A History of Rome to 565 A. D Part 11

Intimate a.s.sociates there were the Achaean historian Polybius and the Stoic philosopher Panaetius of Rhodes.

*Roman literature: I. Poetry.* More than anything else Greek influences contributed to the rise of Roman literature. Prior to the war with Hannibal the Romans had no literature, although Latin prose had attained a certain development in the formulation of laws and treaties and a rude Latin verse had appeared.

Not unnaturally Roman literature began with translations from the Greek, and here poetry preceded prose. In the latter half of the third century B. C., Livius Andronicus, a Greek freedman, translated the _Odyssey_ into Latin Saturnian verse, as a text-book for school use. He also translated Greek comedies and tragedies. At about the same time Cnaeus Naevius wrote comedies and tragedies having Roman as well as Greek subjects. He also composed an epic poem on the First Punic War, still using the native Saturnian.

Dramatic literature developed rapidly under the demand for plays to be presented at the public festivals. In the second century appeared the great comic poet Plautus, who drew his subjects from the Greek New Comedy, but whose metre and language were strictly Latin. He was followed by Terence, a man of lesser genius, who depended largely upon Greek originals, but who was distinguished for the purity and elegance of his Latin. A later dramatist of note was Lucius Accius, who brought Roman tragedy to its height. In both comedy and tragedy Greek plots and characters were gradually abandoned for those of native origin, but tragedy failed to appeal to the Roman public which was in general too uneducated to appreciate its worth and preferred the comedy, mime or gladiatorial combat. A notable figure is Ennius, a Messapian, who began to write at the close of the third century B. C. He created the Latin hexameter verse in which he wrote a great epic portraying the history of Rome from the migration of Aeneas. Another famous member of the Scipionic circle was Gaius Lucilius, a Roman of equestrian rank, who originated the one specifically Roman contribution to literary types, the satire. His poems were a criticism of life in all its aspects, public and private. He called them "talks" (_sermones_), but they received the popular name of satires because their colloquial language and the variety of their subjects recalled the native Italian medley of prose and verse, narrative and drama, known as the _satura_.

*II. Prose.* Latin prose developed more slowly. The earliest Roman historical works by Fabius Pictor (after 201 B. C.), Cincius Alimentus, and others, were written in Greek, for in that language alone could they find suitable models. It remained for Cato, here as elsewhere the foe of h.e.l.lenism, to create Latin historical prose in his _Origins_, an account of the beginnings of Rome and the Italian peoples written about 168 B. C.

His earlier work on agriculture was the first book in Latin prose. The work of the Carthaginian Mago on the same subject was translated into Latin by a commission appointed by the Senate.

*Oratory.* The demands of public life in Rome had already created a native oratory. A speech delivered by Appius Claudius in 279 B. C. had been written down and published, as were several funeral orations from the close of the third century. But it was Cato who first published a collection of his speeches, about one hundred and fifty in number, which enjoyed a great reputation. A new impulse to this branch of literature was given by the introduction of the systematic study of rhetoric under the influence of Greek orators and teachers.

*Juristic writings.* In the field of jurisprudence the Romans at this period, were but little subject to Greek influences. The codification of the law in the fifth century B. C. had been followed by the introduction of new principles and forms of action, chiefly through the praetor's edict. The necessity arose of harmonizing the old law and the new, and of systematizing the various forms of legal procedure. Roman juristic literature begins with s.e.xtus Aelius Paetus (consul in 198 B. C.), surnamed Catus "the shrewd," who compiled a work which later generations regarded as "the cradle of the law." It was in three parts; the first contained an interpretation of the XII Tables, the second the development of the law by the jurists, and the third new methods of legal procedure. A knowledge of the law had always been highly esteemed at Rome and the position of a jurist consult, that is, one who was consulted on difficult legal problems, was one of especial honor. Consequently the study of the law, together with that of oratory, formed the regular preparation for the Roman who aimed at a public career.

*Religion.* Greek religion, like Greek literature, had attained a more advanced stage than that of Rome, and possessed a rich mythology when the Romans had barely begun to ascribe distinct personalities to their G.o.ds.

