Part 23 (1/2)

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.