Rome, its rise and fall : a text-book for high schools and colleges [2 ed.]

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rise

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original of

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Cornell University Library.

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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 924031 22491

^

ROME:

ITS RISE

AND FALL

A TEXT-BOOK FOR HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

PHILIP Author of

''

A

VAN NESS MYERS,

L.H.D.

History of Greece," " Medieval and Modern

History,"

"A General

BOSTON,

History," etc.

U.S.A.

GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS %\t 'M^tmvxa. 1

901

freest

Copyright,

igoo,

by

PHILIP VAN NESS MYERS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

PREFACE.

This book has been written

many

teachers that the author should expand his

book on Roman history

Roman laid

in response to requests

lines

little text-

more extended account

of

Although the entire narrative has been

affairs.

on the

into a

from

drawn

in the earlier book,

new work.

still

the present

The development of

volume

is

Roman

constitution during republican times has been traced

practically a

carefully step

by step

while special emphasis has been laid

;

upon the causes that undermined the republic,

and which

empire.

A

later

somewhat

institutions of the

brought about the

fall

of the

larger space than usual has been

given to the decay of paganism and to the of Christianity in the empire. of the

volume are devoted

tion.

The whole work

is

rise

and progress

Three chapters at the end

to an account of

Roman

civiliza-

bound together with numerous

cross-references from paragraph to paragraph,

supplemented by maps, lists of

the

and the

text

illustrations, chronological tables,

colonies and provinces, census rolls and tabulated

statements, which,

it

is

believed, will be found especially

serviceable to both teachers and students.

The

title

of the

calculated to

work has designedly been given a form

make prominent the unity

of the history of

IV

PREFACE.

Rome, something that

is

apt to be obscured by the

way

in which the transition from the republic to the empire

often represented.

work begun by the republic

to completion the

Roman

ing of the whole world the history of Rome, as

how she acted upon

world reacted upon

place

is

;

is

shown by Thierry

in

the uninterrupted story

how

the world about her and

that

her.

the preface of the original

my

— the mak-

and that the essence of

so admirably

P Empire Romain,

his Tableau de

From

worth while, we think, to impress

It is

of the student that the empire simply carried

upon the mind

of

is

acknowledgment

work

transfer to this

I

of special indebtedness in the

preparation of the earlier slight sketch, which forms the nucleus of the present volume, to the following authors and

works: dell's,

Mommsen's, Niebuhr's, Merivale's, Lid-

Arnold's,

Gibbon's, and Leighton's histories of

Decline

and Fall of

the

Roman

Republic;

Rome

Smith's

;

Long's

Rome and

Carthage; Froude's Ccesar ; Guhl and Koner's Life of the Greeks and

Romans ; Hadley's

Introduction to

Dunlop's and Cruttwell's works on

Roman

Lanciani's admirable work. Ancient

Rome

Roman Law ;

literature in the

;

and

Light of

Recent Discoveries.

The works expansion

that I have used in the present revision

are,

mentioned

in the reference lists

the chapters throughout tbe book.

and

which follow

In the case of impor-

tant works that have appeared in different editions, as, for instance. Gibbon's

been indicated publications,

in

and

and Mommsen's, the editions used have connection with the

first

mention of these

as a further aid to the searcher after the

PREFACE.

V

passages recommended for parallel reading, the references

have been made to chapter and subject as well as to page.

The maps and

that enriched the earlier

illustrations

volume were, in the main, selected from various sources by

my

associate in the prepa-

and Myers' Ancient

History, for his part of

the late Prof. William F. Allen, ration of Allen

that work.

It

was through the kind permission

sentatives that they afterward reappeared in

tory of

Rome.

new

;

in cases

maps

where the old cuts and

retained, they have in almost every instance

been re-drawn and reengraved. the

little his-

In the present volume a large part of the

illustrative material is

maps have been

of his repre-

my

in color are

A

considerable

of

based on the charts accompanying

Freeman's Historical Geography of Europe. tion of the cuts are from photographs chiefly a selection

number

;

A fair

propor-

the remainder are

from Baumeister's Denkmaeler des

chen Alter turns, Oscar Jaeger's Weltgeschichte,

klassis-

and Schreiber's

Atlas of Classical Antiquities. It

remains for

me

to express to

my

friends Dr. E.

