Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/177

 The Western Mediterranean World 121 the nobles, called patricians, were in control of the government. The patricians agreed that two of their number should be elected as heads of the State. These two magistrates, called consuls. who were both to have the same powers, were to serve for a year only and then give way to two others. This new state was a republic, of which the consuls were the presidents, for the A B SPECIMENS OF EARLY ROMAN COPPER MONEY In the time of Alexander the Great (second half of the fourth century B.C.) the Romans found it too inconvenient to continue paying their debts in goods, especially in cattle. They therefofe cast copper in blocks, each block with the figure of an ox upon it (see A, above), to indicate its value. The Roman word for cattle (pecus) was the origin of one of their words for property (pecunia) and has descended to us in our common word " pecuniary." These blocks were unwieldy, and influenced by the Greeks the Romans then cast large disks of copper (B, above), which also were very ponderous people had a voice in electing them. But as only patricians could serve as consuls, their government tended to rouse dissatisfaction among the common people (called the plebs, compare our "plebe- ian"). The plebs finally refused to submit to the oppression of the patricians, and revolted against it. 185. The Tribunes Defenders of the People. The patricians were unable to get on without the help of the people as soldiers in their frequent wars. They therefore agreed to give the people a larger share in the government by allowing them to elect a new kind of officials, called tribunes. These had the right to veto the action of any officer of the government even that of the con- suls themselves. When any citizen was treated unjustly by a consul he had the privilege of appealing to one of the tribunes.