A Manual of Ancient History Part 28

ED. FERGUSON, _The History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic_. London, 1783, 4to. On the whole, the best work on the history of the Roman republic; it has superceded the earlier work of GOLDSMITH.

P. CH. LEVESQUE, _Histoire de la Republique Romaine_, 3 vols.

Paris, 1807. He who would still wish to admire with blind enthusiasm the glory of ancient Rome, had better not read this work.

B. G. NIEBUHR, _Roman History_.

Rather criticism than history; the author seems to be perpetually endeavouring to overthrow all that has. .h.i.therto been admitted. The spirit of acuteness is not always that of truth; and men do not so lightly a.s.sent to the existence of a const.i.tution which not only is contrary to the broad view of antiquity--inferences drawn from some insulated pa.s.sages not being sufficient to overturn what is corroborated by all the others--but likewise, according to the author's own avowal, stands opposed to all a.n.a.logy in history. But truth gains even where criticism is wrong; and the value of some deep researches will not for that reason be overlooked.--Consult on this subject:

# W. WACHs.m.u.tH, _Researches into the more Ancient History of Rome_. Halle, 1819.

C. F. TH. LACHMANN, _Commentatio de fontibus T. Livii in prima Historiarum Decade_. Gottingae, 1821. A prize essay.

For the works upon the Roman const.i.tution see below, at the end of this and at the beginning of the third period.

Abundance of most important writings upon Roman antiquities will be found in the great collections:

GRaeVII _Thesaurus Antiquitatum Romanarum_. Lugd. Batav. 1694, sq.

12 vols. fol. and likewise in

SALENGRE, _Thesaurus Antiquitatum Romanarum_. Venet. 1732, 3 vols.

fol.

Many excellent papers, particularly in

_Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions_.

With the exception of NARDINI, _Roma Vetus_, inserted in GRaeVII THES.

A. R. t. iv. the best work on the topography of ancient Rome is

VENUTI, _Descrizione Topografica delle Antichita di Roma_. P. I.

II. Roma, 1763; and especially the new edition of that work by VISCONTI, 1803. There is also:

# S. H. L. ADLER, _Description of the city of Rome_. Altona, 1781, 4to.

The best representation of the monuments of ancient Rome will be found in

PIRANESI, _Antichita di Roma_, 3 vols. fol.

1. In certain respects, the history of Rome is always that of one town, inasmuch as until the period of the Caesars, the city continued mistress of her extensive territory. The main parts of the internal const.i.tution of Rome were formed during this first period; which, considered in an historical point of view, can hardly be said to be void of interest.

Whether every fundamental inst.i.tution had its origin precisely at the epoch to which it is attributed, is a question of little importance; it is sufficient to observe, that they certainly arose in this period; and that the steps by which the const.i.tution was developed are, upon the whole, determined beyond the possibility of a doubt.

2. Exaggerated and embellished as the most ancient traditions of the Romans respecting their origin may be, they all agree in this, that the Romans belonged to the race of the Latini, and that their city was a colony of the neighbouring Alba Longa. Long before this the custom seems to have obtained with the Latini, of extending the cultivation of their country by colonies.

The primitive history of Rome is as difficult to reduce to pure historic truth as that of Athens, or any other city of antiquity; this proceeds from its being princ.i.p.ally founded on traditions, handled by poets and rhetoricians, and likewise differing from one another; as may be seen in Plutarch's Romulus. As the knowledge of those traditions, such as they are found in Dionysius and Livy, attaches to so many other subjects, it would be improper to pa.s.s them over in silence; and that they contained truths as well as poetic fictions is proved most evidently by the political inst.i.tutions of which they narrate the origin, and which certainly reached back to those times.

To attempt to draw a line of demarcation between mythical and historic times would be to mistake the real nature of mythology.

L. DE BEAUFORT, _Sur l'incert.i.tude des cinq premiers siecles de l'histoire Romaine_, nouv. ed. a la Haye, 1750, 2 vols. 8vo. Every thing that can be said against the credibility of the primitive Roman history has been developed by Beaufort with abundant, and often with laboured, acuteness.

