Rome....

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 Learn about the powerful civilization of Rome in the next few posts

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Government and Politics

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 Initially, Rome was governed by 7 kings. When the kings were driven out, the plebians demanded a republic, but the elites refused. so the plebians staged a public protest and that forced the elites to make some concessions. In the newly formed Roman Republic, they had elected magistrates, the most famous on being Julius Caesar himself! The two consuls (who had come to replace the king) were primarily generals whose task it was to lead Rome’s armies in war. In times of military emergency, when unity of command was sometimes necessary, Rome appointed a  dictator  in place of the consuls, who, however, could not hold supreme military command for longer than six months. The  Senate , which may have existed under the monarchy and served as an advisory council for the king, now advised both magistrates and the Roman people.  During the republic there were two different popular assemblies, the  centuriate assembly  and the  tribal assembly . The centuri...
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Geography and Topography

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 Rome sat on a defensible hill   that dominated the last downstream, high-banked river crossing where  traverse  of the  Tiber  was  facilitated  by a midstream island. This hill,  Palatine Hill , was one of a group of hills, traditionally counted as seven, around which the ancient city grew. Some 25 of the original parish churches, or  tituli , the first legal churches in Rome, still function. Most had been private houses in which the Christians illegally congregated, and some of these houses, as at Santi Giovanni e Paolo, are still preserved underneath the present church buildings. Since the 4th century the  tituli  priests have been cardinals who, over the centuries, have rebuilt, enlarged, and embellished their churches. Protected by the fortified Castel Sant’Angelo, St. Peter’s Basilica was built over the traditional burial place of the apostle Peter, from whom all popes claim succession....
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