which awakened superstitious fear. It indicated the disapproval of the gods. From the Etruscans the Romans learned to divine the future by examining the entrails of animal victims. They also borrowed from their northern neighbors the practice of looking for signs in the number, flight, and action of birds. To consult such signs was called "taking the auspices." 1 AN ETRUSCAN AUGUR Etruria. Wall painting from a tomb at Tarquinii in lated the calendar, kept the public annals, and regulated weights and measures. They were experts in all matters of religious ceremonial and hence were very important officials.2 This old Roman faith was something very different from what we understand by religion. It had little direct influence Importance on morality. It did not promise rewards or of the state threaten punishments in a future world. Roman religion religion busied itself with the everyday life of man. Just as the household was bound together by the tie of common worship, so all the citizens were united in a common reverence for the deities which guarded the state. The religion of Rome made and held together a nation. 1 Latin auspicium, from auspex, a bird seer. 2 The title of the president of the pontiffs, Pontifex Maximus (Supreme Pontiff), is still that of the pope. See page 364. 52. The Roman City-State We find in early Rome, as in Homeric Greece,1 a city-state with its king, council, and assembly. The king was the father of his people, having over them the same absolute Early Roman authority that the house-father held within the government family. The king was assisted by a council of elders, or Senate (Latin senes, "old men"). Its members were chosen by the king and held office for life. The most influential heads of families belonged to the Senate. The common people at first took little part in the government, for it was only on rare occasions that the king summoned them to deliberate with him in an assembly. COOP WITH SACRED CHICKENS The relief represents the chickens in the act of feeding. The most favorable omen was secured when the fowls greedily picked up more of the corn than they could swallow at one time. Their refusal to eat at all was an omen of disaster. Toward the close of the sixth century, as we have already learned,2 the ancient monarchy The republidisappeared from can consuls Rome. In place of the lifelong king two magistrates, named consuls, were elected every year. Each consul had to share his honor and authority with a colleague who enjoyed the same power as himself. Unless both agreed, there could be no action. Like the Spartan kings,3 the consuls served as checks, the one on the other. Neither could safely use his position to aim at unlawful rule. This divided power of the consuls might work very well in times of peace. During dangerous wars or insurrections it was likely to prove disastrous. A remedy was found The dictator in the temporary revival of the old kingship under a new name. When occasion required, one of the consuls, on the advice of the Senate, appointed a dictator. The consuls 1 See page 81. 2 See page 143. * See page 83. then gave up their authority and the people put their property and lives entirely at the dictator's disposal. During his term of office, which could not exceed six months, the state was under martial law. Throughout Roman history there were many occasions when a dictatorship was created to meet a sudden emergency. The Roman state, during the regal age, seems to have been divided between an aristocracy and a commons. The nobles Patricians were called patricians, and the common people and plebeians were known as plebeians.2 The patricians occupied a privileged position, since they alone sat in the Senate and served as priests, judges, and magistrates. In fact, they controlled society, and the common people found themselves excluded from much of the religious, legal, and political life of the Roman city. Under these circumstances it was natural for the plebeians to agitate against the patrician monopoly of government. The struggle between the two orders of society lasted about two centuries. The tribunes A few years after the establishment of the republic the plebeians compelled the patricians to allow them to have officers of their own, called tribunes, as a means of protection. There were ten tribunes, elected annually by the plebeians. Any tribune could veto, that is, forbid, the act of a magistrate which seemed to bear harshly on a citizen. To make sure that a tribune's orders would be respected, his person was made sacred and a solemn curse was pronounced upon the man who injured him or interrupted him in the performance of his duties. The tribune's authority, however, extended only within the city and a mile beyond its walls. He was quite powerless against the consul in the field. The Twelve We next find the plebeians struggling for equality before the law. Just as in ancient Athens, the early Roman laws had never been written down or published. About half a century after the plebeians had obtained the tribunes, they forced the patricians to give them written laws. A board of ten men, known as decemvirs, See page 85. 1 From the Latin patres, "fathers." 2 Latin plebs, "the crowd." was appointed to frame a legal code, binding equally on both patricians and plebeians. The story goes that this commission studied the legislation of the Greek states of southern Italy, and even went to Athens to examine some of Solon's laws which were still in force. The laws framed by the decemvirs were engraved on twelve bronze tablets and set up in the Forum. A few sentences from this famous code have come down to us in rude, unpolished Latin. They mark the beginning of what was to be Rome's greatest gift to civilization - her legal system. The hardest task of the plebeians was to secure the right of holding the great offices of state. Eventually, how- Final triumph ever, they gained entrance to of the plethe Senate and became eligible beians OPPIANO JEI VIR FASCES to the consulship and other magistracies CURULE CHAIR AND and to the priesthoods. By the middle of the third century the plebeians and patricians, equal before the law and with equal privileges, formed one compact body of citizens in the Roman state. A consul sat on the curule chair. The fasces (axes in a bundle of rods) symbolized his power to flog and behead offenders. "a The Roman state called itself a republic respublica thing of the people." Roman citizens made the laws and elected public officers. Though the people in their Rome as a gatherings had now become supreme, their power republic was really much limited by the fact that very little discussion of a proposed measure was allowed. This formed a striking contrast to the vigorous debating which went on in the Athenian Assembly.1 Roman citizens could not frame, criticize, or amend public measures; they could only vote "yes" or "no" to proposals made to them by a magistrate. Rome had many magistrates. Besides the two consuls and an occasional dictator there were the ten tribunes, the prætors, who served as judges, and the quæs Magistrates tors, or keepers of the treasury. The two censors were also very 1 See page 105. important officers. It was their business to make an enumeration or census of the citizens and to assess property for taxation. The censors almost always were reverend seniors who had held the consulship and enjoyed a reputation for justice and wisdom. Their office grew steadily in importance, especially after the censors began to exercise an oversight of the private life of the Romans. They could expel a senator from his seat for immorality and could deprive any citizen of his vote. The word "censorious," meaning faultfinding, is derived from the name of these ancient officials. The authority of the magistrates was much limited by the Senate. This body contained about three hundred members, Membership who held their seats generally for life. When of the Senate vacancies occurred, they were filled, as a rule, by those who had previously held one or more of the higher magistracies. There sat in the Senate every man who, as statesman, general, or diplomatist, had served his country well. Powers exer Senate The Senate furnished an admirable school for debate. Any senator could speak as long and as often as he chose. The opportunities for discussion were numerous, for cised by the all weighty matters came before this august assemblage. It managed finances and public works. It looked after the state religion. It declared and conducted war, received ambassadors from foreign countries, made alliances, and administered conquered territories. The Senate formed the real governing body of the republic. The Senate proved not unworthy of its high position. For two centuries, while Rome was winning dominion over Italy and the "An assemMediterranean, that body held the wisest and bly of kings" noblest Romans of the time. To these men office meant a public trust-an opportunity to serve their country with distinction and honor. The Senate, in its best days, was a splendid example of the foresight, energy, and wisdom of republican Rome. An admiring foreigner called it "an assembly of kings."1 1 The four letters inscribed on Roman military standards indicate the important place held by the Senate. They are S. P. Q. R., standing for Senatus Populusque Romanus, "The Senate and the People of Rome." |