W.

Coy, Principal of Hughes High School, Cincinnati, Dr.

George

B.

Wakeman,

Instructor-elect in

History in the

University of California, and Mr. Joseph E. White, of the Franklin School, Cincinnati,

my

grateful appreciation

of the kindly interest they have taken in the progress of this

work and the generous

aid they have given

me

in its

preparation. P. V.

College Hill, Ohio, June, 1900.

N. M.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Preface

iii

List of Illustrations List of Maps

ix xi

Tables and Chronological Summaries

PART

I.

....

.

xii

— ROME AS A KINGDOM. (753?-509 B.C.)

CHAPTER I.

Italy

and

its

Early Inhabitants

III.

The Society and Government The Roman Religion

IV.

Rome

II.

under the Kings

PART

II.

.

i

of Early

Rome

...

ii .

.

- ROME AS A

25 39

.

REPUBLIC.

(509-31 B.C.)

V. The Early Republic Rights.

;

Plebeians become Citizens with Full

(509-367

B.C.)

The Conquest of Italy. (367-264 B.C.) VII. The First Punic War. (264-241 B.C.) VI.

VIII.

Rome

.

...

.

.

.

139

and Carthage between the First and the Second Punic War. (241-218 B.C.)

—

....

Rome Section I. Carthage Section II. IX. The Second Punic War. (218-201 B.C.) X. Events between the Second and the Third Punic War Conquest of the East byRome. (201-146 B.C.) XI. The Third Punic and Numantine Wars The Third Punic War. (149-146 B.C.) Section I. The Numantine War. (143-133 b.c.) Section II.

—

.

.

— —

vii

62 iii

.

.

154 154 158

162

181

200 200 205

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

VIU

PAGE

CHAPTER

XII. The Period of the Revolution (133-98 B.C.) XIII. The Period of the Revolution {Continued). (98-78 XIV. The Period of the Revolution (Concluded). (78-31

207 B.C.)

235

B.C.)

264

of the Empire and the Reign of Augustus Caesar. (31 b.c.-a.d. 14) XVI. From Tiberius to Marcus Aurelius. (a.d. 14-180) XVII. The Empire under Commodus and " The Barrack Em-

315 334

PART

— ROME AS AN EMPIRE.

in.

(31

B.C-A.D. 476.)

XV. The Establishment

.

perors."

(a.d. 180-284)

....

•

.

371

•

XVIII. The Reign of Diocletian, (a.d. 284-305) XIX. Reign of Constantine the Great and Establishment of Christianity as the Favored Religion of the Empire,

XX.

(a.d.

306-337)

Julian the Apostate

391

and the Pagan Restoration,

(a.d.

of the Empire in the West.

(a.d.

361-363)

XXI. The Last Century

405

376-476)

XXII. Summary

PART

IV.

of the Causes of the Fall of the

XXV.

Empire

.

.

.

415 445

— ARCHITECTURE, LITERATURE, LAW, AND SOCIAL LIFE.

...

XXIII. Architecture

XXIV.

381

Literature, Philosophy,

and Law

Social Life

Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary

456 477 512 527

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. After photographs and from cuts taken from Bauraeister's Denkmaeler des klassischen

A Uertwns^

Oscar Jaeger's

IVeltg^eschickte, Schreiber's

Classical Aniiqziities,

and other

A Has

of

reliable sources.

PAGE 1.

The Roman Forum

Frontispiece

2.

Scene on the Tiber

3.

An

4.

Wall-Painting of an Etruscan Banquet

5.

Ruined Temples

6.

Sacrificial

.

Ancient Etruscan at

Victims

Tomb

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Passtum

1

.

....

7.

Head

8.

Vestal Virgin

9.

Divining by Means of the Appearance of the Entrails of a

of Janus

Sacrificial

.

