE. Certain aspects about the founding myths have a curious plausibility and the idea that the original Romans were an [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits|outlaw band]] or fleeing refugees does seem believable. Rome, founded on the seven hills, was ruled by a succession of seven kings, the last few showing heavy Etruscan influence.
 
(see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPTIGLj2LCE here], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQqRBdC3JTY here], and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg2MT_FhGYs here] for more info.)
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At this point Rome was a regional power in Italy. The three [[Punic Wars]] took Rome from merely being the dominant power in Italy to become the largest power in the Mediterranean Basin (to the point where the Romans simply called the Mediterranean ''Mare Nostrum,'' or "Our Sea"). The best known of these wars was the Second Punic War, involving the famous [[Four-Star Badass|Hannibal]]. Due to these conflicts, Rome [[Plunder|inherited]] the domains of the Carthage's [[The Empire|Empire]], and sway over the Mediterranean rim. Unfortunately, the Roman governmental system wasn't up to governing a large multicultural empire, and internal power struggles grew more and more intense. Added to this was massive corruption and outright stealing of veterans' lands by large landowners. Popular pressure (represented by the famous Grachii) and Civil War broke out (first between Marius and Sulla, following a war with the Italian "allies"; then between Pompey and Caesar), until finally [[The Republic]] was taken over by Julius Caesar. Caesar's successor Octavian, after a long struggle first with Caesar's assassins, then with Caesar's right-hand man Marc Antony, assumed the name Augustus and supreme power as the first Emperor of Rome (''princeps,'' lit. "[[Just the First Citizen|first citizen]]," Augustus was leery of putting on airs). Though Augustus pretended he was merely first among equals and actually declared the Republic restored, the ascension of Augustus can be considered the death of the Republic.
 
[[The Roman Republic]] left a lot of imprints in Western culture in fields ranging from military tactics to engineering to philosophy (when they weren't plagiarizing the Greeks) to rhetoric ([[Cicero (Creator)|Marcus Tullius Cicero]] especially) to politics and the nice big one, Law. The legal systems of most of Europe are wholesale stealings of Roman Law with adjustments, and even English speaking nations will find a lot of old Roman Law in their own (The first rule of codified Roman Law is otherwise known as the ''subpoena''.)
 
Episodes from the history of the Roman Republic that show up in [[Historical Fiction|fiction]] with some frequency are:
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* [[Badass Army]]
* [[Badass Bureaucrat]]: The Romans practically wrote the book about effective bureaucracy. Every magistrate was expected to have military experience, and consuls and praetors were field commanders in addition to being civil officials.
* [[Better to Die Than Be Killed]]: Romans considered that this ''was'' a way to [[Face Death Withwith Dignity]]. Famous Romans that committed suicide in the face of defeat or sure death include the pro-Republic figurehead of the Civil War Cato the Younger, Marcus Antonius, the governor and general Quinctilius Varus, and the philosopher Seneca.
* [[Book Ends]]: A rebellion against a supposed tyrant led by a man named Brutus played a crucial role both in the creation as well as in the end of the Roman Republic.
* [[Boot Camp Episode]]: The drill grounds on Mars Field.
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* [[Fair for Its Day]]: Whether it was actually more than average even for its day is debatable. But the Romans did have useful system of law and organization that was able to win admiration from many historians.
* [[Feuding Families]]: Temporarily subverted. Roman [[The Clan|Clans]] would competitively try to draw attention to how useful they were to [[The Republic]], rather than simply fighting against each other. This made for a state with a remarkable cohesion. However though reduced and controlled [[Feuding Families]] were not unknown and may have been an element in the civil strife toward the end of [[The Republic]].
* [[Fighting For Aa Homeland]]: The legends surrounding the foundation of Rome.
* [[Gladiator Games]]: [[Trope Namer]] (literally, ''gladiator'' means "sword-user," from ''gladius'', "sword"). Romans were addicted to these.
* [[Good Republic, Evil Empire|Good Republic Evil Kingdom]]: After overthrowing their own monarchy, the Romans regarded the idea in much the same way we do [[Godwin's Law|Nazism]].
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* [[Sleazy Politician]]: A number, most noticeable toward the end. Crassus was famous along this line.
* [[The Spartan Way]]: The Romans didn't take it quite as far as the Spartans, but Roman centurions were infamously harsh on their men. While it doesn't quite fit this period, one Roman commander got the nickname "Give-Me-Another" for beating his men so hard and so frequently that he was constantly having to ask for a new baton. (It bears noting that he was one of many [[Unfriendly Fire|killed by his own men]] during a general mutiny of the legions in Germany.)
* [[The Stoic]]: The Greeks were the actual formulators of this philosophy, but it suited the Roman code of honor well enough to become fashionable and almost stereotypically Roman. Cicero actually wrote a pamphlet ("On The Nature Of the Gods") contrasting the virtue of Epicureanism, Stoicism, and traditional Peripatetic (i.e. [[Plato (Creator)|Platonic]]-[[Aristotle (Creator)|Aristotelian]]) philosophy. While he comes down on the side of the Peripatetics, he expresses a great deal of sympathy for the Stoics. Meanwhile, his contemporary, Cato the Younger, was a huge Stoic.
* [[Walking Armory]]: After Gaius Marius commanded every soldier in the army to carry his own weapons rather than use pack animals, soldiers could charitably be described as this... or uncharitably described as "Marius' Mules."
* [[We Have Reserves]]: One of the main advantages Rome had over Carthage.
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Rome]]'': The HBO series (co-produced by the BBC), premiered 2005 and 2007 respectively.
* ''[[Spartacus: Blood and Sand]]'': Series by Starz, premiered in 2010.
 
== Literature ==
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* Colleen McCullough's ''[[Masters of Rome]]'' series.
* [[David Drake]]'s ''[[Ranks of Bronze]]'' has intergalactic traders buying a legion of Roman soldiers (the survivors of Carrhae) and using them as muscle against primitive civilisations.
* Lucan's ''[[Pharsalia (Literature)|Pharsalia]]'', an epic poem telling the Roman Civil Wars.
 
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
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== Theater ==
* A few plays of [[William Shakespeare (Creator)|William Shakespeare]]:
** ''[[Antony and Cleopatra (Theatre)|Antony and Cleopatra]]''
** ''[[Coriolanus (Theatre)|Coriolanus]]''
** ''[[Julius Caesar (Theatretheatre)|Julius Caesar]]''
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
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