The site of the founding of the Roman Kingdom (and eventual Republic and Empire) included a ford where one could cross the river Tiber in central Italy.

[2][3] The kings following Romulus, the city's founder, were elected by the people of Rome to serve for life, and did not rely upon military force to gain or keep the throne.

The insignia of the kings of Rome were twelve lictors (attendants or servants) wielding the symbolic fasces bearing axes, the right to sit upon a curule seat, the purple toga picta, red shoes, and a white diadem around the head.

As the king was the sole owner of imperium in Rome at the time, he possessed ultimate executive power and unchecked military authority as the commander-in-chief of all of the Roman legions.

He would appoint a tribunus celerum to serve as both the tribune of the Ramnes tribe in Rome and as the commander of the king's personal bodyguard, the celeres.

What is known for certain is that the king alone possessed the right to the augury on behalf of Rome as its chief augur, and no public business could be performed without the will of the gods made known through auspices.

The king's imperium both granted him military powers and qualified him to pronounce legal judgement in all cases as the chief justice of Rome.

According to Livy, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and final king of Rome, judged capital criminal cases without the advice of counsellors, thereby creating fear amongst those who might think to oppose him.

First, it was necessary to obtain the divine will of the gods respecting his appointment by means of the auspices, since the king would serve as high priest of Rome.

If found worthy of the kingship, the augur announced that the gods had given favourable tokens, thus confirming the king's priestly character.

Son of the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia, ostensibly by the god Mars, the legendary Romulus was Rome's founder and first king.

The kingdom was established by unanimous acclaim with him at the helm when Romulus called the citizenry to a council for the purposes of determining their government.

[6][10] He created three divisions of horsemen (equites), called centuries: Ramnes (Romans), Tities (after the Sabine king) and Luceres (Etruscans).

To provide his citizens with wives, Romulus invited the neighbouring tribes to a festival in Rome where the Romans committed a mass abduction of young women from among the attendees.

After the Sabines made three unsuccessful attempts to invade the hill settlements of Rome, the women themselves intervened during the Battle of the Lacus Curtius to end the war.

[22] After Romulus died, there was an interregnum for one year, during which ten men chosen from the Senate governed Rome as successive interreges.

Under popular pressure, the Senate finally chose the Sabine Numa Pompilius to succeed Romulus, on account of his reputation for justice and piety.

According to Livy, Tullus neglected the worship of the gods until, towards the end of his reign, he fell ill and became superstitious.

[32] Following the mysterious death of Tullus, the Romans elected a peaceful and religious king in his place, Numa's grandson, Ancus Marcius.

He also founded the port of Ostia Antica on the Tyrrhenian Sea and established Rome's first salt works, as well as the city's first aqueduct.

Upon ascending the throne, he waged wars against the Sabines and Etruscans, doubling the size of Rome and bringing great treasures to the city.

[37] Priscus was succeeded by his son-in-law Servius Tullius, Rome's second king of Etruscan birth, and the son of a slave.

Servius' reforms made a big change in Roman life: voting rights based on socio-economic status, favouring elites.

However, over time, Servius increasingly favoured the poor in order to gain support from plebeians, often at the expense of patricians.

[40] Tensions came to a head when the king's son, Sextus Tarquinius, raped Lucretia, wife and daughter to powerful Roman nobles.

The Roman Republic's constitution was a constantly evolving, unwritten set of guidelines and principles passed down mainly through precedent, by which the government and its politics operated.

Moreover, after the precedent set in 121 BC with the killing of Gaius Gracchus, the senate claimed to assume the power to issue a senatus consultum ultimum: such decrees directed magistrates to take whatever actions were necessary to safeguard the state, irrespective of legality, and signalled the senate's willingness to support that magistrate if such actions were later challenged in the courts.

An adult male citizen with the full complement of legal and political rights was called optimo iure (lit.

The censor was a magistrate in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances.

Aediles were officers elected to conduct domestic affairs in Rome, such as managing public games and shows.