Hence there came about a ready identification between Greek and Roman divinities to whom similar powers were ascribed and the wholesale adoption of Greek mythological lore. By the close of the third century B. C. there was formally recognized in Rome a group of twelve greater divinities who were identical with the twelve Olympic G.o.ds of Greece. There ensued also a rapid neglect of the minor Latin divinities whose place was taken by those of Greek origin. The old impersonal Roman deities had given place to anthropomorphic h.e.l.lenic conceptions. This is reflected in the acceptance of Greek types for the plastic representations of the G.o.ds, a strong demand for which arose with the acquaintance of the works of art carried off from Syracuse and other Greek cities. An important factor in this h.e.l.lenization of the Roman religion was the influence of the Sibylline Books, a collection of Greek oracles imported from c.u.mae in the days of the Roman kings and consulted in times of national danger.

*The decree of the Senate against Baccha.n.a.lian societies: 186 B. C.* But Greek influence in the sphere of religion went deeper than the identification of Greek and Roman divinities, for the emotional cult of Bacchus with its mystic ceremonies and doctrines made its way into Italy where religious a.s.sociations for its celebration were formed even in Rome itself. The demoralizing effects of this worship called forth a senatorial investigation which resulted, as we have seen, in the suppression of these a.s.sociations. A similar action was taken with regard to the Chaldean astrologers, banished from Italy in 139 B. C.

*The worship of the Great Mother.* Of a different character was the cult of the Great Mother officially introduced into Rome in the year 204 B. C.

This was in essence a native nature worship of Asia Minor, disguised with a veneer of h.e.l.lenism. It was the first of the so-called Oriental cults to obtain a footing in the Roman world.

*Skepticism and Stoicism.* Although the formalities of religion in so far as they concerned public life were still scrupulously observed, there was an ever increasing skepticism with regard to the existence and power of the G.o.ds of the Graeco-Roman mythology. This was especially true of the educated cla.s.ses, who were influenced to a certain extent by the rationalism of Euhemerus, whose work on the origin of the G.o.ds had been translated by Ennius, but much more by the pantheism of the Stoic philosophy. The Stoic doctrines, with their practical ethical prescriptions, made a strong appeal to the Roman character and found an able expositor in Panaetius of Rhodes who taught under the patronage of Scipio Aemilia.n.u.s.

*Public festivals.* Of great importance in the life of the city were the annual public festivals or games, of which six came to be regularly celebrated by the middle of the second century, each lasting for several days. Five of these were celebrated by the aediles, one by the city praetor. A fixed sum was allotted by the state to defray the expenses of these exhibits, but custom required that this must be largely supplemented from the private purse of the person in charge. In this way the aedileship afforded an excellent opportunity to win public favor by an exhibition of generosity. To the original horse and chariot races there came to be added scenic productions, wild beast hunts, and gladiatorial combats, in imitation of those exhibited by private persons. The first private exhibition of gladiators was given at a funeral in 264 B. C., and the first wild beast hunt in 186 B. C. These types of exhibitions soon became the most popular of all and exercised a brutalizing effect upon the spectators.

*The city Rome.* The growth of Rome in population and wealth brought about a corresponding change in the appearance of the city. Tenement houses of several stories and high rentals reflected the influx into the capital.

Public buildings began to be erected on a large scale. The Circus Flaminius dates from the end of the third century, and several basilicas or large public halls, suitable as places for transacting business or conducting judicial hearings, were erected by 169 B. C. A new stone bridge was built across the Tiber, a quay to facilitate the unloading of ships was constructed on the bank of the river, a third aqueduct brought into the city, and stone paving laid on many streets. Many temples were erected, adorned with votive offerings, mainly spoils of war from Greek cities. But no native art or architecture arose that was worthy of the imperial position of Rome.

CHAPTER XII

THE STRUGGLE OF THE OPTIMATES AND THE POPULARES: 13378 B. C.

*Civil war and imperial expansion.* The century which began with the year 133 B. C. is characterized by a condition of perpetual factional strife within the Roman state; strife which frequently blazed forth into civil war and which culminated in the fall of the republican system of government.

The question at issue was the right of the Senate to direct the policy of Rome, and this right was challenged by the tribunate and the a.s.sembly of Tribes, by the equestrian order, and by the great military leaders who appeared in the course of civil and foreign wars.

For in spite of these unceasing internal disorders this century marks an imperial expansion which rivalled that of the era of the Punic and Macedonian Wars. In Gaul the Roman sway was extended to the Rhine and the Ocean; in the east practically the whole peninsula of Asia Minor, as well as Syria and Egypt, was incorporated in the Empire. With the exception of Mauretania (i. e. modern Morocco, which was really a Roman dependency) the Roman provinces completely encircled the Mediterranean.

At the same time a new Italian nation was created by the admission to Roman citizenship of all the peoples dwelling in Italy south of the Alps.

