CLASS: The History of the Roman State

Introduction


There is a section of Virgil's Aeneid that says something interesting about the Romans' view of their country:

"Then Romulus his grandsire's throne shall gain,

Of martial tow'rs the founder shall become,

The people Romans call, the city Rome.

To them no bounds of empire I assign,

Nor term of years to their immortal line."

The original phrase for the penultimate line is "imperium sine fine", literally, an empire without end. In many ways, that prediction of Virgil's has come true. Despite the fact that the Roman Empire fell over 1500 years ago, it still lives on through the contributions to culture, science, and warfare it made.

In this course, we will look at the entire history of Rome (by which I do really mean the entire history; from founding to collapse) guided by the three types of government - monarchy, republic, and empire. Roman history is one of the most interesting and (perhaps surprisingly) relevant topics one can study, especially so for Americans. (I'll explain that later on as well.) Once I find out how to post images, we'll do some analysis of that as well. Hopefully, you'll gain a deeper understanding of why the world works in the ways it does, or at least why we keep waving at each other to say hello.

Lesson 1: The Founding
Let's start at the very beginning (which, as we all know, is a very good place to start). The thing with Rome, though, is that where the beginning actually is is unclear. You could argue it is with Romulus, or with the Trojan War, and so forth, back to the beginning of time (this tends to happen a lot in Roman history - everything is interconnected, and so you have to know everything to know anything).

Let's assume that the beginning is where Livy tells us it is - with the Trojan War. As we know, the Trojan War was fought between the citizens of Troy and of Greece (although they were all, technically, Greek). During the capture of Troy, one of the commanders, Aeneas, fled the city with his family, hoping to save his life from the bloodthirsty Greeks. Although he lost his entire family, he managed to reach the region of Latium (which is where Rome is now) and befriend the Latins, who lived there.

Fast-forward several years and you come to the middle of the eighth century, BCE, in the small kingdom of Alba Longa. This country is ruled by a wise and just ruler named Numitor (a descendent of Aeneas), who had an unfortunately cruel and scheming brother, Amulius. Amulius deposed Numitor and locked him in a cell, killing his two sons and forcing his only daughter to become a Vestal Virgin.

What's that? You don't know what a Vestal Virgin is? I'm not surprised. The Vestals were young women (obviously they were virgins) who went into the service of the goddess Vesta, tender of the eternal flame of Mount Olympus (as anyone who's ever read Percy Jackson books knows). Vestals were charged with the preservation of the eternal flame in Rome, which signified Rome's endurance. Failure to do so, or to keep one's oath of chastity would result in death - being buried alive. However, advantageous included status as a citizen and the ability to write a will and vote (uncommon for women in those days) as well as a sacrosanct body and right of way on the streets. How a pre-Roman woman was able to become the tender of Rome's flame is beyond me; I can only image the office existed before Rome was founded.

Speaking of, let's get back to that story. Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silva, had been



forced to become a Vestal Virgin, but was visited one night by the god Mars. As legend goes, Mars impregnated Rhea Silva, and nine months later, she gave birth to twin sons, Romulus and Remus. When Amulius found out, he was enraged, and ordered both mother and children be thrown into a river (coincidentally, the river Tiber). Rhea Silva drowned, but her sons survived and were rescued by a she-wolf, who suckled them. Soon afterwards, the two boys were discovered by a local shepherd, who took them back to his land, to be raised as his own sons - princes raised as shepherds.

When the brothers turned 18, they got into a dispute with some of the shepherds of Alba Longa, still ruled by Amulius. Remus was captured in a fight, and Romulus was forced to lead a small army into the kingdom to save his brother. While there, Romulus thought he might as well depose the king, soon discovering the man was his great-uncle. Numitor was restored to the throne, and Romulus and Remus went on a short journey.

Returning to the bank on which they had washed up initially, the brothers decided to found a new city, free of the tyranny of Alba Longa. However, they argued over where to put it. Romulus preferred the hill that would later be called the Palatine hill, while Remus favored the Aventine. The brothers agreed to leave it to the gods, and retreated to their hills to wait for a sign. (In the meantime, Romulus started building walls.)

