How and when did Rome become a kingdom develop into a republic and finally an empire?

Answer 1

Rome was a kingdom for its foundation in 753 BC to 509 BC. The foundation of Rome did not involve the construction of a new city. It involved the creation of the Roman city-state through the unification of separate settlements on what were to become the Seven Hills of Rome under the rule of Romulus, Rome's founder and its first king.

The Monarchy lasted for 244 years and it was overthrown by a rebellion against the last king, Tarquinius Superbus, who was a tyrant, in 509 BC. The Romans decided to do away with the monarchy and establish the Republic to prevent the return of tyranny. This was done by creating two annually elected consuls. Two men in charge could counterbalance each other. Their short term of office ensured that power could not become concentrated in the hands of one man.

Historians made a confusing use of the term empire. They use it both in the usual sense of territorial possessions and to indicate the period of rule by emperors which followed the fall of the Roman Republic. In territorial terms, the Romans already had an empire during the Republic. In fact the greater part of Rome's imperial expansion took place during the republican period.

Rule by emperors was established by Augustus, the first Roman emperor, after the civil wars which brought down the Roman Republic. The Republic fell under the weight of these wars. The final Civil War of the Roman Republic (31-30 BC) was fought over who between Augustus and Marc Antony would become the sole ruler of Rome and her territories. Augustus won.

Augustus' personal rule was formalised three years later with the First Settlement with the senate in 27 BC. Historians mark this date as the beginning of rule by emperors. However, Augustus had become effectively the sole ruler of Rome when he defeated Marc Antony in 30 BC. He spent some time acting as the restorer of peace and traditional Roman values and pretending of wanting to preserve the Roman Republic while he was laying the groundwork for legitimising his absolute rule. He had already been formally in charge of the "Republic", albeit in conjunction with another man, by being consul since 31 BC. In 29 BC his co-consul was his half-nephew Sextus Appuleius, and in 28 and 27 BC it was his closest ally and the man who was crucial in his winning the civil wars and becoming an absolute ruler: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.