The period 133 to 78 B. C. covers the first stage in the struggle which brought the Republic to an end, and closes with the Senate in full possession of its old prerogatives, while the powers of the tribunate and a.s.sembly have been seriously curtailed. In this struggle the Roman citizen body was aligned in two groups. The one, which supported the claims of the Senate, was called the party of the "Optimates" or aristocrats; the other, which challenged these claims, was known as the people's party or the "Populares."

I. THE AGRARIAN LAWS OF TIBERIUS GRACCHUS: 133 B. C.

*Tiberius Gracchus, tribune, 133 B. C.* The opening of the struggle was brought on by the agrarian legislation proposed by Tiberius Gracchus, a tribune for the year 133 B. C. Gracchus, then thirty years of age, was one of the most prominent young Romans of his time, being the son of the consul whose name he bore and of Cornelia, daughter of the great Scipio Africa.n.u.s. Under his mother's supervision, he had received a careful education, which included rhetoric and Greek Stoic philosophy. As quaestor in Spain in 136 he had distinguished himself for courage and honesty in dealing with the native population and had acquainted himself with the military needs of Rome. He saw in the decline of the free peasantry of Italy the chief menace to the state, and when elected to the tribunate proposed legislation which aimed to re-establish the cla.s.s of free Roman farmers, and thus provide new strength for the Roman armies.

*The land law.* His proposed land law took the form of a re-enactment of a previous agrarian measure dating, probably, from the end of the third century B. C. This law had restricted the amount of public land which any person might occupy to five hundred iugera (about three hundred and ten acres), an amount which Gracchus augmented by two hundred and fifty iugera for each of two grown sons. All land held in excess of this limit was to be surrendered to the state, further occupation of public land was forbidden, and what was within the legal limit was to be declared private property. Compensation for improvements on surrendered lands was offered to the late occupants, and a commission of three men was to be annually elected with judicial powers to decide upon the rights of possessors (_III vir agris iudicandis a.s.signandis_). The land thus resumed by the state was to be a.s.signed by the commissioners to landless Roman citizens in small allotments, incapable of alienation, and subject to a nominal rental to the state.

*Deposition of the tribune Octavius.* This proposal aroused widespread consternation among the Senators, who saw their holdings threatened. In many cases it had doubtless become impossible for them to distinguish between their private properties and the public lands occupied by their families for several generations. The Senate resorted to its customary procedure in protecting its prerogatives and induced a tribune named Octavius to veto the measure. But Gracchus was terribly in earnest with his project of reform and took the unprecedented step of appealing to the a.s.sembly of the Tribes to depose Octavius, on the ground that he was thwarting the will of the people. The a.s.sembly voiced their approval of Tiberius by depriving his opponent of his office. The land bill was thereupon presented to the a.s.sembly and pa.s.sed. The first commissioners elected to carry it into effect were Tiberius himself, his younger brother Caius, and his father-in-law, Appius Claudius.

*Death of Tiberius Gracchus.* To equip the allotments made to poor settlers, Tiberius proposed the appropriation of the treasure of King Attalus III of Pergamon, to which the Roman state had lately fallen heir.

Here was a direct attack upon the Senate's customary control of such matters. But before this proposal could be presented to the Comitia, the elections to the tribunate for 132 fell due. Tiberius determined to present himself for re-election in order to ensure the carrying out of his land law and to protect himself from prosecution on the ground of the unconst.i.tutionality of some of his actions. Such a procedure was unusual, if not illegal, and the Senate determined to prevent it at any cost. The elections culminated in a riot in which Gracchus and three hundred adherents were ma.s.sacred by the armed slaves and clients of the senators.

Their bodies were thrown into the Tiber. A judicial commission appointed by the Senate sought out and punished the leading supporters of the murdered tribune.

*The fate of the land commission.* However, the land law remained in force and the commission set to work. But in 129 B. C. the commissioners were deprived of their judicial powers, and, since they could no longer expropriate land, their activity practically ceased.

Still, the Senate's opponents were not utterly crushed. In 131 an attempt was made to legalize re-election to the tribunate, and although the proposal failed at first, a law to that effect was pa.s.sed some time prior to 123 B. C. In the year 129 died Scipio Aemilia.n.u.s, the conqueror of Carthage and Numantia, the foremost Roman of the day. Upon returning from Spain in 132 he had energetically taken sides with the Senate and had caused the land commissioners to lose their right of jurisdiction. Thereby he had become exceedingly unpopular with the Gracchan party, and when he died suddenly in his fifty-sixth year, there were not wanting those who accused his wife Semp.r.o.nia, sister of Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, and others of their family, of being responsible for his decease.

