Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/166

152 Decline of Morals. — Not only was the moral influence of religion disappearing, but the ties and restraints of family life were relaxing, military discipline was losing its rigor, and the civil government was becoming more remiss. Everywhere authority was waning; obedience, self-control, and morals were declining. Immorality increased at home and abroad. In 171 it became necessary to provide for the children of Roman soldiers by Spanish women, and the Latin colony of Carteia (colonia Latina libertinorum) was founded, the first one outside of Italy. The old military spirit no longer prevailed. The rich did not wish to serve in the cavalry, or even in the equestrian centuries. Cases of cowardice, larceny, and insubordination multiplied in the army. Such was the result of converting war into a traffic in plunder.

Sumptuary Laws. — Luxury began to prevail in dress, at table, and in the houses. In the course of the second century several sumptuary laws were passed: one (lex Orchia) limited the number of private guests, another (lex Fannia cibaria) fixed a maximum of expenditure for meals on different occasions, and a third (lex Didia cibaria) extended the application of the second law to all Italy. Some censors, also, especially Cato, punished, or attempted to punish, the luxurious. Yet such laws and ordinances could not be enforced in any satisfactory way, and caused but a ripple on the onward sweep of degeneracy.

The Romans had in earlier times looked upon citizenship as a claim to pecuniary or material gain; now the inordinate love of pleasure intensified their greed, and the end — riches — justified the means — robbing or defrauding the government, plundering the subjects, and deceiving with shameless perfidy the enemies of Rome. Even marriages and friendships had to yield pecuniary profits. Nobody was expected to do anything for nothing, and selfishness