(left) Ruins of Tempio di Bellona (behind them Chiesa di S. Rita); (right) a remaining column of a temple near old Piazza di Pescheria

(left) Fonte di Giuturna near S. Maria Antiqua (S. Maria Liberatrice): (right) detail of the Republican temples in Largo di Torre Argentina

Res publica (public concern) is the name the Romans gave to their political system after the expulsion of the last king. The new system was an oligarchic one, with all the power in the hands of a small group of families, the patricians (patricius = having noble father). The Senate, the members of which were patricians, was the most important institution, but the ongoing affairs were managed by annually appointed magistrates, the praetors (maybe the word means those who go first, because they led religious or civil processions). During wars or other emergencies, the Senate had the option to entrust what we call today the executive power to a single praetor, who was called dictator. Eventually the number of praetors having jurisdiction in political and military matters was fixed at two: the consuls. Definitely the history of Rome had a liking for pairs. At the end of the XVIIIth century the admiration for the ancient classic world was so high that the French Republic introduced the consuls in its constitution, but Consul Bonaparte managed to become Emperor Napoleon in less than a decade, while in Rome the move from consuls to emperors was a process which required centuries.

Archaeologists have found in the Roman Forum at least eight pavement layers. Those related to the early republican period are covered by travertine pavements dating from later periods. This is very evident in the excavations in Largo di Torre Argentina, where one can see the old tufa pavement under a travertine one.
The Dioscuri, not only had helped the Romans at Lago Regillo, but they also had immediately reported the good news to Rome. They were seen with their horses at a spring at the foot of the Palatino, very near the site where their temple stands: archaeologists have found evidence that a fountain was built to control the spring in the early republican period, but its travertine border belongs to a later period.

Crisis and New Foundation

(left) Map of the so-called Servian walls; (right) a section of the Servian walls found in the XIXth century near Chiesa dei SS. Vito e Modesto

Marcus Furius Camillus is regarded by many historians as the second founder of Rome. In 396 he led the Roman army against the rich Etruscan town of Veii (near today's Isola Farnese), located just 10 miles north of Rome. The seizure of Veii marked the end of the Etruscan threat to the development of Rome. In the next few years the Romans seized Falerium, a town north of Veii and the security of Rome from Etruscan attacks was further ensured by the conquest in 389 of Sutri, located in a key position on the road leading to Rome. The success of Camillus at Veii attracted the envy of other patrician families and he was accused of having royal ambitions: he chose to go into voluntary exile at Ardea, not far from Anzio.
But Rome had not yet completely enjoyed the benefit of its victories, when a new unexpected threat came from the north. In 390 (or in 387) a tribe of Gauls, the Senones, invaded the Etruscan territories and moved southwards under the leadership of Brennus. The Romans placed their legions along the Allia, a small stream near Monterotondo, to prevent them from reaching Rome; the Gauls simply routed the Roman army. The soldiers who had managed to escape from the battlefield, fled back to the city in disarray.
The Romans barricaded themselves in the Campidoglio, where one night they were alerted to a Gallic attack by the sacred geese of Juno. The rest of the city was plundered by the Gauls, in what can be seen as an anticipation of the barbarian invasions which occurred 800 years later. The event is associated with a couple of famous sentences: Brennus had agreed to leave Rome if the Romans had paid a certain amount of gold. At the weighing of the gold, the Romans discovered that the weights were heavier than standard ones. When they complained he shouted Vae victis (woe to the vanquished): at this point Marcus Furius Camillus made his unexpected appearance followed by a Roman army and threw his sword into the scale proclaiming: Not auro, sed ferro, recuperanda est patria. (not gold, but steel redeems the nation). He then attacked the Gauls and forced them out of Rome.
Notwithstanding the happy, albeit miraculous, end of these events, it is said that the Romans wondered whether they should rebuild their city on the same site or move to a more easily defensible location; eventually this option was discarded, but the awareness of the weakness of the old fortifications led to the decision to build a new set of walls to protect the whole city and not just the two original hills. These walls are called Servian, after Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome, but they belong to the early republican period, although they were to a great extent rebuilt several times in the following centuries. The main remaining sections are located near Termini railway station (Aggere Serviano) and near Chiesa di S. Saba, but smaller parts of the walls can be found elsewhere in Rome.

War at Sea

(left) Rostra in Foro Romano; (right) Colonna rostrata in Piazza del Popolo

Relocation of the Harbour

(left) Temple of Foro Olitorio now included in S. Niccolò in Carcere; (right) the high basement of Temple of Portunus

Many believe that behind the expansion of Rome lay a militaristic and expansionistic drive: this is probably due to the fact that wars, battles, heroes and the likes appeared more interesting to both the writers and readers of books on the history of Rome: however it is more consistent with the actual development of the events to make a parallel between the growth of Rome with that of the British Empire, which was clearly driven by trade interests.
Rome was a large emporium (trade centre) well before having an imperium (command and later on empire). The republican walls protected an area which by far exceeded that of Athens, at a time when Rome did not even rule over the whole of Latium. The decision to found the city on a low hill shows that military considerations were not high in the mind of Romulus and that he was mainly interested in the commercial benefits Rome would gain from being placed on the Tiber.
At the beginning ships moored near the Velabro, but in the republican period the area was too congested and gradually a river harbour was developed in what is today called Testaccio.
The area of Velabro was embellished by the merchants who continued to meet there: they built many small temples dedicated to the gods who were patrons of their trade (this tradition in a way was continued many centuries later by the churches built by the medieval and Renaissance guilds).
This explains why the temples are so many and so small. Three temples were lined up one next to the other (you see them in the image used as a background for this page); today they are almost entirely incorporated in a small church. The temples of Velabro were rebuilt or repaired several times, but they retain something of their original design. A characteristic of the early Roman architecture is the high basement upon which temples were built, because in the very early days of their city the Romans just placed an altar on high ground to allow maximum visibility to the performance of religious ceremonies (chiefly sacrifices).

A New Player in the Mediterranean Game

A section of Via Appia in the Roman countryside near Sepolcro di Gallieno