| The religious structures and practices said to have been established by King Numa largely formed the basis of Roman religion for the entire first millennium of Rome. But in 509 BC a political crisis broke out. A group of aristocrats rebelled against the king, Tarquin the Proud. They overthrew him and established a new political system. Rome would no longer be ruled by one man but by the Senate, an assembly of its leading citizens. The Roman Republic was born. But whatever ideas drove the change, religion remained at the heart of the new regime. Indeed, the more successful Rome became, the more sacred the city. |
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