Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/304

 2q: Outlines of European History from the Babylonians by way of Asia Minor, whence the Etrus- cans have brought it to the Romans. An art like this appealed to the rather coldly calculating mind of the Roman. To such a mind, lacking a warm and vivid imagination, the Greek myths opened a new world. To such a mind the gods required only the fulfillment of all formal cere- monies, and if these were carried .out with legal exactness, all would be well. As the Roman looked toward his gods he felt no doubts or problems, like those which troubled the spirit of Euripides (p. 190). The Roman saw only a list of mechanical duties easily fulfilled. Hence he was fitted for great achieve- ment in political and legal organization, but not for new and original developments in religion, art, literature, or even science. When the city on the Tiber had rid itself of its Etruscan kings (p. 249) it was ruled by a body of nobles called " patri- cians." It began a political development much like that which we have met in the Greek cities. By the middle of the fifth century B.C. the people had secured protection from the whim of the judge by a written code of laws, engraved on twelve tables of bronze. Public affairs were largely controlled by a council of old men known as the Senate (a word connected with se?iex, meaning " an old man " ). At the head of the government were two elective magistrates of the same powers, called " consuls." The peasantry, or " multitude " {plebs, com- pare " plebeian "), of the district immediately surrounding the city made up an assembly of the people, which struggled for greater power in government. It was a struggle for the rights of the lower classes like that which we have seen in Egypt (p. 42), in Palestine (p. 105), and in Greece (p. 132). In Greece and Rome, however, as con- trasted with the Orient, there was the important difference that the struggle resulted not in monarchy, but in a republican form of government, giving the people a share in its control. In Rome the peasant's demand for a vote and voice in govern- ment was heeded. He finally gained the right to election as