II. THE TRIBUNATE OF CAIUS GRACCHUS: 124121 B. C.

*Caius Gracchus, tribune, 123 B. C.* The return of Caius Gracchus from his quaestorship in Sardinia in 124 B. C. and his immediate election to the tribunate for the ensuing year heralded the opening of a new phase in the conflict between the Optimates and the Populares. Caius was a pa.s.sionate orator, and a man of greater energy and more violent temperament than his brother. He entered office pledged to support the agrarian policy of Tiberius, but likewise determined to avenge the latter's death and to wrest from the Senate its control of the government.

*The legislation of Caius Gracchus, 123 B. C.* Upon a.s.suming office Caius developed an extensive legislative program. Extraordinary judicial commissions established by the Senate were declared illegal and the ex-consul Popilius who had been the leader in the prosecution of the followers of Tiberius, was forced into exile. A law was pa.s.sed which provided for a monthly distribution of grain to the city populace at one half the current market price. In this way an expedient which had occasionally been resorted to in times of distress was laid as a permanent obligation upon the government. It has been pointed out above that the lower cla.s.ses in the city lived in perpetual danger of famine, and Caius probably hoped to relieve the state of the perpetual menace of a hungry proletariat at the capital by improving the arrangements for the city's grain supply and lowering the cost of grain to the poor. But in the end this measure had the evil results of putting a severe drain upon the treasury and a premium upon idleness. For the moment, however, it made the city mob devoted adherents of Caius and strengthened his control of the a.s.sembly. The land law of 133 B. C. was re-enacted and the land commissioners reclothed with judicial authority. In connection therewith there was undertaken the extension and improvement of the road system of Italy. Caius then a.s.sured himself of the support of the financial interests by a law which provided that the whole revenue from the new province of Asia should be auctioned off at Rome in a lump to Roman contractors. A rich field was thus opened up to the Roman bankers.

*Caius re-elected tribune for 122 B. C.* The activity of Caius in supervising the execution of his legislation made him the leading figure in the government, and he was re-elected to the tribunate for 122 B. C. It seemed as though a sort of Periclean democracy had been established in Rome, where the statesman who commanded a majority in the popular a.s.sembly by securing his continuous re-election to the tribunate might supplant the Senate in directing the public policy.

*The Judiciary Law, 123 B. C.* Gracchus continued his legislative activity. One of his most important laws was that which deprived senators of the right to act as judges in the courts, including the permanent _quaestiones_, and transferred this prerogative to the equestrians. This was probably done by defining the qualifications of jurors in such a way as to exclude both senators and those not potentially able to maintain the equipment of a cavalryman at their own expense, i. e. those a.s.sessed at less than 400,000 sesterces ($20,000). By the Acilian Law of 123, which reorganized the _quaestio_ for the recovery of damages, the relatives of senators, who were still eligible to the eighteen equestrian centuries, were specifically excluded from serving as jurors. In this way the equestrian order in its widest sense was defined and, being given specific public duties, was rendered more conscious of its power and special interests. In consequence the permanent tribunal for trying officials charged with extortion in the provinces was manned by _equites_ instead of senators. But the change brought no relief to the subjects of Rome for this court was now composed of men who were interested in the financial exploitation of the provincials and who thus were in a position to intimidate a governor who endeavored to restrain the rapacity of tax collectors and money-lenders. The control of the law courts became a standing bone of contention between the Senate and the equestrian order.

Another law, which further restricted the powers of the Senate, dealt with the allotment of the consular provinces. Previously these had been a.s.signed by the Senate after the election of the consuls, so that the activities of one distrusted by the senators could be considerably restricted. For the future the consular provinces had to be designated prior to the elections and then a.s.signed to the successful candidates. The Senate's control over the consuls was thereby considerably weakened.

*Schemes for **colonization** and **extension** of Roman **citizenship**.*

Caius also secured the pa.s.sage of an extensive scheme of colonization, which provided for the establishment of Roman colonies at Capua and Tarentum, and, what was an innovation, for a colony outside of Italy on the site of Carthage. He further championed the cause of the Latin and Italian allies, for whom he sought to secure Roman citizenship. The Senatorial party thereupon endeavored to undermine his influence with the people by proposing through the tribune Livius Drusus a more extensive scheme of colonization, with exemption from rentals for colonists, and opposing the extension of the franchise to the allied communities, a measure unpopular with the ma.s.ses who were jealous of sharing their privileges with numbers of new citizens.

