Ancient Rome : from the earliest times down to 476 A. D Part 2

The rich land-owners, on the other hand, increased their wealth by "farming" the public revenues; i.e. the state would let out to them, for a stipulated sum, the privilege of collecting all import and other duties. These, in turn (called in later times Publicans), would extort all they could from the tax-payers, thus enriching themselves unlawfully. So the hard times, the oppression of the tax-gatherer, and the unjust law about debt, made the condition of the poor unendurable.

The military service, too, bore hard upon them. Many were obliged to serve more than their due time, and in a rank lower than was just; for the Consuls, who had charge of the levy of troops, were patricians, and naturally favored their own party. Hence we see that the cavalry service was at this time made up entirely of young patricians, while the older ones were in the reserve corps, so that the brunt of military duty fell on the plebeians.

This state of things could not last, and, as the opportunity for rebelling against this unjust and cruel oppression was offered, the plebeians were not slow in accepting it.

The city was at war with the neighboring Sabines, Aequians, and Volscians, and needed extra men for defence. One of the Consuls liberated all who were confined in prison for debt, and the danger was averted. Upon the return of the army, however, those who had been set free were again thrown into prison. The next year the prisoners were again needed. At first they refused to obey, but were finally persuaded by the Dictator. But after a well-earned victory, upon their return to the city walls, the plebeians of the army deserted, and, marching to a hill near by, occupied it, threatening to found a new city unless their wrongs were redressed. This is called the First Secession of the Plebs, and is said to have been in 494.

The patricians and richer plebeians saw that concessions must be made, for the loss of these people would be ruin to Rome. Those in debt were released from their obligations, and the plebeians received the right to choose annually, from their own numbers, two officers called TRIBuNI PLEBIS, who should look after their interests, and have the power of VETOING any action taken by any magistrate in the city. This power, however, was confined within the city walls, and could never be exercised outside of them.

The person of the Tribunes was also made sacred, to prevent interference with them while in discharge of their duties, and if any one attempted to stop them he was committing a capital crime. Thus, if the Consuls or Quaestors were inclined to press the law of debt to extremes, or to be unjust in the levying of troops, the Tribunes could step in, and by their VETO stop the matter at once.

This was an immense gain for the plebeians, and they were justified in giving the name of SACRED MOUNT to the hill to which they had seceded.

The number of Tribunes was afterwards increased to five, and still later to ten.

CHAPTER VII. THE COMITIA TRIBUTA AND THE AGRARIAN LAWS.

The next gain made by the plebeians was the annual appointment from their own ranks of two officers, called AEDILES. (Footnote: The word "Aedile" is derived from _Aedes_, meaning temple.) These officers held nearly the same position in reference to the Tribunes that the Quaestors did to the Consuls. They a.s.sisted the Tribunes in the performance of their various duties, and also had special charge of the temple of Ceres. In this temple were deposited, for safe keeping, all the decrees of the Senate.

These two offices, those of Tribune and Aedile, the result of the first secession, were filled by elections held at first in the Comitia Centuriata, but later in an a.s.sembly called the COMITIA TRIBuTA, which met sometimes within and sometimes without the city walls.

This a.s.sembly was composed of plebeians, who voted by "tribes"

(_tributa_, meaning composed of tribes), each tribe being ent.i.tled to one vote, and its vote being decided by the majority of its individual voters. (Footnote: These "tribes" were a territorial division, corresponding roughly to "wards" in our cities. At this time there were probably sixteen, but later there were thirty-five. The plebeians in the city lived mostly in one quarter, on the Aventine Hill.)

The Comitia Tributa was convened and presided over by the Tribunes and Aediles. In it were discussed matters of interest to the plebeians.

By it any member could be punished for misconduct, and though at first measures pa.s.sed in it were not binding on the people at large, it presently became a determined body, with competent and bold leaders, who were felt to be a power in the state.

The aim of the patricians was now to lessen the power of the Tribunes; that of the plebeians, to restrain the Consuls and extend the influence of the Tribunes. Party spirit ran high; even hand to hand contests occurred in the city. Many families left Rome and settled in neighboring places to escape the turmoil. It is a wonder that the government withstood the strain, so fierce was the struggle.

The AGRARIAN LAWS at this time first become prominent. These laws had reference to the distribution of the PUBLIC LANDS. Rome had acquired a large amount of land taken from the territory of conquered cities. This land was called AGER PUBLICUS, or _public land_.

Some of this land was sold or given away as "homesteads," and then it became AGER PRIVaTUS, or _private land_. But the most of it was occupied by permission of the magistrates. The occupants were usually rich patricians, who were favored by the patrician magistrates. This land, so occupied, was called AGER OCCUPaTUS, or _possessio_; but it really was still the property of the state. The rent paid was a certain per cent (from 10 to 20) of the crops, or so much a head for cattle on pasture land. Although the state had the undoubted right to claim this land at any time, the magistrates allowed the occupants to retain it, and were often lenient about collecting dues. In course of time, this land, which was handed down from father to son, and frequently sold, began to be regarded by the occupants as their own property. Also the land tax (TRIBuTUM), which was levied on all _ager privatus_, and which was especially hard upon the small plebeian land-owners, could not legally be levied upon the _ager occupatus_. Thus the patricians who possessed, not owned, this land were naturally regarded as usurpers by the plebeians.

The first object of the AGRARIAN LAWS was to remedy this evil.

SPURIUS Ca.s.sIUS, an able man, now came forward (486?), proposing a law that the state take up these lands, divide them into small lots, and distribute them among the poor plebeians as homes (homesteads). The law was carried, but in the troublesome times it cost Ca.s.sius his life, and was never enforced.

