Ancient Rome

==Kingdom==
{{Main|Roman Kingdom}}
[[File:Danseurs et musiciens, tombe des léopards.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Etruscan Civilization|Etruscan]] [[Etruscan art|painting]] of dancer and musicians from the [[Tomb of the Leopards]] in [[Tarquinia]]]]

Literary and archaeological evidence is clear on there having been kings in Rome, attested in fragmentary 6th century BC texts.<ref>{{Harvnb|Boatwright|2012|p=35|ps=. "{{Lang|la|Rex}}, the Latin word for king, appears in two fragmentary sixth-century texts, one an inscription from the shrine of [[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]], and the other a potsherd found in the [[Regia]]".}}</ref> Long after the abolition of the Roman monarchy, a vestigial ''rex sacrorum'' was retained to exercise the monarch's former priestly functions. The Romans believed that their monarchy was elective, with seven legendary kings who were largely unrelated by blood.{{Sfn|Boatwright|2012|p=36}}

Evidence of Roman expansion is clear in the sixth century&nbsp;BC; by its end, Rome controlled a territory of some {{Convert|780|km2|mi2|abbr=off}} with a population perhaps as high as 35,000.{{Sfn|Boatwright|2012|p=36}} A palace, the [[Regia]], was constructed {{Circa|625&nbsp;BC}};{{Sfn|Boatwright|2012|p=36}} the Romans attributed the creation of their first popular organisations and the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] to the regal period as well.{{Sfn|Boatwright|2012|p=37}} Rome also started to extend its control over its Latin neighbours. While later Roman stories like the ''[[Aeneid]]'' asserted that all Latins descended from the titular character [[Aeneas]],{{Sfn|Boatwright|2012|p=39}} a common culture is attested to archaeologically.{{Sfn|Boatwright|2012|p=40}} Attested to reciprocal rights of marriage and citizenship between Latin cities—the {{Lang|la|[[Jus Latii]]}}—along with shared religious festivals, further indicate a shared culture. By the end of the 6th century, most of this area had become dominated by the Romans.{{Sfn|Boatwright|2012|p=42}}