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diff --git a/32624-0.txt b/32624-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..585c40b --- /dev/null +++ b/32624-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19455 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Rome to 565 A. D. by Arthur +Edward Romilly Boak + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: A History of Rome to 565 A. D. + +Author: Arthur Edward Romilly Boak + +Release Date: May 31, 2010 [Ebook #32624] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF‐8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF ROME TO 565 A. D.*** + + + + + + [Illustration: The Roman Empire in the Second Century A. D.] + + + + + + A HISTORY OF ROME + TO 565 A. D. + + BY + ARTHUR E. R. BOAK, Ph. D., + Professor of Ancient History + in the University of Michigan + + +New York +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY +1921 +_All rights reserved_ + + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1921. + By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. + + Set up and electrotyped. Published December, 1921. + + + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + + + + + + PREFACE + + +This sketch of the History of Rome to 565 A. D. is primarily intended to +meet the needs of introductory college courses in Roman History. However, +it is hoped that it may also prove of service as a handbook for students +of Roman life and literature in general. It is with the latter in mind +that I have added the bibliographical note. Naturally, within the brief +limits of such a text, it was impossible to defend the point of view +adopted on disputed points or to take notice of divergent opinions. +Therefore, to show the great debt which I owe to the work of others, and +to provide those interested in particular problems with some guide to more +detailed study, I have given a list of selected references, which express, +I believe, the prevailing views of modern scholarship upon the various +phases of Roman History. + +I wish to acknowledge my general indebtedness to Professor W. S. Ferguson +of Harvard University for his guidance in my approach to the study of +Roman History, and also my particular obligations to Professor W. L. +Westermann of Cornell, and to my colleagues, Professors A. L. Cross and J. +G. Winter, for reading portions of my manuscript and for much helpful +criticism. + + A. E. R. BOAK. +University of Michigan, +October, 1921 + + + + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + INTRODUCTION PAGE + THE SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF EARLY ROMAN HISTORY xiii + PART I + THE FORERUNNERS OF ROME IN ITALY + CHAPTER I + THE GEOGRAPHY OF ITALY 3 + CHAPTER II + PREHISTORIC CIVILIZATION IN ITALY 7 + CHAPTER III + THE PEOPLES OF HISTORIC ITALY 13 + The Etruscans; the Greeks. + PART II + THE EARLY MONARCHY AND THE REPUBLIC, FROM PREHISTORIC TIMES + TO 27 B. C. + CHAPTER IV + EARLY ROME TO THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY 25 + The Latins; the Origins of Rome; the Early Monarchy; Early + Roman Society. + CHAPTER V + THE EXPANSION OF ROME TO THE UNIFICATION OF THE ITALIAN 33 + PENINSULA: _C._ 509–265 B. C. + To the Conquest of Veii, _c._ 392 B. C.; the Gallic Invasion; + the Disruption of the Latin League and the Alliance of the + Romans with the Campanians; Wars with the Samnites, Gauls and + Etruscans; the Roman Conquest of South Italy; the Roman + Confederacy. + CHAPTER VI + THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ROME TO 287 B. C. 47 + The Early Republic; the Assembly of the Centuries and the + Development of the Magistracy; the Plebeian Struggle for + Political Equality; the Roman Military System. + CHAPTER VII + RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN EARLY ROME 61 + CHAPTER VIII + ROMAN DOMINATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: THE FIRST PHASE—THE 67 + STRUGGLE WITH CARTHAGE, 265–201 B. C. + The Mediterranean World in 265 B. C.; the First Punic War; the + Illyrian and Gallic Wars; the Second Punic War; the Effect of + the Second Punic War upon Italy. + CHAPTER IX + ROMAN DOMINATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: THE SECOND PHASE—ROME 89 + AND THE GREEK EAST + The Second Macedonian War; the War with Antiochus the Great and + the Ætolians; the Third Macedonian War; Campaigns in Italy and + Spain. + CHAPTER X + TERRITORIAL EXPANSION IN THREE CONTINENTS: 167–133 B. C. 99 + The Spanish Wars; the Destruction of Carthage; War with + Macedonia and the Achæan Confederacy; the Acquisition of Asia. + CHAPTER XI + THE ROMAN STATE AND THE EMPIRE: 265–133 B. C. 105 + The Rule of the Senatorial Aristocracy; the Administration of + the Provinces; Social and Economic Development; Cultural + Progress. + CHAPTER XII + THE STRUGGLE OF THE OPTIMATES AND THE POPULARES: 133–78 B. C. 125 + The Agrarian Laws of Tiberius Gracchus; the Tribunate of Caius + Gracchus; the War with Jugurtha and the Rise of Marius; the + Cimbri and the Teutons; Saturninus and Glaucia; the Tribunate + of Marcus Livius Drusus; the Italian or Marsic War; the First + Mithridatic War; Sulla’s Dictatorship. + CHAPTER XIII + THE RISE OF POMPEY THE GREAT: 78–59 B. C. 151 + Pompey’s Command against Sertorius in Spain; the Command of + Lucullus against Mithridates; the Revolt of the Gladiators; the + Consulate of Pompey and Crassus; the Commands of Pompey against + the Pirates and in the East; the Conspiracy of Cataline; the + Coalition of Pompey, Cæsar and Crassus. + CHAPTER XIV + THE RIVALRY OF POMPEY AND CAESAR: CAESAR’S DICTATORSHIP: 59–44 166 + B. C. + Cæsar, Consul; Cæsar’s Conquest of Gaul; the Civil War between + Cæsar and the Senate; the Dictatorship of Julius Cæsar. + CHAPTER XV + THE PASSING OF THE REPUBLIC: 44–27 B. C. 185 + The Rise of Octavian; the Triumvirate of 43 B. C.; the victory + of Octavian over Antony and Cleopatra; Society and Intellectual + Life in the Last Century of the Republic. + PART III + THE PRINCIPATE OR EARLY EMPIRE: 27 B. C.–285 A. D. + CHAPTER XVI + THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PRINCIPATE: 27 B. C.–14 A. D. 205 + The Princeps; the Senate, the Equestrians and the Plebs; the + Military Establishment; the Revival of Religion and Morality; + the Provinces and the Frontiers; the Administration of Rome; + the Problem of the Succession; Augustus as a Statesman. + CHAPTER XVII + THE JULIO-CLAUDIAN LINE AND THE FLAVIANS: 14–96 A. D. 226 + Tiberius; Caius Caligula; Claudius; Nero; the First War of the + Legions or the Year of the Four Emperors; Vespasian and Titus; + Domitian. + CHAPTER XVIII + FROM NERVA TO DIOCLETIAN: 96–285 A. D. 244 + Nerva and Trajan; Hadrian; the Antonines; the Second War of the + Legions; the Dynasty of the Severi; the Dissolution and + Restoration of the Empire. + CHAPTER XIX + THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION UNDER THE PRINCIPATE 264 + The Victory of Autocracy; the Growth of the Civil Service; the + Army and the Defence of the Frontiers; the Provinces under the + Principate; Municipal Life; the Colonate or Serfdom. + CHAPTER XX + RELIGION AND SOCIETY 293 + Society under the Principate; the Intellectual World; the + Imperial Cult and the Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism; + Christianity and the Roman State. + PART IV + THE AUTOCRACY OR LATE EMPIRE: 285–565 A. D. + CHAPTER XXI + FROM DIOCLETIAN TO THEODOSIUS THE GREAT: THE INTEGRITY OF THE 317 + EMPIRE MAINTAINED: 285–395 A. D. + Diocletian; Constantine I, the Great; the Dynasty of + Constantine; the House of Valentinian and Theodosius the Great. + CHAPTER XXII + THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION OF THE LATE EMPIRE 333 + The Autocrat and his Court; the Military Organization; the + Perfection of the Bureaucracy; the Nobility and the Senate; the + System of Taxation and the Ruin of the Municipalities. + CHAPTER XXIII + THE GERMANIC OCCUPATION OF ITALY AND THE WESTERN PROVINCES: 351 + 395–493 A. D. + General Characteristics of the Period; the Visigothic + Migrations; the Vandals; the Burgundians, Franks and Saxons; + the Fall of the Empire in the West; the Survival of the Empire + in the East. + CHAPTER XXIV + THE AGE OF JUSTINIAN: 518–565 A. D. 369 + The Germanic Kingdoms in the West to 533 A. D.; the Restoration + of the Imperial Power in the West; Justinian’s Frontier + Problems and Internal Administration. + CHAPTER XXV + RELIGIOUS AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE IN THE LATE EMPIRE 385 + The End of Paganism; the Church in the Christian Empire; + Sectarian Strife; Monasticism; Literature and Art. + EPILOGUE 403 + CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 405 + BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 415 + INDEX 423 + + + + + + LIST OF MAPS + + + The Roman Empire in the Second Century A. D. _Frontispiece_ + PAGE + The Peoples of Italy about 500 B. C. 14 + The Environs of Rome 24 + Roman Expansion in Italy to 265 B. C. 32 + The Expansion of Rome in the Mediterranean World 68 + 265–44 B. C. + The Roman Empire from 31 B. C. to 300 A. D. 204 + The Roman Empire in 395 A. D. 332 + The Roman Empire and the Germanic Kingdoms in 526 368 + A. D. + The Roman Empire in 565 A. D. 380 + + + + + + INTRODUCTION + + + THE SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF EARLY ROMAN HISTORY + + +The student beginning the study of Roman History through the medium of the +works of modern writers cannot fail to note wide differences in the +treatment accorded by them to the early centuries of the life of the Roman +State. These differences are mainly due to differences of opinion among +moderns as to the credibility of the ancient accounts of this period. And +so it will perhaps prove helpful to give a brief review of these sources, +and to indicate the estimate of their value which is reflected in this +book. + +The earliest Roman historical records were in the form of annals, that is, +brief notices of important events in connection with the names of the +consuls or other eponymous officials for each year. They may be compared +to the early monastic chronicles of the Middle Ages. Writing was practised +in Rome as early as the sixth century B. C. and there can be no doubt that +the names of consuls or their substitutes were recorded from the early +years of the republic, although the form of the record is unknown. It is +in the annals that the oldest list of the consuls was preserved, the +Capitoline consular and triumphal Fasti or lists being reconstructions of +the time of Augustus. + +The authorship of the earliest annals is not recorded. However, at the +opening of the second century B. C. the Roman pontiffs had in their +custody annals which purported to run back to the foundation of the city, +including the regal period. We know also that as late as the time of the +Gracchi it was customary for the Pontifex Maximus to record on a tablet +for public inspection the chief events of each year. When this custom +began is uncertain and it can only be proven for the time when the Romans +had commenced to undertake maritime wars. From these pontifical records +were compiled the so-called _annales Maximi_, or chief annals, whose name +permits the belief that briefer compilations were also in existence. There +were likewise commentaries preserved in the priestly colleges, which +contained ritualistic formulæ, as well as attempted explanations of the +origins of usages and ceremonies. + +Apart from these annals and commentaries there existed but little +historical material before the close of the third century B. C. There was +no Roman literature; no trace remains of any narrative poetry, nor of +family chronicles. Brief funerary inscriptions, like that of Scipio +Barbatus, appear in the course of the third century, and laudatory funeral +orations giving the records of family achievements seem to have come into +vogue about the end of the same century. + +However, the knowledge of writing made possible the inscription upon stone +or other material of public documents which required to be preserved with +exactness. Thus laws and treaties were committed to writing. But the +Romans, unlike the Greeks, paid little attention to the careful +preservation of other documents and, until a late date, did not even keep +a record of the minor magistrates. Votive offerings and other dedications +were also inscribed, but as with the laws and treaties, few of these +survived into the days of historical writing, owing to neglect and the +destruction wrought in the city by the Gauls in 387 B. C. + +Nor had the Greeks paid much attention to Roman history prior to the war +with Pyrrhus in 281 B. C., although from that time onwards Greek +historians devoted themselves to the study of Roman affairs. From this +date the course of Roman history is fairly clear. However, as early as the +opening of the fourth century B. C. the Greeks had sought to bring the +Romans into relation with other civilized peoples of the ancient world by +ascribing the foundation of Rome to Aeneas and the exiles from Troy; a +tale which had gained acceptance in Rome by the close of the third +century. + +The first step in Roman historical writing was taken at the close of the +Second Punic War by Quintus Fabius Pictor, who wrote in Greek a history of +Rome from its foundation to his own times. A similar work, also in Greek, +was composed by his contemporary, Lucius Cincius Alimentus. The oldest +traditions were thus wrought into a connected version, which has been +preserved in some passages of Polybius, but to a larger extent in the +fragments of the _Library of Universal History_ compiled by Diodorus the +Sicilian about 30 B. C. Existing portions of his work (books 11 to 20) +cover the period from 480 to 302 B. C.; and as his library is little more +than a series of excerpts his selections dealing with Roman history +reflect his sources with little contamination. + +Other Roman chroniclers of the second century B. C. also wrote in Greek +and, although early in that century Ennius wrote his epic relating the +story of Rome from the settlement of Aeneas, it was not until about 168 +that the first historical work in Latin prose appeared. This was the +_Origins_ of Marcus Porcius Cato, which contained an account of the +mythical origins of Rome and other Italian cities, and was subsequently +expanded to cover the period from the opening of the Punic Wars to 149 +B. C. + +Contemporary history soon attracted the attention of the Romans but they +did not neglect the earlier period. In their treatment of the latter new +tendencies appear about the time of Sulla under patriotic and rhetorical +stimuli. The aim of historians now became to provide the public with an +account of the early days of Rome that would be commeasurate with her +later greatness, and to adorn this narrative, in Greek fashion, with +anecdotes, speeches, and detailed descriptions, which would enliven their +pages and fascinate their readers. Their material they obtained by +invention, by falsification, and by the incorporation into Roman history +of incidents from the history of other peoples. These writers were not +strictly historians, but writers of historical romance. Their chief +representative was Valerius Antias. + +The Ciceronian age saw great vigor displayed in antiquarian research, with +the object of explaining the origin of ancient Roman customs, ceremonies, +institutions, monuments, and legal formulæ, and of establishing early +Roman chronology. In this field the greatest activity was shown by Marcus +Terentius Varro, whose _Antiquities_ deeply influenced his contemporaries +and successors. + +In the age of Augustus, between 27 B. C. and 19 A. D., Livy wrote his +great history of Rome from its beginnings. His work summed up the efforts +of his predecessors and gave to the history of Rome down to his own times +the form which it preserved for the rest of antiquity. Although it is +lacking in critical acumen in the handling of sources, and in an +understanding for political and military history, the dramatic and +literary qualities of his work have ensured its popularity. Of it there +have been preserved the first ten books (to 293 B. C.), and books 21 to 45 +(from 218 to 167 B. C.). A contemporary of Livy was the Greek writer +Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who wrote a work called _Roman Antiquities_, +which covered the history of Rome down to 265 B. C. The earlier part of +his work has also been preserved. In general he depended upon Varro and +Livy, and gives substantially the same view of early Roman history as the +latter. + +What these later writers added to the meagre annalistic narrative +preserved in Diodorus is of little historical value, except in so far as +it shows what the Romans came to believe with regard to their own past. +The problem which faced the later Roman historians was the one which faces +writers of Roman history today, namely, to explain the origins and early +development of the Roman state. And their explanation does not deserve +more credence than a modern reconstruction simply because they were nearer +in point of time to the period in question, for they had no wealth of +historical materials which have since been lost, and they were not +animated by a desire to reach the truth at all costs nor guided by +rational principles of historical criticism. Accordingly we must regard as +mythical the traditional narrative of the founding of Rome and of the +regal period, and for the history of the republic to the time of the war +with Pyrrhus we should rely upon the list of eponymous magistrates, whose +variations indicate political crises, supplemented by the account in +Diodorus, with the admission that this itself is not infallible. All that +supplements or deviates from this we should frankly acknowledge to be of a +hypothetical nature. Therefore we should concede the impossibility of +giving a complete and adequate account of the history of these centuries +and refrain from doing ourselves what we criticize in the Roman +historians. + + + + + + + PART I + + + THE FORERUNNERS OF ROME IN ITALY + + + A HISTORY OF ROME TO 565 A. D. + + + + + CHAPTER I + + + THE GEOGRAPHY OF ITALY + + +Italy, ribbed by the Apennines, girdled by the Alps and the sea, juts out +like a “long pier-head” from Europe towards the northern coast of Africa. +It includes two regions of widely differing physical characteristics: the +northern, continental; the southern, peninsular. The peninsula is slightly +larger than the continental portion: together their area is about 91,200 +square miles. + +*Continental Italy.* The continental portion of Italy consists of the +southern watershed of the Alps and the northern watershed of the +Apennines, with the intervening lowland plain, drained, for the most part, +by the river Po and its numerous tributaries. On the north, the Alps +extend in an irregular crescent of over 1200 miles from the Mediterranean +to the Adriatic. They rise abruptly on the Italian side, but their +northern slope is gradual, with easy passes leading over the divide to the +southern plain. Thus they invite rather than deter immigration from +central Europe. East and west continental Italy measures around 320 miles; +its width from north to south does not exceed seventy miles. + +*The peninsula.* The southern portion of Italy consists of a long, narrow +peninsula, running northwest and southeast between the Mediterranean and +Adriatic seas, and terminating in two promontories, which form the toe and +heel of the “Italian boot.” The length of the peninsula is 650 miles; its +breadth is nowhere more than 125 miles. In striking contrast to the plains +of the Po, southern Italy is traversed throughout by the parallel ridges +of the Apennines, which give it an endless diversity of hill and valley. +The average height of these mountains, which form a sort of vertebrate +system for the peninsula (_Apennino dorso Italia dividitur_, Livy xxxvi, +15), is about 4,000 feet, and even their highest peaks (9,500 feet) are +below the line of perpetual snow. The Apennine chain is highest on its +eastern side where it approaches closely to the Adriatic, leaving only a +narrow strip of coast land, intersected by numerous short mountain +torrents. On the west the mountains are lower and recede further from the +sea, leaving the wide lowland areas of Etruria, Latium and Campania. On +this side, too, are rivers of considerable length, navigable for small +craft; the Volturnus and Liris, the Tiber and the Arno, whose valleys link +the coast with the highlands of the interior. + +*The **coast-line**.* In comparison with Greece, Italy presents a striking +regularity of coast-line. Throughout its length of over 2000 miles it has +remarkably few deep bays or good harbors, and these few are almost all on +the southern and western shores. Thus the character of the Mediterranean +coast of Italy, with its fertile lowlands, its rivers, its harbors, and +its general southerly aspect, rendered it more inviting and accessible to +approach from the sea than the eastern coast, and determined its +leadership in the cultural and material advancement of the peninsula. + +*Climate.* The climate of Italy as a whole, like that of other +Mediterranean lands, is characterized by a high average temperature, and +an absence of extremes of heat or cold. Nevertheless, it varies greatly in +different localities, according to their northern or southern situation, +their elevation, and their proximity to the sea. In the Po valley there is +a close approach to the continental climate of central Europe, with a +marked difference between summer and winter temperatures and clearly +marked transitional periods of spring and autumn. On the other hand, in +the south of the peninsula the climate becomes more tropical, with its +periods of winter rain and summer drought, and a rapid transition between +the moist and the dry seasons. + +*Malaria.* Both in antiquity and in modern times the disease from which +Italy has suffered most has been the dreaded malaria. The explanation is +to be found in the presence of extensive marshy areas in the river valleys +and along the coast. The ravages of this disease have varied according as +the progress of civilization has brought about the cultivation and +drainage of the affected areas or its decline has wrought the undoing of +this beneficial work. + +*Forests.* In striking contrast to their present baldness, the slopes of +the Apennines were once heavily wooded, and the well-tilled fields of the +Po valley were also covered with tall forests. Timber for houses and ships +was to be had in abundance, and as late as the time of Augustus Italy was +held to be a well-forested country. + +*Minerals.* The mineral wealth of Italy has never been very great at any +time. In antiquity the most important deposits were the iron ores of the +island of Elba, and the copper mines of Etruria and Liguria. For a time, +the gold washings in the valleys of the Graian Alps were worked with +profit. + +*Agriculture.* The true wealth of Italy lay in the richness of her soil, +which generously repaid the labor of agriculturist or horticulturist. The +lowland areas yielded large crops of grain of all sorts—millet, maize, +wheat, oats and barley—while legumes were raised in abundance everywhere. +Campania was especially fertile and is reported to have yielded three +successive crops annually. The vine and the olive flourished, and their +cultivation eventually became even more profitable than the raising of +grain. + +The valleys and mountain sides afforded excellent pasturage at all +seasons, and the raising of cattle and sheep ranked next in importance to +agricultural pursuits among the country’s industries. + +*The **islands**: Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica.* The geographical location of +the three large islands, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, links their history +closely with that of the Italian peninsula. The large triangle of Sicily +(11,290 sq. mi.) is separated from the southwest extremity of Italy by the +narrow straits of Rhegium, and lies like a stepping-stone between Europe +and Africa. Its situation, and the richness of its soil, which caused it +to become one of the granaries of Rome, made it of far greater historical +importance than the other two islands. Sardinia (9,400 sq. mi.) and +Corsica (3,376 sq. mi.), owing to their rugged, mountainous character and +their greater remoteness from the coast of Italy, have been always, from +both the economic and the cultural standpoint, far behind the more favored +Sicily. + +*The historical significance of Italy’s configuration and location.* The +configuration of the Italian peninsula, long, narrow, and traversed by +mountain ridges, hindered rather than helped its political unification. +Yet the Apennine chain, running parallel to the length of the peninsula, +offered no such serious barriers to that unification as did the network of +mountains and the long inlets that intersect the peninsula of Greece. And +when once Italy had been welded into a single state by the power of Rome, +its central position greatly facilitated the extension of the Roman +dominion over the whole Mediterranean basin. + +*The name Italia.* The name Italy is the ancient _Italia_, derived from +the people known as the _Itali_, whose name had its origin in the word +_vitulus_ (calf). It was applied by the Greeks as early as the fifth +century B. C. to the southwestern extremity of the peninsula, adjacent to +the island of Sicily. It rapidly acquired a much wider significance, +until, from the opening of the second century, _Italia_ in a geographical +sense denoted the whole country as far north as the Alps. Politically, as +we shall see, the name for a long time had a much more restricted +significance. + + + + + CHAPTER II + + + PREHISTORIC CIVILIZATION IN ITALY + + +*Accessibility of Italy to external influences.* The long coast-line of +the Italian peninsula rendered it peculiarly accessible to influences from +overseas, for the sea united rather than divided the peoples of antiquity. +Thus Italy was constantly subjected to immigration by sea, and much more +so to cultural stimuli from the lands whose shores bordered the same seas +as her own. Nor did the Alps and the forests and swamps of the Po valley +oppose any effectual barrier to migrations and cultural influences from +central Europe. Consequently we have in Italy the meeting ground of +peoples coming by sea from east and south and coming over land from the +north, each bringing a new racial, linguistic, and cultural element to +enrich the life of the peninsula. These movements had been going on since +remote antiquity, until, at the beginning of the period of recorded +history, Italy was occupied by peoples of different races, speaking +different languages, and living under widely different political and +cultural conditions. + +As yet many problems connected with the origin and migrations of the +historic peoples of Italy remain unsolved; but the sciences of archaeology +and philology have done much toward enabling us to present a reasonably +clear and connected picture of the development of civilization and the +movements of these peoples in prehistoric times. + +*The Old Stone Age.* From all over Italy come proofs of the presence of +man in the earliest stage of human development—the Paleolithic or Old +Stone Age. The chipped flint instruments of this epoch have been found in +considerable abundance, and are chiefly of the Moustérien and Chelléen +types. With these have been unearthed the bones of the cave bear, cave +lion, cave hyena, giant stag, and early types of the rhinoceros, +hippopotamus, and elephant, which Paleolithic man fought and hunted. In +the Balzi Rossi caves, near Ventimiglia in Liguria, there have been found +human skeletons, some of which, at least, are agreed to be of the +Paleolithic Age. But the caves in Liguria and elsewhere, then the only +habitations which men knew, do not reveal the lifelike and vigorous mural +drawings and carvings on bone, which the Old Stone Age has left in the +caves of France and Spain. + +*The New Stone Age.* With the Neolithic or New Stone Age there appears in +Italy a civilization characterized by the use of instruments of polished +stone. Axes, adzes, and chisels, of various shapes and sizes, as well as +other utensils, were shaped by polishing and grinding from sandstone, +limestone, jade, nephrite, diorite, and other stones. Along with these, +however, articles of chipped flint and obsidian, for which the workshops +have been found, and also instruments of bone, were in common use. The +Neolithic people were also acquainted with the art of making pottery, an +art unknown to the Paleolithic Age. + +Like the men of the preceding epoch, those of the Neolithic Age readily +took up their abode in natural caves. However, they also built for +themselves villages of circular huts of wicker-work and clay, at times +erected over pits excavated in the ground. Such village sites, the +so-called _fonde di capanne_, are widely distributed throughout Italy. + +They buried their dead in caves, or in pits dug in the ground, sometimes +lining the pit with stones. The corpse was regularly placed in a +contracted position, accompanied by weapons, vases, clothing, and food. +Second burials and the practice of coloring the bones of the skeletons +with red pigment were in vogue. + +*Climatic change.