Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/290

* BOIOE. 264 EOME. nothing more than an ordinarj' burgess — a hus- bandiiuiii, a tradci-, a warrior, set over his fel- lows. The rex liehl his ullice for life; he con- suUeil the national gods; he appointed the priests and priestesses; he called out the />o/)u/u.s- for war, and led the army in person; his command {tin- pcrium) was not'to be gainsaid, on which account, on all official occasions, he was preceded by 'mes- sengers' or 'summoners' bearing the 'fasces' (axes and rods tied up together), the symbols of power and punishment; he had the keys of the public chest, and he was supreme judge in all civil and criminal suites. The Roman religion or ciiltus was from the first thoroughly subordinate to the authority of the State; and all that we can infer from the myth of Numa is that Rome perhaps owed its colleges of augurs and pontifl's to the wisdom of some enlightened sovereign who felt himself at times embarrassed in his decisions on matters of religious and public law, and recog- nized how valuable might be the aid afl'orded him Ijy a body of sacred experts. Originally- the sole power was the regal, and the subordinate magis- tracies of later times arose from a delegation of regal authority, rendered necessary by the cease- less increase of State business. On the other hand, we may believe that the seiiatus, or council of the ciders, from its verj- nature, was as old an institu- tion as the monarchy itself. They gave their advice when the rex chose to ask it; that was all. Yet, as the tenure of their office was for life, they neces- sarily possessed great moral authority. Then households formed a gens (a 'clan' or 'family') ; 10 clans, or 100 households, formed a curia, or wardship; and 10 wardships, or 100 clans, or 1000 households, formed the populus, civitas, or community. But as Rome comprised three can- tons, the actual number of wards was 30. of clans 300, and of households 3000. Every household had to furnish one foot-soldier, and every clan a horseman and a senator. Each ward Avas under the care of a special warden (c».rio), had a priest of its own (the flamen curkilis), and celebrated its own festivals. None but burgesses could bear arms in defense of the State. The original Roman army, or legio, was composed of three 'hundreds' (centuriw) of horsemen, under their divisional leaders (tribuni celerum) ; and three 'thousands' of footmen, also under divisional leaders ( tribuni militiim ), to whom were added a number of light- armed skirmishers ( velites). especially 'archers' (arquites). The rex was usually the general, but as the cavalry force had a colonel of its own (magister eqvitum). it is probable that he placed himself at the head of the infantry. The foreign policy of Rome seems to have been aggressive from the first, and this character it retained as long as the aggrandizement of the State was possible. We have, it is true, no cer- tain knowledge of the primitive struggles, but it appears from the legends that at a very early period the neighboring Latin communities of Antemnse, Crustumerium, Ficulnea, MeduUia, Cfenina, Corniculum, Cameria, and Collatia were subjugated. The crisis of the Latin war, how- ever, was undoubtedly the contest with Alba Lon- ga, which was destroyed and yielded its leader- ship to the conqueror, its inhabitants being trans- ferred to Rome, where they were ultimately in- corporated with the Roman burgesses. The wars with the Etruscans of Fidenae and Veil — assigned, like the destruction of Alba Longa, to the reign of Tullus Hostilius — were apparently indecisive; those with the Rutuli and Volsci, however, were probably more fortunate; but imcertainty hangs like a thick mist over the ancient narrative. Even the story of the Tarquins, though it belongs to the later period of the monarchy, is in many of its details far from credible. Meanwhile a great internal change had taken place in Rome. This is usually designated the Servian 'reform of the constitution,' although it was only a reform in the mode of raising the arm}-. Originally, as we have seen, nunc but burges.ses could bear arms in defense of the State; but the increase of the general population, caused partly by the annexation of the conquered Latin conununities and partly by time, had totally al- tered the relation in which the non-burgesses, or plebs, originally stood to their political superiors. The plehs could acquire property and wealth, and could bequeath it with the same legal right as the popuJus: moreover, such of the Latin set- tlers as were wealthy and distinguished in their own communities did not cease to be so when they were amalgamated with the Roman 'multi- tude.' It was therefore felt to be no longer judicious to let the military burdens fall ex- clusively upon the old burgesses while the riphts of property were equally shared by the non-bur- gesses. Hence the new arrangement, known in Roman history as the formation of the eomitia ceulttriala. When or with whom the change originated it is impossible to say. The legend as- signs it to Servius Tullius, predecessor of Tar- quin the Proud; and it was in all probability the work of some kingly ruler who saw the necessity of reorganizing the national forces. Its details were briefly as follow-s: Every Roman freeholder from the age of 17 to 60, whether patrician or plebeian, was made liable to serve in the army ; but he took his place according to the amount of his property. The freeholders were distributed into five classes, and these classes, all of whom were infantry, were again subdivided into ccit- turiw ('hundreds'). The first class, which required to possess property valued at 100,000 asses ('units'), or an entire 'hide' of land (that is, as much as could be worked with one plow ), fur- nished 82 'hundreds;' the second, property valued at 75,000 asses or | of a 'hide' of land, furnished 20 'hundreds'; the tnird, property valued at oO.noo asses, or 'hide' of land, furnished 20 'hun- dreds'; the fourth, property valued at 25.000 asses, or 'hide' of land, furnished 20 'hun- dreds'; and the fifth, property valued at 12.500 asses, or |^ 'hide' of land, furnished 32 'hundreds.' These valuations in asses are given, it must be noted, by later writers in terms of their own period. There was no such wealth in private hands in Rome during the kingly period. A sin- gle 'hundred' was, moreover, added from the ranks of the non-freeholders, or proletarii, al- though it is ])ossihle that from the same order came the two 'hundreds' of liorn-blowers' {corni- cines) and 'trumpeters' (tibicines), attached to the fifth class. Thus the infantry 'hundreds' amounted to 175, that is 17,500 men. besides whom were 18 'hundreds' of equites ('horsemen') chosen from the wealthiest burgesses and non- burgesses; so that the Roman army now num- bered in all nearly 20.000 men. We have stated that the original design of this new arrangement was merely military, but it is easy to see that it would soon produce political results. Hence