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In 753 BCE, Rome was founded by Remus and Romulus. Romulus wanted the credit all to himself, killing Remus and naming Rome after him.
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Although trade was already common, Etruria was also well situated for trade and the early Romans either learned the skills of trade from Etruscan who made incursions into the area around Rome sometime between 650 and 600 BCE (although their influences was felt much earlier).
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The Kingdom of Rome grew rapidly from a trading town to a prosperous city between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. When the last of the seven kings of Rome, Tarquin the Proud, was deposed in 509 BCE, his rival for power, Lucius Junius Brutus, reformed the system of government and established the Roman Republic.
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The wars with the North African city of Carthage (known as the Punic Wars, 264-146 BCE) consolidated Rome's power and helped the city grow in wealth and prestige.
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In the 2nd century BCE, the Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, two Roman tribunes, led a movement for land reform and political reform in general.Though the brothers were both killed in this cause, their efforts did spur legislative reform and the rampant corruption of the Senate was curtailed.
