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Outline of Universal History

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PERIOD I. ROME UNDER THE KINGS AND THE PATRICIANS. (753-304 B.C.)




CHAPTER I. ROME UNDER THE KINGS (753-509 B.C.).


CHARACTER OF THE LEGENDS.--There is no doubt that the Romans lived for
a time under the rule of kings. These were not like the Greek kings,
hereditary rulers, nor were they chosen from a single family. But the
stories told in later times respecting the kings, their names and
doings, are quite unworthy of credit. They rest upon no contemporary
evidence or sure tradition. To say nothing of the miraculous elements
that enter into the narratives, they are laden with other
improbabilities, which prove them to be the fruit of imagination. They
contain impossibilities in chronology. They ascribe laws,
institutions, and religion, which were of slow growth, to particular
individuals, apportioning to each his own part in an artificial
way. Many of the stories are borrowed from the Greeks, and were
originally told by them about other matters. In short, the Roman
legends, including dates, such as are recorded in this chapter, are
fabrications to fill up a void in regard to which there was no
authentic information, and to account for beliefs and customs the
origin of which no one knew. They are of service, however, in helping
us to ascertain the character of the Roman constitution, and something
about its growth, in the prehistoric age.

THE LEGENDARY TALES.--_Romulus_ and _Remus_, so the legend
runs, were sons of the god _Mars_ by _Rhea Silvia_, a
priestess of Vesta, whose father, _Numitor_, had been slain by
his wicked brother, _Amulius_, who thereby made himself king of
Alba Longa. The twins, by his command, were put into a basket, and
thrown into the Tiber. The cradle was caught by the roots of a
fig-tree: a she-wolf came out, and suckled them, and _Faustulus_,
a shepherd, brought them up as his own children. _Romulus_ grew
up, and slew the usurper, _Amulius_. The two brothers founded a
city on the banks of the Tiber where they had been rescued (753
B.C.). In a quarrel, the elder killed the younger, and called the city
after himself, _Roma_. Romulus, to increase the number of the
people, founded an asylum on the Capitoline Hill, which gave welcome
to robbers and fugitives of all kinds. There was a lack of women; but,
by a cunning trick, the Romans seized on a large number of Sabine
women, who had been decoyed to Rome, with their fathers and brothers,
to see the games. The angry Sabines invaded Rome. _Tarpeia_, the
daughter of the Roman captain, left open for them a gate into the
Capitoline citadel, and so they won the Capitol. In the war that
followed, by the intervention of the Sabine women, the Romans and
Sabines agreed to live peaceably together as citizens of one town,
under _Romulus_ and the Sabine, _Tatius_. After the death of
Tatius, _Romulus_ reigned alone, and framed laws for the two
peoples. During a thunder-storm he was translated to the skies, and
worshiped as the god _Quirinus_ (716 B.C.). After a year _Numa
Pompilius_, a Sabine, was elected king (715-673 B.C.). He stood in
close intercourse with the gods, was full of wisdom and of the spirit
of peace. He framed the religious system, with its various offices and
rites. The gates of the temple of _Janus_, closed only in peace,
were shut during his mild reign. He died of old age, without illness
or pain. The peaceful king was followed by the warlike king, _Tullus
Hostilius_ (673-641 B.C.). War breaks out with _Alba_. The two
armies face each other, and the contest is decided by the single
combat of the three _Horatii_, champions of the Romans, and the
three _Curiatii_, champions of Alba. One Roman, the victor and
sole survivor, is led to Rome in triumph. Thus _Alba_ became
subject to _Rome_. Afterwards Alba was destroyed, but the Albans
became Roman citizens. The fourth king, _Ancus Marcius_ (641-616
B.C.), loved peace, but could not avoid war. He fought against four
Latin towns, brought their inhabitants to Rome, and planted them on
the _Aventine_ hill. He fortified the hill _Janiculum_, on
the right bank of the Tiber, and connected it by a wooden bridge with
the town. The next king was by birth an Etruscan. _Lucumo_ and
his wife, _Tanaquil_, emigrated to Rome. Lucumo took the name of
_Lucius Tarquinius_, was stout, valiant, and wise, a counselor of
_Ancus_, and chosen after him, instead of one of the sons of
Ancus, whose guardian he was. _Tarquinius Priscus_ (616-578
B.C.)--for so he was called--waged successful wars with the Sabines,
Latins, and Etruscans. The _Etruscans_ owned him for their king,
and sent a crown of gold, a scepter, an ivory chair, an embroidered
tunic, a purple toga, and twelve axes in as many bundles of rods. He
made a reform of the laws. He built the temple of Jupiter, or the