3. During the first two hundred and forty-five years subsequent to its foundation this city was under the rule of governors, denominated kings; these, however, were not hereditary, still less were they invested with unlimited power, although they exerted themselves to become both perpetual and absolute. On the contrary, in this period was framed a munic.i.p.al const.i.tution, demonstrative of the existence, even at this early date, of a considerable degree of political civilization; in its princ.i.p.al parts this const.i.tution was, no doubt,--as in every colony,--copied from that of the mother city. Its princ.i.p.al features were: _a._ Establishment and internal organization of the senate. _b._ Establishment and progress of the patrician or hereditary n.o.bility, which, supported by the privilege of administering the sacred affairs, and by the introduction of family names, quickly formed, in opposition to the plebeians, a political party ever growing in power, although not, therefore, a mere sacerdotal caste. _c._ Organization of the people (_populus_), and modes of popular a.s.sembly (_comitia_), founded thereupon; besides the original division according to heads into _tribus_ and _curiae_, another was subsequently introduced according to property into _cla.s.ses_ and _centuriae_, out of which, besides the more ancient _comitia curiata_, arose the very artificially constructed _comitia centuriata_. _d._ Religious inst.i.tutions, (_religiones_,) which being most closely connected with the political const.i.tution, formed a state religion, by means of which everything in the state was attached to determined forms, and received a higher sanction. Nor must we omit _e._ the relations in private life established by law, the clientship, marriage, and especially paternal authority. In consequence of those domestic relations, a spirit of subordination and discipline, from the earliest times, pervaded the people; and to that spirit the Romans were indebted for the glory to which they attained.

4. Notwithstanding many little wars with their immediate neighbours the Sabines, aequi, and Volsci, together with various cities of the Etrusci, and even with the Latins themselves, Rome added but little to her territory: nevertheless she took the first step towards her aggrandizement; from the time of the destruction of Alba Longa, she aimed at being the head of the collected cities of the Latins, and finally attained the object of her ambition.

Line of kings. Romulus, 754-717. First establishment of the colony; augmentation in the number of the citizens, produced by the establishment of an asylum, and an union with part of the Sabines.

Numa Pompilius, _d._ 679. By representing this prince as the founder of the religion of the Roman state, that religion received the high sanction of antiquity. Tullus Hostilius, _d._ 640. The conquest and destruction of Alba lays the foundation of Roman supremacy in Latium.

Ancus Martius, _d._ 618. He extends the territory of Rome to the sea; the foundation of the port of Ostia proves that Rome already applied to navigation, the object of which was perhaps as yet rather piracy than trade. Tarquinius Priscus, _d._ 578. A Grecian by descent. Under his conduct Rome was already able to enter the field against the confederate Etrusci. Servius Tullius, _d._ 534. The most remarkable in the line of Roman kings. He placed Rome at the head of the confederacy of the Latins, which he confirmed by _communia sacra_. On his new division of the people according to property were raised the highly important inst.i.tutions of the _census_ and _comitia centuriata_. The necessity of this measure is demonstrative of the great and increasing prosperity of the Roman citizens; there can be no doubt, however, that by its adoption the frame of the republic was already completed.

Tarquinius Superbus, (the tyrant,)--509. This individual, having taken forcible possession of the throne as nephew to Priscus, endeavoured to confirm his power by a close connection with the Latins and Volsci; by this, as well as by his tyranny, he offended both the patrician and plebeian parties. His deposition, and the consequent reformation of the government, were however, properly speaking, brought about by the ambition of the patricians.

ALGAROTTI, _Saggio sopra la durata de' regni de' re di Roma_. (Op. t.

iii.) Chronological doubts. Can the raising of difficulties deserve the name of criticism?

5. The only direct consequence to the internal const.i.tution of Rome, proceeding from the abolition of royalty was, that that power, undetermined as it had been while in the hands of the kings, was transferred to two consuls, annually elected. Meanwhile the struggle for liberty, in which the new republic was engaged with the Etrusci and Latins, contributed much to arouse the republican spirit which henceforward was the main feature of the Roman character--the evils of popular rule being in times of need remedied by the establishment of the dictatorship. The party, however, which had deposed the ruling family, took wholly into their own hands the helm of state; and the oppression of these aristocrats, shown princ.i.p.ally towards their debtors, who had become their slaves, (_nexi_,)--notwithstanding the _lex de provocatione_ established by Valerius Poplicola, ensuring to the people the highest judicial power--was so galling, that after the lapse of a few years it gave rise to a sedition of the commons, (_plebis_,) the consequence of which was the establishment of annually elected presidents of the people (_tribuni plebis_).