* The climate of Italy had changed considerably from that +of the preceding age, and a new fauna had appeared. In place of the +primitive elephant and his associates, Neolithic men hunted the stag, +beaver, bear, fox, wolf and wild boar. Remains of such domestic animals as +the ox, horse, sheep, goat, pig, dog, and ass, show that they were a +pastoral although not an agricultural people. + +*A new racial element.* The use of polished stone weapons, the manufacture +of pottery, the hut villages and a uniform system of burial rites +distinguished the Neolithic from the Paleolithic civilization. And, +because of these differences, especially because of the introduction of +this system of burial which argues a distinctive set of religious beliefs, +in addition to the fact that the development of this civilization from +that which preceded cannot be traced on Italian soil, it is held with +reason that at the opening of the Neolithic Age a new race entered Italy, +bringing with it the Neolithic culture. Here and there men of the former +age may have survived and copied the arts of the newcomers, but throughout +the whole peninsula the racial unity of the population is shown by the +uniformity of their burial customs. The inhabitants of Sicily and Sardinia +in this age had a civilization of the same type as that on the mainland. + +*The Ligurians probably a Neolithic people.* It is highly probable that +one of the historic peoples of Italy was a direct survival from the +Neolithic period. This was the people called the Ligures (Ligurians), who +to a late date maintained themselves in the mountainous district around +the Gulf of Genoa. In support of this view it may be urged (1) that +tradition regarded them as one of the oldest peoples of Italy, (2) that +even when Rome was the dominant state in Italy they occupied the whole +western portion of the Po valley and extended southward almost to Pisa, +while they were believed to have held at one time a much wider territory, +(3) that at the opening of our own era they were still in a comparatively +barbarous state, living in caves and rude huts, and (4) that the Neolithic +culture survived longest in this region, which was unaffected by the +migrations of subsequent ages. + +*The Aeneolithic Age.* The introduction of the use of copper marks the +transition from the Neolithic period to that called the Aeneolithic, or +Stone and Copper Age. This itself is but a prelude to the true Bronze Age. +Apparently copper first found its way into Italy along the trade routes +from the Danube valley and from the eastern Mediterranean, while the local +deposits were as yet unworked. In other respects there is no great +difference between the Neolithic civilization and the Aeneolithic, and +there is no evidence to place the entrance of a new race into Italy at +this time. + +*The Bronze Age.* The Bronze Age proper in Italy is marked by the +appearance of a new type of civilization—that of the builders of the pile +villages. There are two distinct forms of pile village. The one, called +_palafitte_, is a true lake village, raised on a pile structure above the +waters of the surrounding lake or marsh. The other, called _terramare_, is +a pile village constructed on solid ground and surrounded by an artificial +moat. + +*The palafitte.* The traces of the _palafitte_ are fairly closely confined +to the Alpine lake region of Italy from Lake Maggiore to Lake Garda. In +general, these lake villages date from an early stage of Bronze Age +culture, for later on, in most cases, their inhabitants seem to have +abandoned them for sites on dry land further to the south. The +lake-dwellers were hunters and herdsmen, but they practised agriculture as +well, raising corn and millet. In addition to their bronze implements, +they continued to use those of more primitive materials—bone and stone. +They, too, manufactured a characteristic sort of pottery, of rather rude +workmanship, which differs strikingly from that of the Neolithic Age. In +the late Bronze Age, at any rate, they cremated their dead and buried the +ashes in funerary urns. For their earlier practice evidence is lacking. + +*The terramare.* The _terramare_ settlements are found chiefly in the Po +valley; to the north of that river around Mantua, and to the south between +Piacenza and Bologna. Scattered villages have been found throughout the +peninsula; one as far south as Taranto. The _terramare_ village was +regularly constructed in the form of a trapezoid, with a north and south +orientation. It was surrounded by an earthen wall, around the base of +which ran a wide moat, supplied with running water from a neighboring +stream. Access to the settlement was had by a single wooden bridge, easy +to destroy in time of danger. The space within the wall was divided in the +center by a main road running north and south the whole length of the +settlement. It was paralleled by some narrower roads and intersected at +right angles by others. On one side of this main highway was a space +surrounded by an inner moat, crossed by a bridge. This area was +uninhabited and probably devoted to religious purposes. The dwellings were +built on pile foundations along the roadways. Outside the moat was placed +the cemetery. The dead were cremated and the ashes deposited in ossuary +urns, which were laid side by side in the burial places. The remains were +rarely accompanied by anything but some smaller vases placed in the +ossuary. + +*The terramare civilization.* With the _terramare_ people bronze had +almost completely supplanted stone instruments. Bronze daggers, swords, +axes, arrowheads, spearheads, razors, and pins have been preserved in +abundance. However, articles of bone and of horn were also in general use. +The _terramare_ civilization had likewise its special type of hand-made +pottery of peculiar shapes and ornamentation. A characteristic form of +ornamentation was the crescent-shaped handle (_ansa lunata_). The +_terramare_ peoples were both agricultural and pastoral, cultivating wheat +and flax and raising the better known domestic animals; while they also +hunted the stag and the wild boar. + +*The peoples of the palafitte and the terramare.* Owing to their custom of +dwelling in pile villages, their practice of cremating their dead, and +other characteristics peculiar to their type of civilization, the peoples +of the _palafitte_ and the _terramare_ are believed to have introduced a +new racial element into Italy. The former probably descended from the +Swiss lake region, while the latter probably came from the valley of the +Danube. These peoples, abandoning the lakes and marshes of the Po valley, +spread southward over the peninsula. Because of this expansion and because +of the striking similarity between the design of the _terramare_ +settlements and that of the Roman fortified camps, it has been suggested +that they were the forerunners of the Italian peoples of historic times. + +*Other types of Bronze Age culture in Italy.* The Neolithic population of +northern Italy developed a Bronze Age civilization under the stimulus of +contact with the _terramare_ people and the lake-dwellers. In the southern +part of the peninsula and in Sicily, however, the Bronze Age developed +more independently, although showing decided traces of influences from the +eastern Mediterranean. Only in its later stages does it show the effect of +the southward migration of the builders of the pile villages. + +*The Iron Age.* The prehistoric Iron Age in Italy has left extensive +remains in the northern and central regions, but such is by no means the +case in the south. The most important center of this civilization was at +Villanova, near Bologna. Here, again, we have to do with a new type of +civilization, which is not a development of the _terramare_ culture. In +addition to the use of iron, this age is marked by the practice of +cremation, with the employment of burial urns of a distinctive type, +placed in well tombs (_tombe a pozzo_). In Etruria, to the south of the +Apennines, the Early Iron Age is of the Villanova type. It seems fairly +certain that both in Umbria and in Etruria this civilization is the work +of the Umbrians, who at one time occupied the territory on both sides of +the Apennines. Regarding the migration of the Umbrians into Italy we know +nothing, but it seems probable that their civilization had its rise in +central Europe. The later Iron Age civilization both in Etruria and +northward of the Apennines has been identified as that of the Etruscans. + +*Latium.* In Latium the Iron Age civilization is a development under +Villanovan influences. Here a distinctive feature is the use of a +hut-shaped urn to receive the ashes of the dead. This urn was itself +deposited in a larger burial urn. This civilization is that of the +historic Latins, to whom belong also the hill villages of Latium and the +walled towns, constructed between the eighth and the sixth centuries B. C. + +Elsewhere in the northern part of Italy in the Iron Age we have to do with +a culture developing out of that of the _terramare_ period. Likewise in +the east and south of the peninsula the Iron Age is a local development +under outside stimulus. + +The preceding sketch of the rise of civilization in Italy has brought us +down to the point where we have to do with the peoples who occupied +Italian soil at the beginning of the historic period, for from the sixth +century it is possible to attempt a connected historical record of the +movements of these Italian races. + + + + + CHAPTER III + + + THE PEOPLES OF HISTORIC ITALY: THE ETRUSCANS; THE GREEKS + + + + I. THE PEOPLES OF ITALY + + +At the close of the sixth century B. C., the soil of Italy was occupied by +many peoples of diverse language and origin. + +*The Ligurians.* The northwest corner of Italy, including the Po valley as +far east as the river Ticinus and the coast as far south as the Arno, was +occupied by the Ligurians. + +*The Veneti.* On the opposite side of the continental part of Italy, in +the lowlands to the north of the Po between the Alps and the Adriatic, +dwelt the Veneti, whose name is perpetuated in modern Venice. They are +generally believed to have been a people of Illyrian origin. + +*The Euganei.* In the mountain valleys, to the east and west of Lake +Garda, lived the Euganei, a people of little historical importance, whose +racial connections are as yet unknown. + +*The Etruscans.* The central plain of the Po, between the Ligurians to the +west and the Veneti to the east, was controlled by the Etruscans. Their +territory stretched northwards to the Alps and eastwards to the Adriatic +coast. They likewise occupied the district called after them, Etruria, to +the south of the Apennines, between the Arno and the Tiber. Throughout all +this area the Etruscans were the dominant element, although it was partly +peopled by subject Ligurians and Italians. Etruscan colonies were also +established in Campania. + + [Illustration: The Peoples of Italy about 500 B. C.] + +*The Italians.* Over the central and southwestern portion of the peninsula +were spread a number of peoples speaking more or less closely related +dialects of a common, Indo-germanic, tongue. Of these, the Latini, the +Aurunci (Ausones), the Osci (Opici), the Oenotri, and the Itali occupied, +in the order named, the western coast from the Tiber to the Straits of +Rhegium. Between the valley of the upper Tiber and the Adriatic were the +Umbri, while to the south of these, in the valleys of the central +Apennines and along the Adriatic coast, were settled the so-called +Sabellian peoples, chief of whom were the Sabini, the Picentes, the +Vestini, the Frentani, the Marsi, the Aequi, the Hernici, the Volsci, and +the Samnites. As we have noted, one of these peoples, the Itali, gave +their name to the whole country to the south of the Alps, and eventually +to this group of peoples in general, whom we call Italians, as distinct +from the other races who inhabited Italy in antiquity. + +*The Iapygians.* Along the eastern coast from the promontory of Mt. +Garganus southwards were located the Iapygians; most probably, like the +Veneti, an Illyrian folk. + +*The Greeks.* The western and southern shores of Italy, from the Bay of +Naples to Tarentum, were fringed with a chain of Hellenic settlements. + +*The peoples of Sicily.* The Greeks had likewise colonized the eastern and +southern part of the island of Sicily. The central portion of the island +was still occupied by the Sicans and the Sicels, peoples who were in +possession of Sicily prior to the coming of the Greeks, and whom some +regard as an Italian, others as a Ligurian, or Iberian, element. In the +extreme west of Sicily were wedged in the small people of the Elymians, +another ethnographic puzzle. Here too the Phoenicians from Carthage had +firmly established themselves. + +*Iberians in Sardinia and Corsica.* The inhabitants of Sardinia and +Corsica, islands which were unaffected by the migrations subsequent to the +Neolithic Age, are believed to have been of the same stock as the Iberians +of the Spanish peninsula. The Etruscans had their colonies in eastern +Corsica and the Carthaginians had obtained a footing on the southern and +western coasts of Sardinia. + +From this survey of the peoples of Italy at the close of the sixth century +B. C., we can see that to the topographical obstacles placed by nature in +the path of the political unification of Italy there was added a still +more serious difficulty—that of racial and cultural antagonism. + + + + II. THE ETRUSCANS + + +*Etruria.* About the opening of the eighth century, the region to the +north of the Tiber, west and south of the Apennines, was occupied by the +people whom the Greeks called Tyrseni or Tyrreni, the Romans Etrusci or +Tusci, but who styled themselves Rasenna. Their name still clings to this +section of Italy (_la Toscana_), which to the Romans was known as Etruria. + +*The origin of the Etruscans.* Racially and linguistically the Etruscans +differed from both Italians and Hellenes, and their presence in Italy was +long a problem to historians. Now, however, it is generally agreed that +their own ancient tradition, according to which they were immigrants from +the shores of the Aegean Sea, is correct. They were probably one of the +pre-Hellenic races of the Aegean basin, where a people called Tyrreni were +found as late as the fifth century B. C., and it has been suggested that +they are to be identified with the _Tursha_, who appear among the Aegean +invaders of Egypt in the thirteenth century. Leaving their former abode +during the disturbances caused by the Hellenic occupation of the Aegean +islands and the west coast of Asia Minor, they eventually found a new home +on the western shore of Italy. Here they imposed their rule and their +civilization upon the previous inhabitants. The subsequent presence of the +two elements in the population of Etruria is well attested by +archaeological evidence. + +*Walled towns.* The Etruscans regularly built their towns on hill-tops +which admitted of easy defence, but, in addition, they fortified these +towns with strong walls of stone, sometimes constructed of rude polygonal +blocks and at other times of dressed stone laid in regular courses. + +*Tombs.* However, the most striking memorials of the presence of the +Etruscans are their elaborate tombs. Their cemeteries contain sepulchres +of two types—trench tombs (_tombe a fossa_) and chamber tombs (_tombe a +camera_). The latter, a development of the former type, are hewn in the +rocky hillsides. The Etruscans practised inhumation, depositing the dead +in a stone sarcophagus. However, under the influence of the Italian +peoples with whom they came into contact, they also employed cremation to +a considerable extent. Their larger chamber tombs were evidently family +burial vaults, and were decorated with reliefs cut on their rocky walls or +with painted friezes, from which we derive most of our information +regarding the Etruscan appearance, dress, and customs. Objects of +Phoenician and Greek manufacture found in these tombs show that the +Etruscans traded with Carthage and the Greeks as early as the seventh +century. + +*Etruscan industries.* The Etruscans worked the iron mines of Elba and the +copper deposits on the mainland. Their bronzes, especially their mirrors +and candelabra, enjoyed high repute even in fifth-century Athens. Their +goldsmiths, too, fashioned elaborate ornaments of great technical +excellence. Etruria also produced the type of black pottery with a high +polish known as _bucchero nero_. + +*Etruscan art.* In general, Etruscan art as revealed in wall paintings and +in the decorations of vases and mirrors displays little originality in +choice of subjects or manner of treatment. In most cases it is a direct +and not too successful imitation of Greek models, rarely attaining the +grace and freedom of the originals. + +*Architecture.* In their architecture, however, although even here +affected by foreign influences, the Etruscans displayed more originality +and were the teachers of the Romans and other Italians. They made great +use of the arch and vault, they created distinctive types of column and +_atrium_ (both later called Etruscan) and they developed a form of temple +architecture, marked by square structures with a high _podium_ and a +portico as deep as the _cella_. Their mural architecture has been referred +to already. + +*Writing.* Knowledge of the art of writing reached the Etruscans from the +Greek colony of Cyme, whence they adopted the Chalcidian form of the Greek +alphabet. Several thousand inscriptions in Etruscan have been preserved, +but so far all attempts to translate their language have failed. + +*Religion.* The religion of the Etruscans was characterized by the great +stress laid upon the art of divination and augury. Certain features of +this art, especially the use of the liver for divination, appear to +strengthen the evidence that connects the Etruscans with the eastern +Mediterranean. For them the after-world was peopled by powerful, malicious +spirits: a belief which gives a gloomy aspect to their religion. Their +circle of native gods was enlarged by the addition of Hellenic and Italian +divinities and their mythology was greatly influenced by that of Greece. + +*Commerce.* The Etruscans were mariners before they settled on Italian +soil and long continued to be a powerful maritime people. They early +established commercial relations with the Carthaginians and the Greeks, as +is evidenced by the contents of their tombs and the influence of Greece +upon their civilization in general. But they, as well as the +Carthaginians, were jealous of Greek expansion in the western +Mediterranean, and in 536 a combined fleet of these two peoples forced the +Phoceans to abandon their settlement on the island of Corsica. For the +Greeks their name came to be synonymous with pirates, on account of their +depredations which extended even as far as the Aegean. + +*Government.* In Etruria there existed a league of twelve Etruscan cities. +However, as we know of as many as seventeen towns in this region, it is +probable that several cities were not independent members of the league. +This league was a very loose organization, religious rather than political +in its character, which did not impair the sovereignty of its individual +members. Only occasionally do several cities seem to have joined forces +for the conduct of military enterprises. The cities at an early period +were ruled by kings, but later were under the control of powerful +aristocratic families, each backed by numerous retainers. + +*Expansion north of the Apennines, in Latium and in Campania.* In the +course of the sixth century the Etruscans crossed the Apennines and +occupied territory in the Po valley northwards to the Alps and eastwards +to the Adriatic. Somewhat earlier, towards the end of the seventh century, +they forced their way through Latium, established themselves in Campania, +where they founded the cities of Capua and Nola, and gradually completed +the subjugation of Latium itself. This marks the extreme limits of their +expansion in Italy, and before the opening of the fifth century their +power was already on the wane. + +*The decline of the Etruscan power.* It was about this time that Rome +freed itself from Etruscan domination, while the other Latins, aided by +Aristodemus, the Greek tyrant of Cyme, inflicted a severe defeat upon the +Etruscans at Aricia (505 B. C.). A land and sea attack upon Cyme itself, +in 474, resulted in the destruction of the Etruscan fleet by Hieron, +tyrant of Syracuse. The year 438 B. C. saw the end of the Etruscan power +in Campania with the fall of Capua before a Samnite invasion. Not long +afterwards, as we shall see, a Celtic invasion drove them from the valley +of the Po. The explanation of this rapid collapse of the Etruscan power +outside Etruria proper is that, owing to the lack of political unity, +these conquests were not national efforts but were made by independent +bands of adventurers. These failed to assimilate the conquered populations +and after a few generations were overthrown by native revolutions or +outside invasions, especially since there was no Etruscan nation to +protect them in time of need. Thus failure to develop a strong national +state was the chief reason why the Etruscans did not unite Italy under +their dominion, as they gave promise of doing in the course of the sixth +century. + +*The significance of the Etruscans in the history of Italy.* Our general +impression of the Etruscans is that they were a wealthy, luxury-loving +people, quick to appreciate and adopt the achievements of others, but +somewhat lacking in originality themselves. Cruel, they took delight in +gladiatorial combats, especially in Campania, where the Romans learned +this custom. Bold and energetic warriors, as their conquests show, they +lacked the spirit of discipline and coöperation, and were incapable of +developing a stable political organization. Nevertheless, they played an +important part in the cultural development of Italy, even though here +their chief mission was the bringing of the Italian peoples into contact +with Hellenic civilization. + + + + III. THE GREEKS + + +*Greek colonization.* As early as the eighth century the Greeks had begun +their colonizing activity in the western Mediterranean, and, in the course +of the next two centuries, they had settled the eastern and southern +shores of Sicily, stretched a chain of settlements on the Italian coast +from Tarentum to the Bay of Naples, and established themselves at the +mouth of the Rhone and on the Riviera. The opposition of Carthage shut +them out from the western end of Sicily, and from Spain; the Etruscans +closed to them Italy north of the Tiber; while the joint action of these +two peoples excluded them from Sardinia and Corsica. + +In the fifth century these Greek cities in Sicily and Italy were at the +height of their power and prosperity. In Sicily they had penetrated from +the coast far into the interior where they had brought the Sicels under +their domination. By the victory of Himera, in 480 B. C., Gelon of +Syracuse secured the Sicilian Greeks in the possession of the greater part +of the island and freed them from all danger of Carthaginian invasion for +over seventy years. Six years later, his brother and successor, Hieron, in +a naval battle off Cyme, struck a crushing blow at the Etruscan naval +power and delivered the mainland Greeks from all fear of Etruscan +aggression. The extreme southwestern projection of the Italian peninsula +had passed completely under Greek control, but north as far as Posidonia +and east to Tarentum their territory did not extend far from the seaboard. +In these areas they had occupied the territory of the Itali and +Oenotrians, while on the north of the Bay of Naples Cyme, Dicaearchia, and +Neapolis (Naples) were established in the land of the Opici (Osci). The +name Great Greece, given by the Hellenes to South Italy, shows how firmly +they were established there. + +*Lack of political unity.* However, the Greeks possessed even less +political cohesion than did the Etruscans. Each colony was itself a +city-state, a sovereign independent community, owning no political +allegiance to its mother city. Thus New Greece reproduced all the +political characteristics of the Old. Only occasionally, in times of +extreme peril, did even a part of the Greek cities lay aside their mutual +jealousies and unite their forces in the common cause. Such larger +political structures as the tyrants of Syracuse built up by the +subjugation of other cities were purely ephemeral, barely outliving their +founders. The individual cities also were greatly weakened by incessant +factional strife within their walls. The result of this disunion was to +restrict the Greek expansion and, eventually, to pave the way for the +conquest of the western Greeks by the Italian “barbarians.” + +*The decline of the Greek power in Italy and Sicily.* Even before the +close of the fifth century, the decline of the Western Greeks had begun. +In Italy their cities were subjected to repeated assaults from the +expanding Samnite peoples of the central Apennines. In 421, Cyme fell into +the hands of a Samnite horde, and from that time onwards the Greek cities +further south were engaged in a struggle for existence with the Lucanians +and the Bruttians, peoples of Samnite stock. In Sicily the Carthaginians +renewed their assault upon the Greeks in 408 B. C. For a time (404–367) +the genius and energy of Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, welded the +cities of the island and the mainland into an empire which enabled them to +make head against their foes. But his empire had only been created by +breaking the power of the free cities, and after his death they were left +more disunited and weaker than ever. After further warfare, by 339, +Carthage remained in permanent occupation of the western half of the +island of Sicily, while in Italy only a few Greek towns, such as Tarentum, +Thurii, and Rhegium, were able to maintain themselves, and that with ever +increasing difficulty, against the rising tide of the Italians. Even by +the middle of the fourth century an observant Greek predicted the speedy +disappearance of the Greek language in the west before that of the +Carthaginians or Oscans. However, their final struggles must be postponed +for later consideration. + +*The rôle of the Greeks in Italian history.* It was the coming of the +Greeks that brought Italy into the light of history, and into contact with +the more advanced civilization of the eastern Mediterranean. From the +Greek geographers and historians we derive our earliest information +regarding the Italian peoples, and they, too, shaped the legends that long +passed for early Italian history. The presence of the Greek towns in Italy +gave a tremendous stimulus to the cultural development of the Italians, +both by direct intercourse and indirectly through the agency of the +Etruscans. In this spreading of Greek influences, Cyme, the most northerly +of the Greek colonies and one of the earliest, played a very important +part. It was from Cyme that the Romans as well as the Etruscans took their +alphabet. The more highly developed Greek political institutions, Greek +art, Greek literature, and Greek mythology found a ready reception among +the Italian peoples and profoundly affected their political and +intellectual progress. Traces of this Greek influence are nowhere more +noticeable than in the case of Rome itself, and the cultural ascendancy +which Greece thus early established over Rome was destined to last until +the fall of the Roman Empire. + + + + + + PART II + + + THE PRIMITIVE MONARCHY AND THE REPUBLIC: + FROM PREHISTORIC TIMES TO 27 B. C. + + + [Illustration: The Environs of Rome] + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + + EARLY ROME TO THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY + + + + I. THE LATINS + + +*Latium and the Latins.