General History for Colleges and High Schools Part 23

The Popular a.s.sembly (_comitia curiata_) comprised all the citizens of Rome, that is, all the members of the patrician families, old enough to bear arms. It was this body that enacted the laws of the state, determined upon peace or war, and also elected the king.

CLa.s.sES OF SOCIETY.--The two important cla.s.ses of the population of Rome under the kingdom and the early republic, were the patricians and the plebeians. The former were the members of the three original tribes that made up the Roman people, and at first alone possessed political rights.

They were proud, exclusive, and tenacious of their inherited privileges.

The latter were made up chiefly of the inhabitants of subjected cities, and of refugees from various quarters that had sought an asylum at Rome.

They were free to acquire property, and enjoyed personal freedom, but at first had no political rights whatever. The greater number were petty land-owners, who held and cultivated the soil about the city. A large part of the early history of Rome is simply the narration of the struggles of this cla.s.s to secure social and political equality with the patricians.

Besides these two princ.i.p.al orders, there were two other cla.s.ses--clients and slaves. The former were attached to the families of patricians, who became their patrons, or protectors. The condition of the client was somewhat like that of the serf in the feudal system of the Middle Ages. A large clientage was considered the crown and glory of a patrician house.

The slaves were, in the main, captives in war. Their number, small at first, gradually increased as the Romans extended their conquests, till they outnumbered all the other cla.s.ses taken together, and more than once turned upon their masters in formidable revolts that threatened the very existence of the Roman state.

THE LEGENDARY KINGS.--For nearly two and a half centuries after the founding of Rome (from 753 to 509 B.C., according to tradition), the government was a monarchy. To span this period, the legends of the Romans tell of the reigns of seven kings--Romulus, the founder of Rome; Numa, the lawgiver; Tullus Hostilius and Ancus Marcius, conquerors both; Tarquinius Priscus, the great builder; Servius Tullius, the reorganizer of the government and second founder of the state; and Tarquinius Superbus, the haughty tyrant, whose oppressions led to the abolition by the people of the office of king.

The traditions of the doings of these monarchs and of what happened to them, blend hopelessly fact and fable. We cannot be quite sure even as to the names. Respecting Roman affairs, however, under the last three rulers (the Tarquins), who were of Etruscan origin, some important things are related, the substantial truth of which we may rely upon with a fair degree of certainty; and these matters we shall notice in the following paragraphs.

GROWTH OF ROME UNDER THE TARQUINS.--The Tarquins extended their authority over the whole of Latium. The position of supremacy thus given Rome was naturally attended by the rapid growth in population and importance of the little Palatine city. The original walls soon became too strait for the increasing mult.i.tudes; new ramparts were built--tradition says under the direction of the king Servius Tullius--which, with a great circuit of seven miles, swept around the entire cl.u.s.ter of the Seven Hills. A large tract of marshy ground between the Palatine and Capitoline hills was drained by means of the Cloaca Maxima, the "Great Sewer," which was so admirably constructed that it has been preserved to the present day. It still discharges its waters through a great arch into the Tiber. The land thus reclaimed became the Forum, the a.s.sembling-place of the people. Upon the summit of the Capitoline Hill, overlooking the Forum, was built the famous sanctuary called the Capitol, or the Capitoline temple, where beneath the same roof were the shrines of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, the three great national deities. Upon the level ground between the Aventine and the Palatine was laid out the Circus Maximus, the "Great Circus,"

where were celebrated the Roman games.

[Ill.u.s.tration: VIEW OF THE CAPITOLINE, WITH THE CLOACA MAXIMA. (A Reconstruction.)]

NEW CONSt.i.tUTION OF SERVIUS TULLIUS.--The second king of the Etruscan house, Servius Tullius by name, effected a most important change in the const.i.tution of the Roman state. He did here at Rome just what Solon at about this time did at Athens (see p. 120). He made property instead of birth the basis of the const.i.tution. The entire population was divided into five cla.s.ses, the first of which included all citizens, whether patricians or plebeians, who owned twenty _jugera_ (about twelve acres) of land; the fifth and lowest embraced all that could show t.i.tle to even two jugera. The army was made up of the members of the five cla.s.ses; as it was thought right and proper that the public defence should be the care of those who, on account of their possessions, were most interested in the maintenance of order and in the protection of the boundaries of the state.

The a.s.sembling-place of the military cla.s.ses thus organized was on a large plain just outside the city walls, called the Campus Martius, or "Field of Mars." The meeting of these military orders was called the _comitia centuriata_, or the "a.s.sembly of hundreds." [Footnote: This a.s.sembly was not organized by Servius Tullius, but it grew out of the military organization he created.] This body, which of course was made up of patricians and plebeians, gradually absorbed the powers of the earlier patrician a.s.sembly (_comitia curiata_).