First commercial treaty with Carthage, 508, in which Rome appears certainly as a free state, but not yet as sovereign of all Latium; the most important monument of the authenticity of the earlier Roman history.

HEYNE, _Foedera Carthaginiensium c.u.m Romanis super navigatione et mercatura facta_: contained in his Opusc. t. iii. Cf. # A. H. L.

HEEREN, _Ideas_, etc. Appendix to the second vol.

6. The further development of the Roman const.i.tution in this period, hinges almost wholly on the struggle between the new presidents of the commons and the hereditary n.o.bility; the tribunes, instead of confining themselves to defend the people from the oppression of the n.o.bles, soon began to act as aggressors, and in a short time so widely overstepped their power, that there remained no chance of putting an end to the struggle but by a complete equalization of rights. A long time elapsed ere this took place; the aristocracy finding a very powerful support both in the clientship and in the religion of the state, operating under the shape of auspices.

Main facts of the contest: 1. In the trial of Coriola.n.u.s the tribunes usurp the right of summoning some patricians before the tribunal of the people.--Hence arise the _comitia tributa_; that is to say, either mere a.s.semblies of the commons, or a.s.semblies so organized that the commons had the preponderance. This inst.i.tution gave the tribunes a share in the legislation, subsequently of such high importance, those officers being allowed to lay proposals before the commons. 2. More equitable distribution among the poorer cla.s.ses of the lands conquered from the neighbouring nations, (the most ancient _leges agrariae_,) suggested by the ambitious attempts of Ca.s.sius, 486. 3. Extension of the prerogatives of the _comitia tributa_, more especially in the election of the tribunes, brought about by Volero, 472. 4. Attempts at a legal limitation of the consular power by Terentillus, (_lex Terentilla_,) 460, which, after a long struggle, at last leads to the idea of one common written code, 452, which is likewise realized in spite of the opposition at first made by the patricians.

# CHR. F. SCHULZE, _Struggle between the Democracy and Aristocracy of Rome, or History of the Romans from the Expulsion of Tarquin to the Election of the first Plebeian Consul_. Altenburgh, 1802, 8vo.

A most satisfactory development of this portion of Roman history.

7. The code of the twelve tables confirmed the ancient inst.i.tutions, and was in part completed by the adoption of the laws of the Greek republics, among which Athens in particular is mentioned, whose counsels were requested by a special deputation. In this, however, two faults were committed; not only were the commissioners charged with drawing up the laws elected from the patricians _alone_, but they were likewise const.i.tuted sole magistrates, with _dictatorial_ power, (_sine provocatione_;) whereby a path was opened to them for an usurpation, which could be frustrated only by a sedition of the people.

Duration of the power of the Decemviri, 451-447. The doubts raised as to the deputation sent to Athens are not sufficient to invalidate the authenticity of an event so circ.u.mstantially detailed. Athens, under Pericles, was then at the head of Greece; and, admitting the proposed design of consulting the Greek laws, it was impossible that Athens should have been pa.s.sed over. And indeed, why should it be supposed, that a state which fifty years before had signed a commercial treaty with Carthage, and could not be unacquainted with the Grecian colonies in Lower Italy, might not have sent an emba.s.sy into Greece?

The yet remaining fragments of the code of the twelve tables are collected and ill.u.s.trated in BACHII _Hist. Jurisprudentiae Romanae_; and in several other works.

8. By the laws of the twelve tables the legal relations of the citizens were the same for all; but as that code seems to have contained very little in reference to any peculiar const.i.tution of the state, the government not only remained in the hands of the aristocrats, who were in possession of all offices, but the prohibition, according to the new laws of marriage between patricians and plebeians, appeared to have raised an insurmountable barrier between the two cla.s.ses. No wonder, then, that the tribunes of the people should have immediately renewed their attacks on the patricians; particularly as the power of those popular leaders was not only renewed, but even augmented, as the only limit to their authority was the necessity of their being unanimous in their acts, while each had the right of a negative.

Besides the other laws made in favour of the people at the renewal of the _tribunicia potestas_, 446, that which imported _ut quod tributim plebes jussisset, populum teneret_, frequently renewed in subsequent times, and meaning, in modern language, that the citizens const.i.tuted themselves, must, it would appear, have thrown the supreme power into the hands of the people; did not the Roman history, like that of other free states, afford examples enough of the little authority there is to infer from the enactment of a law that it will be practically enforced.