* The district to the south of the Tiber, extending +along the coast to the promontory of Circeii and from the coast inland to +the slopes of the Apennines, was called in antiquity Latium. Its +inhabitants, at the opening of the historic period, were the Latins +(_Latini_), a branch of the Italian stock, perhaps mingled with the +remnants of an older population. + +They were mainly an agricultural and pastoral people, who had settled on +the land in _pagi_, or cantons, naturally or artificially defined rural +districts. The _pagus_ constituted a rude political and religious unit. +Its population lived scattered in their homesteads. If some few of the +homesteads happened to be grouped together, they constituted a _vicus_, +which, however, had neither a political nor a religious organization. + +At one or more points within the cantons there soon developed small towns +(_oppida_), usually located on hilltops and fortified, at first with +earthen, later with stone, walls. These towns served as market-places and +as points of refuge in time of danger for the people of the _pagus_. There +developed an artisan and mercantile element, and there the aristocratic +element of the population early took up their abode, i. e., the wealthier +landholders, who could leave to others the immediate oversight of their +estates. And so these _oppida_ became the centers of government for the +surrounding _pagi_. It is very doubtful if the Latins as a whole were ever +united in a single state. But even if that had once been the case, this +loosely organized state must early have been broken up into a number of +smaller units. These were the various _populi_; that is, the cantons with +their _oppida_. The names of some sixty-five of these towns are known, but +before the close of the sixth century many of the smaller of them had been +merged with their more powerful neighbors. + +*The Latin League.* The realization of the racial unity of the Latins was +expressed in the annual festival of Jupiter Latiaris celebrated on the +Alban Mount. For a long time also the Latin cities formed a league, of +which there were thirty members according to tradition. Actually, about +the middle of the fifth century there were only some eight cities +participating in the association upon an independent footing. The central +point of the league was the grove and temple of Diana at Aricia, and it +was in the neighborhood of Aricia that the meetings of the assembly of the +league were held. The league possessed a very loose organization, but we +know of a common executive head—the Latin dictator. + + + + II. THE ORIGINS OF ROME + + +*The site of Rome.* Rome, the Latin _Roma_, is situated on the Tiber about +fifteen miles from the sea. The Rome of the later Republic and the Empire, +the City of the Seven Hills, included the three isolated eminences of the +Capitoline, Palatine and Aventine, and the spurs of the adjoining plateau, +called the Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, and Caelian. Other ground, also +on the left bank of the river, and likewise part of Mount Janiculum, +across the Tiber, were included in the city. But this extent was only +attained after a long period of growth, and early Rome was a town of much +smaller area. + +*The growth of the city.* Late Roman historians placed the founding of +Rome about the year 753 B. C., and used this date as a basis for Roman +chronology. However, it is absolutely impossible to assign anything like a +definite date for the establishment of the city. Excavations have revealed +that in the early Iron Age several distinct settlements were perched upon +the Roman hills, separated from one another by low, marshy ground, flooded +by the Tiber at high water. These were probably typical Latin walled +villages (_oppida_). + +At a very early date some of these villages formed a religious union +commemorated in the festival of the Septimontium or Seven Mounts. These +_montes_ were crests of the Palatine, Esquiline and Caelian hills, perhaps +each the site of a separate settlement. + +But the earliest city to which we can with certainty give the name of Rome +is of later date than the establishment of the Septimontium. It is the +Rome of the Four Regions—the Palatina, Esquilina, Collina and Sucusana +(later Suburana)—which included the Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian +and Palatine hills, as well as the intervening low ground. Within the +boundary of this city, but not included in the four regions, was the +Capitoline, which had separate fortifications and served as the citadel +(_arx_). It may be that the organization of this city of the Four Regions +was effected by Etruscan conquerors, for the name Roma seems to be of +Etruscan origin, and, for the Romans, an _urbs_, as they called Rome, was +merely an _oppidum_ of which the limits had been marked out according to +Etruscan ritual. The consecrated boundary line drawn in this manner was +called the _pomerium_. + +The Aventine Hill, as well as the part of the plateau back of the +Esquiline, was only brought within the city walls in the fourth century, +and remained outside the _pomerium_ until the time of Claudius. + +The location of Rome, on the Tiber at a point where navigation for +sea-going vessels terminated and where an island made easy the passage +from bank to bank, marked it as a place of commercial importance. It was +at the same time the gateway between Latium and Etruria and the natural +outlet for the trade of the Tiber valley. Furthermore, its central +position in the Italian peninsula gave it a strategic advantage in its +wars for the conquest of Italy. But the greatness of Rome was not the +result of its geographic advantages: it was the outgrowth of the energy +and political capacity of its people, qualities which became a national +heritage because of the character of the early struggles of the Roman +state. + +Although it is very probable that the historic population of Rome was the +result of a fusion of several racial elements—Latin, Sabine, Etruscan, and +even pre-Italian, nevertheless the Romans were essentially a Latin people. +In language, in religion, in political institutions, they were +characteristically Latin, and their history is inseparably connected with +that of the Latins as a whole. + + + + III. THE EARLY MONARCHY + + +*The tradition.* The traditional story of the founding of Rome is mainly +the work of Greek writers of the third century B. C., who desired to find +a link between the new world-power Rome and the older centers of +civilization: while the account of the reign of the Seven Kings is a +reconstruction on the part of Roman annalists and antiquarians, intended +to explain the origins of Roman political and religious institutions. And, +in fact, owing to the absence of any even relatively contemporaneous +records (a lack from which the Roman historians suffered as well as +ourselves) it is impossible to attempt an historical account of the period +of kingly rule. We can improve but little on the brief statement of +Tacitus (i, 1 _Ann._)—“At first kings ruled the city Rome.” + +*The kingship.* The existence of the kingship itself is beyond dispute, +owing to the strength of the Roman tradition on this point and the +survival of the title _rex_ or king in the priestly office of _rex +sacrorum_. It seems certain, too, that the last of the Roman kings were +Etruscans and belong to the period of Etruscan domination in Rome and +Latium. As far as can be judged, the Roman monarchy was not purely +hereditary but elective within the royal family, like that of the +primitive Greek states, where the king was the head of one of a group of +noble families, chosen by the nobles and approved by the people as a +whole. About the end of the sixth century the kingship was deprived of its +political functions, and remained at Rome solely as a lifelong priestly +office. It is possible that there had been a gradual decline of the royal +authority before the growing power of the nobles as had been the case at +Athens, but it is very probable that the final step in this change +coincided with the fall of an Etruscan dynasty and the passing of the +control of the state into the hands of the Latin nobility (about 508 +B. C.). + +*Institutions of the regal period.* The royal power was not absolute, for +the exercise thereof was tempered by custom, by the lack of any elaborate +machinery of government, and by the practical necessity for the king to +avoid alienating the good will of the community. The views of the +aristocracy were voiced in the Senate (_senatus_) or Council of Elders, +which developed into a council of nobles, a body whose functions were +primarily advisory in character. From a very early date the Roman people +were divided into thirty groups called _curiae_, and these _curiae_ served +as the units in the organization of the oldest popular assembly—the +_comitia curiata_. Membership in the _curiae_ was probably hereditary, and +each _curia_ had its special cult, which was maintained long after the +_curiae_ had lost their political importance. The primitive assembly of +the _curiae_ was convoked at the pleasure of the king to hear matters of +interest to the whole community. It did not have legislative power, but +such important steps as the declaration of war or the appointment of a new +_rex_ required its formal sanction. + +*Expansion under the kings.* Under the kings Rome grew to be the chief +city in Latium, having absorbed several smaller Latin communities in the +immediate neighborhood, extended her territory on the left bank of the +Tiber to the seacoast, where the seaport of Ostia was founded, and even +conquered Alba Longa, the former religious center of the Latins. It is +possible that by the end of the regal period Rome exercised a general +suzerainty over the cities of the Latin plain. The period of Etruscan +domination failed to alter the Latin character of the Roman people and +left its traces chiefly in official paraphernalia, religious practices +(such as the employment of _haruspices_), military organization, and in +Etruscan influences in Roman art. + + + + IV. EARLY ROMAN SOCIETY + + +*The Populus Romanus.* The oldest name of the Romans was _Quirites_, a +name which long survived in official phraseology, but which was superseded +by the name _Romani_, derived from that of the city itself. The whole body +of those who were eligible to render military service, to participate in +the public religious rites and to attend the meetings of the popular +assembly, with their families, constituted the Roman state—the _populus +Romanus_. + +*Patricians and Plebeians.* At the close of the regal period the _populus +Romanus_ comprised two distinct social and political classes. These were +the Patricians and the Plebeians. A very considerable element of the +latter class was formed by the Clients. These class distinctions had grown +up gradually under the economic and social influences of the early state; +and, in antiquity, were not confined to Rome but appeared in many of the +Greek communities also at a similar stage of their development. + +The Patricians were the aristocracy. Their influence rested upon their +wealth as great landholders, their superiority in military equipment and +training, their clan organization, and the support of their clients. Their +position in the community assured to them political control, and they had +early monopolized the right to sit in the Senate. The members of the +Senate were called collectively _patres_, whence the name _patricii_ +(patricians) was given to all the members of their class. The patricians +formed a group of many _gentes_, or clans, each an association of +households (_familiae_) who claimed descent from a common ancestor. Each +member of a _gens_ bore the gentile name and had a right to participate in +its religious practices (_sacra_). + +*Patrons and clients.* Apparently, the clients were tenants who tilled the +estates of the patricians, to whom they stood for a long time in a +condition of economic and political dependence. Each head of a patrician +household was the patron of the clients who resided on his lands. The +clients were obliged to follow their patrons to war and to the political +arena, to render them respectful attention, and, on occasion, pecuniary +support. The patron, in his turn, was obliged to protect the life and +interests of his client. For either patron or client to fail in his +obligations was held to be sacrilege. This relationship, called +_patronatus_ on the side of the patron, _clientela_ on that of the client, +was hereditary on both sides. The origin of this form of clientage is +uncertain and it is impossible for us to form a very exact idea of +position of the clients in the early Roman state, for the like-named +institution of the historic republican period is by no means the one that +prevailed at the end of the monarchy. The older, serf-like, conditions had +disappeared; the relationship was voluntarily assumed, and its +obligations, now of a much less serious nature, depended for their +observance solely upon the interest of both parties. + +The patrician aristocracy formed a social caste, the product of a long +period of social development, and this caste was enlarged in early times +by the recognition of new _gentes_ as possessing the qualifications of the +older clans (_patres maiorum_ and _minorum gentium_). But eventually it +became a closed order, jealous of its prerogatives and refusing to +intermarry with the non-patrician element. + +*The Plebs.* This latter constituted the plebeians or _plebs_. They were +free citizens—the less wealthy landholders, tradesmen, craftsmen, and +laborers—who lacked the right to sit in the Senate and so had no direct +share in the administration. Beyond question, however, they were included +in the _curiae_ and had the right to vote in the _comitia curiata_. Nor is +there any proof of a racial difference between plebeians and patricians. +It is not easy to determine to what degree the clients participated in the +political life of the community, yet, in the general use of the term, the +plebs included the clients, who later, under the republic, shared in all +the privileges won by the plebeians and who, consequently, must have had +the status of plebeians in the eye of the state. + +The sharp social and political distinction between nobles and commons, +between patricians and plebeians, is the outstanding feature of early +Roman society, and affords the clue to the political development of the +early republican period. + + [Illustration: Roman Expansion in Italy to 265 B. C.] + + + + + CHAPTER V + + + THE EXPANSION OF ROME TO THE UNIFICATION OF THE ITALIAN PENINSULA: c. + 509–265 B. C. + + + + I. TO THE CONQUEST OF VEII—392 B. C. + + +*The alliance of Rome and the Latin League, about 486 B. C.* At the close +of the regal period Rome appears as the chief city in Latium, controlling +a territory of some 350 sq. miles to the south of the Tiber. But the fall +of the monarchy somewhat weakened the position of Rome, for it brought on +hostilities with the Etruscan prince Lars Porsena of Clusium, which +resulted in a defeat for Rome and the forced acceptance of humiliating +conditions. + +This defeat naturally broke down whatever suzerainty Rome may have +exercised over Latium and necessitated a readjustment of the relations +between Rome and the Latin cities. A treaty attributed by tradition to +Spurius Cassius was finally concluded between Rome on the one hand and the +Latin league on the other, which fixed the relations of the two parties +for nearly one hundred and fifty years. By this agreement the Romans and +the Latin league formed an offensive and defensive military alliance, each +party contributing equal contingents for joint military enterprises and +dividing the spoils of war, while the Latins at Rome and the Romans in the +Latin cities enjoyed the private rights of citizenship. The small people +called the Hernici, situated to the east of Latium, were early included in +this alliance. This union was cemented largely through the common dangers +which threatened the dwellers in the Latin plain from the Etruscans on the +north and the highland Italian peoples to the east and south. For Rome it +was of importance that the Latin cities interposed a barrier between the +territory of Rome and her most aggressive foes, the Aequi and the Volsci. + +*Wars with the Aequi and Volsci.* Of the details of these early wars we +know practically nothing. However, archæological evidence seems to show +that about the beginning of the fifth century B. C. the Latins sought an +outlet for their surplus population in the Volscian land to the south +east. Here they founded the settlements of Signia, Norba and Satricum. But +this expansion came to a halt, and about the middle of the fifth century +the Volsci still held their own as far north as the vicinity of Antium, +while the Aequi were in occupation of the Latin plain as far west as +Tusculum and Mt. Algidus. Towards the end of the century, however, under +Roman leadership the Latins resumed their expansion at the expense of both +these peoples. + +*Veii.* In addition to these frequent but not continuous wars, the Romans +had to sustain a serious conflict with the powerful Etruscan city of Veii, +situated about 12 miles to the north of Rome, across the Tiber. The causes +of the struggle are uncertain, but war broke out in 402, shortly after the +Romans had gained possession of Fidenae, a town which controlled a +crossing of the Tiber above the city of Rome. According to tradition the +Romans maintained a blockade of Veii for eleven years before it fell into +their hands. It was in the course of this war that the Romans introduced +the custom of paying their troops, a practice which enabled them to keep a +force under arms throughout the entire year if necessary. Veii was +destroyed, its population sold into slavery, and its territory +incorporated in the public land of Rome. By this annexation the area of +the Roman state was nearly doubled. + +Recent excavations have shown that Veii was a place of importance from the +tenth to the end of the fifth century B. C., that Etruscan influence +became predominant there in the course of the eighth century, and that, at +the time of its destruction, it was a flourishing town, which, like Rome +itself, was in contact with the Greek cultural influences then so powerful +throughout the Italian peninsula. + + + + II. THE GALLIC INVASION + + +*The Gauls in the Po Valley.* But scarcely had the Romans emerged +victorious from the contest with Veii when a sudden disaster overtook them +from an unexpected quarter. Towards the close of the fifth century various +Celtic tribes crossed the Alpine passes and swarmed down into the Po +valley. These Gauls overcame and drove out the Etruscans, and occupied the +land from the Ticinus and Lake Maggiore southeastwards to the Adriatic +between the mouth of the Po and Ancona. This district was subsequently +known as Gallia Cisalpina. The Gauls formed a group of eight tribes, which +were often at enmity with one another. Each tribe was divided into many +clans, and there was continual strife between the factions of the various +chieftains. They were a barbarous people, living in rude villages and +supporting themselves by cattle-raising and agriculture of a primitive +sort. Drunkenness and love of strife were their characteristic vices: war +and oratory their passions. In stature they were very tall; their eyes +were blue and their hair blond. Brave to recklessness, they rushed naked +into battle, and the ferocity of their first assault inspired terror even +in the ranks of veteran armies. Their weapons were long, two-edged swords +of soft iron, which frequently bent and were easily blunted, and small +wicker shields. Their armies were undisciplined mobs, greedy for plunder, +but disinclined to prolonged, strenuous effort, and utterly unskilled in +siege operations. These weaknesses nullified the effects of their +victories in the field and prevented their occupation of Italy south of +the Apennines. + +*The sack of Rome.* In 387 B. C., a horde of these marauders crossed the +Apennines and besieged Clusium. Thence, angered, as was said, by the +hostile actions of Roman ambassadors, they marched directly upon Rome. The +Romans marched out with all their forces and met the Gauls near the Allia, +a small tributary of the Tiber above Fidenae. The fierce onset of the +Gauls drove the Roman army in disorder from the field. Many were slain in +the rout and the majority of the survivors were forced to take refuge +within the ruined fortifications of Veii. Deprived of their help and +lacking confidence in the weak and ill-planned walls, the citizen body +evacuated Rome itself and fled to the neighboring towns. The Capitol, +however, with its separate fortifications, was left with a small garrison. +The Gauls entered Rome and sacked the city, but failed to storm the +citadel. Apparently they had no intention of settling in Latium and +therefore, after a delay of seven months, upon information that the Veneti +were attacking their new settlements in the Po valley, they accepted a +ransom of 1000 pounds of gold (about $225,000) for the city and marched +off home. The Romans at once reoccupied and rebuilt their city, and soon +after provided it with more adequate defences in the new wall of stone +later known as the Servian wall. + +*Later Gallic invasions.* For some years the Gauls ceased their inroads, +but in 368 another raid brought them as far as Alba in the land of the +Aequi, and the Romans feared to attack the invaders. However, when a fresh +horde appeared in 348 the Romans were prepared. They and their allies +blocked the foe’s path, and the Gauls retreated, fearing to risk a battle. +Rome thus became the successful champion of the Italian peoples, their +bulwark against the barbarian invaders from the north. In 334 the Gauls +and the Romans concluded peace and entered upon a period of friendly +relations which lasted for the rest of the fourth century. + + + + III. THE DISRUPTION OF THE LATIN LEAGUE AND THE ROMAN ALLIANCE WITH THE + CAMPANIANS: 387–334 B. C. + + +*Wars with the Aequi, Volsci, and Etruscans.* The disaster that overtook +Rome created a profound impression throughout the civilized world and was +noted by contemporary Greek writers. But the blow left no permanent +traces, for only the city, not the state, had been destroyed. It is true +that, encouraged by their enemy’s defeat, the Aequi, Volsci and the +Etruscan cities previously conquered by Rome took up arms, but each met +defeat in turn. Rome retained and consolidated her conquests in southern +Etruria. Part of the land was allotted to Romans for settlement and four +tribal districts were organized there. On the remainder, two Latin +colonies, Sutrium (383) and Nepete (372), were founded. The territory won +from the Volsci was treated in like manner. + +In 354 the Romans concluded an alliance with the Samnite peoples of the +south central Apennines. Probably this agreement was reached in view of +the common fear of Gallic invasions and because both parties were at war +with the smaller peoples dwelling between Latium and Campania, so that a +delimitation of their respective spheres of action was deemed advisable. +At any rate, it was in the course of the next few years that Rome +completely subdued the Volsci and Aurunci, while the Samnites overran the +land of the Sidicini. + +*The Latin War, 338–336 B. C.* Not long afterwards, the Latins, allied +with the Campanians, were at war with Rome. Even before this, subsequent +to the Gallic capture of Rome, the Romans had fought with individual Latin +cities, but now practically all the cities of the Latin league were in +arms against them. It is possible that both Latins and Campanians felt +their independence threatened by the expansion and alliance of the Romans +and the Samnites and that this was the underlying cause of hostilities. +However that may be, within two years the Latins had been completely +subdued. The Latin league ceased to exist. The individual cities, except +Tibur and Praeneste, lost their independence and were incorporated in the +Roman state. These two cities preserved their autonomy and concluded new +treaties with Rome. + +*Alliance with the Campanians, about 334 B. C.* At about the same time, +the majority of the cities of Campania, including Capua, concluded an +alliance with Rome upon the conditions of the Roman alliance with the old +Latin league. These cities retained their independence, and extended and +received the rights of _commercium_ and _connubium_ with Rome. This meant +that the citizen of one city could transact any business in another that +was party to this agreement with the assurance that his contract would be +protected by the law of the second city, while if he married a woman of +that city his children would be considered legitimate heirs to his +property. By virtue of this close alliance, the military resources of +Campania were arrayed on the side of Rome, and Rome and Campania presented +a united front against their common foes. The Roman sphere of influence +was thus extended as far south as the Bay of Naples. + +After the Latin war, the territory previously won from the Volsci and +Aurunci was largely occupied by settlements of Roman citizens or by Latin +colonies, for even after the dissolution of the Latin league the Romans +made use of this type of colony to secure their conquests, as well as to +relieve the surplus population of Rome and Latium. + + + + IV. WARS WITH THE SAMNITES, GAULS AND ETRUSCANS: 325–280 B. C. + + +*The conflict of Rome and the Samnites in Campania.* The alliance of Rome +and Campania brought the Romans into immediate contact with the Samnites +and converted these former friends into enemies, since the Samnites +regarded Campania as their legitimate field for expansion and refused to +submit to its passing under the aegis of Rome. However, they had been +unable to prevent the union of Rome with Capua and other cities, for at +the time they were engaged with another enemy, the Tarentines, who were +assisted by Alexander, king of the Molossians (334–331). + +The Samnites formed a loose confederacy of kindred peoples, with no strong +central authority. Therefore, although bold and skilful warriors, they +were at a disadvantage in a long struggle where unity of control and +continuity of policy became of decisive importance. Here Rome had the +advantage, an advantage that was increased by the alliances Rome was able +to form in the course of her wars against this enemy. For generations the +excess population of the Samnite valleys had regularly overflowed into the +lowland coast areas, and such migrations had given rise to the Lucanians, +Bruttians, and a large part of the Campanians themselves. However, the +danger of being submerged by fresh waves of Samnites caused the peoples +whose territories bordered on Samnium to look to Rome for support, and so +Rome found allies in the Central Italian peoples, and in the Apulians and +the Lucanians. + +*The beginning of hostilities, 325–4.* Hostilities broke out over the +occupation of Naples by the Romans and its incorporation in the Roman +alliance. This step was taken in the interests of the party in the city +that sought Roman protection, and was accomplished in spite of Samnite +opposition. The war was waged chiefly in Campania, in the valley of the +upper Liris, and in Apulia. In 318, a Roman army attempting to penetrate +from Campania into Samnium was cut off and compelled to surrender at the +Caudine Pass. It is probable that as a result of this defeat the Romans +gave up Fregellae (occupied in 328) and other territory on the Liris, and +they may even have made a temporary truce. However, hostilities were soon +resumed. Once again, in 314, the Samnites won a great victory, this time +at Lautulae not far south of Circeii, and their party acquired control in +Campania. But this temporary success was quickly counterbalanced by Roman +victories in Campanian territory. + +The war was prolonged by an Etruscan attack upon Roman territory that +necessitated a division of the Roman forces. But in two campaigns (309–7 +B. C.), in the course of which a Roman army advanced through Umbria and +invaded northern Etruria, the cities which had taken up arms against Rome +were forced to make peace. + +The war against the Samnites could be energetically prosecuted again. By +the construction of the Via Appia the Romans secured a military highway +from Rome to Capua which greatly facilitated the conduct of operations in +Campania. It is probable, too, that the reorganization of the Roman army, +which dates from this period, was beginning to bear fruit. From both +Campania and Apulia the Romans took the offensive, and several severe +defeats forced the Samnites to seek peace in 304. They retained their +independence, but the disputed territory on their borders fell to Rome. + +It was about the close of this war that the Aequi, Marsi, Marrucini, +Frentani, Paeligni, some of the Umbrians, and other of the peoples of +Central Italy became federate allies of Rome. Apulia likewise passed under +Roman control. New Latin colonies and new tribal districts marked the +expansion of Roman territory. + +*Wars with the Samnites, Gauls and Etruscans, 298–80 B. C.