Capitol, laid out the forum for a market-place, made a great sewer to
drain the lower valleys of the city, leveled a race-course between the
_Aventine_ and _Palatine_ hills, and introduced games like
those of the Etruscans. Tarquinius was killed by the sons of Ancus;
and _Servius Tullius_ (578-534 B.C.), the son of _Ocrisia_,
a slave-woman, and of a god, was made king through the devices of
_Tanaquil_. He united the seven hills, and built the wall of
Rome. He remodeled the constitution by the census and the division of
the centuries. Under him Rome joined the Latin league. He was murdered
by his flagitious son-in-law, _Tarquinius Superbus_ (534-510
B.C.)--Tarquin the Proud. He ruled as a despot, surrounding himself
with a bodyguard, and, upon false accusation, inflicting death on
citizens whose property he coveted. By a treacherous scheme, he got
possession of the town of _Gabii_. He waged war against the
_Volscians_, a powerful people on the south of Latium. He adorned
Rome with many buildings, and lived in pomp and extravagance, while
the people were impoverished and helpless. The inspired _Sibyl_
of _Cumae_ offered him, through a messenger, nine books of
prophecies. The price required excited his scorn, whereupon the woman
who brought them destroyed three. She came back with the remaining
six, which she offered at the same price. On being refused in the same
manner, she destroyed another three. This led Tarquin to pay the price
when she appeared the third time with the books that were left. They
were carefully preserved to the end, that in times of danger the will
of the gods might be learned. Another story told of the haughty king
was, that, when he had grown old, and was frightened by dreams and
omens, he sent his two sons to consult the oracle at Delphi. With them
went his sister's son, _Junius_, who was called _Brutus_ on
account of his supposed silliness, which was really feigned to deceive
the tyrant. The offering which he brought to the Delphian god was a
simple staff. His cousins, who laughed at him, did not know that it
was stuffed with gold. The god, in answer to a question, said that he
would reign at Rome who should first kiss his mother. _Brutus_
divined the sense of the oracle, pretended to stumble, and kissed the
mother earth. The cruel outrage of _Sextus Tarquinius_, the
king's son, of which _Lucretia_, the wife of their cousin, was
the pure and innocent victim, caused the expulsion of the house of
Tarquin, and the abolishing of regal government. Her father and
husband, with Brutus and the noble _Publius Valerius Poplicola_,
to whom she related "the deed of shame" wrought by Sextus, swore, at
her request, to avenge her wrong. She herself plunged a dagger into
her heart, and expired. _Brutus_ roused the people, and drove out
the _Tarquins_. Two _consuls_ were appointed in the room of
the king, who should rule for one year. _Brutus_ was one. When it
was ascertained that his own sons had taken part in a conspiracy of
the higher class to restore Tarquinius, the stern Roman gave orders to
the lictors to scourge them, and to cut off their heads with the ax.
Now the senate and people decreed that the whole race of Tarquinius
should be banished for ever. Tarquinius went among the Etruscans, and
secured the aid of the people of _Tarquinii_, and of
_Veii_. In a battle, _Aruns_, the son of Tarquinius, and
_Brutus_, both mounted, ran upon one another, and were
slain. Each army marched to its home. Tarquinius then obtained the
help of _Porsena_, king of the Etruscans, with a strong
army. They took _Janiculum_; but _Horatius Cocles_, with two
companions, posted himself at the entrance of the bridge, and kept the
place, Horatius remaining until the bridge had been torn away behind
him. He then, with his armor on, leaped into the river, and swam back
to the shore. The town was hard pressed by the enemy and by
famine. _Mucius Scaevola_ went into _Porsena's_ camp,
resolved to kill him. But he slew another whom he mistook for the
king. When threatened with death, he thrust his right hand into the
fire, to show that he had no fear. _Porsena_, admiring his
courage, gave him his freedom; and, on being informed that three
hundred young Romans were sworn to undertake the same deed which
_Mucius_ had come to perform, _Porsena_ made peace without
requiring the restoration of Tarquinius. _Tarquinius_, not
despairing, persuaded the _Tusculans_ and other _Latins_ to
begin war against Rome. The Romans appointed a dictator to meet the
exigency, _Marcus Valerius_. In a battle near _Lake
Regillus_, when the Romans began to give way, the dictator invoked
_Castor_ and _Pollux_, vowing to dedicate a temple to them
in case he was victorious. Two young men on white chargers appeared at
the head of the Roman troops, and led them to
victory. _Tarquinius_ now gave up his effort, and went to
_Cumae_ to the tyrant _Aristodemus_, where he lived until
his death.

