Page:The Ancient City- A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome.djvu/367

 CHAP. VII. THE PLEBS ENTER THE CITY. 361 In the beginning of the struggle, the advantnge was with the aristocracy of birth. It had not, indeed, its former subjects, and its material strength had disnp- peared ; but tiiere remained its rehgious prestige, its regular organization, its habit of command, its tradi- tions, and its hereditary pride. It never doubted the justice of its cause, and believed that in defending itself it was defending religion. The people, on the other hand, had nothing but numbers on their side. They were held back by a habit of respect, of which they could not easily free themselves. Then, too, they had no leaders, and every principle of organization was wanting. There were, in the beginning, a multi- tude without any bond of union, rather than a vigor- ous and well-constituted body. If we bear in mind that men had not yet discovered any other principle of association than the hereditary religion of the fam- ily, and that they had no idea of any authority that was not derived from a worship, we shall easily under- stand that the plebs, who had been excluded from all the rites of religion, could not at first form a regular society, and that much time was required for them to discover the elements of discipline and the rules of a regular government. This inferior class, in its weak- ness, saw at first no other means of combating the aristocracy than by meeting it with monaichy. In the cities where the popular class had been al- ready consolidated in the time of the ancient kings, it sustained them with all its strength, and encouraged them to increase their power. At Rome it demanded the restoration of monarchy after Romulus, and caused Hostilius to be nominated ; it made Tarqninius Prisons king; it loved Servius, and regretted Tarquinius Sti- perbus. When the kings had been everywhere over-