* In 298 war +broke out again between the Romans and Samnites, apparently because the +Lucanians had deserted the Roman alliance for the Samnites. Soon the +Samnites allied themselves with the Etruscans and Gauls, and succeeded in +uniting the forces of the three peoples in Umbria. But this host was +annihilated by the Romans in the battle of Sentinum (295). With this +victory all danger for Rome was over. By systematically ravaging the +enemy’s country the Roman consuls in 290 B. C. forced the Samnites to sue +for peace. They entered the Roman alliance, and a portion of their land +was incorporated in the _ager publicus_ of Rome. A similar fate overtook +the Sabines and Picentes, who had taken sides with the Samnites. + +The war with the Etruscans and the Gauls still dragged on. But in 285, +after suffering a severe blow at the hands of the Gallic Senones, the +Romans took vigorous action and drove this people from the land between +Ancona and the Rubicon—the _ager Gallicus_. In the same year the tribe of +the Boii, with Etruscan allies, penetrated as far as the Vadimonian Lake, +where the Romans inflicted upon them a crushing defeat. Another Roman +victory in the next year brought the Boii to terms, and soon the Etruscan +cities one by one submitted to Rome, until by 280 all were Roman allies. + + + + V. THE ROMAN CONQUEST OF SOUTH ITALY: 281–270 B. C. + + +*Italians and Greeks in South Italy.* The only parts of the peninsula that +had not yet acknowledged the Roman overlordship were the lands of the +Lucanians and Bruttians and the few Greek cities in the south that still +maintained their independence. Of these latter the chief was Tarentum, a +city of considerable commercial importance. From the middle of the fourth +century these cities had been engaged in continual warfare with the +Lucanians and Messapians, and in the course of their struggles Tarentum +had come to assume the rôle of protector of the Hellenes in Italy. But +even this city had only been able to make head against its foes through +assistance obtained from Greece. In 338, King Archidamus of Sparta, and in +331 Alexander, king of Epirus and uncle of Alexander the Great, fell +fighting in the service of the Italian Greeks. In 303, Cleonymus of +Sparta, more fortunate than his predecessors, compelled the Lucanians to +conclude a peace, which probably included the Romans, at that moment their +allies. A little later (c. 300 B. C.) Agathocles, king of Syracuse, +assisted the Tarentines against the same foe, and incorporated in his own +kingdom the Bruttians and the Greek cities in the southwest. But with his +death in 289, his kingdom, like that of Dionysius I, fell apart and the +Greeks in the west were left again without a protector. Consequently, when +the Lucanians renewed their attacks upon Thurii, that city, being unable +to find succor in Greece and distrusting Tarentum, appealed to Rome (282). +Rome gave ear to the call, relieved and garrisoned Thurii. But this action +brought Roman ships of war into the Gulf of Tarentum contrary to an +agreement between the two cities (perhaps that of 303). Enraged, the +Tarentines attacked the Roman fleet, sank some Roman triremes, and then +occupied Thurii. The ensuing Roman demands for reparation were rejected, +their ambassadors insulted, and war began (281). + +*The war with Pyrrhus and Tarentum.* The Tarentines were able to unite +against Rome the Messapians, Lucanians, Samnites and Bruttians, but Roman +successes in the first campaign forced them to call in the aid of Pyrrhus, +king of Epirus. Pyrrhus was probably the most skilful Greek general of the +time, and he brought with him into Italy an army organized and equipped +according to the Macedonian system of Alexander the Great, which had +become the standard in the Greek world. His force comprised 20,000 +heavy-armed infantry forming the phalanx, and 3,000 Thessalian cavalry. +Besides, he had a number of war elephants; animals which had figured on +Greek battlefields since Ipsus (301). The first engagement was fought near +Heraclea (280) and after a severe struggle the Romans were driven from the +field. The superior generalship of Pyrrhus, and the consternation caused +by his war elephants, won the day, but his losses were very heavy, and he +himself was wounded. As fighters the Romans had shown themselves the equal +of the foe, and their tactical organization, perfected in the Samnite +Wars, had proved its value in its first encounter with that developed by +the military experts of Greece. As a result of his victory at Heraclea, +Pyrrhus was able to advance as far north as Latium, but withdrew again +without accomplishing anything of importance. The next year, he won +another hard-fought battle near Ausculum in Apulia. Thereupon the Romans +began negotiations which Pyrrhus welcomed, sending the orator Cineas to +Rome to represent him. But, before an agreement was reached, the +Carthaginians, who feared the intervention of Pyrrhus in Sicily, offered +the Romans assistance. Their proffer was accepted; the negotiations with +Pyrrhus ended; and Rome and Carthage bound themselves not to make a +separate agreement with the common foe, while the Carthaginian fleet was +to coöperate with the Romans. + +*Pyrrhus in Sicily, 278–5 B. C.* Nevertheless, Pyrrhus determined to +answer an appeal from the Sicilian Greeks and to leave Italy for Sicily. +After the death of Agathocles, tyrant and king of Syracuse (317–289), who +had played the rôle of another Dionysius I, the Greeks in Sicily had +fallen upon evil days. The Carthaginians had renewed their attacks upon +them, and a new foe had appeared in the Mamertini, Campanian mercenary +soldiers who had seized Messana and made it their headquarters for raiding +the territory of the Greek cities. Caught between these two enemies, the +Greeks appealed to Pyrrhus who came to their aid, possibly with the hope +of uniting Sicily under his own control. His success was immediate. The +Carthaginians were forced to give up all their possessions except +Lilybaeum, and Pyrrhus stood ready to carry the war into Africa. But, at +this juncture, the exactions that he laid upon his Sicilian allies and +their fear that his victory would make him their permanent master caused +them to desert his cause and make peace with their foes. Deprived of their +assistance, and seeing that his allies in Italy were hard pressed by the +Romans, he abandoned his Sicilian venture. + +*The end of the war.* Pyrrhus returned to Italy, with the loss of his +fleet in a naval battle with the Carthaginians, reorganized his forces, +and advanced into Lucania or Samnium to meet the Romans. While manœuvering +for an attack, one of his divisions sustained a severe repulse at +Beneventum (275), whereupon he abandoned the offensive and retired to +Tarentum. Leaving a garrison in that city he withdrew the rest of his +forces to Greece, with the intention of attacking Antigonus Gonatas in +Macedonia. His initial successes in this enterprise led him to withdraw +his garrison from Tarentum and abandon the Western Greeks to their fate. +Thereupon the Romans soon reduced the Samnites and Lucanians, while +Tarentum and the other Greek cities, one after another, were forced to +submit and enter the Roman alliance. By 270 B. C., all South Italy had in +this way been added to the Roman dominions. + +By 265 B. C. after a few more brief struggles with revolting or still +unsubdued communities in central and northern Italy, the Romans had +completed the subjugation of the entire Italian peninsula. + + + + VI. THE ROMAN CONFEDERACY + + +*Roman foreign policy.* By wars and alliances Rome had united Italy. But +it is not to be supposed that this was a goal consistently pursued through +many generations by Roman statesmen. Probably it was not until the end was +nearly within sight that the Romans realized whither their policy was +leading them. Indeed, it is certain that many of Rome’s wars were waged in +defence of Rome’s territory or that of the Roman allies. This seems +particularly true of the period prior to the Gallic inroad of 387. +According to the ancient Roman formula employed in declaring war, that +uttered by the Fetiales, war was looked upon as the last means to obtain +reparation for wrongs that were suffered at the hands of the enemy. Yet, +although the Roman attitude in such matters was doubtless at one time +sincere, we may well question how long this sincerity continued, and +whether the injuries complained of were not sometimes the result of Roman +provocation. Such attempts to place the moral responsibility for a war +upon the enemy are common to all ages and are not always convincing. +However, if we may not convict the Romans of aggressive imperialism prior +to 265, at any rate the methods which they pursued in their relations with +the other peoples of Italy made their domination inevitable in view of the +Roman national character and their political and military organization. +These methods early became established maxims of Roman foreign policy. The +Romans, whenever possible, waged even their defensive wars offensively, +and rarely made peace save with a beaten foe. As a rule, the enemy was +forced to conclude a treaty with Rome which placed his forces at the +disposal of the Roman state. This treaty was regarded as perpetually +binding, and any attempt to break off the relationship it established was +regarded as a _casus belli_. Possibly, the Romans looked upon this as the +only policy which would guarantee peace on their borders, but it +inevitably led to further wars, for it resulted in the continuous +extension of the frontiers defended by Rome and so continually brought +Rome into contact and conflict with new peoples. Nor were the voluntary +allies of Rome allowed to leave the Roman alliance: such action was +treated as equivalent to a declaration of war and regularly punished with +severity. This practice gradually transformed Rome’s independent into +dependent allies. From the middle of the fourth century, it seems that +Rome deliberately sought to prevent the development of a strong state in +the southern part of Italy, and to this end gladly took under her +protection weaker communities that felt themselves threatened by stronger +neighbors, although such action inevitably led to war with the latter. +Furthermore, a conquered state frequently lost a considerable part of its +territory. Portions of this land were set aside for the foundation of +fortress colonies to protect the Roman conquests and overawe the +conquered. The rest was incorporated in the _ager Romanus_ to the profit +of both the rich proprietors and the landless citizens. Usually, the Roman +soldiers shared directly in the distribution of the movable spoils of war; +sometimes a huge booty, as after the subjugation of the Sabines and +Picentes in 290. A long series of successful and profitable wars, for Rome +was ultimately victorious in every struggle after 387, had engendered in +the Roman people a self-confidence and a martial spirit which soon led +them to conquests beyond the confines of Italy. During this period of +expansion within Italy, Roman policy had been guided by the Senate, a body +of unrecorded statesmen of wide outlook and great determination, who not +only made Rome mistress of the peninsula but succeeded in laying enduring +foundations for the Roman power. + +*Rome and Italy.* But although Italy was united under the Roman hegemony +it by no means formed a single state. Rather it was an agglomerate of many +states and many peoples, speaking different tongues and having different +political institutions. The largest single element, however, was formed by +the Roman citizens. These were to be found not only in the city of Rome +and its immediate neighborhood, but also settled in the rural tribal +districts (35 in number after 241) organized on conquered territory +throughout the peninsula. In addition, groups of 300 citizens had been +settled in various harbor towns as a sort of resident garrison to protect +Roman interests. In all, down to 183 B. C., 22 of these maritime colonies +were established, whose members in view of their special duties were +excused from active service with the Roman legions. All these were full +Roman citizens, but there were others who, while enjoying the private +rights of Roman citizenship, lacked the right to vote or to hold office +(_cives sine suffragio_). Such were the inhabitants of most of the old +Latin communities and some others which had been absorbed in the Roman +state. Such communities were called _municipia_ (municipalities). Some of +these were permitted to retain their own magistrates and city +organization: others lacked this privilege of local autonomy. Of the +former class, Gabii, conquered during the monarchy, is said to have been +the prototype. This municipal system had the advantage of providing for +local administration and at the same time reconciling the conquered city +to the loss of its freedom. It was a distinctly Roman institution, and +shows the wisdom of the early Roman statesmen who thus marked out the way +for the complete absorption of the vanquished into the Roman citizen body, +which was thus strengthened to meet its continually increasing military +burdens. By 265, the Roman territory in Italy had an area of about 10,000 +square miles. It extended along the west coast from the neighborhood of +Caere southwards to the southern border of Campania, and from the latitude +of Rome it stretched northeastwards through the territory of the Sabini to +the Adriatic coast, where the lands of the Picentes and the Senones had +been incorporated in the _ager Romanus_. + +*The Latin colonies.* Of the non-Romans in Italy the people most closely +bound to Rome by ties of blood and common interests were the Latin allies. +Outside the few old Latin cities, that had not been absorbed by Rome in +338, these were the inhabitants of the Latin colonies, of which +thirty-five were founded on Italian soil. Prior to the destruction of the +Latin League seven of these colonies had been established, whose settlers +had been drawn half from the Latin cities and half from Rome. After 338, +these colonies remained in alliance with Rome, and those subsequently +founded received the same status. But for these the colonists were all +supplied by Rome. These colonists had to surrender their Roman citizenship +and become Latins, but if any one of them left a son of military age in +his place he had the right to return to Rome. Each colony had its own +administration, usually modelled upon that of Rome, and enjoyed the rights +of _commercium_ and _connubium_ both with Rome and with the other Latin +colonies. These settlements were towns of considerable size, having 2,500, +4,000 or 6,000 colonists, each of whom received a grant of 30 or 50 +_iugera_ (20 or 34 acres) of land. Founded at strategic points on +conquered territory, they formed one of the strongest supports of the +Roman authority: at the same time colonization of this character served to +relieve over-population and satisfy land-hunger in Rome and Latium. In all +their internal affairs the Latin cities were sovereign communities, +possessing, in addition to their own laws and magistrates, the rights of +coinage and census. Their inhabitants constituted the _nomen Latinum_, +and, unlike the Roman _cives sine suffragio_, did not serve in the Roman +legions but formed separate detachments of horse and foot. + +*The Italian allies.* The rest of the peoples of Italy, Italian, Greek, +Illyrian and Etruscan, formed the federate allies of Rome—the _socii +Italici_. These constituted some 150 separate communities, city or tribal, +each bound to Rome by a special treaty (_foedus_), whereby its specific +relations to Rome were determined. In all these treaties, however, there +was one common feature, namely, the obligation to lend military aid to +Rome and to surrender to Rome the control over their diplomatic relations +with other states. Their troops were not incorporated in the legions, but +were organized as separate infantry and cavalry units (_cohortes_ and +_alae_), raised, equipped and officered by the communities themselves. +However, they were under the orders of the Roman generals, and if several +allied detachments were combined in one corps the whole was under a Roman +officer. The allied troops, moreover, received their subsistence from Rome +and shared equally with the Romans in the spoils of war. In the case of +the seaboard towns, especially the Greek cities, this military obligation +took the form of supplying ships and their crews, whence these towns were +called naval allies (_socii navales_). All the federate allies had +_commercium_, and the majority _connubium_ also, with Rome. Apart from the +foregoing obligations towards Rome, each of the allied communities was +autonomous, having its own language, laws and political institutions. + +However, a strong bond of sympathy existed between the local aristocracies +of many of the Italian towns and the senatorial order at Rome. As we have +seen, the foreign relations of Rome were directed by the Senate, which +represented the views of the wealthier landed proprietors, and it was only +natural that the senators should have sought to ally themselves with the +corresponding social class in other states. This class represented the +more conservative, and, from the Roman point of view, more dependable +element, while the support of Rome assured to the local aristocracies the +control within their own communities. Consequently there developed a +community of interest between the Senate and the propertied classes among +the Roman allies. + +Thus Rome was at the head of a military and diplomatic alliance of many +separate states, whose sole point of contact was that each was in alliance +with Rome. As yet there was no such thing as an Italian nation. Still it +was from the time that this unity was effected that the name _Italia_ +began to be applied to the whole of the peninsula and the term _Italici_ +was employed, at first by foreigners, but later by themselves, to +designate its inhabitants.(1) + + + + + CHAPTER VI + + + THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ROME TO 287 B. C. + + + + I. THE EARLY REPUBLIC + + +While the Romans were engaged in acquiring political supremacy in Italy, +the Roman state itself underwent a profound transformation as the result +of severe internal struggles between the patrician and the plebeian +elements. + +*The constitution of the early republic: the magistrates.* Upon the +overthrow of the monarchy, the Romans set up a republican form of +government, where the chief executive office was filled by popular +election. At the head of the state were two annually elected magistrates, +or presidents, called at first praetors but later consuls. They possessed +the _auspicium_ or the right to consult the gods on behalf of the state, +and the _imperium_, which gave them the right of military command, as well +as administrative and judicial authority. Both enjoyed these powers in +equal measure and, by his veto, the one could suspend the other’s action. +Thus from the beginning of the Republic annuality and collegiality were +the characteristics of the Roman magistracy. Nevertheless, the Romans +recognized the advantage of an occasional concentration of all power in +the state in the hands of a single magistrate and so, in times of +emergency, the consuls, acting upon the advice of the senate, nominated a +dictator, who superseded the consuls themselves for a maximum period of +six months. The dictator, or _magister populi_, as he was called in early +times, appointed as his assistant a master of the horse (_magister +equitum_). + +*The Senate.* At the side of the magistrates stood the Senate, a body of +three hundred members, who acted in an advisory capacity to the officials, +and possessed the power of sanctioning or vetoing laws passed by the +Assembly of the People. The senators were nominated by the consuls from +the patrician order and held office for life. + +*The comitia curiata.* During the early years of the Republic, the popular +Assembly, which had the power of electing the consuls and passing or +rejecting such measures as the latter brought before it, was probably the +old _comitia curiata_. But, as we shall see, it was soon superseded in +most of its functions by a new primary assembly. + +*The priesthoods.* In Rome a special branch of the administration was that +of public religion, which dealt with the official relations of the +community towards its divine protectors. This sphere was under the +direction of a college of priests, at whose head stood the _pontifex +maximus_. Special priestly brotherhoods or guilds cared for the +performance of particular religious ceremonies, while the use of +divination in its political aspect was under the supervision of the +college of augurs. With the exception of the _pontifex maximus_, who was +elected by the people from an early date, the priesthoods were filled by +nomination or coöptation. The Roman priesthood did not form a separate +caste in the community but, since these priestly offices were held by the +same men who, in another capacity, acted as magistrates and senators, the +Roman official religion was subordinated to the interests of the state and +tended more and more to assume a purely formal character. + +*The lines of constitutional development.* Both the consulate and the +priestly offices, like the senate, were open only to patricians, who thus +enjoyed a complete monopoly of the administration. They had been +responsible for the overthrow of the monarchy, and, consequently, at the +beginning of the Republic they formed the controlling element in the Roman +state. + +From conditions such as these the constitutional development in Rome to +287 B. C. proceeded along two distinct lines. In the first place there was +a gradual change in the magistracy by the creation of new offices with +functions adapted to the needs of a progressive, expanding, community; +and, secondly, there was a long struggle between the patricians and the +plebeians, resulting from the desire of the latter to place themselves in +a position of political, legal, and social equality with the former. + + + + II. THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CENTURIES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MAGISTRACY + + +*The Assembly of the Centuries.* At a time which cannot be determined with +precision, but most probably early in the fifth century, the Assembly of +the Curiae was superseded for elective and legislative purposes by a new +assembly, called the Assembly of the Centuries (_comitia centuriata_), of +which the organization was modelled upon the contemporary military +organization of the state. The land-holding citizens were divided into +five classes, according to the size of their properties, and to each class +was allotted a number of voting groups, divided equally between the men +under 46 years of age (_juniores_) and those who were 46 and over +(_seniores_). The number of voting groups, called centuries, in each class +was possibly in proportion to the total assessment of that class. Thus the +first class had eighty centuries, the second, third, and fourth classes +had twenty each, while the fifth class had thirty. Outside of the classes, +at first six but later eighteen centuries were allotted to those eligible +to serve as cavalry (_equites_) whose property qualification was at least +that of the first class; four centuries were given to musicians and +mechanics who performed special military service; and one century was +assigned to the landless citizens (_proletarii_). Of the total of 193 +centuries, the first class had eighty and the equestrians eighteen: +together ninety-eight, or a majority of the voting units. As they had the +privilege of voting before the other classes, they could, if unanimous, +control the Assembly. The term century, it must be noted, which in its +original military sense had been applied to a detachment of 100 men, in +political usage was applied to a voting group of indefinite numbers. The +organization of this Assembly probably was not completed until near the +end of the fourth century, when the basis for enrollment in the five +census classes was changed from landed estate to the total property +assessment reckoned in terms of the copper _as_. + +The old Assembly of the Curiae was not abolished, but lost all its +political functions except the right to pass a law conferring the +_imperium_ upon the magistrates elected by the Assembly of the Centuries. +In addition to electing these magistrates the Centuriate Assembly had the +sole right of declaring war, voted upon measures presented to it by the +consuls, and acted as a supreme court of appeal for citizens upon whom a +magistrate had pronounced the death penalty. However, the measures which +the Assembly approved had for a long time to receive subsequent +ratification by the patrician senators (the _patrum auctoritas_) before +they became laws binding on the community. Finally, the importance of this +sanction was nullified by the requirement of the Publilian (339?) and +Maenian Laws that it be given before the voting took place. + +*The magistracy: quaestors and aediles.* It has been indicated already +that the expansion of the Roman magistracy was effected through the +creation of new offices, to which were assigned duties that had previously +been performed by the consular pair or new functions required by the rise +of new conditions in the Roman state. + +The first change came in connection with the quaestorship. About the +middle of the fifth century, the officials called quaestors, who had +previously been appointed by the consuls to act as their assistants, were +raised to the status of magistrates and elected by popular vote. Their +number was originally two, but in 421 it was increased to four, two of +whom acted as officers of the public treasury (_quaestores aerarii_), +while two were assigned to assist the consuls when the latter took the +field. + +At approximately the same time that the quaestorship became an elective +office, the two curators of the temple of Ceres, called aediles, likewise +attained the position of public officials. They henceforth acted as police +magistrates, market commissioners, and superintendents of public works. As +we shall have occasion to note in another connection, these aediles were +elected from among the plebeians. + +*The censors: 443, 435?* The next new office to be created was that of +censor. The censorship was a commission called into being at five-year +intervals and exercised by two men for a period of eighteen months. The +original duty of the censors was to take the census of the citizens and +their property as a basis for registering the voters in the five classes, +for compiling the roster of those eligible for military service, and for +levying the property tax (_tributum_). Probably the reason for the +establishment of this office is to be sought in the heavy demands that +such duties made upon the services of the consuls and the inability of the +latter to complete the census within any one consular year. The censors +further had charge of the letting of public contracts, and, by the end of +the fourth century had acquired the right to compile the list of the +senators. As this latter duty involved an enquiry into the habits of life +of the senators, there arose that aspect of the censors’ power which alone +has survived in the modern conception of a censorship. + +*The military tribunes with consular power.* During the period 436 to 362, +on fifty-one occasions the consular college of two was displaced by a +board of military tribunes with consular power (_tribuni militum consulari +potestate_). The number of these military tribunes varied: there were +never less than three, more often four or six, while two boards had eight +and nine tribunes respectively. As their name indicates, these were +essentially military officers, and this lends support to the tradition +that they were elected because the military situation frequently demanded +the presence in the state of more than two magistrates who could exercise +the _imperium_. + +*The praetorship.