Victim

The

11.

An

12.

A

13.

The Cloaca Maxima

14.

View

15.

Roman

16.

The

17.

Lictors

18.

Site of Tibur, the

...

.

Modern

Roman Coin .

bearing the Prow of a Ship

...

.

31

47

.

.48

....

Soldier

.

.

49 53

.

Wolf

58

-63

.

Samnite Warrior

21. 22.

Augur's Birds

23.

Hannibal

24.

Philip V. of

20.

29

46

.

.

View on the Appian Way The Prow of a Roman War-Ship The Column of Duillius

19.

g 2^

40

of the Capitoline

.

.

Tivoli

Section of the Servian Wall

Capitoline

8

30

10.

Ancient

5

7

.

....

116

.

.

124

.

.

145 147

•

151

162

Macedonia

175

From a photograph secured at Rome by Miss Lucy M. mer pupil, and kindly loaned by her for reproduction. 1

u

Blanchard, the author's for-

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 25.

Publius Cornelius Scipio (Africanus Major)

26. 27.

Coin of Antiochus the Great Perseus of Macedonia

28.

Marius

29.

31.

Coin of the Italian Confederacy Mithradates the Great Pompey the Great

32.

Roman Trading

33.

Julius Caesar

34. 35.

Marcus Brutus Mark Antony

36.

Octavius as a Youth

37.

Cicero

30.

.

.

.

.

240 247

.

40.

The Pantheon

.

303

.

305 306

.

....

....

...

(Exterior)

Tiberius

49.

Galba Vespasian " Judxa Capta " Triumphal Procession from the Arch of Titus The Colosseum (Exterior) A Street in Pompeii Trajan Bridge over the Danube, built by Trajan

326

50.

Trajan's

51.

Battle Scene from Trajan's

52.

Besieging a Dacian City

53.

The Roman Wall

54.

Hadrian

55.

Roman

56.

Coramodus

57.

Caracalla

58.

Triumph of Sapor over Valerian

334 346

.

...

347

.

.

.

.

...

.

.

.

348

349 350 .

.

...

Column

in

316 329

41.

....

276 299 302

.

42.

48.

.

.... ....

i79

271

.

.

46.

232

.

...

Augustus

47.

188

...

.

Maecenas

45.

....

Vessel

38.

44.

187

.

....

39.

43.

... ...

.

351

355 356 357 358

Column

359

Northern Britain

.

361

.

363

Soldiers attacking a

German

Fortress

(as Hercules)

367 .

....

-371

....

59.

Diocletian

60.

Arch of Constantine,

61.

Julian the Apostate

62.

Germans crossing the Rhine

375 378 381

as

63.

RomanSignal-Towers,

64.

The Pantheon

it

appears to-day

Sentries,

(Interior)

and Storehouse on the Danube

393 407 416 418 4C7

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

xi PAGE

65.

Ruins of Theatre at Aspendos

66.

The Colosseum

67.

Grotto of Posilipo

68.

The Pont du Gard, near The Claudian Aqueduct

69.

(Interior)

.

459

.

464

...

Ninies

....

71.

Great Hall of the Baths of Diocletian Bathing Chair

72.

Peristyle of a

73. 74.

Ruins of the Palace of the Caesars Mausoleum of Hadrian

75.

Vergil

76.

The Orator Quintus Hortensius

77.

Seneca

78.

Chariot-Racing

70.

Gladiators Semicircular Dining-Couch

81.

Roman

.... .

•

..

..

....

Lamentation for the Dead

.

•

.

.

....

475 488 495 501

519 521

525

2

140

280

6. 7.

Barbarian Inroads on the Fall of the

8.

General Reference

.

Extent

470

COLORED MAPS.

Growth of the Roman Power after The Mediterranean Lands at the Beginning of the Second Punic War, 218 B.c The Roman Dominions at the End of the Mithradatic War, Italy before the

64 B.c

5.

469

-S'?

....

.

The Roman Empire at the Death of Augustus, The Roman Empire under Trajan, A.D. 117 The Roman Empire divided into Prefectures

4.