THE EXPULSION OF THE KINGS.--The legends make Tarquinius Superbus, or Tarquin the Proud, the last king of Rome. He is represented as a monstrous tyrant, whose arbitrary acts caused both patricians and plebeians to unite and drive him and all his house into exile. This event, according to tradition, occurred in the year 509 B.C., only one year later than the expulsion of the tyrants from Athens (see p. 122).

So bitterly did the people hate the tyranny they had abolished that it is said they all, the n.o.bles as well as the commons, bound themselves by most solemn oaths never again to tolerate a king. We shall hereafter see how well this vow was kept for nearly five hundred years.

THE ROMAN RELIGION.

THE CHIEF ROMAN DEITIES.--The basis of the Roman religious system was the same as that of the Grecian: the germs of its inst.i.tutions were brought from the same early Aryan home. At the head of the Pantheon stood Jupiter, identical in all essential attributes with the h.e.l.lenic Zeus. He was the special protector of the Roman people. To him, together with Juno and Minerva, was consecrated, as we have already noticed, a magnificent temple upon the summit of the Capitoline Hill, overlooking the Forum and the city. Mars, the G.o.d of war, standing next in rank, was the favorite deity and the fabled father of the Roman race, who were fond of calling themselves the "children of Mars." They proved themselves worthy offspring of the war-G.o.d. Martial games and festivals were celebrated in his honor during the first month of the Roman year, which bore, and still bears, in his honor, the name of March. Ja.n.u.s was a double-faced deity, "the G.o.d of the beginning and the end of everything." The month of January was sacred to him, as were also all gates and doors. The gates of his temple were always kept open in time of war and shut in time of peace.

The fire upon the household hearth was regarded as the symbol of the G.o.ddess Vesta. Her wors.h.i.+p was a favorite one with the Romans. The nation, too, as a single great family, had a common national hearth in the Temple of Vesta, where the sacred fires were kept burning from generation to generation by six virgins, daughters of the Roman state. The Lares and Penates were household G.o.ds. Their images were set in the entrance of the dwelling. The Lares were the spirits of ancestors, which were thought to linger about the home as its guardians.

ORACLES AND DIVINATION.--The Romans, like the Greeks, thought that the will of the G.o.ds was communicated to men by means of oracles, and by strange sights, unusual events, or singular coincidences. There were no true oracles at Rome. The Romans, therefore, often had recourse to those in Magna Graecia, even sending for advice, in great emergencies, to the Delphian shrine. From Etruria was introduced the art of the haruspices, or soothsayers, which consisted in discovering the divine mind by the appearance of victims slain for the sacrifices.

THE SACRED COLLEGES.--The four chief sacred colleges, or societies, were the Keepers of the Sibylline Books, the College of Augurs, the College of Pontiffs, and the College of the Heralds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: VESTAL VIRGIN.]

A curious legend is told of the Sibylline Books. An old woman came to Tarquinius Superbus and offered to sell him, for an extravagant price, nine volumes. As the king declined to pay the sum demanded, the woman departed, destroyed three of the books, and then, returning, offered the remainder at the very same sum that she had wanted for the complete number. The king still refused to purchase; so the sibyl went away and destroyed three more of the volumes, and bringing back the remaining three, asked the same price as before. Tarquin was by this time so curious respecting the contents of the mysterious books that he purchased the remaining volumes. It was found upon examination that they were filled with prophecies respecting the future of the Roman people. The books were placed in a stone chest, which was kept in a vault beneath the Capitoline temple; and special custodians were appointed to take charge of them and interpret them. The number of keepers, throughout the most important period of Roman history, was fifteen. The books were consulted only in times of extreme danger.

The duty of the members of the College of Augurs was to interpret the omens, or auspices, which were casual sights or appearances, by which means it was believed that Jupiter made known his will. Great skill was required in the "taking of the auspices," as it was called. No business of importance, public or private, was entered upon without first consulting the auspices, to ascertain whether they were favorable. The public a.s.sembly, for ill.u.s.tration, must not convene, to elect officers or to enact laws, unless the auspices had been taken and found propitious.

Should a peal of thunder occur while the people were holding a meeting, that was considered an unfavorable omen, and the a.s.sembly must instantly disperse.

The College of Pontiffs was so called because one of the duties of its members was to keep in repair the bridges (_pontes_) over which the religious processions were accustomed to pa.s.s. This was the most important of all the religious inst.i.tutions of the Romans; for to the pontiffs belonged the superintendence of all religious matters. In their keeping, too, was the calendar, and they could lengthen or shorten the year, which power they sometimes used to extend the office of a favorite or to cut short that of one who had incurred their displeasure. The head of the college was called Pontifex Maximus, or the Chief Bridge-builder, which t.i.tle was a.s.sumed by the Roman emperors, and after them by the Christian bishops of Rome; and thus the name has come down to our own times. The College of Heralds had the care of all public matters pertaining to foreign nations. If the Roman people had suffered any wrong from another state, it was the duty of the heralds to demand satisfaction. If this was denied, and war determined upon, then a herald proceeded to the frontier of the enemy's country and hurled over the boundary a spear dipped in blood. This was a declaration of war. The Romans were very careful in the observance of this ceremony.