* However, by 362 this method of meeting the increased +burdens of the magistracy was definitely abandoned. For the future two +consuls were annually elected, and, in addition, a magistrate called the +praetor, to whom was assigned the administration of the civil jurisdiction +within the city. The praetor was regarded as a minor colleague of the +consuls and held the _imperium_. Consequently, if need arose, he could +take command in the field or exercise the other consular functions. + +*The curule aediles.* In the same year there was established the curule +aedileship. The two curule aediles were at first elected from the +patricians only, and, although their duties seem to have been the same as +those of the plebeian aediles, their office was considered more honorable +than that of the latter. + +*Promagistrates.* The Roman magistrates were elected for one year only, +and after 342 reëlection to the same office could only be sought after an +interval of ten years. This system entailed some inconveniences, +especially in the conduct of military operations, for in the case of +campaigns that lasted longer than one year the consul in command had to +give place to his successor as soon as his own term of office had expired. +Thus the state was unable to utilize for a longer period the services of +men who had displayed special military capacity. The difficulty was +eventually overcome by the prolongation, at the discretion of the Senate, +of the command of a consul in the field for an indefinite period after the +lapse of his consulship. The person whose term of office was thus extended +was no longer a consul, but acted “in the place of a consul” (_pro +consule_). This was the origin of the promagistracy. It first appeared in +the campaign at Naples in 325, and, although for a time employed but +rarely, its use eventually became very widespread. + +*Characteristics of the magistracy.* Thus the Roman magistracy attained +the form that it preserved until the end of the Republic. It consisted of +a number of committees, each of which, with the exception of the +quaestorship, had a separate sphere of action. But among these committees +there was a regularly established order of rank, running, from lowest to +highest, as follows: quaestors, aediles, censors, praetors, consuls. With +the exception of the censorship that was regularly filled by ex-consuls, +the magistracies were usually held in the above order. Magistrates of +higher rank enjoyed greater authority than all those who ranked below +them, and as a rule could forbid or annul the actions of the latter. A +magistrate could also veto the action of his colleague in office. In this +way the consuls were able to control the activities of all other regular +magistrates. However, the extraordinary office of the dictatorship +outranked the consulship and consequently the dictator could suspend the +action of the consuls themselves. The unity that was thus given to the +administration by this conception of _maior potestas_ was increased by the +presence of the Senate, a council whose influence over the magistracy grew +in proportion as the consulate lost in power and independence through the +creation of new offices. + + + + III. THE PLEBEIAN STRUGGLE FOR POLITICAL EQUALITY + + +*The causes of the struggle.* Of greater moment in the early history of +the republic than the development of the magistracy was the persistent +effort made by the plebeians to secure for themselves admission to all the +offices and privileges that at the beginning of the republic were +monopolized by the patricians. Their demands were vigorously opposed by +the latter, whose position was sustained by tradition, by their control of +the organs of government, by individual and class prestige, and by the +support of their numerous clients. But among the plebeians there was an +ever increasing number whose fortunes ranked with those of the patricians +and who refused to be excluded from the government. These furnished the +leaders among the plebs. However, a factor of greater importance than the +presence of this element in determining the final outcome of the struggle +was the demand made upon the military resources of the state by the +numerous foreign wars. The plebeian soldiers shared equally with the +patricians in the dangers of the field, and equality of political rights +could not long be withheld from them. As their services were essential to +the state, the patrician senators were farsighted enough to make +concessions to their demands whenever a refusal would have led to civil +warfare. A great cause of discontent on the part of the plebs was the +indebtedness of the poorer landholders, caused in great part by their +enforced absence from their lands upon military service and the burden of +the _tributum_ or property tax levied for military purposes. Their +condition was rendered the more intolerable because of the operation of +the harsh debtor laws, which permitted the creditor to seize the person of +the debtor and to sell him into slavery. + +Evidence that discontent was rife at Rome may be found in the tradition of +three unsuccessful attempts to set up a tyranny, that is, to seize power +by unconstitutional means, made by Spurius Cassius (478), Spurius Maelius +(431), and Marcus Manlius (376), patricians who figure in later tradition +as popular champions. + +*The tribunes of the plebs (466 B. C.), and the assembly of the tribes.* +The first success won by the plebeians was in securing protection against +unjust or oppressive acts on the part of the patrician magistrates. In +466, they forced the patricians to acquiesce in the appointment of four +tribunes of the plebs, officers who had the right to extend protection to +all who sought their aid, even against the magistrate in the exercise of +his functions.(2) The tribunes received power to make effective use of +this right from an oath taken by the plebeians that they would treat as +accursed and put to death without trial any person who disregarded the +tribune’s veto or violated the sanctity of his person. The character of +the tribunate and the basis of its power reveal it as the result of a +revolutionary movement and as existing in defiance of the patricians. The +tribunes were elected in an assembly in which the voting units were +tribes, and the number of the tribunes (four) suggests that this assembly +was at first composed of the citizens of the four city regions or tribes, +and that it was the city plebs who were responsible for the establishment +of the tribunate. In this assembly we have the origin of the _comitia +tributa_ or Assembly of the Tribes. + +The origin of these tribes is uncertain, but by the middle of the fifth +century the Roman state was divided into twenty or twenty-one districts, +each of which with the citizens resident therein constituted a _tribus_. +Four of these were located in the city: the remainder were rural. In the +preceding chapter we have seen how the number of the tribes was increased +with the incorporation of conquered territory within the Roman state and +its occupation by Roman colonists. The tribes were artificial divisions of +the community, and served as a basis for the raising of the levy and the +_tributum_. + +*Plebeian aediles.* Associated with the tribunes as officers of the plebs +were two aediles (_aediles plebi_). It has been conjectured that they were +originally the curators of the temple of Ceres (established 492?), which +was in a special sense a plebeian shrine. As we have seen they later +became magistrates of the whole people. + +*The codification of the law.* About the middle of the fifth century the +plebeians secured the codification and publication of the law. Hitherto +the law, which consisted essentially of customs and precedents, and was +largely sacral in character, had been known only to the magistrates and to +the priests, that is to members of the patrician order. At this time, two +commissions of ten men each, working in successive years (444–2?) drew up +these customs into a code, which, with subsequent additions, formed what +was later called the Law of the XII Tables. This code was in no sense a +constitution, but embodied provisions of both civil and criminal law, with +rules for legal procedure and police regulations. Notable is the provision +which guaranteed the right of appeal to the Assembly of the Centuries in +capital cases. + +*Development of the tribunate and the comitia tributa.* The years which +saw the publication of the code mark an important stage in the struggle of +the orders. Serious trouble arose between the patricians and the plebs +under the second college of law-givers, and the difference was only +settled by a treaty which restored the tribunate, that had been suspended +when the decemvirs were first elected. Henceforth the number of tribunes +was ten instead of four and their position and powers received legal +recognition from the patricians. From this time on, too, the _comitia +tributa_, now embracing all the tribes, the rural as well as the urban, +was a regular institution of the state. The Assembly of the Tribes was +originally, and perhaps always remained in theory, restricted to the +plebeians. And it is improbable that the patricians ever sought to +participate in it. At any rate, there is no adequate reason for believing +in the existence of two assemblies of this sort, the one composed of both +patricians and plebeians and the other of plebeians only. + +The Assembly of the Tribes not only elected the plebeian tribunes and +aediles, but soon chose the quaestors also. Furthermore, the patrician +magistrates, finding this Assembly in many ways more convenient for the +transaction of public business than the Assembly of the Centuries which +met in the Campus Martius outside the _pomerium_ and required more time to +register its opinion because of the greater number of voting units, began +to convene it to approve measures, which, if previously sanctioned by a +decree of the Senate, became law. The tribunes likewise presented +resolutions to the Assembly of the Tribes, and these, too, if sanctioned +by the Senate, were binding on the whole community. Such laws were called +plebiscites (_plebi scita_) in contrast with the _leges_ passed by an +assembly presided over by a magistrate with _imperium_. It became the +ambition of the tribunes to obtain for their plebiscites the force of law +without regard to the Senate’s approval. + +*The lex Canuleia.* The social stigma which rested upon the plebeians +because they could not effect a legal marriage with the patricians, a +disability that had been maintained by the law of the XII Tables, was +removed by the Canuleian Law in 437. + +*The plebs and the magistracy.* The plebeians did not rest content with +having spokesmen and defenders in the tribunes: they also demanded +admission to the consulate and the Senate. In 421 plebeians were admitted +to the quaestorship, and by that time the plebeian aediles could be looked +upon as magistrates, but the patricians tenaciously maintained their +monopoly of the _imperium_ until, in 396, a plebeian was elected a +military tribune with consular power.(3) + +Perhaps the appearance of plebeian military tribunes at this time may be +explained on the ground that the vicissitudes of the war with Veii forced +the patricians to accept as magistrates the ablest available men in the +state even if of plebeian origin. + +With the military tribunate the plebeians had held an office that +conferred the right to the _imperium_. Consequently, when the consulship +was definitely reëstablished in 362, they could not logically be excluded +from it. In 362 the first plebeian consul was elected, but it was not +until 340 that the practice became established that one consul must, and +the other might, be a plebeian. + +After their admission to the consulship the plebeians were eligible to all +the other magistracies. They gained the dictatorship in 356, the +censorship in 351, and the praetorship in 337. Eventually, the curule +aedileship also was opened to them, and was held by patricians and +plebeians in alternate years. + +*The plebs and the Senate.* Since the custom was early established that +ex-consuls, and later ex-praetors, should be enrolled in the Senate, with +the opening of these offices to the plebs the latter began to have an +ever-increasing representation in that body. As distinguished from the +_patres_ or patrician senators, the plebeians were called _conscripti_, +“the enrolled,” and this distinction was preserved in the official formula +_patres conscripti_ used in addressing the Senate. In this fusion of the +leading plebeians with the patricians in the Senate we have the origin of +a new aristocracy in the Roman state: the so-called senatorial aristocracy +or _nobilitas_. This consisted of a large group of influential patrician +and plebeian families which, for some time at least, was continuously +quickened and revivified by the accession of prominent plebeians who +entered the Senate by way of the magistracies. Thus the Senate, by opening +its ranks to the leaders of the plebs, contrived to emerge from the +struggle with its prestige and influence increased rather than impaired. + +*Appius Claudius, censor, 310 B. C.* An episode which illustrates the +growing democratic tendencies of the time is the censorship of Appius +Claudius, in 310, whose office is memorable for the construction of the +Via Appia and the Aqua Appia, Rome’s first aqueduct. In his revision of +the Senate, Appius ventured to include among the senators persons who were +the sons of freedmen, and he permitted the landless population of the city +to enroll themselves in whatever tribal district they pleased. This latter +step was taken to increase the power of the city plebs, who had previously +been confined to the four city tribes, but who might now spread their +votes over the rural districts, of which there were now twenty-seven. +However, the work of Appius was soon undone. The consuls refused to +recognize the senatorial list prepared by him and his colleague, and the +following censors again restricted the city plebs to the urban tribes. + +*The plebs and the priesthood.* The last stronghold of patrician privilege +was the priesthood which was opened to the plebeians by the Ogulnian Law +of 300 B. C. The number of pontiffs and augurs was increased and the new +positions were filled by plebeians. The patricians could no longer make +use of religious law and practice to hamper the political activity of the +plebs. + +*The Hortensian **Law**, 287 B. C.* The end of the struggle between the +orders came with the secession of 287 B. C. Apparently this crisis was +produced by the demands of the farming population who had become heavily +burdened with debt as a result of the economic strain put upon them by the +long Samnite wars. Refusal to meet their demands led to a schism, and the +plebeian soldiers under arms seceded to the Janiculum. A dictator, Quintus +Hortensius, appointed for the purpose, settled the differences and passed +a _lex Hortensia_, which provided that for the future all measures passed +in the _comitia tributa_, even without the previous approval of the +Senate, should become binding on the whole state. Thus the Assembly of the +Tribes as a legislative body acquired greater independence than the +Assembly of the Centuries. + +*The two assemblies of the people.* Henceforth, the Assembly of the Tribes +tended to become more and more the legislative assembly _par excellence_, +while the Assembly of the Centuries remained the chief elective assembly. +For legislative purposes the Assembly of the Tribes could be convened by a +magistrate with _imperium_ or by a tribune; for the election of the +plebeian tribunes and aediles it had to be summoned by a tribune; while to +elect the quaestors and curule aediles it must be called together by a +magistrate. For all purposes the Assembly of the Centuries had to be +convened and presided over by a magistrate. It elected the consuls, +praetors, censors and, eventually, twenty-four military tribunes for the +annual levy. It must be kept in mind that these were both primary +assemblies, that each comprised the whole body of Roman citizens, but that +they differed essentially in the organization of the voting groups. As we +have seen the wealthier classes dominated the Assembly of the Centuries, +but in the Assembly of the Tribes, which was the more democratic body, a +simple majority determined the vote of each tribe. + +*The increased importance of the tribunate.* The importance of the +tribunes was greatly enhanced by the Hortensian Law, as well as by various +privileges which they had already acquired by 287 or gained shortly after +that date. The more important of these powers were the right to sit in the +Senate, to address, and even to convene that body, and the right to +prosecute any magistrate before the _comitia tributa_. The first of these +powers was a development of the tribunician veto, whereby this was given +to a proposal under discussion in the Senate rather than upon a +magistrate’s attempt to execute it after it had taken the form of a law or +a senatorial decree. To permit the tribunes to interpose their veto at +this stage they had to be allowed to hear the debates in the Senate. At +first they did so from their bench which they set at the door of the +meeting-place, but finally they were permitted to enter the council hall +itself. The power of prosecution made the tribunes the guardians of the +interests of the state against any misconduct on the part of a magistrate. +From this time on the tribunes have practically the status of magistrates +of the Roman people. + +The struggle of the orders left its mark on the Roman constitution in +providing Rome with a double set of organs of government. The tribunate, +plebeian aedileship, and _comitia tributa_ arose as purely plebeian +institutions, but they came to be incorporated in the governmental +organization of the state along with the magistracies and the assemblies +that had always been institutions of the whole Roman people. + + + + IV. THE ROMAN MILITARY SYSTEM + + +Upon the history of no people has the character of its military +institutions exercised a more profound effect than upon that of Rome. The +Roman military system rested upon the universal obligation of the male +citizens to render military service, but the degree to which this +obligation was enforced varied greatly at different periods. For the +mobilization of the man power of the state was dependent upon the type of +equipment, methods of fighting, and organization of tactical units in +vogue at various times, as well as upon the ability of the state to equip +its troops and the strength of the martial spirit of the people. + +*The army of the primitive state.* In all probability the earliest Roman +army was one of the Homeric type, where the nobles who went to the +battlefield on horseback or in chariots were the decisive factor and the +common folk counted for little. + +*The phalanx organization.* However, at an early date, under Etruscan +influences according to tradition, the Romans adopted the phalanx +organization, making their tactical unit the long deep line of infantry +armed with lance and shield. Those who were able to provide themselves +with the armor necessary for taking their place in the phalanx formed the +_classis_ or “levy.” The rest were said to be _infra classem_, and were +only called upon to act as light troops. But military necessities +compelled the state to incorporate with the heavy-armed infantry +increasingly large contingents of the less wealthy citizens, who could not +provide themselves with the full equipment of those in the _classis_, but +who could form the rear ranks of the phalanx. As a result of this step the +citizens were ultimately divided into five orders or classes on the basis +of their property, and probably in raising the levy the required number of +soldiers of each class was drafted in equal proportions from the several +tribes. The first three classes constituted the phalanx, while the fourth +and fifth continued to serve as light troops (_rorarii_). Those who lacked +the property qualification of the lowest class were only called into +service in cases of great emergency. For such a system the taking of an +accurate census was essential, and it is more than likely that the office +of censor was instituted for this purpose. As we have seen, it was from +this organization of the people for military purposes that there developed +the Assembly of the Centuries. + +The introduction of pay for the troops in the field at the time of the +siege of Veii both lessened the economic burden which service entailed +upon the poorer soldiers and enabled the Romans to undertake campaigns of +longer duration, even such as involved winter operations. + +*The manipular legion.* How long the phalanx organization was maintained +we do not know: at any rate it did not survive the Samnite wars. In its +place appeared the legionary formation, in which the largest unit was the +legion of about four thousand infantry, divided into maniples of one +hundred and twenty (or sixty) men, each capable of manœuvering +independently. This arrangement admitted of increased flexibility of +movement in broken country, and of the adoption of the _pilum_, or +javelin, as a missile weapon. Both the _pilum_ and the _scutum_, or oblong +shield, were of Samnite origin. While reorganizing their infantry, the +Romans strengthened the _equites_ and developed them as a real cavalry +force. + +Apparently property qualifications no longer counted for much in the army +organization, as the men were assigned to their places in the ranks on the +basis of age and experience, and the state furnished the necessary weapons +to those who did not provide their own. By the third century, all +able-bodied men holding property valued at 4000 asses were regularly +called upon for military service. The others were liable to naval service, +but only in cases of great need were they enrolled in the legions. +Ordinarily, the service required amounted to sixteen campaigns in the +infantry and ten in the cavalry. The field army was raised from those +between seventeen and forty-six years of age: those forty-six and over +were liable only for garrison duty in the city. The regular annual levy +consisted of four legions, besides 1800 cavalry. This number could be +increased at need, and the Roman forces in the field were supplemented by +at least an equal number in the contingents from the Italian allies. + +The Roman army was thus a national levy: a militia. It was commanded by +the consuls, the annually elected presidents of the state. Yet it avoided +the characteristic weaknesses of militia troops, for the frequency of the +Roman wars and the length of the period of liability for service assured +the presence of a large quota of veterans in each levy and maintained a +high standard of military efficiency. Furthermore, the consuls, if not +always good generals, were generally experienced soldiers, for a record of +ten campaigns was required of the candidate for public office. Likewise +their subordinates, the military tribunes, were veterans, having seen some +five and others ten years’ service. But the factor that contributed above +all else to the success of the Roman armies was their iron discipline. The +consular _imperium_ gave its holder absolute power over the lives of the +soldiers in the field, and death was the penalty for neglect of duty, +disobedience, or cowardice. The most striking proof of the discipline of +the Roman armies is that after every march they were required to construct +a fortified camp, laid out according to fixed rules and protected by a +ditch, a wall of earth, and a palisade for which they carried the stakes. +No matter how strenuous their labors had been, they never neglected this +task, in striking contrast to the Greek citizen armies which could not be +induced to construct works of this kind. The fortified camp rendered the +Romans safe from surprise attacks, allowed them to choose their own time +for joining battle, and gave them a secure refuge after a defeat. It +played a very large part in the operations of the Roman armies, especially +such as were conducted in hostile territory. + + + + + CHAPTER VII + + + EARLY RELIGION AND SOCIETY + + + + I. EARLY ROMAN RELIGION + + +*Animism.* The Roman religion of the historic republic was a composite of +beliefs and ceremonies of various origins. The basic stratum of this +system was the Roman element: religious ideas that the Romans probably +held in common with the other Latin and Italian peoples. Although traces +of a belief in magic; and of the worship of natural objects and animals, +survived from earlier stages of religious development, it was “animism” +that formed the basis of what we may call the characteristic Roman +religious ideas. Animism is the belief that natural objects are the abode +of spirits more powerful than man, and that all natural forces and +processes are the expression of the activity of similar spirits. When such +powers or _numina_ were conceived as personalities with definite names +they became ‘gods,’ _dei_. And because the primitive Roman gods were the +spirits of an earlier age, for a long time the Romans worshipped them +without images or temples. But each divinity was regarded as residing in a +certain locality and only there could his worship be conducted. The true +Roman gods lacked human attributes: their power was admitted but they +inspired no personal devotion. Consequently, Roman theology consisted in +the knowledge of these deities and their powers and of the ceremonial acts +necessary to influence them. + +*The importance of ritual.* The Romans, while recognizing their dependence +upon divine powers, considered that their relation to them was of the +nature of a contract. If man observed all proper ritual in his worship, +the god was bound to act propitiously: if the god granted man’s desire he +must be rewarded with an offering. If man failed in his duty, the god +punished him: if the god refused to hearken, man was not bound to continue +his worship. Thus Roman religion consisted essentially in the performance +of ritual, wherein the correctness of the performance was the chief +factor. + +But since the power of the gods could affect the community as well as the +individual, it was necessary for the state to observe with the same +scrupulous care as the latter its obligations towards them. The knowledge +of these obligations and how they were to be performed constituted the +sacred law of Rome, which became a very important part of the public law. +This sacred law was guarded by the priesthood, and here we have the source +of the power of the pontiffs in the Roman state. The pontiffs not only +preserved the sacred traditions and customs but they also added to them by +interpretation and the establishment of new precedents. The pontiffs +themselves performed or supervised the performance of all public acts of a +purely religious nature, and likewise prescribed the ritual to be observed +by the magistrate in initiating public acts. + +On the other hand the power of the augurs rested upon the belief that the +gods issued their warnings to men through natural signs, and that it was +possible to discover the attitude of the gods towards any contemplated +human action by the observation of natural phenomena. For the augurs were +the guardians of the science of the interpretation of such signs or +auspices in so far as the state was concerned. The magistrate initiating +any important public act had to take the auspices, and if the augurs +declared any flaw therein or held that any unfavorable omen had occurred +during the performance of the said act, they could suspend the +magistrate’s action or render it invalid. + +So we see that the Roman priests were not intermediaries between the +individual Roman and his gods, but rather, as has been pointed out before, +officers in charge of one branch of the public administration. They were +responsible for the due observance of the public religious acts, just as +the head of the household supervised the performance of the family cult. + +*The cult of the household.* It is in the cult of the household that we +can best see the true Roman religious ideas. The chief divinities of the +household were: Janus, the spirit of the doorway; Vesta, the spirit of the +fire on the hearth; the Penates, the guardian spirits of the +store-chamber; the Lar Familiaris, which we may perhaps regard as the +spirit of the cultivated land; and the Genius of the head of the house, +originally, it is probable, the spirit of his generative powers, which +became symbolic of the life of the family as a whole. + +The Romans, strictly speaking, did not practice ancestor-worship. But they +believed that the spirits of the departed were affected by the +ministrations of the living, and, in case these were omitted, might +exercise a baneful influence upon the fortunes of their descendants. Hence +came the obligation to remember the dead with offerings at stated times in +the year. + +*The cult of the fields.