Roman Armies of the Seven Kings, 753–509 BC

Before it became a major power of the Mediterranean world, Rome had to fight a series of wars first to survive and then to obtain dominance over the historical region of Latium that was centred around the River Tiber. Gabriele Esposito describes how early Rome was just one of the many Latin urban centres and how it came to rule over all the others. Until 509 BC, the city of Rome was governed as a monarchy and thus was ruled by kings; the first four of these were Latins or Sabines. Around 616 BC, the city came under the expanding influence of the Etruscans and they provided its last three kings. Under Etruscan rule, the Romans subjugated their Latin neighbours and began fighting with the warlike Oscan peoples – most notably the Equi and the Volsci – for dominance over Latium. When the last of the Etruscan monarchs – Tarquinius Superbus – tried to rule Rome with dictatorial powers, the Roman population exiled him and replaced the monarchy with a new republican system of government.This era of great political turmoil for the Roman state saw the army completely reformed, abandoning the previous organization based on hoplite phalanx warfare that had been developed under the Etruscan kings. The author reconstructs the military history of monarchical and early republican Rome, describing the major campaigns fought by the famous ‘Seven Kings’ and explaining how the Roman Army evolved during the early centuries of its existence. We will also analyse the military role played by the early enemies of Rome, showing how these influenced the development of the Roman Army.