SACRED GAMES.--The Romans had many religious games and festivals.

Prominent among these were the so-called Circensian Games, or Games of the Circus, which were very similar to the sacred games of the Greeks (see p.

106). They consisted, in the main, of chariot-racing, wrestling, foot- racing, and various other athletic contests.

These festivals, as in the case of those of the Greeks, had their origin in the belief that the G.o.ds delighted in the exhibition of feats of skill, strength, or endurance; that their anger might be appeased by such spectacles; or that they might be persuaded by the promise of games to lend aid to mortals in great emergencies. At the opening of the year it was customary for the Roman magistrate, in behalf of the people, to promise to the G.o.ds games and festivals, provided good crops, protection from pestilence, and victory were granted the Romans during the year. So, too, a general in great straits in the field might, in the name of the state, vow plays to the G.o.ds, and the people were sacredly bound by his act to fulfil the promise. Plays given in fulfilment of vows thus made were called votive games.

Towards the close of the republic these games lost much of their religious character, and at last became degraded into mere brutal shows given by ambitious leaders for the purpose of winning popularity.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE EARLY ROMAN REPUBLIC: CONQUEST OF ITALY, (509-264 B.C.)

THE FIRST CONSULS.--With the monarchy overthrown and the last king and his house banished from Rome, the people set to work to reorganize the government. In place of the king, there were elected (by the _comitia centuriata_, in which a.s.sembly the plebeians had a place) two patrician magistrates, called consuls, [Footnote: That is, _colleagues_. Each consul had the power of obstructing the acts or vetoing the commands of the other. In times of great public danger the consuls were superseded by a special officer called a _dictator_, whose term of office was limited to six months, but whose power during this time was as unlimited as that of the kings had been.] who were chosen for one year, and were invested with all the powers, save some priestly functions, that had been held by the monarch during the regal period.

In public each consul was attended by twelve servants, called lictors, each of whom bore an axe bound in a bundle of rods (_fasces_), the symbols of the authority of the consul to flog and to put to death. Within the limits of the city, however, the axe must be removed from the _fasces_, by which was indicated that no Roman citizen could be put to death by the consuls without the consent of the public a.s.sembly.

Lucius Junius Brutus and Tarquinius Collatinus were the first consuls under the new const.i.tution. But it is said that the very name of Tarquinius was so intolerable to the people that he was forced to resign the consuls.h.i.+p, and that he and all his house were driven out of Rome.

[Footnote: The truth is, he was related to the exiled royal family, and the people were distrustful of his loyalty to the republic.] Another consul, Publius Valerius, was chosen in his stead.

SECESSION OF THE PLEBEIANS.

FIRST SECESSION OF THE PLEBEIANS (494 B.C.).--Taking advantage of the disorders that followed the political revolution, the Latin towns which had been forced to acknowledge the supremacy of Rome rose in revolt, and the result was that almost all the conquests that had been made under the kings were lost. For a long time the little republic had to struggle hard for bare existence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LICTORS.]

Troubles without brought troubles within. The poor plebeians, during this period of disorder and war, fell in debt to the wealthy cla.s.s,--for the Roman soldier went to war at his own charge, equipping and feeding himself,--and payment was exacted with heartless severity. A debtor became the absolute property of his creditor, who might sell him as a slave to pay the debt, and in some cases even put him to death. All this was intolerable. The plebeians determined to secede from Rome and build a new city for themselves on a neighboring eminence, called afterwards the Sacred Hill. They marched away in a body from Rome to the chosen spot, and began making preparations for erecting new homes (494 B.C.).

THE COVENANT AND THE TRIBUNES.--The patricians saw clearly that such a division must prove ruinous to the state, and that the plebeians must be persuaded to give up their enterprise and come back to Rome. The consul Valerius was sent to treat with the insurgents. The plebeians were at first obstinate, but at last were persuaded to yield to the entreaties of the emba.s.sy to return, being won to this mind, so it is said, by one of the wise senators, Menenius, who made use of the well-known fable of the Body and the Members.

The following covenant was entered into, and bound by the most solemn oaths and vows before the G.o.ds: The debts of the poor plebeians were to be cancelled and those held in slavery set free; and two magistrates (the number was soon increased to ten), called tribunes, whose duty it should be to watch over the plebeians, and protect them against the injustice, harshness, and partiality of the patrician magistrates, were to be chosen from the commons. The persons of these officers were made sacred. Any one interrupting a tribune in the discharge of his duties, or doing him any violence, was declared an outlaw, whom any one might kill. That the tribunes might be always easily found, they were not allowed to go more than one mile beyond the city walls. Their houses were to be open night as well as day, that any plebeian unjustly dealt with might flee thither for protection and refuge.