9. The main subjects of the new dissensions between patricians and plebeians, excited by the tribune Canuleius, were now the _connubia patrum c.u.m plebe_, and the exclusive partic.i.p.ation of the patricians in the consulship, of which the tribunes demanded the abolition. The repeal of the former law was obtained as early as 445, (_lex Canuleia_;) the right of admission to the consulship was not extended to the Plebeians, till after a struggle annually renewed for eighty years; during which, when, as usually was the case, the tribunes forbade the military enrolment, recourse was had to a transfer of the consular power to the yearly elected commanders of the legions; a place to which plebeians were ent.i.tled to aspire, (_tribuni militum consulari potestate._)--Establishment of the office of CENSORS, designed at first for nothing more than to regulate the taking of the census, and invested with no higher authority than what that required, but who soon after, by a.s.suming to themselves the _censura morum_, took rank among the most important dignitaries of the state.

10. Meanwhile Rome was engaged in wars, insignificant but almost uninterrupted, arising out of the oppression, either real or imaginary, which she exercised as head of the neighbouring federate cities, (_socii_,) comprising not only those of the Latins, but likewise, after the victory of lake Regillus, those of the other nations: the cities embraced every opportunity of a.s.serting their independence, and the consequent struggles must have depopulated Rome, had not that evil been diverted by the maxim of increasing the complement of citizens by admitting the freedmen, and not unfrequently even the conquered, to the enjoyment of civic privileges. Little as these feuds, abstractedly considered, deserve our attention, they become of high interest, inasmuch as they were not only the means by which the nation was trained to war, but also led to the foundation of that senatorial power, whose important consequences will be exhibited hereafter.

Among these wars attention must be directed to the last, that against Veii, the richest city in Etruria; the siege of that place, which lasted very nearly ten years, 404-395, gave rise to the introduction among the Roman military of winter campaigning, and of pay; thus, on the one hand, the prosecution of wars more distant and protracted became possible, while on the other the consequences must have been the levy of higher taxes, (_tributa_).

11. Not long after, however, a tempest from the north had nearly destroyed Rome. The Sennonian Gauls, pressed out of northern Italy through Etruria, possessed themselves of the city, the capitol excepted, and reduced it to ashes; an event which made so deep an impression on the minds of the Romans, that few other occurrences in their history have been more frequently the object of traditional detail. Camillus, then the deliverer of Rome, and in every respect one of the chief heroes of that period, laid a double claim to the grat.i.tude of his native city, by overruling, after his victory, the proposal of a general migration to Veii.

12. Scarcely was Rome rebuilt ere the ancient feuds revived, springing out of the poverty of the citizens, produced by an increase of taxation consequent on the establishment of military pay, and by the introduction of gross usury. The tribunes, s.e.xtius and Licinius, by prolonging their term of office to five years, had established their power; while Licinius, by an agrarian law, decreeing that no individual should hold more than five hundred _jugera_ of the national lands, had ensured the popular favour; so that at last they succeeded in obtaining, that one of the consuls should be chosen from the commons; and although the n.o.bility, by the nomination of a praetor from their own body, and of _aediles curules_, endeavoured to compensate for the sacrifice they were obliged to make, yet the plebeians having once made good a claim to the consulship, their partic.i.p.ation in the other magisterial offices, (the dictatorship, 353, the censorship, 348, the praetorship, 334,) and even the priesthood, (300,) quickly followed as a matter of course. Thus at Rome the object of political equality between commons and n.o.bles was attained; and although the difference between the patrician and plebeian families still subsisted, they soon ceased to form political parties.

A second commercial treaty entered into with Carthage, 345, demonstrates that even at this time the navy of the Romans was anything but contemptible; although its princ.i.p.al object as yet was mere piracy. Roman squadrons of war however appear more than once within the next forty years.

13. Far more important than any wars in which Rome had hitherto been engaged, were those soon about to commence with the Samnites. In former contests the object of Rome had been to establish her supremacy over her immediate neighbours; but in these, during a protracted contest of fifty years, she opened a way to the subjugation of Italy, and laid the foundation of her future greatness.