Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/759

Rh THE MONARCHY.] ROME 735 Servius Tullius went far beyond this. His famous distri- bution of all freeholders (assidui) into tribes, classes, and centuries, 1 though subsequently adopted with modifica- tions as the basis of the political system, was at first ex- clusively military in its nature and objects. 2 It amounted in fact to the formation of a new and enlarged army on a new footing. In this force, excepting in the case of the centuries of the horsemen, no regard was paid either to the old clan divisions, or to the semi-religious semi- political curicC. In its ranks were included all free- holders within the Roman territory, whether members or not of any of the old divisions, and the organization of this new army of assidui was not less independent of the old system with its clannish and religious traditions and forms. The unit was the "centuria" or company of 100 men; the centuii?e were grouped in " classes " and drawn up in the order of the phalanx. 3 The centuries in front were composed of the wealthier citizens, whose means enabled them to bear the cost of the complete equipments necessary for those who were to bear the brunt of the onset. These centuries formed the first class. Behind them stood the centuries of the second and third classes, less completely armed, but making up together with those of the first class the heavy-armed infantry. 4 In the rear were the centuries of the fourth and fifth classes, recruited from the poorer freeholders, and serving only as light- armed troops. The entire available body of freeholders was divided into two equal portions, a reserve corps of " seniores " and a corps of "juniores" for active service. Each of these corps consisted of 85 centuries or 8500 men, i.e., of two legions of about 4200 men each, the normal strength of a consular legion under the early republic. 5 It is noticeable also that the heavy-armed centuries of the three first classes in each of these legions represented a total of 3000 men, a number which agrees exactly with the number of heavy-armed troops in the legion as described by Polybius. Attached to the legions, but not included in them, were the companies of sappers and trumpeters. Lastly, to the six centuries of horsemen, which still retained the old tribal names, twelve more were added as a distinct body, and recruited from the wealthiest class of citizens. 6 The four " tribes " also insti- tuted by Servius were probably intended to serve as the basis for the levy of freeholders for the new army. 7 As their names show, they corresponded with the natural local divisions of the city territory, 8 but that they included freeholders residing on Roman territory but out- side Rome is indicated by the fact that both Ostia and Alba belonged to the Palatine tribe. 9 1 Cic. De Rep., ii. 22 ; Livy, i. 42 ; Dionys., iv. 16. 2 This is recognized by Mommsen, Genz, and Soltau, as against Niebuhr, Scliwegler, and lime. Even in the later "comitia cen- turiata " the traces of the originally military character of the organ- ization are unmistakable. 3 The century ceased to represent companies of one hundred when the whole organization ceased to be military and became exclusively political. 4 The property qualification for service in the first class is given at 100,000 asses (Livy), for the second at 70,000, third 50,000, fourth 25,000, fifth 11,000. It was probably originally a certain acreage in land, afterwards translated into terms of money ; cf. Mommsen, Rom. Tribus, 115. 5 Polyb., vi. 20 ; Mommsen, Rom. Trib., 132 sy. 6 Livy, i. 43. Dionys. (iv. 18) and Cic. (De Rep., ii. 22) ascribe the whole eighteen to Servius. But the six older centuries remained distinct, as the "sex suffragia" of the comitia centuriata ; Cic. De Rep., ii. 22. Dionys., iv. 14, eij TO.S Karaypaipas TCLV ffTparidnlav. 8 Livy, i. 43. The four were Palatiua, Suburana, Exquilina, Collina. 9 See Grotefend, Imperium R. tributim description, 27, 67. The inclusion of landless men (" proletarii ") in the tribes belongs to a later time, when the tribes had ceased to have a purely military significance ; cf. the formation of a century of "capite censi." The last of these Etruscan lords to rule in Rome was Fall of Tarquin the Proud. He is described as a splendid and the mon - despotic monarch. His sway extended over Latium as arcli y- far south as Circeii. Aristodemus, tyrant of Cumae, was his ally, and kinsmen of his own were princes at Collatia, at Gabii, and at Tusculum. The Volscian high- landers were chastised, and Signia with its massive walls was built to hold them in check. In Rome itself the Capitoline temple and the great cloaca bore witness to his power. But his rule pressed heavily upon the Romans, and at the last, on the news of the foul wrong done by his son Sextus to a noble Roman matron, Lucretia, the indignant people rose in revolt. Tarquin, who was away besieging Ardea, was deposed ; sentence of exile was passed upon him and upon all his race ; and the people swore that never again should a king rule in Rome. Freed from the tyrant, they chose for themselves two yearly magistrates who should exercise the supreme authority, and thus the republic of Rome was founded. Three times the banished Tarquin strove desperately to recover the throne he had lost. First of all the men of Veii and Tarquinii marched to his aid, but were defeated in a pitched battle on the Roman frontier. A year later Lars Porsena, prince of Clusium, at the head of all the powers of Etruria, appeared before the gates of Rome, and closely besieged the city, until, moved by the valour of his foe, he granted honourable terms of peace and withdrew. 10 Once again, by Lake Regillus, the Romans fought victoriously for their liberty against Tarquin's son-in-law Mamilius, prince of Tusculum, and chief of the Latin name. Mamilius was slain ; Tarquin in despair found a refuge at Cumse, and there soon afterwards died. So, in brief, ran the story of the flight of the kings, as it was told by the chroniclers whom Livy followed. Its details are most of them fabulous ; it is crowded with inconsistencies and improbabilities ; there are no trust- worthy dates ; the names even of the chief actors are probably fictitious, and the hand of the improver, Greek or Roman, is traceable throughout. 11 The struggle was doubtless longer and sharper, and the new constitution more gradually shaped, than tradition would have us believe. Possibly, too, this revolution in Rome was but a part of a widespreading wave of change in Latium and central Italy, similar to that which in Greece swept away the old heroic monarchies. But there is no room for doubting the main facts of the emancipation of Rome from the rule of alien princes and the final abolition of the kingly office. II. The public. PERIOD I. : 509-265 B.C. 12 (a) The Struggle between the 245-489 Orders. It is characteristic of Rome that the change from A - u -- monarchy to republic 13 should have been made with the least possible disturbance of existing forms. The title of king was retained, though only as that of a priestly officer (rex sacrorum) to whom some of the religious functions of the former kings were transferred. The two annually elected consuls, or "praetores," 14 were regarded as joint heirs of the full kingly authority, and as holding the "imperium," and the correlative right of auspices, by 10 Livy, ii. 9-14. Pliny (N. H., 34, 14) and Tacitus (Ann., iii. 72) imply the existence of a tradition, possibly that of "Tuscan annalists," according to which Porsena actually made himself master of Eome. The whole story is fully criticized by Schwegler (ii. 181 sq. ) and Zoller (Latium u. Rom, p. 180). 11 See the exhaustive criticism in Schwegler (ii. pp. 66-205). 12 The dates in the margin throughout are the years from the founda- tion of the city. 13 Schwegler (ii. 92) suggests that the dictatorship formed an inter- mediate step between the monarchy and the consulate ; cf. Ihne, Rom. Forsch., 42. 14 For the title "praetor," see Mommsen, Staatsrecht, ii. 70, note.