TRUTH IN THE LEGENDS.--There are certain facts which are embedded in
the legends. _Alba_ was at one time the head of the Latin
confederacy. The _Sabines_ invaded Latium, settled on some of the
hills of Rome, allied themselves with the _Romans_, and the two
peoples were resolved into one federal state. This last change was a
very important step. The tradition of a doubling of the senate and of
two kings, _Romulus_ and _Taiius_, although not in literal
form historical, is believed to be a reminiscence of this union. It is
thought that the earliest royalty was priestly in its character, and
that this was superseded by a military kingship. It is probable that
the _Etruscans_ who had made much progress in civilization, in
the arts and in manufactures, gained the upper hand in
_Latium_. The insignia of the Roman kings were Etruscan. The
Etruscan kings were driven out. There were advances in civilization
under them, the division of the people into classes took place, and at
that period structures like the "Servian" wall were built.

PATRICIANS AND PLEBEIANS.--The Romans from the beginning were divided
into the upper class, the _Patricians_, and the common people, or
_Plebeians_, who were free, but, like the _perioeci_ and
_metoeci_ in Greece, had no political rights. The plebeians, as
they included the conquered class, were not all poor. A part of them,
who were under the special protection of citizens, their
_Patrons_, were called _Clients_. The patricians were the
descendants of the first settlers and proprietors. Under the old
constitution, ascribed in the legends to _Romulus_, the
patricians alone formed the military force, and were styled the
_Populus_. They were divided into _curiae_ (districts or
wards), at first ten in number, and, after the union of the Romans
with the _Tities_ and _Luceres_, thirty. Each _curia_
was divided into ten families, or _gentes_. The assembly of the
citizens was called the _Comitia Curiata_. The _Comitia_
chose the _King_. The _Senate_ was a council of elders
representing in some way the gentes.

The clan, or _gens_, was always of great consequence among the
Romans. Its name was a part of the proper name of every citizen. The
particular or individual names in vogue were not numerous. The name
of the gens was placed between the personal name, or the
_praenomen_, and the designation of the special family
(included in the gens). Thus in the case of Caius Julius Caesar,
"Julius" was the designation of the gens, "Caesar," of the family,
while "Caius" was the personal name.

THE EARLY CONSTITUTION.--The "Servian constitution" made all
land-owners, whether patrician or plebeian, subject to taxation, and
obliged to do military service. The cavalry--the _Equites_, or
knights,--was made up, by adding to the six patrician companies
already existing, double the number from both classes. The infantry
were organized without reference to rank, but were graded according to
their property. The whole people were divided thus into five classes,
and, when assembled, formed the _Comitia Centuriata_,--as being
made up of the companies called "centuries," or "hundreds." At first
this body was only consulted by the king in regard to offensive
wars. Gradually it drew away more and more power from the _Comitia
Curiata_, which consisted solely of patricians. Those who had no
land were now distinguished from the land-owning plebeians. For the
purposes of conscription, the city was divided into four
_Tribes_, or wards. Every four years a _census_ was to be
taken.

MAGISTRATES.--When the kingship was abolished, and under the system
that followed, the two _Consuls_ were to be patricians. They
exercised regal power during their term of office. They appointed the
senators and the two _Quaestors_, who came to have charge of the
treasury, under consular supervision. The consuls were attended by
twelve _Lictors_, who carried the _fasces_--bundles of rods
fastened around an ax,--which symbolized the power of the magistrate
to flog or to behead offenders. The _Comitia Centuriata_ acquired
the right to elect the consuls, to hear appeals in capital cases from
their verdicts, and to accept or reject bills laid before it. This was
a great gain for the plebeians. Yet the patricians were strong enough
in this assembly to control its action. On occasions of extraordinary
peril, a _Dictator_ might be selected by one of the consuls, who
was to have absolute authority for the time. The Senate commonly had
an important part, however, in the selection of this officer. There
was a _Master of Horse_ to command the knights under him. He was
appointed by the dictator.

