1000 BC

The day Rome recognizes its true power

The land along the Tiber River is a vast marsh around 1000 BC. Nobody would voluntarily build a city here, as there’s almost nothing to make it worthwhile. What few people there are live a simple life in mud huts on low hills. Yet: In the not too distant future, Roman emperors in marble palaces will be steering the world’s fate from this very spot. But how can that be? The answer: Wedged between the Etruscans in the north and the Greeks in the south, the ancient Romans settle at a natural crossing point on the Tiber— and discover a powerful strategic advantage to living there. Whether it’s Greeks or Etruscans, whoever wants to trade goods must cross the ford of the Tiber. The simple farmers quickly become toll-keepers. It’s a profitable business— but the strategic site also inspires covetousness in the neighbors.

The Etruscans get there before the Greeks. They conquer Rome, appointing a king and founding a city— and bringing the benefits of advanced civilization to the small village in the marsh: paved roads, a sewer system, temples, city walls, military strategies, and a language that will be spoken throughout the Mediterranean. This is the cultural seed of Rome’s unprecedented rise to its role of the world’s most influential civilization and an essential pillar of modern urban culture. The only thing it lacks if it wants to become a Mediterranean superpower? Independence. The Romans rectify this in 509 BC: They chase the Etruscan King Lucius Tarquinius Superbus from the city— and declare it a republic. In 396 BC history repeats itself. This time it’s the Romans who cross the Tiber and conquer the Etruscan capital of Veji.