* As early Rome was essentially an agricultural +community, most of its divinities and festivals had to do with the various +phases of agricultural life. Festivals of the sowing, the harvest, the +vineyard and the like, were annually celebrated in common, at fixed +seasons, by the households of the various _pagi_. + +*The state cult.* The public or state cult of Rome consisted mainly in the +performance of certain of the rites of the household and of the _pagi_ by +or for the people as a whole. The state cult of Vesta and of the Penates, +as well as the festival of the Ambarvalia, the annual solemn purification +of the fields, are of this nature. But, in addition, the state religion +included the worship of certain divinities whose personalities and powers +were conceived with greater distinctness. At the beginning of the Republic +the chief of these gods were the triad Juppiter, Juno, and Minerva. +Juppiter Optimus Maximus, called also Capitolinus from his place of +worship, was originally a god of the sky. But, adorned with various other +attributes, he was finally worshipped as the chief protecting divinity of +the Roman State. Juno was the female counterpart of Juppiter and was the +great patron goddess of women. Another important deity was Mars, at one +time an agricultural divinity, who in the state religion developed into +the god of warlike, “martial,” activities. + +*Foreign influences.* It was in connection with the state worship that +foreign influences were first felt. Indeed, it is probable that the +association of Juppiter with Juno and Minerva was due to contact with +Etruria. It was from the Etruscans also that the Romans derived their +knowledge of temple construction, the earliest example of which was +probably the temple of Juppiter on the Capitoline said to have been +dedicated in 508 B. C. The use of images was likewise due to Etruscan +influences, although here as in other respects Greek ideas may have been +at work. In general the Romans did not regard the gods of strange people +with hostility, but rather admitted their power and sought to conciliate +them. Thus they frequently transferred to Rome the gods of states that +they had conquered or absorbed. Other foreign divinities, too, on various +grounds were added to the circle of the divine protectors of the Roman +state. + +*Religion and morality.* From the foregoing sketch it will be seen that +the Roman religion did not have profound moral and elevating influences. +Its hold upon the Roman people was chiefly due to the fact that it +symbolized the unity of the various groups whose members participated in +the same worship; i. e. the unity of the family and the unity of the +state. Nevertheless, the idea of obligation inherent in the Roman +conception of the relation between gods and men and the stress laid upon +the exact performance of ritual inevitably developed among the Romans a +strong sense of duty, a moral factor of considerable value. Further, the +power of precedent and tradition in their religion helped to develop and +strengthen the conservatism so characteristic of the Roman people. + + + + II. EARLY ROMAN SOCIETY + + +*The household.* The cornerstone of the Roman social structure was the +household (_familia_). That is to say, the state was an association of +households, and it was the individual’s position in a household that +determined his status in the early community. The Roman household was a +larger unit than our family. It comprised the father or head of the +household (_pater familias_), his wife, his sons with their wives and +children, if they had such, his unmarried daughters, and the household +slaves. + +*The patria potestas.* The _pater familias_ possessed authority over all +other members of the household. His power over the free members was called +_patria potestas_, “paternal authority”; over the slaves it was +_dominium_, “lordship.” This paternal authority was in theory unrestricted +and gave the father the right to inflict the death penalty upon those +under his power. But, in practice, the exercise of the _patria potestas_ +was limited by custom and by the habit of consulting the older male +members of the household before any important action was taken. + +The household estate (_res familiaris_) was administered by the head of +the household. At the death of a _pater familias_ his sons in turn became +the head of _familiae_, dividing the estate. The mother and unmarried +daughters, if surviving, now passed into the power of a son or the next +nearest male relative of the deceased. Although the Roman women were thus +continually in the position of wards, they nevertheless took a prominent +part in the life of the household and did not live the restricted and +secluded lives of the women of Athens and the Greek cities of Asia. + +Membership in the household was reckoned only through male descent, for +daughters when they married passed out of the _manus_ or “power” of the +head of their own household into that of the head of the household to +which their husbands belonged. + +*Education.* The training of the Roman youth at this time was mainly of a +practical nature. There was as yet little interest in intellectual +pursuits and no Roman literature had been developed. The art of writing, +it is true, had long been known and was employed in the keeping of records +and accounts. Such instruction as there was, was given by the father to +his sons. It consisted probably of athletic exercises, of practical +training in agricultural pursuits, in the traditions of the state and of +the Roman heroes, and in the conduct of public business through attendance +at places where this was transacted. + +At the age of eighteen the young Roman entered upon a new footing in +relation to the state. He was now liable to military service and qualified +to attend the _comitia_. In these respects he was emancipated from the +paternal authority. If he attained a magistracy, his father obeyed him +like any other citizen. + +The discipline and respect for authority which was acquired in the family +life was carried with him by the Roman into his public relations, and this +sense of duty was perhaps the strongest quality in the Roman character. It +was supplemented by the characteristic Roman seriousness (_gravitas_), +developed under the stress of the long struggles for existence waged by +the early Roman state. In the Roman the highest virtue was piety +(_pietas_), which meant the dutiful performance of all one’s obligations, +to the gods, to one’s kinsmen, and to the state. The Romans were +preëminently a practical people, and their practical virtues laid the +foundation for their political greatness. + +*The mos maiorum.* We have already referred to the conservatism of the +Romans, and have seen how this characteristic was affected by their +religious beliefs. It was further strengthened by the respect paid to +parental authority and by the absence of intellectual training. In public +affairs this conservatism was shown by the influence of ancestral +custom—the _mos maiorum_. In the Roman government this became a very +potent factor, since the Roman constitution was not a single comprehensive +document but consisted of a number of separate enactments supplemented by +custom and precedent and interpreted in the light thereof. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + + ROMAN DOMINATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN; THE FIRST PHASE—THE STRUGGLE WITH + CARTHAGE; 265–201 B. C. + + + + I. THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD IN 265 B. C. + + +*Rome a world power.* With the unification of the Italian peninsula Rome +entered upon a new era in her foreign relations. She was now one of the +great powers of the Mediterranean world and was inevitably drawn into the +vortex of world politics. She could no longer rest indifferent to what +went on beyond the confines of Italy. She assumed new responsibilities, +opened up new diplomatic relations, developed a new outlook and new +ambitions. At this time the other first-class powers were, in the east, +the three Hellenistic monarchies—Egypt, Syria, and Macedon,—which had +emerged from the ruins of the empire of Alexander the Great, and, in the +west, the city state of Carthage. + +*Egypt.* The kingdom of Egypt, ruled by the dynasty of the Ptolemies, +comprised the ancient kingdom of Egypt in the Nile valley, Cyrene, the +coast of Syria, Cyprus, and a number of cities on the shores and islands +of the Aegean Sea. In Egypt the Ptolemies ruled as foreigners over the +subject native population. They maintained their authority by a small +mercenary army recruited chiefly from Macedonians and Greeks, and by a +strongly centralized administration, of which the offices were in Greek +hands. As the ruler was the sole proprietor of the land of Egypt, the +native Egyptians, the majority of whom were peasants who gained their +livelihood by tilling the rich soil of the Nile valley, were for the most +part tenants of the crown, and the restrictions and obligations to which +they were subject rendered their status little better than that of serfs. +A highly developed but oppressive system of taxation and government +monopolies, largely an inheritance from previous dynasties, enabled the +Ptolemies to wring from their subjects the revenues with which they +maintained a brilliant court life at their capital, Alexandria, and +financed their imperial policy. + + [Illustration: The Expansion of Rome in the Mediterranean World 265–44 + B. C.] + +The aim of this policy was to secure Egyptian domination in the Aegean, +among the states of Southern Greece, and in Phoenicia, whose value lay in +the forests of the Lebanon mountains. To carry it into effect the +Ptolemies were obliged to support a navy which would give them the command +of the sea in the eastern Mediterranean. However, the occupation of their +outlying possessions brought Egypt into perpetual conflict with Macedon +and Syria, whose rulers made continued efforts to oust the Ptolemies from +the Aegean and from the Syrian coast. + +*Syria.* Syria, the kingdom of the Seleucids, with its capital at Antioch +on the Orontes, was by far the largest of the Hellenistic monarchies in +extent and population, and in wealth it ranked next to Egypt. It stretched +from the Aegean to the borders of India, and included the southern part of +Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Persia, and northern Syria. But the very size of +this kingdom was a source of weakness, because of the distances which +separated its various provinces and the heterogeneous racial elements +which it embraced. The power of the dynasty was upheld, as in Egypt, by a +mercenary army, and also by the Greek cities which had been founded in +large numbers by Alexander the Great and his successors. However, these +islands of Greek culture did not succeed to any great extent in +Hellenizing the native populations which remained in a state of +subjection, indifferent or hostile to their conquerors. Furthermore the +strength of the Seleucid empire was sapped by repeated revolts in its +eastern provinces and dissensions between the members of the dynasty +itself. + +*Macedon.* The kingdom of Macedon, ruled by the house of the Antigonids, +was the smallest of the three in extent, population and resources, but +possessed an internal strength and solidarity lacking in the others. For +in Macedon, the Antigonids, by preserving the traditional character of the +patriarchal monarchy, kept alive the national spirit of the Macedonians +and made them loyal to the dynasty. They also retained a military system +which fostered the traditions of the times of Philip II and Alexander, and +which, since the Macedonian people had not lost its martial character, +furnished a small but efficient national army. Outside of Macedon, the +Antigonids held sway over Thessaly and the eastern part of Greece as far +south as the Isthmus of Corinth. Their attempts to dominate the whole +peninsula were thwarted by the opposition of the Aetolian and Achaian +Confederacies, who were supported in this by the Ptolemies. + +*The minor Greek states.* In addition to these three great monarchies we +should note as powers of minor importance the Confederacies mentioned +before, the kingdom of Pergamon on the northwest coast of Asia Minor, the +island republic of Rhodes, which was a naval power of considerable +strength, and the kingdom of Syracuse in Sicily, the last of the +independent Greek cities on that island. + +*Carthage.* The fourth world power was Carthage, a city state situated on +the northern coast of Africa, opposite the western end of the island of +Sicily, which had created for itself an empire that controlled the western +half of the Mediterranean. Carthage was founded as a colony of the +Phoenician city of Tyre about 814 B. C. In the sixth century, with the +passing of the cities of Phoenicia under the domination, first of Babylon, +and later of the Persian Empire, their colonies in the western +Mediterranean severed political ties with their mother land and had +henceforth to maintain themselves by their own efforts. + +*The Carthaginian Empire.* Their weakness was the opportunity of Carthage, +which, in the sixth and following centuries, brought under her control the +other Phoenician settlements, in addition to founding new colonies of her +own. She also extended her sway over the native Libyan population in the +vicinity of Carthage. These Libyans were henceforth tributary and under +the obligation of rendering military service to the Carthaginians: similar +obligations rested upon the dependent Phoenician allies. In the third +century the Carthaginian empire included the northern coast of Africa from +the Gulf of Syrtis westwards beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, the southern +and eastern coasts of Spain as far north as Cape Nao, Corsica, Sardinia, +and Sicily, with the exception of Messana in the extreme northeast and the +Kingdom of Syracuse in the southeastern part of the island. The smaller +islands of the western Mediterranean were likewise under Carthaginian +control. + +*The government of Carthage.* At this time the government of Carthage +itself was republican in form and strongly aristocratic in tone. There was +a primary Assembly for all Carthaginian citizens who could satisfy certain +age and property requirements. This body annually elected the two chief +magistrates or suffetes, and likewise the generals. For the former +qualifications of wealth and merit were prescribed. There was also a +Senate, and a Council, whose organization and powers are uncertain. The +Council, the smaller body, prepared the matters to be discussed in the +Senate, which was consulted by the Suffetes on all matters and usually +gave the final decision, although the Assembly was supposed to be +consulted in case the Senate and Suffetes disagreed. The Suffetes +exercised judicial, financial and religious functions, and presided over +the council and senate. The Carthaginian aristocracy, like that of Venice, +was a group of wealthy families whose fortunes, made in commercial +ventures, were handed down for generations in the same houses. From this +circle came the members of the council and senate, who directed the policy +of the state. The aristocracy itself was split into factions, struggling +to control the offices and through them the public policy, which they +frequently subordinated to their own particular interests. + +*The commercial policy of Carthage.* The prosperity of Carthage depended +upon her empire and the maintenance of a commercial monopoly in the +western Mediterranean. This policy of commercial exclusiveness had caused +Carthage to oppose Greek colonial expansion in Spain, Sardinia and Sicily, +and had led to treaties which placed definite limits upon the trading +ventures of the Romans and their allies, and of the Greeks from Massalia +and her colonies in France and northern Spain. + +*Carthaginian naval and **military** strength.* Such a policy could only +be maintained by a strong naval power, and, in fact, Carthage was the +undisputed mistress of the seas west of the straits of Messana. Unlike +Rome, however, Carthage had no organized national army but relied upon an +army of mercenaries recruited from all quarters of the Mediterranean, +among such warlike peoples as the Gauls, Spaniards, Libyans and Greeks. +Although brave and skillful fighters, these, like all troops of the type, +were liable to become dispirited and mutinous under continued reverses or +when faced by shortage of pay and plunder. + +Such was the state with which Rome was now brought face to face by the +conquest of South Italy and which was the first power she was to challenge +in a war for dominion beyond the peninsula. As we have seen, Rome had long +ere this come into contact with this great maritime people.(4) Two +treaties, one perhaps dating from the close of the sixth century, and the +other from 348 B. C., regulated commercial intercourse between the two +states and their respective subjects and allies. A third, concluded in +279, had provided for military coöperation against Pyrrhus, but this +alliance had ceased after the defeat of the latter, and with the removal +of this common enemy a feeling of coolness or mutual suspicion seems to +have arisen between the erstwhile allies. + + + + II. THE FIRST PUNIC WAR: 264–241 B. C. + + +*The origins of the war.* The first war between Rome and Carthage arose +out of the political situation in the island of Sicily. There the town of +Messana was occupied by the Mamertini, a band of Campanian mercenaries, +who had been in the service of Syracuse but who had deserted and seized +this town about 284 B. C. Because of their perpetual acts of brigandage +they were a menace to their neighbors, the Syracusans. The latter, now +under an energetic ruler, Hiero, who had assumed the title of king, in 265 +succeeded in blockading Messana and its ultimate capture seemed certain. +In despair the Mamertini sought help from the Carthaginians who sent a +garrison to Messana, for they looked with jealousy upon any extension of +Syracusan territory. However, the majority of the Mamertini sought to be +taken under the protection of Rome and appealed to the Roman Senate for +aid. The senators on the one hand saw that to espouse the cause of the +Mamertini would be to provoke a war with Carthage, an eventuality before +which they shrank, but on the other hand they recognized that the +Carthaginian occupation of Messana would give them the control of the +Straits of Messana and constitute a perpetual threat against southern +Italy. The strength of these conflicting considerations made them +unwilling to assume responsibility for a decision and they referred the +matter to the Assembly of the Centuries. Here the people, elated, +apparently, by their recent victorious wars in Italy, and led on by hopes +of pecuniary advantage to be derived from the war, decided to admit the +Mamertini to the Roman alliance. One consul, Appius Claudius, was sent +with a small force to relieve the town (264). + +The Mamertini induced the Carthaginian garrison to withdraw, and then +admitted the Roman force which crossed the straits with the aid of vessels +furnished by their Greek allies in Italy. Thereupon the Carthaginians made +an alliance with the Syracusans, but the Romans defeated each of them. + +*Alliance of Rome and Syracuse.* In the next year the Romans sent a larger +army into Sicily to attack Syracuse and met with such success that Hiero +became alarmed, and, making peace upon easy terms, concluded an alliance +with them for fifteen years.(5) Aided by Hiero the Romans now began an +attack upon Agrigentum, the Carthaginian stronghold which threatened +Syracuse. When this was taken in 262, they determined to drive the +Carthaginians from the whole island. + +*Rome builds a fleet.* However, Roman operations in Sicily could only be +conducted at considerable risk and the coasts of Italy remained exposed to +continued raids as long as Carthage had undisputed control of the sea. +Consequently the Romans decided to build a fleet that would put an end to +the Carthaginian naval supremacy. They constructed 120 vessels, of which +100 were of the type called quinquiremes, the regular first class +battleships of the day. The complement of each was three hundred rowers +and one hundred and twenty fighting men.(6) With this armament, and some +vessels from the Roman allies, the consul, Gaius Duilius, put to sea in +260 B. C. and won a decisive battle off Mylae on the north coast of +Sicily. As a result of this battle in the next year the Romans were able +to occupy Corsica and attack Sardinia, and finding it impossible to force +a decision in Sicily, they were in a position to attack Carthage in Africa +itself. + +*The Roman invasion of Africa, 256 B. C.* Another naval victory, off +Ecnomus, on the south coast of Sicily, cleared the way for the successful +landing of an army under the consul Marcus Atilius Regulus. He defeated +the Carthaginians in battle and reduced them to such extremities that they +sought to make peace. But the terms which Atilius proposed were so harsh +that in desperation they resumed hostilities. At this juncture there +arrived at Carthage, with other mercenaries, a Spartan soldier of fortune, +Xantippus, who reorganized the Carthaginian army. By the skilful use of +cavalry and war elephants he inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Romans +and took Atilius prisoner. A Roman fleet rescued the remnants of the +expedition, but was almost totally lost in a storm off the southern +Sicilian coast (255). + +*The war in Sicily, 254–241 B. C.* The Romans again concentrated their +efforts against the Carthaginian strongholds in Sicily, which they +attacked from land and sea. In 254 they took the important city of +Panormus, and the Carthaginians were soon confined to the western +extremity of the island. There, however, they successfully maintained +themselves in Drepana and Lilybaeum. Meantime the Romans encountered a +series of disasters on the sea. In 253 they lost a number of ships on the +voyage from Lilybaeum to Rome, in 250 the consul Publius Clodius suffered +a severe defeat in a naval battle at Drepana, and in the next year a third +fleet was destroyed by a storm off Phintias in Sicily. + +In 247 a new Carthaginian general, Hamilcar Barca, took command in Sicily +and infused new life into the Carthaginian forces. From the citadel of +Hercte first, and later from Eryx, he continually harassed the Romans not +only in Sicily but even on the coast of Italy. Finally, in 242 B. C., when +their public treasury was too exhausted to build another fleet, the Romans +by private subscription equipped 200 vessels, which undertook the blockade +of Lilybaeum and Drepana. A Carthaginian relief expedition was destroyed +off the Aegates Islands, and it was impossible for their forces, now +completely cut off in Sicily, to prolong the struggle. Carthage was +compelled to conclude peace in 241 B. C. + +*The terms of peace.* Carthage surrendered to Rome her remaining +possessions in Sicily, with the islands between Sicily and Italy, besides +agreeing to pay an indemnity of 3200 talents (about $3,500,000) in twenty +years. For the Romans the long struggle had been very costly. At sea alone +they had lost in the neighborhood of 500 ships and 200,000 men. But again +the Roman military system had proven its worth against a mercenary army, +and the excellence of the Roman soldiery had more than compensated for the +weakness in the custom of annually changing commanders. Moreover, the +military federation which Rome had created in Italy had stood the test of +a long and weary war, without any disloyalty being manifest among her +allies. On the other hand, the losses of Carthage had been even more +heavy, and, most serious of all, her sea power was broken and Rome +controlled the western Mediterranean. + +*The revolt of the Carthaginian mercenaries.* Weakened as she was after +the contest with Rome, Carthage became immediately thereafter involved in +a life and death struggle with her mercenary troops. These, upon their +return from Sicily, made demands upon the state which the latter found +hard to meet and consequently refused. Thereupon the mercenaries mutinied +and, joining with the native Libyans and the inhabitants of the subject +Phoenician cities (Libyphoenicians), entered upon a war for the +destruction of Carthage. After a struggle of more than three years, in +which the most shocking barbarities were practised on either side and in +which they were brought face to face with utter ruin, the Carthaginians +under the leadership of Hamilcar Barca stamped out the revolt (238 B. C.). + +*Rome acquires Sardinia.* Up to this point Rome had looked on without +interference, but now, when Carthage sought to recover Sardinia from the +mutinous garrison there, she declared war. Carthage could not think of +accepting the challenge and bought peace at the price of Sardinia and +Corsica and 1200 talents ($1,500,000). This unjustifiable act of the +Romans rankled sore in the memories of the Carthaginians. + + + + III. THE ILLYRIAN AND GALLIC WARS: 229–219 B. C. + + +*The first Illyrian war: 229–228 B. C.* In assuming control of the +relations of her allies with foreign states, Rome had assumed +responsibility for protecting their interests, and it was the fulfillment +of this obligation which brought the Roman arms to the eastern shores of +the Adriatic. + +Under a king named Agron an extensive but loosely organized state had been +formed among the Illyrians, a semibarbarous people inhabiting the Adriatic +coast to the north of Epirus. These Illyrians were allied with the kingdom +of Macedonia and sided with the latter in its wars with Epirus and the +Aetolian and Achaean Confederacies. In 231 Agron died and was succeeded by +his queen Teuta, who continued his policy of attacking the cities on the +west coast of Greece and practising piracy on a large scale in the +Adriatic and Ionian seas. Among those who suffered thereby were the south +Italian cities, which in 230 B. C. as the result of fresh and more serious +outrages appealed to Rome for redress. Thereupon the Romans demanded +satisfaction from Teuta and, upon their demands being contemptuously +rejected, they declared war. + +*The Romans cross the Adriatic: 229 B. C.* In the next spring, 229 B. C., +the Romans sent against the Illyrians a fleet and an army of such strength +that the latter could offer but little resistance and in the next year +were forced to sue for peace. Teuta had to give up a large part of her +territory, to bind herself not to send a fleet into the Ionian sea, and to +pay tribute to Rome. Corcyra, Epidamnus, Apollonia, and other cities +became Roman allies. + +The fact that Rome first crossed the Adriatic to prosecute a war against +the Illyrians placed her in hostility to their ally, Macedonia, the +greatest of the Greek states. And although Macedonia had been unable to +offer aid to the Illyrians because of dynastic troubles that had followed +the death of King Demetrius (229 B. C.), the Macedonians regarded with +jealous suspicion Rome’s success and the establishment of a Roman sphere +of influence east of the Adriatic. Conversely, the war had established +friendly relations and coöperation between Rome and the foes of Macedon, +the Aetolian and Achaean Confederacies, which rejoiced in the accession of +such a powerful friend. The way was thus paved for the participation of +Rome, as a partizan of the anti-Macedonian faction, in the struggles which +had so long divided the Greek world. + +*The second Illyrian war: 220–219 B. C.* The revival of Macedonian +influence led indirectly to Rome’s second Illyrian war. The alliance of +Antigonus Doson with the Achaean Confederacy and his conquest of Sparta +(222 B. C.) united almost the whole of Greece under Macedonian suzerainty. +Thereupon Demetrius of Pharos, a despot whose rule Rome had established in +Corcyra, went over to Macedonia, attacked the cities allied with Rome, and +sent a piratical squadron into Greek waters (220 B. C.). Rome, now +threatened with a second Carthaginian War, acted with energy. Macedonia, +under Philip V, the successor of Antigonus Doson, was involved in a war +with the Aetolians and their allies. Deprived of support from this quarter +Demetrius was speedily driven to take refuge in flight. His subjects +surrendered and Rome took possession of his chief fortresses, Pharos and +Dimillos. + +*War with the Gauls in North Italy: 225–22 B. C.