We cannot overestimate the importance of the change effected in the Roman const.i.tution by the creation of this office of the tribunate. Under the protection and leaders.h.i.+p of the tribunes, who were themselves protected by oaths of inviolable sanct.i.ty, the plebeians carried on a struggle for a share in the offices and dignities of the state which never ceased until the Roman government, as yet only republican in name, became in fact a real democracy, in which patrician and plebeian shared equally in all emoluments and privileges.

CORIOLa.n.u.s.--The tradition of Coriola.n.u.s ill.u.s.trates in what manner the tribunes cared for the rights of the common people and protected them from the oppression of the n.o.bles. During a severe famine at Rome, Gelon, the King of Syracuse, sent large quant.i.ties of grain to the capital for distribution among the suffering poor. A certain patrician, Coriola.n.u.s by name, made a proposal that none of the grain should be given to the plebeians save on condition that they give up their tribunes. These officials straightway summoned him before the plebeian a.s.sembly, [Footnote: This was the _Concilium Tributum Plebis_, an a.s.sembly which came into existence about this time. It was made up wholly of plebeians, and was presided over by the tribunes. Later, there came into existence another tribal a.s.sembly, which was composed of patricians and plebeians, and presided over by consuls or praetors. Some authorities are inclined to regard these two a.s.semblies as one and the same body; but others, among whom is Mommsen, with probably better reason, look upon them as two distinct organizations.] on the charge of having broken the solemn covenant of the Sacred Mount, and so bitter was the feeling against him that he was obliged to flee from Rome.

He now allied himself with the Volscians, enemies of Rome, and even led their armies against his native city. An emba.s.sy from the Senate was sent to him, to sue for peace. But the spirit of Coriola.n.u.s was bitter and revengeful, and he would listen to none of their proposals. Nothing availed to move him until his mother, at the head of a train of Roman matrons, came to his tent, and with tears pleaded with him to spare the city. Her entreaties and the "soft prayers" of his own wife and children prevailed, and with the words "Mother, thou hast saved Rome, but lost thy son," he led away the Volscian army.

CINCINNATUS MADE DICTATOR.--The enemies of Rome, taking advantage of the dissensions of the n.o.bles and commons, pressed upon the frontiers of the republic on all sides. In 458 B.C., the aequians, while one of the consuls was away fighting the Sabines, defeated the forces of the other, and shut them up in a narrow valley, whence escape seemed impossible. There was great terror in Rome when news of the situation of the army was brought to the city.

The Senate immediately appointed Cincinnatus, a n.o.ble patrician, dictator.

The amba.s.sadors that carried to him the message from the Senate found him upon his little farm near the Tiber, at work behind the plough. Accepting the office at once, he hastily gathered an army, marched to the relief of the consul, captured the entire army of the aequians, and sent them beneath the yoke. [Footnote: This was formed of two spears thrust firmly into the ground and crossed a few feet from the earth by a third. Prisoners of war were forced to pa.s.s beneath this yoke as a symbol of submission.]

Cincinnatus then led his army back to Rome in triumph, laid down his office, and sought again the retirement of his farm.

THE DECEMVIRS AND THE TABLES OF LAWS.--Written laws are always a great safeguard against oppression. Until what shall const.i.tute a crime and what shall be its penalty are clearly written down and well known and understood by all, judges may render unfair decisions, or inflict unjust punishment, and yet run little risk--unless they go altogether too far--of being called to an account; for no one but themselves knows what the law or the penalty really is. Hence in all struggles of the people against the tyranny of the ruling cla.s.s, the demand for written laws is one of the first measures taken by the people for the protection of their persons and property. Thus we have seen the people of Athens, early in their struggle with the n.o.bles, demanding and obtaining a code of written laws (see p.

119). The same thing now took place at Rome. The plebeians demanded that a code of laws be drawn up, in accordance with which the consuls, who exercised judicial powers, should render their decisions. The patricians offered a stubborn resistance to their wishes, but finally were forced to yield to the popular clamor.

A commission was sent to the Greek cities of Southern Italy and to Athens to study the Grecian laws and customs. Upon the return of this emba.s.sy, a commission of ten magistrates, who were known as decemvirs, was appointed to frame a code of laws (451 B.C.). These officers, while engaged in this work, were also to administer the entire government, and so were invested with the supreme power of the state. The patricians gave up their consuls and the plebeians their tribunes. At the end of the first year, the task of the board was quite far from being finished, so a new decemvirate was elected to complete the work. Appius Claudius was the only member of the old board that was returned to the new.