467

472 .

.

.

465

471

.

LIST OF

3.

....

.

...

....

79.

2.

.

Pompeian House

80.

1.

461

.

Map

.

of the .

.

LIST OF 1.

The Mountain System

2.

Rome

3.

The Ager Romanus

(b.c.

.

.

...

.

.

Roman Empire Roman Empire at its

.

320 360

.

400

.

434

Greatest

444

.

SKETCH MAPS.

of Italy

under the Kings

a.d. 14

.

.

....

.

.... 450)

.

....

3

50

79

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Xll

4.

The Ager Romanus

5.

Route of Hannibal

6.

Central Italy at the

7.

Plan of the Battle of Cannse

8. 9.

(B.C.

338)

...

.

.... Time

Roman Britain ... Rome under the Empire

of the .

Second Punic .

.

War .

.

.

.

...

.

...

.

TABLES AND CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARIES. 1.

The

Senate, the Assemblies, public

...

and the Magistrates

...

.

3.

Table of Latin Colonies in Italy Table of Civic [Roman] Colonies in Italy

4.

Chronological

2.

.

Summary

List of I.

Roman

of

Roman

...

Republic 5.

of the Re-

.

.... End

History to the

of the

....

Provinces chronologically arranged

— Provinces Organized under the Republic — Provinces Organized under the Empire

II.

Number

6.

Table showing the

7.

Table of

8.

Table of

9.

Final Partition of the

of

Roman

.

Citizens at Different

Periods of the Republic and the Empire

Roman Emperors from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius Roman Emperors from Commodus to Romulus

Augustus

... Roman Empire

ROME:

AND

ITS RISE

FALL.

oJ®-ibutiim Plebis, or the Plebeian Assembly of Tribes. This was an assembly of the plebs, voting by tribes. Its meeting-place was generally in the great forum. It was called together and presided over by the plebeian tribunes and asdiles. By the Valerio-Horatian laws (par. 61 ) it was given power, without the concurrences of the senate (?), to make laws that should bind the whole people. It became in time the chief law-making body in the state. Tributa, or the Patricio-Plebeian Assembly of 4. Comitia

—

:

.

—

—

THE EARLY REPUBLIC. Tribes.

IO9

— This was a body made

up of both patricians and plevote was taken by tribes. It first appears in 449 B.C. (par. 62). It was presided over by consuls and prsetors. Its usual meeting-place was the forum. beians.

The

THE MAGISTRATES. The Consuls.

— These

were the two ordinary supreme execuThey were invested with their authority for one year only. The first consuls were elected 509 B.C. (par. 45). They possessed at the outset practically all the powers that had been wielded by the kings. Each consul could block the action of his colleague. The consulship was opened to the plebeians by the Licinian laws, 367 B.C. (par. 71). The age of eligibility to the consulship was forty. The at first extensive powers of the consuls were gradually broken up and a large part of them distributed among or absorbed by the various tive magistrates of the republic.

magistrates named below. The Dictator. The dictator was an officer appointed usually to meet an emergency in the affairs of the state (par. 45). He was chosen for a period of six months and was invested with practically irresponsible and unlimited power. His assistant was called Magister Equitum, " Master of the Horse." The plebeians gained admission to the dictatorship in 356 B.C. (par. 71, n. 4). After the Second Punic War the office fell into disuse, until it was revived in the last century of the republic (par. 188, n. 6). The Plebeian Tribunes. The first tribunes of the people were elected in 494 B.C. as an outcome of the first plebeian secession (par. 50). There were only two originally, then five, and finally ten (after 457 B.C.). They were inviolable, like ambassadors. They called together and presided over the plebeian assembly of Their original duty was to protect the plebeians from the tribes. arbitrary treatment at the hands of patrician magistrates, but they gradually enhanced their authority and prerogatives until by the second century B.C. they had become the most powerful magistrates of the city (par. 1 78). The prastorship was created by the Licinian The Prcetors. laws, 367 B.C. (par. 71). At first there was but one prastor, but before the end of the republican period the number had been raised to sixteen. These officers were charged with the adminisUnder the later republic the ex-praetors tration of the civil law. were sent out, under the name of proprsetors, as governors of the provinces.

