Ancient Rome
Rome began as a small farming community in the 8th century BC. The city of Rome was founded, according to legend, on 21 April 753 BC. It became a city and a state and had the , which Roman mythology said came from the first king, Romulus. Rome was first a kingdom, but its last king, Tarquinius Superbus, was sent away in a revolution started by Lucius Junius Brutus. Rome became a republic. The city-state grew to control the Italian Peninsula during the Hellenistic period, and it fought the Punic Wars against the Carthaginian Republic. After overcoming Carthage, the Roman Republic became the most powerful state in the western Mediterranean.