Editing Roman Kingdom (section)

===Romulus===
[[File:Rome in 753 BC.png|thumb|upright=1.35|A map of Rome in 753 BC. Colours show topography, with green lowlands and brown highlands. The Latin names of hills are included in all caps.|alt=]]
Son of the [[Vestal Virgin]] [[Rhea Silvia]], ostensibly by the god [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], the legendary [[Romulus]] was Rome's founder and first king.  After he and his twin brother [[Romulus and Remus|Remus]] had deposed [[Amulius|King Amulius]] of Alba and reinstated the king's brother and their grandfather [[Numitor]] to the throne, they decided to build a city in the area where they had been [[Lupercal|abandoned as infants]]. After killing Remus in a dispute, Romulus began building the city on the [[Palatine Hill]].  His work began with fortifications. He permitted men of all classes to come to Rome as citizens, including slaves and freemen without distinction.<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#8|1:8]]</ref> He is credited with establishing the city's religious, legal and political institutions. The kingdom was established by unanimous acclaim with him at the helm when Romulus called the citizenry to a council for the purposes of determining their government.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 1, chapter 8|url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%253Atext%253A1999.02.0026%253Abook%253D1%253Achapter%253D8|website = www.perseus.tufts.edu|access-date = 2015-12-09}}</ref><ref>Everitt 2012, p. {{Page needed|date=April 2021}}.</ref><ref>Everitt 2012, pp. 22–23.</ref><ref>Matyszak 2003, p. 17.</ref>

Romulus established the [[Senate of the Roman Kingdom|Senate]] as an advisory council with the appointment of 100 of the most noble men in the community. These men he called ''patres'' (from ''pater'', father, head), and their descendants became the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]]. To project command, he surrounded himself with attendants, in particular the twelve lictors.<ref name=":0" /><ref>He may have chosen this number from the number of the birds who foretold his sovereignty</ref> He created three divisions of [[equites|horsemen (''equites'')]], called ''centuries'': ''Ramnes'' (Romans), ''Tities'' (after the Sabine king) and ''Luceres'' (Etruscans). He also divided the populace into 30 ''[[curia]]e'', named after 30 of the Sabine women who had intervened to end the war between Romulus and Tatius. The ''curiae'' formed the voting units in the [[Roman assemblies|popular assemblies]] (''Comitia Curiata'').<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#8|1:8]], [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#13|13]]</ref>

[[File:Platner - Ancient Rome city growth.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Growth of the city region during the kingdom]]
Romulus was behind one of the most notorious acts in Roman history, the incident commonly known as ''[[The Rape of the Sabine Women]]''. To provide his citizens with wives, Romulus invited the neighbouring tribes to a festival in Rome where the Romans committed a [[Bride kidnapping|mass abduction]] of young women from among the attendees. The accounts vary from 30 to 683 women taken, a significant number for a population of 3,000 Latins (and presumably for the Sabines as well). War broke out when Romulus refused to return the captives. After the Sabines made three unsuccessful attempts to invade the hill settlements of Rome, the women themselves intervened during the [[Battle of the Lacus Curtius]] to end the war. The two peoples were united in a joint kingdom, with Romulus and the Sabine king [[Titus Tatius]] sharing the throne.<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#9|1:9–13]]</ref><ref>Matyszak 2003, pp. 19–20.</ref><ref>Everitt 2012, pp. 21–22.</ref> In addition to the war with the Sabines, Romulus [[Roman-Etruscan Wars#War with Fidenae and Veii under Romulus|waged war]] with the Fidenates and Veientes and others.<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#14|1:14–15]]</ref>

He reigned for thirty-seven years.<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab urbe condita (book)|Ab urbe condita]]'', 1.21</ref><ref name="Plutarch Life of Romulus 29.7">Plutarch ''Life of Romulus'' 29.7</ref> According to the legend, Romulus vanished at age fifty-four<ref name="Plutarch Life of Romulus 29.7"/> while reviewing his troops on the Campus Martius. He was reported to have been taken up to Mt. Olympus in a whirlwind and made a god. After initial acceptance by the public, rumours and suspicions of foul play by the patricians began to grow. In particular, some thought that members of the nobility had murdered him, dismembered his body, and buried the pieces on their land.<ref>Livy ''Ab Urbe'' Book I ch. 16</ref> These were set aside after an [[Proculus Julius|esteemed nobleman]] testified that Romulus had come to him in a vision and told him that he was the god [[Quirinus]].<ref>Plutarch ''Life of Romulus'' Book I ch. 28</ref> He became not only one of the [[Capitoline Triad|three major gods of Rome]], but the very likeness of the city itself.<ref>Everitt 2012, pp. 24–25.</ref><ref>Matyszak 2003, pp. 20–21.</ref>

A replica of [[Casa Romuli|Romulus's hut]] was maintained in the centre of Rome until the end of the Roman Empire.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Le Glay, Marcel.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/760889060|title=A history of Rome|date=2009|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-8327-7|oclc=760889060}}</ref>