Remus was the first to see a sign - six eagles flying overhead. Romulus next saw twelve birds over his hill. Again, the brothers argued, Remus saying that he had been favored because his sign was first, Romulus arguing his preferred status because his sign had been greater in quantity. Remus, mocking Romulus' walls, jumped over them, inciting the wrath of his brother, who killed him, shouting, "So perish every one that shall hereafter leap over my wall." Although he had defended his camp, and won his city, Romulus was consumed with grief at his brother's death, and buried him with proper respects. The city Romulus would start would go on to become the biggest in the world at one point, and would bear his name, Rome.

That's all very nice, however, this is only one of the legends surrounding the founding of Rome, and it's certainly not the most realistic. An alternative theory, which better explains the original name of Rome, Roma, is that, when the Trojan refugees landed in Latium, the men wished to leave. The women, however, wanted to stay, and one woman in particular - a lady by the name of Roma - burned the Trojan ships to prevent the men from leaving. Although they were initially angry with her, the men soon saw their female counterparts' wisdom in choosing Latium as a place to settle, and named their new city after her.

What this theory suggests is that Rome actually existed a long time before the date supplied by the Romulus founding myth - 753 BCE - as the Trojan war occurred between the 12th and 11th centuries BCE.

Well, there's some food for thought.

Lesson 2: Revolution and Republicanism
When last we left our immortal city, it had just been founded by the fratricidal Romulus. He was to become the first of seven Kings of Rome, who ruled as chief legislator, chief magistrate, chief priest, chief judge, head of state, and commander in chief. The kings were (through their vast wealth) the only people who could afford to wear purple clothing, as purple dye was the hardest to produce. This established a later tradition of allowing prominent people to wear purple on their robes and togas. Romulus also created an assembly of the most noble men in his kingdom, which is to say, the wealthiest. This assembly was called the Senate (from the latin root "senex", meaning "old man" - only men were allowed in the Senate) and acted mainly as advisors to the king, with little power otherwise (cf. early British parliament). One of the few powers afforded the Senate was the ability to choose a king's successor, as the monarchy was not hereditary. After a king's death, the country would go into a period known as the "interregnum" (literally, "between reigns"). During this period it was the Senate's responsibility to come to a consensus on who would ascend to the throne.

Because there are no written records from this period, we know almost nothing about the government or lives of the people; what little is known is most likely nothing more than legend. However, legend is better than nothing, and so we'll stick to that. Sources tell us that the last three of the kings were foreigners from Etruria, in northern Italy. The Etruscans had been the enemies of Rome for some time, and it was deeply insulting to the Roman sense of dignity to be subjected to such tyranny (as they viewed it). Furthermore, two of these Etruscan kings tried to establish a hereditary monarchy, which was viewed as an affront to the most ancient

principles of the kingdom.

In 509 BCE, the last straw came. A young noblewoman by the name of Lucretia was raped



by her distant relative, Sextus Tarquinius - the son of the king, Tarquinius Superbus ("Tarquin the Proud"). Lucretia's rape, and her subsequent suicide prompted outrage amongst the aristocrats, especially one man: Lucius Junius Brutus (remember that last name; it will become important later on). Brutus conspired with several other noblemen to overthrow Tarquin, who happened to be Brutus' uncle, and succeeded in doing this. Afterwards, swearing never again to allow Rome to be the slave of a king, he created a Republic (from Latin "res publica" meaning "public thing") governed by the people, for the people.

Of course, "people" was a relative term. The Senate was allowed to persist with new, enhanced powers. They were now the chief legislators of the Republic, able to pass laws and regulate any aspect of the life of a citizen. However, the Senate was only open to the aristocrats (newly termed "patricians" - "fathers of the country" - from which the word "patriot" is derived) and senators served for life, meaning that the majority of the Republic (the plebeians) were left out in the cold.