RELIGION.--Worship in families was conducted by the head of the
household, the _paterfamilias_, who offered the regular
sacrifices. But, as regards the whole people, worship was under the
direction of the pontiffs, with the chief pontiff, the _Pontifex
Maximus_, at their head, and in the hands of the priests. These
were all officers of the state, elected to their places, and entirely
subordinate to the civil magistrates. The _pontiffs_ were not so
much priests as they were guardians and interpreters of divine
law. They were masters of sacred lore. They looked out that the
numberless and complex rules in respect to religious observances
should be strictly complied with. At the same time they had enough
knowledge of astronomy to enable them to fix the days suitable for the
transaction of business, public or private. They had the control of
the calendar. The _Augurs_ consulted the will of the gods as
disclosed in omens. The augur, his eyes raised to the sky, with his
staff marked off the heavens into four quarters, and then watched for
the passage of birds, from which he took the auspices. In early times,
there was an implicit faith in these supposed indications of the will
of the divinities; but this credulity passed away, and the auguries
became a political instrument for helping forward the schemes of some
person or party. Besides the college of pontiffs and the college of
augurs, there was the college of _Fetiales_, who were the
guardians of the public faith in relation to other peoples, and
performed the rites attending the declaration of war or the conclusion
of peace. The _Soothsayers_ (haruspices) were of Etruscan
origin. They ascertained the will of the gods by inspecting the
entrails of the slaughtered victims. The _Flamens_ were the
priests having charge of the worship of particular divinities. The
_Vestals_ were virgin priestesses of Vesta, who ministered in her
temple, and kept the sacred fire from being extinguished.

The chief gods worshiped by the Romans were _Jupiter_, god of
the sky; his wife, _Juno_, the goddess of maternity;
_Minerva_, the goddess of wisdom; _Apollo_, the god of
augury and the arts; _Diana_, the goddess of the chase and
archery; _Mars_, the god of war; _Bellona_, the goddess of
war; _Vesta_, patron of the Roman state and of the national
hearthstone; _Ceres_, the goddess of agriculture;
_Saturnus_, the patron of husbandry; _Hercules_, the Greek
god, early naturalized in Italy as the god of gain and of mercantile
contracts; _Mercury_, the god of trade; _Neptune_ god of
the sea. _Venus_ was an old Roman goddess, who presided over
gardens, but gradually was identified with the Grecian
_Aphrodite_. _Lares_ and _Penates_ were household
divinities, guardians of the family.

The Romans assigned a spirit to almost every thing. Each individual
had his own protecting _genius_. _Janus_ was the god of
beginnings, _Terminus_ was the god of the boundary,
_Silvanus_ of the forest, _Vertumnus_ of the circling
year. The farmer, in each part of his labor,--in harrowing, plowing,
sowing, etc.,--invoked a spirit. So marriage, birth, and every natural
event had each a sacred life of its own. Not less than forty-three
distinct divinities are spoken of by name as having to do with the
actions of a child. Thus the number of divinities was countless. Gods
were great or small, according to the department of nature or of life
where they severally were present and active.




CHAPTER II. ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS (509-304 B.C.).


RIVALRY OF CLASSES.--The abolishing of royalty left Rome as "a house
divided against itself." The power granted to the _Comitia
Centuriata_ did not suffice to produce contentment. The patricians
still decided every thing, and used their strength in an oppressive
way. Besides the standing contest between the patricians and
plebeians, there was great suffering on the side of the poorer class
of plebeians. Many were obliged to incur debts; and their creditors
enforced the rigorous law against them, loading them with chains, and
driving their families from their homes. A great and constant
grievance was the taking by the patricians of the public lands which
had been obtained by conquest, for a moderate rent, which might not be
paid at all. If they granted a share in this privilege to some rich
plebeian houses, this afforded no help to the mass of the people, who
were more and more deprived of the opportunity to till the smaller
holdings in consequence of the employment of slaves. Yet the plebeians
had to bear the burden of military service. At length they rose in a
body, probably in returning from some victory, and encamped on a hill,
the _Sacred Mount_, three miles from Rome, where they threatened
to stay, and found another town. This bold movement led to an
agreement. It was stipulated that they should elect magistrates from
their own class, to be called _Tribunes of the People_, who
should have the right to interpose an absolute veto upon any legal or
administrative measure. This right each consul already had in relation
to his colleague. To secure the commons in this new right, the
tribunes were declared to be inviolable. Whoever used violence against
them was to be an outlaw. The power of the tribunes at first was
merely protective. But their power grew until it became
controlling. One point where their authority was apt to be exerted was
in the conscription, or military enrollment. This, if it were
undertaken in an unfair way, they could stop altogether, and thus
compel a change.