—

—

—

no

ROME AS A REPUBLIC.

—

There were two aediles chosen from the plebs, The jEdiles. and two known as curule sediles, chosen from the upper order. The plebeian aedileship was created at the time of the establishment of the plebeian tribunate, 496 B.C. (par. 50). The curule Among the Eedileship was created in 365 B.C. (par. 71, n. 2). duties of these officers were the superintendence of the public games, the charge of the public archives, and the care of the streets and markets of the city. Originally there were only two quaestors The QucEstors. (par. 61, n. 5), but before the end of the republic the number had been increased to forty. Their chief duties were of a financial They acted as treasurers of the state and as assistants nature. and paymasters of generals and superior magistrates. The number of these officers was two. The The Censors. One of the first censors were elected about 444 B.C. (par. 65). duties of these magistrates was to take the census of the citizens and their property. They were also the guardians of the public morals. They further acted as overseers of the work on the military roads, the aqueducts, and the. public buildings, seeing to it

—

—

that

contracts were faithfully pe^^ormed.

all

The

consuls, the prastors, the patrician asdiles, and the censors is, magistrates entitled to use an

were curule magistrates, that official stool

nobility

called the curule

upon the holder of

it

A

curule office conferred descendants. For somethese assemblies and magis-

chair.

and

all his

thing respecting the fortune of all tracies under the empire, see pars. 208, 217, and 239.

CHAPTER

VI.

THE CONQUEST OF

ITALY.

(367-264 B.C.)

The

73.

(353

Creation of a

—

B.C.).

It

will

New Class

be

fitting

of Citizens if

;

Caeritan Rights

we begin the present

we shall, amidst the recitals of wars have much to say respecting the matter of

chapter, in which of conquest,

Roman

citizenship, with a notice of the creation

new

city of a

We

by the

class of f-itizens.

have seen how,

afitr the taking of Veii, the

Romans

incorporated with the territory of their state a great part of Southern Etruria (par. 67).

lands,

The Romanization

and the threatening advance

of the

of these

Roman power

caused an uprising of the Etruscan

in these regions,

of Tarquinii, Caere,

and

The movement was

cities

Falerii.

suppressed.

The

Tarquinians,

who

during the war had sacrificed to their gods over three hun-

dred

Roman

hundred to

prisoners; were harshly dealt with, several

of their

Rome and

(351

Rome

B.C.).

first

most distinguished

citizens being taken

flogged and then beheaded in the forum

But the Cseritans, because they, at the time

was destroyed by the Gauls, had given an asylum to

the vestal virgins and the sacred things of the

gods

(par.

political

68),

were shown more consideration.

Roman Their

independence was, indeed, taken away from them,

but they were

left in

control of their

own

local affairs,

and

ROME AS A REPUBLIC.

I 1

were given

Roman

the private rights of

all

citizens {civitas

sine suffragid).

This was probably the

instance in which

first

Rome had

conferred these rights upon the inhabitants of a conquered

The

city.

came

to

instalment

special

rights

of

be known as the Caritan

and incorporated

with the

ernment

Roman

state

after-

as self-governing

were called municipia.^

towns

The

gov-

towns was modeled as nearly as possible

of such

on that of the capital The Beginning

74.

bestowed

and was

Cities thus deprived

wards granted to other communities. of sovereignty

here

franchise.,

Rome.

city of the

Roman

Municipal System.