CHAPTER VIII. THE CONTEST OF THE PLEBEIANS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS.

The plebeians were now (about 475) as numerous as the patricians, if not more so. Their organization had become perfected, and many of their leaders were persistent in their efforts to better the condition of their followers. Their especial aim was to raise their civil and political rights to an equality with those of the patricians. The struggle finally culminated in the murder of one of the Tribunes, Gnarus Genucius, for attempting to veto some of the acts of the Consuls.

VALERO PUBLILIUS, a Tribune, now (471) proposed and carried, notwithstanding violent opposition by the patricians, a measure to the effect that the Tribunes should hereafter be chosen in the _Comitia Tributa_, instead of the _Comitia Centuriata_. Thus the plebeians gained a very important step. This bill is called the PUBLILIAN LAW (_Plebiscitum Publilium_). (Footnote: All bills pa.s.sed in the Comitia Tributa were called Plebiscita, and until 286 were not necessarily binding upon the people at large; but this bill seems to have been recognized as a law.)

For the next twenty years the struggle continued unabated. The plebeians demanded a WRITTEN CODE OF LAWS.

We find among all early peoples that the laws are at first the unwritten ones of custom and precedent. The laws at Rome, thus far, had been interpreted according to the wishes and traditions of the patricians only. A change was demanded. This was obtained by the TERENTILIAN ROGATION, a proposal made in 461 by Gaius Terentilius Harsa, a Tribune, to the effect that the laws thereafter be written. The patrician families, led by one Kaeso Quinctius, made bitter opposition. Kaeso himself, son of the famous Cincinnatus, was impeached by the Tribune and fled from the city.

Finally it was arranged that the Comitia Centuriata should select from the people at large ten men, called the DECEMVIRATE, to hold office for one year, to direct the government and supersede all other magistrates, and especially to draw up a code of laws to be submitted to the people for approval. A commission of three patricians was sent to Athens to examine the laws of that city, which was now (454) at the height of its prosperity. Two years were spent by this commission, and upon their return in 452 the above mentioned Decemvirate was appointed.

The laws drawn up by this board were approved, engraved on ten tables of copper, and placed in the Forum in front of the Senate-House. Two more tables were added the next year. These TWELVE TABLES were the only Roman code.

The DECEMVIRI should have resigned as soon as these laws were approved, but they neglected to do so, and began to act in a cruel and tyrannical manner. The people, growing uneasy under their injustice, finally rebelled when one of the Decemviri, Appius Claudius, pa.s.sed a sentence that brought an innocent maiden, Virginia, into his power. Her father, Virginius, saved his daughter's honor by stabbing her to the heart, and fleeing to the camp called upon the soldiers to put down such wicked government.

A second time the army deserted its leaders, and seceded to the SACRED MOUNT, where they nominated their own Tribunes. Then, marching into the city, they compelled the Decemviri to resign.

The TWELVE TABLES have not been preserved, except in fragments, and we know but little of their exact contents. The position of the debtor was apparently made more endurable. The absolute control of the _pater familias_ over his family was abolished. The close connection heretofore existing between the clients and patrons was gradually relaxed, the former became less dependent upon the latter, and finally were absorbed into the body of the plebeians. _Gentes_ among the plebeians now began to be recognized; previously only the patricians had been divided into _gentes_.

Thus we see, socially, the two orders were approaching nearer and nearer.

In 449 Valerius and Horatius were elected Consuls, and were instrumental in pa.s.sing the so called VALERIO-HORATIAN laws, the substance of which was as follows:--

I. Every Roman citizen could appeal to the Comitia Centuriata against the sentence of any magistrate.

II. All the decisions of the Comitia Tributa (_plebiscita_), if sanctioned by the Senate and Comitia Centuriata, were made binding upon patricians and plebeians alike. This a.s.sembly now became of equal importance with the other two.

III. The persons of the Tribunes, Aediles, and other plebeian officers, were to be considered sacred.

IV. The Tribunes could take part in the debates of the Senate, and veto any of its decisions.

Two years later (447), the election of the Quaestors, who must still be patricians, was intrusted to the Comitia Tributa. Heretofore they had been appointed by the Consuls.

In 445 the Tribune Canuleius proposed a bill which was pa.s.sed, and called the CANULEIAN LAW, giving to the plebeians the right of intermarriage (_connubium_) with the patricians, and enacting that all issue of such marriages should have the rank of the father.

Canuleius also proposed another bill which he did not carry; viz. that the consulship be open to the plebeians. A compromise, however, was made, and it was agreed to suspend for a time the office of Consul, and to elect annually six MILITARY TRIBUNES in the Comitia Centuriata, the office being open to all citizens. The people voted every year whether they should have consuls or military tribunes, and this custom continued for nearly a half-century. The patricians, however, were so influential, that for a long time no plebeian was elected.

As an offset to these gains of the plebeians, the patricians in 435 obtained two new officers, called CENSORS, elected from their own ranks every five years (_l.u.s.trum_) to hold office for eighteen months.

The duties of the Censors were:--

I. To see that the citizens of every cla.s.s were properly registered.

II. To punish immorality in the Senate by the removal of any members who were guilty of offences against public morals.

III. To have the general supervision of the finances and public works of the state. This office became in after years the most coveted at Rome.

A few years later, in 421, the plebeians made another step forward by obtaining the right of electing one of their number as Quaestor. There were now four Quaestors.

Thus the patricians, in spite of the most obstinate resistance, sustained loss after loss. Even the rich plebeians, who had hitherto often found it for their interest to side with the patricians, joined the farmers or lower cla.s.ses.

Finally, in 367, the Tribunes Licinius and s.e.xtius proposed and pa.s.sed the following bills, called the LICINIAN ROGATIONS.