* In the interval between +these Illyrian Wars Rome became involved in a serious conflict with the +Gallic tribes settled in the Po valley. For about half a century this +people had lived at peace with Rome, ceasing their raids into the +peninsula and becoming a prosperous agricultural and pastoral people. It +is claimed that they became alarmed at the Roman assignment of the public +land on their southern borders, called the Ager Gallicus, to individual +colonists in 233 B. C., and that this caused them to take up arms. +However, this territory had been Roman since 283 B. C. and its settlement +could hardly have been interpreted as an hostile act. More probable is it +that the cause of the new Gallic invasion was the coming of fresh swarms +from across the Alps, which some of the Cisalpine Gauls, who had forgotten +the defeats of the previous generation, perhaps invited, and certainly +joined, for the sake of plunder. In 238 such a band of Transalpines +crossed the Roman frontier and penetrated as far as Ariminum, but serious +dissensions broke out within their own ranks and they had to withdraw. +There was no further inroad attempted until 225 B. C. + +*The Gallic invasion of 225 B. C.* In that year a formidable horde, called +the Gasatae, crossed the Alps and, joined by the Boii and Insubres, +prepared to invade Roman territory with a force of 50,000 foot and 20,000 +mounted men. The Romans and Italians were seriously alarmed, for the +memory of the fatal day of the Allia had never been effaced. Rome called +for a military census of her whole federation. The lists showed 700,000 +infantry and 70,000 cavalry. Expecting the Gauls to advance into Umbria +the Romans stationed an army under one consul at Ariminum. The other +consul was sent to Sardinia, possibly from fear of a Carthaginian attack, +while the defence of Etruria was left to a force of Roman allies. +Alliances were concluded with the Cenomani, a Gallic tribe to the north of +the Po, and with the Veneti. + +Avoiding the army at Ariminum the Gauls crossed the Apennines into +Etruria, defeated the Roman allies and plundered the country. But the +consul from Ariminum hastened to the rescue, the army in Sardinia was +recalled, and the Gauls began to withdraw northwards to place their spoils +in safety. The Romans followed and as the army from Sardinia landed to the +north of the foe and cut off their retreat, the latter were surrounded and +brought to bay at Telamon. They were annihilated in a bloody battle won by +the superiority of the Roman tactics and generalship. One of the Roman +consuls fell on the field of battle. + +*War against the Boii and Insubres: 224–222 B. C.* Italy was saved, and +now the Romans decided to expel the Boii and the Insubres from the Po +valley as a penalty for their conduct and to prevent future invasions of +this sort by occupying their territory. In three hard-fought campaigns the +Romans, while they failed to exterminate or dispossess these peoples, +reduced them to subjection, forcing them to surrender part of their +territory and to pay tribute. But the Romans did not conquer without +suffering heavy losses, and their ultimate success was to a considerable +degree due to the coöperation of the Cenomani. + +*The Roman frontier reaches the Alps.* Between 221 and 219 the Romans +subdued the peoples of the Adriatic coast as far as the peninsula of +Istria. Thus, with the exception of Liguria and the upper valley of the +Po, all Italy to the south of the Alps was brought within the sphere of +Roman influence. The Latin colonies Placentia and Cremona were founded in +the territory taken from the Insubres to secure the Roman authority in +this region, but Hannibal’s invasion of 217 B. C. found the Cisalpine +Gauls ready to revolt against the Roman yoke. + + + + IV. THE SECOND PUNIC WAR: 218–202 B. C. + + +*Carthaginian expansion in Spain.* As we have seen, the Roman seizure of +Sardinia and Corsica and the exaction of a fresh indemnity in 238 left a +longing for revenge in the hearts of the dominant faction at Carthage. +This faction was led by Hamilcar Barca, the victor of the mercenary war, +who saw in Spain the opportunity for repairing the fortunes of his state, +for compensating Carthage for the loss of Sicily and Sardinia, and for +developing an army that would enable him to face the Romans on an equal +footing. The Phoenician subjects of Carthage were hard pressed by the +attacks of the native Iberian peoples when he secured for himself the +command of the Carthaginian forces in the peninsula (238 B. C.). By +skilful generalship and able diplomacy he extended the Carthaginian +dominion over many of the Spanish tribes, and created a strong army, +devoted to himself and his family. + +*Hasdrubal.* Consequently, when Hamilcar died in battle in 229 B. C. he +was succeeded in the command by his son-in-law Hasdrubal, who carried on +his predecessor’s policy. He it was who founded the town of New Carthage +(Carthagena) to serve as the center of Carthaginian influence in Spain. +The annual revenue of from 2000 to 3000 talents ($2,400,000 to $3,000,000) +derived from the Spanish silver mines readily induced the Carthaginians to +acquiesce in the almost regal position that the Barcidae enjoyed in Spain. +Thus the latter could carry out their plans without interference from the +home government. + +*Hasdrubal’s treaty with Rome, 226 B. C.* But the Carthaginian advance in +Spain aroused the alarm of the Greeks of Massalia, and of her colonies, +Emporiae and Rhodae, whose commercial interests and independence were +thereby endangered. Now the Massaliots had long been in alliance with +Rome,—they were said to have contributed to the ransom which the Romans +paid to the Gauls in 387 B. C.,—and there seems little doubt that they +secured the intervention of Rome on their behalf. In 226 B. C. the Romans +concluded a treaty with Hasdrubal which bound him not to send an armed +force north of the river Ebro. A few years later the Romans entered into a +defensive alliance with the Spanish town of Saguntum, which lay to the +south of the Ebro, but which was not subject to Carthage. The motive of +the Romans in making this alliance is obscure, but it was probably in +answer to a request from the Saguntines. + +*Hannibal.* Upon the assassination of Hasdrubal in 221, Hannibal, son of +Hamilcar, then in his twenty-sixth year, was appointed to the command in +Spain. Thereupon, relying upon the army which his predecessors and he +himself had built up in Spain and upon the resources of the Carthaginian +dominions there, he resolved to take a step which would inevitably lead to +war with Rome, namely, to attack Saguntum. + +*The siege of Saguntum: 219 B. C.* Using as a pretext a dispute between +the Saguntines and some of his Spanish allies, he laid siege to the town +in 219 B. C. and captured it after a siege of eight months. A Roman +embassy appeared at Carthage to demand the surrender of Hannibal and his +staff as the price of averting war with Rome. But the anti-Roman party was +in the majority and the Carthaginian senate accepted the responsibility +for the act of their general, whatever its consequences might be. The +Roman ambassador replied with the declaration of war. + +*The Roman plan of campaign.* The most fateful result of the First Punic +War had been the destruction of the maritime supremacy of Carthage. She +never subsequently thought of contesting Rome’s dominion on the sea, and +consequently, while extending her empire in Spain and Africa she had +neglected to rebuild her navy. This fact was to be of decisive importance +in the coming struggle. Rome, relying upon it, planned an offensive war. +One army, under the consul Publius Cornelius Scipio, was to proceed to +Spain, supported by the fleet of Massalia, and to detain Hannibal there, +while a second army, under the other consul, Tiberius Sempronius, was +assembled in Sicily to embark for Africa. + +*The plan of Hannibal.* But the Romans had not taken into account the +military genius of Hannibal, whose audacious plan of carrying the war into +Italy upset their calculations. Realizing that he could not transport his +army to Italy by sea, he was prepared to cross the Pyrenees, traverse +southern Gaul and, crossing the Alps, descend upon Italy from the north. +Among the Gauls of the Po valley he hoped to find recruits for his army, +and expected that, once he was in Italy, the Roman allies would seize this +opportunity of recovering their independence. Deprived of their support +Rome would have to yield. His ultimate object was not the destruction of +Rome, but the breaking up of the Roman federation in Italy, and the +reduction of the Roman state to the limits attained in 340 B. C. This +purpose is apparent from the plan of campaign which he followed after his +arrival in Italy. + +*Hannibal’s march into Italy.* Hannibal’s preparations were more advanced +than those of the Romans and, early in the spring of 218 B. C., he set out +from New Carthage for the Pyrenees. Forcing a passage there, he left the +passes under guard and resumed his march with a picked army of Spaniards +and Numidians. His brother Hasdrubal was left in Spain to collect +reinforcements and follow with them. Hannibal arrived at the Rhone and +crossed it by the time that Scipio reached Massalia on his way to Spain. +The latter, failing to force Hannibal to give battle on the banks of the +Rhone, returned in person to Italy, but decided to send his army, under +the command of his brother, to Spain, a decision which had the most +serious consequences for Carthage. Meanwhile Hannibal continued his march +and, overcoming the opposition of the peoples whose territory he +traversed, as well as the more serious obstacles of bad roads, dangerous +passes, cold, and hunger, he crossed the Alps and descended into the plain +of North Italy in the autumn of 218, after a march of five months.(7) His +army was reduced to 20,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. Practically all his +elephants perished. + +Hannibal at once found support and an opportunity to rest his weary troops +among the Insubres and the Boii, the latter of whom had already taken up +arms against the Romans. At the news of his arrival in Italy Sempronius +was at once recalled from Sicily, but Scipio who had anticipated him +ventured to attack Hannibal with the forces under his command. He was +beaten in a skirmish at the river Ticinus, and Hannibal was able to cross +the Po. Upon the arrival of Sempronius, both consuls attacked the +Carthaginians at the Trebia, only to receive a crushing defeat (December, +218). + +*Hannibal invades the peninsula: 217 B. C.* Hannibal wintered in north +Italy and in the spring, with an army raised to 50,000 by the addition of +Celtic recruits, prepared to invade the peninsula. The Romans divided +their forces, stationing one consul at Ariminum and the other at Arretium +in Etruria. Hannibal chose to cross the Apennines and the marshes of +Etruria, where he surprised and annihilated the army of the consul +Flaminius at the Trasimene Lake (217 B. C.). Flaminius himself was among +the slain. This victory was soon followed by a second in which the cavalry +of the army of the second consul was cut to pieces. Hannibal began his +attempt to detach the Italians from the Roman alliance by releasing his +Italian prisoners to carry word to their cities that he had come to set +them free. Thereupon he marched into Samnium, ravaging the Roman territory +as he went. + +The Romans in great consternation chose a dictator, Quintus Fabius +Maximus. Fabius recognized the superiority of Hannibal’s generalship and +of the Carthaginian cavalry, and consequently refused to be drawn into a +general engagement. But he followed the enemy closely and continually +threatened an attack, so that Hannibal could not divide his forces for +purposes of raiding and foraging. Still he was able to penetrate into +Campania and thence to recross the mountains into Apulia, where he decided +to establish winter quarters. The strategy of Fabius, which had not +prevented the enemy from securing supplies and devastating wide areas, +grew so irksome to the Romans that they violated all precedent in +appointing Marcus Minucius, the master of the horse and an advocate of +aggressive tactics, as a second dictator. But when the latter risked an +engagement, he was badly beaten and only prompt assistance from Fabius +saved his army from destruction. + +*Cannae: 216 B. C.* Next spring found the Romans and Carthaginians facing +each other in Apulia. The Romans were led by the new consuls, Lucius +Aemilius Paulus and Gaius Terentius Varro. The over-confidence of Varro +led to the battle of Cannae, one of the greatest battles of antiquity and +the bloodiest of all Roman defeats. Of 50,000 Romans and allies, about +25,000 were slain and 10,000 captured by the numerically inferior +Carthaginians. The consequences of the battle were serious. For the first +time Rome’s allies showed serious signs of disloyalty. In Apulia and in +Bruttium Hannibal found many adherents; ambassadors from Philip of Macedon +appeared at his headquarters, the prelude to an alliance in the next year; +Syracuse also, where Hiero the friend of Rome had just died, wavered and +finally went over to Carthage; and, most serious of all, Capua opened its +gates to Hannibal. + +Still the courage of the Romans never wavered. They at once levied a new +force to replace the army destroyed at Cannae. The central Italian allies, +the Greek cities in the south, and the Latins, remained true to their +allegiance, and the fortified towns of the latter proved to be the pillars +of the Roman strength. For Hannibal, owing to the smallness of his army +and the necessity of maintaining it in a hostile country, had to be +continually on the march and could not undertake siege operations, for +which he also lacked engines of war. Thus the Romans, avoiding pitched +battles, were able to attempt the systematic reduction of the towns which +had yielded to Hannibal and to hamper seriously the provisioning of his +forces. At the same time they still held command of the sea, kept up their +offensive in Spain, and held their ground against Carthaginian attacks in +Sicily and Sardinia. + +*Rome recovers Syracuse and Capua: 212–11 B. C.* In 213 the Romans were +able to invest Syracuse. The Syracusans with the aid of engines of war +designed by the physicist Archimedes resisted desperately, but Marcellus, +the Roman general, pressed the siege vigorously, and treachery caused the +city to fall (212 B. C.). Syracuse was sacked, its art treasures carried +off to Rome, and for the future it was subject and tributary to Rome. And +in Italy, although Hannibal defeated and killed the consul Tiberius +Sempronius Gracchus, and was able to occupy the cities of Tarentum +(although not its citadel), Heraclea and Thurii, he could not prevent the +Romans from laying siege to Capua (212 B. C.). The next year he thought to +force them to raise the blockade by a sudden incursion into Latium, where +he appeared before the walls of Rome. But Rome was garrisoned, the army +besieging Capua was not recalled, and Hannibal’s march was in vain. Capua +was starved into submission, its nobility put to the sword, its territory +confiscated, and its municipal organization dissolved. + +*Operations against Philip V. of Macedon.* Upon concluding his alliance +with Hannibal, Philip of Macedon hastened to attack the Roman possessions +in Illyria. Here he met with some successes, but failed to take Corcyra or +Apollonia which were saved by the Roman fleet. Furthermore, Rome’s command +of the sea prevented his lending any effective aid to his ally in Italy. +Before long the Romans were able to induce the Aetolians to make an +alliance with them and attack Macedonia. Thereupon other enemies of +Philip, among them Sparta and King Attalus of Pergamon, joined in the war +on the side of Rome. The Achaean Confederacy, however, supported Philip. +The coalition against the latter was so strong that he had to cease his +attacks upon Roman territory and Rome could be content with supporting her +Greek allies with a small fleet, while she devoted her energies to the +other theatres of war. + +*The war in Spain: 218–207 B. C.* The fall of Capua came at a moment most +opportune for the Romans, since they had immediate need to send +reinforcements to Spain. Thither, as we have seen, they had sent an army +in 218 B. C. under Gnaeus Scipio, who obtained a foothold north of the +Ebro. In the next year he was joined by his brother Publius Cornelius. +Thereupon the Romans crossed the Ebro and invaded the Carthaginian +dominions to the south. A revolt of the Numidians caused the recall of +Hasdrubal to Africa, and the Romans were able to capture Saguntum and +induce many Spanish tribes to desert the Carthaginian cause. However, upon +the return of Hasdrubal and the arrival of reinforcements from Carthage, +the Carthaginian commanders united their forces and crushed the two Roman +armies one after the other (211 B. C.). Both the Scipios fell in battle +and the Carthaginians recovered all their territory south of the Ebro. + +*Publius Cornelius Scipio sent to Spain: 210 B. C.* Undismayed by these +disasters the Romans determined to continue their efforts to conquer Spain +because of its importance as a recruiting ground for the Carthaginian +armies and because the continuance of the war there prevented +reinforcements being sent to Hannibal in Italy. The fall of Capua and the +fortunate turn of events in Sicily enabled them to release fresh troops +for service in Spain, and in 210 B. C., being dissatisfied with the +cautious strategy of the pro-praetor Nero, then commanding north of the +Ebro, the Senate determined to send out a commander who would continue the +aggressive tactics of the Scipios. As the most suitable person they fixed +on Publius Cornelius Scipio, son of the like-named consul who had fallen +in 211. However, he was only in his twenty-fourth year and having filled +no magistracy except the aedileship, he was technically disqualified from +exercising the _imperium_. Therefore, his appointment was made the subject +of a special law in the Comitia, which nominated him to the command in +Spain with the rank of a pro-consul. This is the first authentic instance +of the conferment of the _imperium_ upon a private citizen. + +*The capture of New Carthage: 209 B. C.* Seeing that the armies of his +opponents were divided and engaged in reconquering the Spanish tribes, +Scipio resumed the offensive, crossed the Ebro, and by a daring stroke +seized the chief Carthaginian base—New Carthage. Here he found vast stores +of supplies and, more important still, the hostages from the Spanish +peoples subject to Carthage. His liberation of these, and his generous +treatment of the Spaniards in general was in such striking contrast with +the oppressive measures of the Carthaginians, that he rapidly won over to +his support both the enemies and the adherents of the former. + +*Hasdrubal’s march to Italy: 208 B. C.* Meanwhile in Italy the Romans +proceeded steadily with the reduction of the strongholds in the hands of +Hannibal. Tarentum was recovered in 210, and although Hannibal defeated +and slew the consuls Gnaeus Fulvius (210) and Marcus Marcellus (208), his +forces were so diminished that his maintaining himself in Italy depended +upon the arrival of strong reinforcements. Since his arrival he had +received but insignificant additions to his army from Carthage, whose +energies had been directed to the other theatres of war. Up to this time +also the Roman activities in Spain had prevented any Carthaginian troops +leaving that country. But after the fall of New Carthage and the +subsequent successes of Scipio, Hasdrubal, despairing of the situation +there, determined to march to the support of his brother by the same route +which the latter had taken. Scipio endeavored to bar his path, but +although Hasdrubal was defeated in battle he and 10,000 of his men cut +their way through the Romans and crossed the Pyrenees (208 B. C.). + +*The Metaurus: 207 B. C.* The next spring he arrived among the Gauls to +the south of the Alps. Reinforced by them he marched into the peninsula to +join forces with Hannibal. For the Romans it was of supreme importance to +prevent this. They therefore divided their forces; the consul Gaius +Claudius faced Hannibal in Apulia, while Marcus Livius went to intercept +Hasdrubal. Through the capture of messengers sent by the latter Claudius +learned of his position and, leaving part of his army to detain Hannibal, +he withdrew the rest without his enemy’s knowledge and joined his +colleague Livius. Together they attacked Hasdrubal at the Metaurus; his +army was cut to pieces and he himself was slain. With the battle the doom +of Hannibal’s plans was sealed, and with them the doom of Carthage. +Hannibal himself recognized that all was lost and withdrew into the +mountains of Bruttium. + +*The conquest of Carthaginian Spain, and peace with Philip.* For the first +time in the war the Romans could breathe freely and look forward with +confidence to the issue. In the two years (207–206 B. C.) following the +departure of Hasdrubal Scipio completed the conquest of what remained to +Carthage in Spain. In 205 he returned to Rome to enter upon the +consulship, and thereupon went to Sicily to make preparations for the +invasion of Africa, since the Romans were now able to carry out their plan +of 218 B. C. which Hannibal had then interrupted. At this moment, too, the +Romans found themselves free from any embarrassment from the side of +Macedonia. In Greece the war had dragged on without any decided advantage +for either side until 207, when the temporary withdrawal of the Roman +fleet enabled Philip and the Achaean Confederacy to win such successes +that their opponents listened to the intervention of the neutral states +and made peace (206 B. C.). In the next year the Romans also came to terms +with Philip. + +*The invasion of Africa: 204 B. C.* In 204 B. C. Scipio transported his +army to Africa. At first, however, he was able to do nothing before the +combined forces of the Carthaginians and the Numidian chief, Syphax, who +had renewed his alliance with them. But in the following year he routed +both armies so decisively that he was able to capture and depose Syphax, +and to set up in his place a rival chieftain, Masinissa, whose adherence +to the Romans brought them a welcome superiority in cavalry. The +Carthaginians now sought to make peace. An armistice was granted them; +Hannibal and all Carthaginian forces were recalled from Italy, and the +preliminary terms of peace drawn up (203 B. C.). Hannibal left Italy with +the remnant of his veterans after a campaign which had established his +reputation as one of the world’s greatest masters of the art of war. For +nearly fifteen years he had maintained himself in the enemy’s country with +greatly inferior forces, and now after inflicting many severe defeats and +never losing a battle he was forced to withdraw because of lack of +resources, not because of the superior generalship of his foes. Before +leaving Italian soil he set up a record of his exploits in the temple of +Hera Lacinia in Bruttium. + +*Zama: 202 B. C.* An almost incredible feeling of over-confidence seems to +have been aroused in Carthage by the arrival of Hannibal. The +Carthaginians broke the armistice by attacking some Roman transports and +refused to meet Scipio’s demand for an explanation. Hostilities were +therefore resumed. At Zama the two greatest generals the war had developed +met in its final battle. Hannibal’s tactics were worthy of his reputation +but his army was crushed by the flight of the Carthaginian mercenaries at +a critical moment, and by the Roman superiority in cavalry(8). + +*Peace: 201 B. C.* For Carthage all hope of resistance was over and she +had to accept the Roman terms. These were: the surrender of all territory +except the city of Carthage and the surrounding country in Africa, an +indemnity of 10,000 talents ($12,000,000), the surrender of all vessels of +war except ten triremes, and of all war elephants, and the obligation to +refrain from carrying on war outside of Africa, or even in Africa unless +with Rome’s consent. The Numidians were united in a strong state on the +Carthaginian borders, under the Roman ally Masinissa. Scipio returned to +Rome to triumph “over the Carthaginians and Hannibal,” and to receive, +from the scene of his victory, the name of Africanus. + + + + V. THE EFFECT OF THE SECOND PUNIC WAR UPON ITALY + + +The destruction of the Carthaginian empire left Rome mistress of the +western Mediterranean and by far the greatest power of the time. But this +victory had only been attained after a tremendous struggle, the greatest +probably that the ancient world ever witnessed, a struggle which called +forth in Rome the patriotic virtues of courage, devotion, and +self-sacrifice to a degree that aroused the admiration of subsequent +generations, which drained her resources of men and treasure and which +left ineffaceable scars upon the soil of Italy. + +One of the main factors in deciding the issue was the Roman command of the +sea which Carthage never felt able to challenge seriously. Another was the +larger citizen body of Rome, and the friendly relations between herself +and her federate allies. This, with the system of universal military +service, gave her a citizen soldiery which in morale and numbers was +superior to the armies of Carthage. As long as Hannibal was in Italy Rome +kept from year to year upwards of 100,000 men in the field. Once only, +after the battle of Cannae, was she unable to replace her losses by the +regular system of recruiting and had to arm 8000 slaves who were promised +freedom as a reward for faithful service. On the other hand, Carthage had +to raise her forces from mercenaries or from subject allies. As her +resources dwindled the former became ever more difficult to obtain, while +the demands made upon the latter caused revolts that cost much effort to +subdue. It required the personality of a Hannibal to develop an _esprit de +corps_ and discipline such as characterized his army in Italy. A third +factor was the absence in the Roman commanders of the personal rivalries +and lack of coöperation which so greatly hampered the Carthaginians in +Spain and in Sicily. Still one must not be led into the error of supposing +that the Carthaginians did not display tenacity and patriotism to a very +high degree. The senatorial class especially distinguished itself by +courage and ability, and there are no evidences of factional strife +hampering the conduct of the war. The Romans overcame the disadvantage of +the annual change of commanders-in-chief by the use of the proconsulship +and pro-praetorship often long prorogued, whereby officers of ability +retained year after year the command of the same armies. This system +enabled them to develop such able generals as Metellus and the Scipios. + +The cost of maintaining her fleet and her armies taxed the financial +resources of Rome to the utmost. The government had to make use of a +reserve fund which had been accumulating in the treasury for thirty years +from the returns of the 5% tax on the value of manumitted slaves, and the +armies in Spain could only be kept in the field by the generosity and +patriotism of several companies of contractors who furnished supplies at +their own expense until the end of the war. An additional burden was the +increased cost of the necessities of life and the danger of a grain +famine, caused by the disturbed conditions in Italy and Sicily and the +withdrawal of so many men from agricultural occupations. In 210 the +situation was only relieved by an urgent appeal to Ptolemy Philopator of +Egypt, from whom grain had to be purchased at three times the usual price. +However, this crisis passed with the pacification of Sicily in the next +year. + +Furthermore, a heavy tribute had been levied upon the man power of the +Roman state. The census list of citizens eligible for military service +fell from about 280,000 at the beginning of the war to 237,000 in 209; and +the federate allies must have suffered at least as heavily. The greatest +losses fell upon the southern part of the peninsula. There, year after +year, the fields had been laid waste and the villages devastated by the +opposing armies, until the rural population had almost entirely +disappeared, the land had become a wilderness, and the more prosperous +cities had fallen into decay. From the effects of these ravages southern +Italy never recovered. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + + + ROMAN DOMINATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN + + + THE SECOND PHASE: ROME AND THE GREEK EAST, 200–167 B. C. + + + + I. THE SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR: 200–196 B. C. + + +*The eastern crisis: 202 B. C.