— But

Roman statesmen in determining the relations of Caere Rome had done something more than to create a new They had consciously class or grade of Roman citizens.

the to

or unconsciously created a

Rome had

For ^

The Roman

historians

new system

of government.

never before, save perhaps in one instance,*

writers used this term with

have given

it

little

precision,

widely different applications.

and modern In order to

avoid confusion, we shall apply the term exclusively to cities or communities actually incorporated with the least

some measure

term in a sense different from

what

significance

Roman name

Roman

of local self-government.

we

this,

are employing

we

enjoying at the

shall state carefully with just

it.

colonies (par. 84) as municipia

state, yet

Whenever we use

;

Thus we shall speak of the but we shall not apply the

either to Latin colonies (par. 84) or to prefectures (par. 163, n. 8),

for the reason that

an essential element of the municipal system was

Thus in the case of the Latin colony the community did not form a part of the Roman state proper, but was simply an allied community; and in the case of the prefecture, the essential feature of local self-government was wanting. Some writers, lacking in each instance.

however, classify prefectures as municipia of the second grade. " Some authorities maintain that Tusculum, which was subjected

some way

to

Rome

in 381 B.C.,

in

was the most ancient of Roman muni-

THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. dealt with a conquered city in the

When Alba Longa was

Caere.

way

that she dealt with

taken, in the times of the

kings, the city, according to the tradition,

and

its

IIJ

was destroyed,

inhabitants transported in a body to

incorporated with the

was taken,

in the

Roman

year 396

people (par. 42).

B.C. (par.

Rome and When Veii

66), the greater part

of the inhabitants were killed or sold as slaves,

and the

vanquished community was thus wholly broken up and, as it were, wiped out of existence.

Now Rome

admittedly could not attain to greatness by

following either of these two policies. Caere, she

But in dealing with

happily hit upon a new governmental device

which enabled her to incorporate one conquered

in her

growing dominions

city after another until she

the whole world.

This device was what

is

municipal system, for the reason that, as (par.

Romans gave to name municipiuin.

73), the

of Caere the

We tial

it

itance from

exists

among

by the

if

ourselves to-day

its

of the essen-

we glance ;

at the

for our so-called

underlying principle,

is

an inher-

Rome.

municipality or municipal town

government

it

good understanding

shall best secure a

municipal system, in

A

a city having the status

feature of this municipal system,

system as

had absorbed known as the we have seen

is

state in

in

our system of

a city which, acting under a charter granted

whose territory

forms a part, elects

its

own

it is

situated

and

of

which

magistrates, and manages,

with more or less supervision on the part of the state,

own

local affairs.

cipia.

The question

antiquarian interest.

The

its

essential principle involved in the

of precedence here raised has, however, only an

ROME AS A REPUBLIC.

114 arrangement

is

local self-government, carried

paramount authority

of the state.

having been

local political life

The

stifled,

on under the without

city,

has been made a

constituent part of a larger political organism.

when the

sustain

in a state

cities

superior government that

its

only

It is

this relation

to

the

we have what may properly be

called the municipal system.

Now,

we have

as

into her territory

Roman

citizens

said,

when Rome incorporated

and made the inhabitants

— although

citizens possessing as yet only

a part of the rights of the city of this municipal

laid the corner stone

system which rendered possible her own

a principle of government,

the structure of the

We

— she

and which, transmitted by her to

greatness,

was

modern

to

later times as

form the very basis of

free state.

must not think that the problem here solved by

Rome was

one easy of solution, and that consequently no

great measure of credit need be given the

having solved

them

Caere

of the place

it.

The

working out

in

difficulties

this

Romans

for

met and overcome by

system were very much like

those met and overcome by our statesmen of a century

and more

when they devised the

ago,

federal system,

and

determined what should be the relations of the states our union

the

to

general

government

Indeed, this whole federal system

is

at

of

Washington.

nothing more than

the application to states of the principles of government that in

Rome

germ

How Italians,

applied to

in the

this

at

cities.

The

federal system existed

municipal system of Rome.

form of government fostered

among

the

one and the same time, local patriotism and

national patriotism, love for one's native city and interest

THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. and pride

commonwealth

in the affairs of the greater

which that

city

was only a

part,

well

is

II5

which he

of

my

is

which he

of

a citizen.

native town, only

will

I

I will

of

Rome." ^ What we have now

it,

and that

never deny allegiance to

never forget that

greater Fatherland, and that

Every

take

I

a native,

is

"

:

burgher of a corporate town," he says, "has,

two fatherlands, that

by

illustrated

memorable words once used by Cicero

these

of

Arpinum '

is

Rome

some idea

said will convey

my

is

but a portion

important place which the municipal system of

of the

Rome holds

development of free self-government among men.

in the

This was Rome's great, and almost her only, contribution

and

to political history,

after her law

system her best

gift

to civilization (par. 310).