There were other branches of government, such as the magisterial division, headed by the consuls, two magistrates who served a one-year term. Between the two men (sorry, ladies) control over the military was divided, preventing any one man from attaining too much power. The office of chief priest was invested in another man, the "pontifex maximus", and two more men, the censors were charged with overseeing the general order of the Republic, specifically in the census, in which not only population but also the wealth and status of every individual citizen. It was also here that citizens were advanced or decreased in rank, all under the eyes of the censors. Naturally, it was a highly-regarded office, viewed as second in prestige only to the dictatorship.

The dictatorship is perhaps the most interesting of all the Republican offices. It was awarded only in times of the most dire of need, and then only for a period of sixteen months. Only the Senate could, with a very large majority vote a dictator into office, and even then he would have to be a former consul. One of the most famous dictators, Cincinnatus, had retired from politics to become a farmer. At the same time, Rome was engaged in a war with vicious tribes in northern Italy. The Senate, realising the need for a dictator, quickly elevated Cincinnatus to the office. An envoy was sent to his farm, where the newly elected dictator's wife called out to her husband, who was in the fields, that the Senate approached. Cincinnatus called for his toga of state, and met the envoy, who told him of his new position. Cincinnatus held his office for a matter of weeks (about six) and retired back to his farm, giving up his title and powers.

All this was great, if you were a patrician. Life for the plebeians had far fewer opportunities for greatness. In fact, political fame was entirely closed off to the lower classes. For this reason, the plebs rebelled several times, usually on the Aventine hill (which, you recall, was Remus' campsite and the site of many populist rebellions). In 494 BCE, the plebs rebelled for the first time, leading to the establishment of the office of Tribune of the Plebs, a coalition of landowning commoners who could speak for the lower classes in Roman politics. In 449, the plebs again rebelled, this time forcing the patricians to collect all the laws of the Republic and to post them publicly in the forum on twelve stone tablets. These were, appropriately, known as the Twelve Tables. In 367, plebs were allowed to become consuls, an office previously restricted to the patricians, significant not only for its power but also because it put the former consul in the Senate, which was otherwise off-limits to the plebs; and in 287, the Lex Hortensia was passed, giving the plebs full force of law.

These secessions may make it seem like the plebs were on the rise, and in many ways they were, but they still remained the commoners, and still had very little power. The Senate (although unofficially) still held much more power than the Plebeian Council (a sort of House of Representatives reserved for the plebs) and patricians still sneered at plebeians whenever they saw them in the forum.

Next time: late Republican issues, the beginnings of the breakdown of society, and the dictatorship of Sulla.

Resources
Because Roman history has inspired so many books - historical and fictional - and so many plays and movies, I've decided to include a list of some of the best, as they come to me. I'll try to specify whether or not a source is better for history or just entertainment. Bear with me, as I'll have to come across and read or see the sources as I go along.
 * Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland. A great, narrative-style read about the end of the Republic. Holland starts in the monarchy and traces the Republic's destruction through to Julius Caesar.
 * A Natural History of Latin by Tore Janson. If ever you wanted to know what it was like to speak Latin as a Roman, this is the book for you. Janson devotes half of the book's history to the Romans and Latin, and the other half to to Latin and Europe. There are also sections on grammar, vocabulary, and other methods of learning the language.
 * The Ancient Roman World (from Oxford Press) by Ronald Mellor and Marni McGee. I may be biased because one of the authors is from UCLA (which is near and dear to my heart as my birthplace and place of upbringing) but this is one of the best textbooks written on Ancient Rome. Combining primary sources and later historiographical work, the book provides all the necessary information in a very readable way.
 * I, Claudius. If you haven't seen I, Claudius, go put it in your Netflix queue or order it online or something. Anything! Just see it. You'll understand what I mean.
 * Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Although moderately historically inaccurate ("it's all Greek to me" uttered by a man who spoke Greek perfectly) Julius Caesar is one of the best plays written about Roman history. If you can get into the Shakespearean dialogue, also try Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra.

Participants
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 * 1) Owen Leddy
 * 2) Kevin Fistanic "That would be me"