THE PLEBEIAN ASSEMBLY.--Not far from this time, there was instituted a
new assembly, the _Comitia of Tribes, or Comitia Tributa_. There
was a new division of the people into tribes or wards,--first twenty,
then twenty-one, and, later, thirty-five. In this comitia, the
plebeians were at the outset, if not always, the exclusive voters. The
patricians had their assembly, the _Comitia Curiata_. The Comitia
of the Tribes, which was then controlled by the plebeians, chose the
tribunes. By degrees, both the other assemblies lost their
importance. The plebeian body more and more extended its
prerogatives. Besides the tribunes, the _Aediles_, two in number,
who were assistants of the tribunes, and superintended the business of
the markets, were chosen by the _Comitia Tributa_.

THE LAW OF CASSIUS.--The anxiety of the plebeians to be rid of the
restrictions upon the holding and enjoyment of land, led to the
proposal of a law for their relief by the consul _Spurius
Cassius_ (486 B.C.). Of the terms of the law, we have no precise
knowledge. We only know, that, when he retired from office, he was
condemned and put to death by the ruling class.

WAR WITH THE AEQUIANS AND THE VOLSCIANS.--About this time Rome
concluded a league with the _Latins_, and soon after with another
people, the _Hernicans_, who lived farther eastward, between the,
Aequians and Volscians. It was a defensive alliance, in which Rome had
the leading place. Then follow the wars with the _Aequians_ and
_Volscians_, where the traditional accounts are mingled with many
fictitious occurrences. There are two stories of special note,--the
story of Coriolanus, and the story of Cincinnatus. It is related that
a brave patrician, _Caius Marcius Coriolanus_, at a time when
grain was scarce, and was procured with difficulty from Etruria and
Sicily for the relief of the famishing, proposed that it should be
withheld from the plebeians unless they would give up the
tribunate. The anger of this class, and the contempt which he showed
for it, caused him to be banished. Thereupon he went to the
_Volscians_, and led an army against Rome,--an army too strong to
be resisted. One deputation after another went out of the city to
placate him, but in vain. At length _Veturia_, his mother, and
_Volumnia_, his wife, at the head of a company of matrons, went
to his camp, and entreated him. Their prayer he could not deny, but
exclaimed, "O my mother! Rome thou hast saved, but thou hast lost thy
son." He died among the Volscians (491 B.C.). The tale, certainly in
most of its parts, is fictitious. For example, he is said to have been
called _Coriolanus_, from having previously conquered
_Corioli_; but such designations were not given among the Romans
until centuries later. The story of _Cincinnatus_ in essential
particulars is probably true. At a time when the Romans were hard
pressed by the _Æquians_, the messengers of the Senate waited on
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, formerly a senator and a consul of
renown in peace and war, and asked him to become dictator. They found
him plowing in his field. He accepted the post, by his prudence and
vigor delivered the state, and on the sixteenth day laid down his
office, and went back to his farm. The time required by the hero for
his task was doubtless much longer than the legend allows.

There is an authentic tradition of a war with the _Etruscans_,
who had retained certain towns on the Roman side of the Tiber. The
Romans established a fort on the _Cremera_, not far from
_Veii_, which was one of them. In the course of this struggle,
it is said that all the _Fabii_,--a distinguished Roman
family,--except one boy, were perfidiously slain. This is an
exaggerated tale. A truce was concluded with _Veii_-in 474
B.C. for forty years, which left Rome free to fight her enemies on
the east and south.

THE DECEMVIRS.--The internal conflict of the patricians against the
commons in Rome went on. In 471 B.C. the _Publilian Law_ was
passed to establish fully the right of the plebeians alone to elect
their tribunes, or to exclude the upper class from their comitia. The
claims of the plebeians, who formed the greater part of the fighting
men, rose. They demanded first, however, that they should have the
same _private_ rights as the patricians, and that the laws should
be made more efficient for their protection by being reduced to a
code. This was the object of the _Terentilian Law_, proposed in
462. The result was a great dispute. Some concessions failed to
satisfy the plebeians. Finally it was agreed that ten men,
_Decemvirs_, should be chosen indiscriminately from both classes
to frame a code, they, meantime, to supersede the consuls and tribunes
in the exercise of the government (451 B.C.). They were to equalize
the laws, and to write them down. The story of the mission to Athens
for the study of the laws of _Solon_, is not worthy of
credit. There is no doubt, however, that many obstacles were put in
the way of the project by the conservative patricians, and that one of
their order, _Appius Claudius_, took a prominent part, probably
on the side of the people.

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