The

75.

Fall of the Etruscan

of the Etruscan uprising,

of Caere with the

Roman

state,

tion

Mommsen,

against

Rome

We

shall

again and again after

were no longer formidable.

in

In the words of the

" Their season of

had passed away."

of the city

marks a turning point

the fortunes of the Etruscan race. historian

The suppression

Power

and the incorporation

power and

find

this,

them

aspira-

in

arms

but their attacks

Their power had been broken,

not alone by the blows they had received from the Romans,

but also by the attacks of the Gauls from the North, and of the

Greek

cities of the

South by the way of the

Furthermore, great inequality in wealth had arisen them, and luxury had crept into their

cities,

sea.

among

as later

it

entered Rome, and society had become effeminate and '

Cicero's birthplace.

8

De

Legibus,

ii.

2, 5

;

as quoted

by Strachan-Davidson,

Cicero, p. 6.

ROME AS

ii6

A REPUBLIC.

corrupt.

What elements

of vitality

and strength were gradually absorbed by Rome,

there were remaining in the race

and the Etruscan people and the Etruscan distinct factors in history disappeared

civilization as

from the world. The First Sam-

76. nite

"War

B.C.).

— The power

(343-341 of

the Etruscans having

been broken, the most formidable competitors of the Romans for supremacy

in Italy

were the

Samnites, rough and warlike mountaineers

who

\__^

held the Apen-

nines

to

the

south-

east of Latium.

were worthy

They

rivals of

the "Children of

The

succes-

sive struggles

between

Mars."

martial

these

Sam KITE Warrior. (From a

are

known

First,

races

as the

Second, and

vase.)

Third Samnite wars.

They extended over

a period of half a century,

course involved almost

all

and

in their

the states of Italy.

The beginning of the struggle was brought about in this way. The Samnites were troubling the people of Campania. The Campanians applied to Rome for help ao-ainst

THE CONQUEST OF ITALY.

1

17

the mountain raiders.

The appeal was favorably received by the Romans, and thus the great duel began. Of the first of this series of Samnite wars we know very little,

although Livy wrote a long, but palpably unreliable,

account of 77.

it.

The Revolt

of the Latin Cities

the midst of the Samnite struggle,

by a dangerous

(340-338

Rome was

B.C.).

— In

confronted

revolt of her Latin allies (par. 51).

Leav-

ing the war unfinished, she turned her forces against the insurgents.

The

between the Romans and

strife

was simply,

their Latin allies

in principle, the old contest within the walls of

the capital between the patricians and the plebeians trans-

As the

ferred to a larger arena.

equalization of the

alone the right to

orders,

manage

to

the affairs of

all

Rome

Latium.

now

alone the right to obliged

to follow her lead in

But they were now growing very

their position in the unequal alliance,

Rome

themselves

The Latins were

obey the commands of Rome, and

war.

for

the affairs of the state, so

did the united orders claim for

manage

patricians, before the

had claimed

dissatisfied with

and resolved that

should give up the sovereignty she was practically

exercising.

Accordingly they sent an embassy to Rome,

demanding that the association should be made one perfect equality.

To

this

of

end the ambassadors proposed

that in the future one of the consuls should be a Latin,

and that one-half Latin nation.

and

all

of the senate should be

chosen from the

Rome was to be the common Roman name.^

fatherland,

were to bear the

These demands of the ambassadors were listened to '

Livy,

viii. 5.

THE AGER ROMANUS AFTER

THE LATIN

WAR

B.C. 338 SCALE OF nn.ES

I

The Agei' Romanus Tho dates ouncxod

I

to

towns arc those of tholr annoxatloiL

Latin Colonies Tho

dates aro those of their foundation