*The overthrow of Caius Gracchus: 121 B. C.* Caius personally undertook the foundation of the colony, named Junonia, which was located at Carthage, and his absence of seventy days on this mission gave the opposition time to organize their forces. His enemies accused him of aiming at a tyranny, his proposal for extension of the franchise was quashed by the veto of Drusus, and he himself failed to secure his election as tribune for 121. With the opening of that year the Senate initiated an attack upon some of his measures, especially the founding of Junonia. The senators were determined to impeach or kill Gracchus, while he and his friends organized themselves for defence. A riot in which one of the senatorial faction was killed gave the Senate the pretext to proclaim a state of martial law and authorize the consul Opimius to take any steps to safeguard the state. The followers of Gracchus a.s.sembled on the Aventine, their overtures were rejected and upon the refusal of Caius and his chief adherent Flaccus to appear before the Senate, Opimius attacked them at the head of the Senators, armed slaves and Cretan archers. The Gracchans were routed; Caius had himself killed by a faithful slave, and a judicial commission condemned three thousand of his followers.

*The consequences of the Gracchan disorders.* The memory of the Gracchi retained a lasting hold upon the affections of the Roman plebs. But although both were earnest patriots, who made a sincere attempt to reform existing abuses in the state, one cannot but feel that the success of their political aims would have brought about no permanent improvement. To subst.i.tute for the Senate the fickle a.s.sembly as the governing force in the state was no true democratic measure owing to the fact that the a.s.sembly did not properly represent the ma.s.s of the citizen body, and as the future years were to show, would merely have shifted the reins of power from one incompetent body to another more incompetent still. As it was, the Senate, although victorious, emerged from the contest weakened in authority and prestige, and having left a feeling of bitter resentment in the hearts of its opponents. It owed its success to violence and not to legal measures and thus offered a precedent which others might follow against itself. The alliance between the equestrians and the urban proletariat while it lasted had proven stronger than the Senate, and this lesson, too, was not lost upon future statesmen. Besides the loss of some of its prerogatives, the Senate was weakened by the consolidation of the business interests as a political party, with which it was brought into sharp opposition over the question of provincial government. Well might Caius Gracchus declare that by his judiciary law he had "thrust a dagger into the side of the Senate." For the provincials, the result of this law was to usher in an era of increased oppression and misgovernment. The refusal of the Romans to grant the franchise to the allies served to estrange them still further from Rome. On the whole we may say that conditions in Rome, Italy and the provinces were worse after the time of the Gracchi than before.

*Fate of the agrarian legislation.* It is impossible to estimate how many Romans received allotments of land under the Gracchan laws. Although the census list rose from 317,000 in 136 to 394,000 in 125, we cannot ascribe this increase altogether to an increase in the number of small proprietors. The admission of freedmen to citizenship doubtless accounts for many. Still there was beyond question a decided addition made to the free peasantry. The colony of Junonia was abandoned, but the settlers in Africa were left undisturbed on their lands. By 120 the restrictions on the sale of allotments in Italy were withdrawn; in 118 a.s.signments ceased; and in 111 rentals to the state were abolished and all lands then held in possession were declared private property; an enactment which benefited greatly the wealthy proprietors.

III. THE WAR WITH JUGURTHA AND THE RISE OF MARIUS

*Foreign wars of the Gracchan Age.* While the Senate and the Gracchi were struggling for the mastery in Rome, the Roman state engaged in continual frontier struggles, particularly on the northern borders of Italy and Macedonia. Most of these wars were of slight importance, but one resulted in the occupation of the Balearic Islands, in 123122, which gave Rome full command of the sea route to Spain. Another, still more important, was that waged between 125 and 123 in answer to an appeal from Ma.s.salia against the Ligurian Salyes to the north of that city. Their subjugation gave the Romans the command of the route across the Maritime Alps from Italy to Gaul. The fortress of Aquae s.e.xtiae was established to guard this pa.s.sage.

*The Roman advance in Transalpine Gaul.* It now became the object of the Romans to secure the land route to Spain. But beyond the territory of their ally Ma.s.salia the way was blocked by powerful coalitions of Gallic tribes. Chief among these were the Allobroges to the east of the Rhone, the Arverni the greatest of all, whose territory lay west of that river, from the Loire to the Pyrenees, and the Aedui, to the north of the Arverni. The Romans made an alliance with the latter people who were at enmity with the other two, and attacked the Allobroges because they had received fugitives from the Salyes. The Arverni were drawn into the conflict on the side of the Allobroges.