* The Roman senate had been eager to +conclude a satisfactory peace with Carthage as soon as possible in order +to devote its undivided attention to a crisis which had arisen in the +eastern Mediterranean. There Ptolemy IV of Egypt had died in 203 B. C., +leaving the kingdom to an infant son who was in the hands of corrupt and +dissolute advisors. Egypt had lost her command of the eastern +Mediterranean at the time of Rome’s First Carthaginian War, and later (217 +B. C.) had only saved herself in a war against Syria by calling to arms a +portion of the native population. This step had led to internal racial +difficulties which weakened the position of the dynasty. At this juncture +Philip V of Macedon, who had emerged with credit from his recent struggle +with Rome and his foes in Greece, and Antiochus III of Syria, who had just +returned from a series of successful campaigns (212–204 B. C.) which had +recovered for his kingdom its eastern provinces as far as the Indus and +had won for him the surname of “the Great,” judged the moment favorable +for the realization of long-cherished ambitions at the expense of their +rival, Egypt. They formed an alliance for the conquest of the outlying +possessions of the Ptolemies, whereby Philip was to occupy those in the +Aegean, while Antiochus was to seize Phoenicia and Palestine. In 202 B. C. +they opened hostilities. + +*The appeal for Roman intervention: 201 B. C.* But the operations of the +forces of Philip in the Aegean brought him into war with Rhodes and with +Attalus, King of Pergamon, while in Greece a quarrel, which developed +between some of his allies and the Athenians, involved him in hostilities +with the latter. From these three states and from Egypt, which, having +been unable to prevent Antiochus from occupying her Syrian possessions, +was now threatened with invasion, envoys were sent to Rome, to request +Roman intervention on their behalf, on the ground that they were friends +(_amici_) of Rome. + +*The status of amicitia.* The Romans had adopted the idea of international +friendship (_amicitia_, _philia_) from the Greeks in the course of the +third century. Previously, their only conception of friendly relations +between states was that of alliance (_societas_) based upon a perpetual +treaty (_foedus_), which bound each party to render military assistance to +the other and which neither could terminate at discretion. However, under +the influence of ideas current among the Hellenic states they began to +form friendships, i. e. to open up diplomatic relations with states and +rulers. These _amici_ (friends) could remain neutral in case Rome engaged +in war, or they could render Rome support, which was, however, voluntary +and not obligatory. And Rome enjoyed a similar freedom of action with +regard to them. + +*Rome intervenes: 200 B. C.* The Roman Senate, influenced by mixed +motives—sympathy for the Hellenes and their culture, ambition to appear as +arbiters of the fate of the Greek world, a desire for revenge upon Philip +for his partial successes in the late war, and fear of seeing him develop +into a more powerful enemy—was anxious to intervene. But, although the +Roman fetials, the members of the priestly college which was the guardian +of the Roman traditions in international relations, decided that Attalus +and the other Roman _amici_ might be regarded as allies (_socii_) and so +be defended legitimately, the Roman people as a whole shrank from +embarking upon another war. The Comitia once voted against the proposal, +and at a second meeting was only induced to sanction it, when it was +represented to them that they would have to face another invasion of Italy +if they did not anticipate Philip’s action. + +*The Roman ultimatum.* The Senate next sent ambassadors to the East to +present an ultimatum to Philip, and at the same time to negotiate with +Antiochus for the cessation of his attacks upon Egypt, for the Romans did +not wish to have his forces added to those of the Macedonian king. When +Philip was engaged in the siege of Abydos on the Hellespont he received +the Roman terms, which were that he should abstain from attacking any +cities of the Greeks or the possessions of Ptolemy, and should submit to +arbitration his disputes with Attalus and the Rhodians. Upon his rejection +of these proposals the war opened. + +*The Romans cross the Adriatic.* Late in 200 B. C. a Roman army under the +consul Sulpicius crossed into Illyricum and endeavored to penetrate into +Macedonia. However, both in this and in the succeeding year, the Romans, +although aided by the forces of the Aetolian Confederacy, Pergamon, Rhodes +and Athens, were unable to inflict any decisive defeat upon Philip or to +invade his kingdom. + +However, with the arrival of the consul of 198, Titus Flamininus, the +situation speedily changed. The Achaean Confederacy was won over to the +side of Rome, and Flamininus succeeded in forcing Philip to evacuate his +position in Epirus and to withdraw into Thessaly. In the following winter +negotiations for peace were opened, but these led to nothing, for the +Romans demanded the evacuation of Corinth, Chalcis and Demetrias, three +fortresses known as “the fetters of Greece,” and Philip refused to make +this concession. + +*Cynoscephalae: 197 B. C.* The next year military operations were resumed +with both armies in Thessaly. Early in the summer a battle was fought on a +ridge of hills called Cynoscephalae (the Dog’s Heads) where the Romans won +a complete victory. Although the Aetolians tendered valuable assistance in +this engagement, the Macedonian defeat was due to the superior flexibility +of the Roman legionary formation over the phalanx. Philip fled to +Macedonia and sued for peace. The Aetolians and his enemies in Greece +sought his utter destruction, but Flamininus realized the importance of +Macedonia to the Greek world as a bulwark against the Celtic peoples of +the lower Danube and would not support their demands. The terms fixed by +the Roman Senate were: the autonomy of the Hellenes, the evacuation of the +Macedonian possessions in Greece, in the Aegean, and in Illyricum, and an +indemnity of 1000 talents ($1,200,000). The conditions Philip was obliged +to accept (196 B. C.). + +*The proclamation of Flamininus: 196 B. C.* At the Isthmian games of the +same year Flamininus proclaimed the complete autonomy of the peoples who +had been subject to Macedonia. The announcement provoked a tremendous +outburst of enthusiasm. After spending some time in carrying this +proclamation into effect and in settling the claims of various states, +Flamininus returned to Italy in 194, leaving the Greeks to make what use +they could of their freedom. + + + + II. THE WAR WITH ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT AND THE AETOLIANS: 192–189 B. C. + + +*Antiochus in Asia Minor and Thrace.* Even before Flamininus and his army +had withdrawn from Greece the activities of Antiochus had awakened the +mistrust of the Roman Senate and threatened to lead to hostilities. The +Syrian king had completed the conquest of Lower Syria in 198, and then, +profiting by the difficulties in which Philip of Macedon was involved, he +turned his attention towards Asia Minor and Thrace with the hope of +recovering the possessions once held by his ancestor, Seleucus I, in these +quarters. The Romans were at the time too much occupied to oppose him, +and, outwardly, he professed to be the friend of Rome and to be limiting +his activities to the reëstablishing of his empire to its former extent. +Eventually, in 195 B. C., he crossed over into Europe and proceeded to +establish himself in Thrace. Negotiations with the Roman Senate seemed +likely to lead to an agreement that the king should limit his expansion to +Asia and recognize a sort of Roman suzerainty in Europe, when the action +of the Aetolians precipitated a conflict. + +*The Aetolians and Rome.* The Aetolians, who had been Rome’s allies in the +war just concluded and who greatly exaggerated the importance of their +services, were disgruntled because the kingdom of Macedonia had not been +entirely dismembered and they had been restrained from enlarging the +territory of the Confederacy at the expense of their neighbors. In short, +they wished to take the place formerly held by Macedonia among the Greek +states. Accustomed to regard war as a legitimate source of revenue, they +did not easily reconcile themselves to Rome’s preservation of peace in +Hellas. Ever since the battle of Cynoscephalae they had striven to +undermine Roman influence among the Greeks, and now they sought to draw +Antiochus into conflict with Rome. + +*Antiochus invades Greece: 192 B. C.* In 192 B. C. they elected Antiochus +as commander-in-chief of the forces of their confederacy and seized the +fortress of Chalcis. This they offered to the king, to whom they also made +an unauthorized promise of aid from Macedonia. Thereupon, trusting in the +support promised by the Aetolians, Antiochus sailed to Greece with a small +force of 10,000 men. It so happened that Hannibal, who in 196 B. C. had +been forced to flee his native city owing to the machinations of his +enemies and the Romans, was then at the court of Antiochus, where he had +taken refuge. He advised his protector to invade the Italian peninsula, +but Antiochus rejected the advice, probably with wisdom, for such a course +would have required him to win the control of the sea, which was a task +beyond his resources. But when, throughout his whole campaign, he +neglected to make use of the services of the greatest commander of the +age, he committed a most serious blunder. Had Hannibal led the forces of +Antiochus the task of the Romans would not have been so simple. + +*Antiochus driven from Greece: 191 B. C.* In 191 a Roman army under the +consul Acilius Glabrio appeared in Greece and attacked and defeated the +forces of Antiochus at Thermopylae. The king fled to Asia. Contrary to his +hopes he had found but little support in Greece. Philip of Macedon and the +Achaean Confederacy adhered to the Romans, and the Aetolians were rendered +helpless by an invasion of their own country. Furthermore, the Rhodians +and Eumenes, the new King of Pergamon, joined their navies to the Roman +fleet. + +*The Romans cross over to Asia Minor: 190 B. C.* As Antiochus would not +hearken to the terms of peace laid down by the Romans, the latter resolved +upon the invasion of Asia Minor. Two naval battles, won by the aid of +Rhodes and Pergamon, secured the control of the Aegean and in 190 B. C. a +Roman force crossed the Hellespont. For its commander the Senate had +wished to designate Scipio Africanus, the greatest of the Roman generals. +However, as he had recently been consul he was now ineligible for that +office. The obstacle of the law was accordingly circumvented by the +election of his brother Lucius to the consulate and his assignment to this +command, and by the appointment of Publius to accompany him as +extraordinary proconsul, with power equal to his own. + +*Magnesia: 190 B. C.* One decisive victory over Antiochus at Magnesia in +the autumn of 190 B. C. brought him to terms. He agreed to surrender all +territory to the north of the Taurus mountains and west of Pamphylia, to +give up his war elephants, to surrender all but ten of his ships of war, +to pay an indemnity of 15,000 talents ($18,000,000) in twelve annual +instalments, and to abstain from attacking the allies of Rome. Still, +unlike Carthage, he was at liberty to defend himself if attacked. The +Romans then proceeded to establish order in Asia Minor. The territories of +their friends, Rhodes and Pergamon, were materially increased, while the +enemies of the latter, the Celts of Galatia were defeated and forced to +pay a heavy indemnity. Rome retained no territory in Asia, but left the +country divided among a number of small states whose mutual jealousies +rendered impossible the rise of a strong power which could venture to set +aside the Roman arrangements. + +*The subjugation of the Aetolians: 189 B. C.* The Roman campaign of 191 +against the Aetolians had caused the latter, who were also attacked by +Philip of Macedon, to seek terms. However, as the Romans demanded an +unconditional surrender, the Aetolians decided to continue the struggle. +In the next year no energetic measures were taken against them, but in 189 +the consul Fulvius Nobilior pressed the war vigorously and besieged their +chief city, Ambracia. But since the obstinate resistance of its defenders +defied all his efforts, and since the Athenians were trying to act as +mediators in bringing the war to a close, the Romans abandoned their +demand for an unconditional surrender and peace was made on the following +conditions. The Aetolian Confederacy gave up all territory captured by its +enemies during the war and entered into a permanent alliance with Rome, +whereby it was bound to send contingents to the Roman armies. Ambracia was +surrendered and destroyed, and the Romans occupied the pirate nest of +Cephallenia. + + + + III. THE THIRD MACEDONIAN WAR: 171–167 B. C. + + +*Rome and the Greek states.* Although by her alliance with the Aetolians +Rome had planted herself permanently on Greek soil, and in the war with +Antiochus had claimed to exercise a sort of protectorate over the Greek +world, still the Senate as yet gave no indication of reversing the policy +of Flamininus, and the Greek states remained as the friends of Rome in the +enjoyment of political independence. However, it was not long before these +friendly relations became seriously strained and Rome was induced to +embark upon a policy of interference in Greek affairs which ultimately put +an end to the apparent freedom of Hellas. The fundamental cause of this +change was that while Rome interpreted Greek freedom to mean liberty of +action provided that the wishes and arrangements of Rome were respected, +the Greeks understood it to mean the perfect freedom of sovereign +communities, and resented bitterly any infringement of their rights. +Keeping in mind these conflicting points of view, it is easy to see how +difficulties were bound to arise which would inevitably be settled +according to the wishes of the stronger power. + +*Rome and the Achaeans.* The chief specific causes for the change in the +Roman policy are to be found in the troubles of the Achaean Confederacy +and the reviving ambitions of Macedonia. The Confederacy included many +city-states which had been compelled to join it and which sought to regain +their independence. This the Confederacy was determined to prevent. One +such community was Sparta, and the policy of the Achaeans towards it in +the matter of the restoration of Spartan exiles led to the Spartans +appealing to Rome. The Roman decision wounded the susceptibilities of the +Confederacy without settling the problem, and the tendency of the Achaeans +to stand upon their rights provoked the anger of the Romans. Within the +Confederacy there developed a pro-Roman party ready to submit to Roman +dictatorship, and a national party determined to assert their right to +freedom of action. From 180 B. C. the Romans deliberately fostered the +aristocratic factions throughout the cities of Greece, feeling that they +were the more stable element and more in harmony with the policy of the +Senate. As a consequence the democratic factions began to look for outside +support and cast their eyes towards Macedonia. + +*Rome and Macedonia.* Philip V of Macedon considered that the assistance +which he had furnished to Rome in the Syrian War was proof of his loyalty +and warranted the annexation of the territory he had overrun in that +conflict. But the Senate was not inclined to allow the power of Macedonia +to attain dangerous proportions, and he was forced to forego his claims. +Henceforth he was the bitter foe of the Romans. He devoted himself to the +development of the military resources of his kingdom with the ultimate +view of again challenging Rome’s authority in Greece. At his death in 179 +B. C. he left an army of from 30,000 to 40,000 men and a treasure of 6,000 +talents ($7,200,000). His son and successor Perseus inherited his father’s +anti-Roman policy and entered into relations with the foes of Rome +everywhere in Greece. + +*The Third Macedonian War: 171–167 B. C.* But the Senate was kept well +aware of his schemes by his enemies in Greece, especially Eumenes of +Pergamon. Therefore they determined to forestall the completion of his +plans and force him into war. In 172, a Roman commission visited Perseus +and required of him concessions which meant the extinction of his +independence. Upon his refusal to comply with the demands they returned +home and Rome declared war. Now, when success depended upon energetic +action, Perseus sought to avoid the issue and tried to placate the Romans, +but in vain. In 171 a Roman force landed in Greece and made its way to +Thessaly. But in the campaigns of this and the following year the Roman +commanders were too incapable and their troops too undisciplined to make +any headway. Nor did Perseus show ability to take advantage of his +opportunities. Furthermore, by his parsimony he lost the chance to win +valuable aid from the Dardanians, Gesatae, and Celts on his borders. +Finally, in 168, the Romans found an able general in the consul Aemilius +Paulus, who restored the morale of the Roman soldiers and won a complete +victory over Perseus in the battle of Pydna. The Macedonian kingdom was at +an end; its territory was divided into four autonomous republics, which +were forbidden mutual privileges of _commercium_ and _connubium_; a yearly +tribute of fifty talents was imposed upon them; and the royal mines and +domains became the property of the Roman state. + +*The aftermath of the war.* Having disposed of Macedon the Romans turned +their attention to the other Greek states with the intention of rewarding +their friends and punishing their enemies. Everywhere death or exile +awaited the leaders of the anti-Roman party, many of whose names became +known from the seizure of the papers of Perseus. Although the Achaeans had +given no positive proof of disloyalty 1000 of their leading men, among +them the historian Polybius, were carried off to Italy nominally to be +given the chance of clearing themselves before the Senate but really to be +kept as hostages in Italy for the future conduct of the Confederacy. + +The Rhodians, because they had endeavored to secure a peaceful settlement +between Rome and Perseus, were forced to surrender their possessions in +Asia Minor, and a ruinous blow was dealt to their commercial prosperity by +the establishment of a free port at the island of Delos. Eumenes of +Pergamon, whose actions had aroused suspicions, had to recognize the +independence of the Galatians whom he had subdued. Far worse was the fate +of Epirus. There seventy towns were sacked and their inhabitants to the +number of 150,000 carried off into slavery. + +Henceforth it was clear that Rome was the real sovereign in the eastern +Mediterranean and that her friends and allies only enjoyed local autonomy, +while they were expected to be obedient to the orders of Rome. This is +well illustrated by the anecdote of the circle of Popilius. During the +Third Macedonian War, Antiochus IV, Epiphanes, King of Syria, had invaded +Egypt. After the battle of Pydna a Roman ambassador, Popilius by name, was +sent to make him withdraw. Popilius met Antiochus before Alexandria and +delivered the Senate’s message. The king asked for time for consideration, +but the Roman, drawing a circle around him in the sand, bade him answer +before he left the spot. Antiochus yielded and evacuated Egypt. + +The spoils of this war with Macedonia brought an enormous booty into the +Roman treasury, and from this time the war tax on property—the _tributum +civium Romanorum_—ceased to be levied. The income of the empire enabled +the government to relieve Roman citizens of all direct taxation. + + + + IV. CAMPAIGNS IN ITALY AND SPAIN + + +During the Macedonian and Syrian Wars the Romans were busy strengthening +and extending their hold upon northern Italy and Spain. + +*Cisalpine Gaul.* Cisalpine Gaul, which had been largely lost to the +Romans since Hannibal’s invasion, was recovered by wars with the Insubres +and Boii between 198 and 191 B. C. A new military highway, the _via +Flaminia_, was built from Rome to Ariminum in 187, and later extended +under the name of the _via Aemilia_ to Placentia; another, the _via +Cassia_ (171 B. C.), linked Rome and the Po valley by way of Etruria. New +fortresses were established; Bononia (189) and Aquileia (181) as Latin +colonies; Parma and Mutina (183) as colonies of Roman citizens. In this +way Roman authority was firmly established and the way prepared for the +rapid Latinization of the land between the Apennines and the Alps. + +*The Ligurians.* In the same period falls the subjugation of the +Ligurians. In successive campaigns, lasting until 172 B. C., the Romans +gradually extended their sway over the various Ligurian tribes until they +reached the territory of Massalia in southern Gaul. Roman colonies were +founded at Pisa (180) and Luna (177). + +*Spain.* The territory acquired from Carthage in Spain was organized into +two provinces, called Hither and Farther Spain, in 197 B. C. But the +allied and subject Spanish tribes were not yet reconciled to the presence +of the Romans and serious revolts broke out. One of these was subdued by +Marcus Porcius Cato in 196, another by Lucius Aemilius Paulus between 191 +and 189, and a third by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus in 179 and 178 B. C. +The settlement effected by Gracchus secured peace for many years. In Spain +were founded Rome’s first colonies beyond the borders of Italy. Italica, +near Seville, was settled in 206, and Carteia in 171; both as Latin +colonies. + + + + + CHAPTER X + + + TERRITORIAL EXPANSION IN THREE CONTINENTS: 167–133 B. C. + + +*Roman foreign policy.* The foreign relations of Rome from 167 to 133 +B. C. fall into two distinct periods. In the earlier, Roman foreign policy +is directed towards securing Roman domination throughout the Mediterranean +by diplomatic means. War and annexation of territory are avoided as +causing too great a drain upon the resources of the state and creating +difficult administrative problems. In the later period this policy is +abandoned for one more aggressively imperialistic, which does not hesitate +to appeal to armed force and aims at the incorporation of conquered +territory within the empire. This change of policy was largely due to the +influence of that group in the senate which was eager for foreign +commands, the honors of a triumph, and the spoils of war, as well as that +of the non-senatorial financial interests which sought to open up new +fields for exploitation. It was also felt that the prestige of Rome had +suffered by the disregard of some of her diplomatic representations. + +This policy of expansion resulted in prolonged wars in Spain, the +annexation of Carthage and Macedon, the establishment of direct control +over Greece, and the acquisition of territory in Asia Minor. The new +tendencies become apparent shortly before 150 B. C. + + + + I. THE SPANISH WARS: 154–133 B. C. + + +*The revolts of the Celtiberians and the Lusitanians: 154–139 B. C.* In +154 B. C. revolts broke out in both Hither and Farther Spain. A series of +long and bloody campaigns ensued, which were prolonged by the incapacity, +cruelty and faithlessness of the Roman commanders, and caused a heavy +drain upon the military resources of Italy. The chief opponents of the +Romans were the Celtiberians of Hither, and the Lusitanians of Farther +Spain. The desperate character of these wars made service in Spain very +unpopular, and levies for the campaign of 151 were raised with difficulty. +The tribunes interceded to protect certain persons, and when their +intercession was disregarded by the consuls they cast the latter into +prison. In 150 B. C. the pro-consul Galba treacherously massacred +thousands of Lusitanians with whom he had made a treaty. For this he was +brought to trial by Cato, but was acquitted. + +The massacre led to a renewed outbreak under Viriathus, an able guerilla +leader who defied the power of Rome for about eight years (147–139 B. C.). +Forced eventually to yield, he was assassinated during an armistice by +traitors suborned by the Roman commander. The complete subjugation of the +Lusitanians soon followed. + +*The war with Numantia: 143–133 B. C.* Meantime, after an interval of some +years, in 143 the war had broken out afresh in the nearer province where +the struggle centered about the town of Numantia. In 140 the Roman general +Pompeius made peace upon easy terms with the Numantines, but later +repudiated it, and the Senate ignored his arrangements. Again in 138 the +tribunes interfered with the levy, so great was the popular aversion to +service in Spain. The next year witnessed the disgraceful surrender of the +consul Mancinus and his army, comprising 20,000 Romans, to the Numantines. +By concluding a treaty he saved the lives of his army. But the Roman +Senate perfidiously rejected the sworn agreement of the consul, made him +the scapegoat and delivered him bound to the Numantines, who would have +none of him. + +At length, weary of defeats, the Romans re-elected to the consulship for +134 B. C. their tried general Scipio Aemilianus, the conqueror of +Carthage, and appointed him as commander in Spain. His first task was to +restore the discipline in his army. Then he opened the blockade of +Numantia. After a siege of fifteen months the city was starved into +submission and completely destroyed. A commission of ten senators +reorganized the country and Spain entered upon a long era of peace. + + + + II. THE DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE: 149–146 B. C. + + +*The Third Punic War: 149–146 B. C. Its causes.* The treaty which ended +the Second Punic War had forbidden the Carthaginians the right to make war +outside of Africa, or within it without the consent of Rome. At the same +time their enemy Masinissa had been established as a powerful prince on +their borders. In such a situation future Roman intervention was +inevitable. But for a generation Carthage was left in peace. A pro-Roman +party was in control there and bent all its energies to the peaceful +revival of Carthaginian commerce. And the Romans, after a period of +suspicion which ended with the exile of Hannibal in 196, regarded +Carthaginian prosperity without enmity. However, this prosperity in the +end led to the ruin of the city, for it awakened the envy of the Senate +and the financial interests of Rome, which became only too ready to seize +upon any excuse for the destruction of their ancient rival. + +*Cato and Carthage.* The opportunity came through the action of Masinissa. +This chieftain, knowing the restrictions imposed upon Carthage by her +treaty with Rome, and sensing the change in the Roman attitude towards +that city after 167 B. C., revived old claims to Carthaginian territory. +Carthage could only appeal to Rome for protection, but in 161 and 157 the +Roman commissions sent to adjust the disputes decided in favor of +Masinissa. A member of the commission of 157 was the old Marcus Porcius +Cato, who was still obsessed with the fear which Carthage had inspired in +his youth, and who returned from his mission filled with alarm at the +wealth of the city and henceforth devoted all his energies to accomplish +its overthrow. In the following years he concluded all his speeches in the +Senate with the words, “Carthage must be destroyed.” + +*The Roman ultimatum: 149 B. C.* A fresh attack by Masinissa occurred in +151 B. C. Enraged, the Carthaginians took the field against him, but +suffered defeat. The Romans at once prepared for war. Conscious of having +overstepped their rights and fearful of Roman vengeance, the Carthaginians +offered unconditional submission in the hope of obtaining pardon. The +Senate assured them of their lives, property and constitution, but +required hostages and bade them execute the commands of the consuls who +crossed over to Africa with an army and ordered the Carthaginians to +surrender their arms and engines of war. The Carthaginians, desirous of +appeasing the Romans at all costs, complied. Then came the ultimatum. They +must abandon their city and settle at least ten miles from the sea coast. +This was practically a death sentence to the ancient mercantile city. +Seized with the fury of despair the Carthaginians improvised weapons and, +manning their walls, bade defiance to the Romans. + +*The siege of Carthage: 149–146 B. C.* For two years the Romans, owing to +the incapacity of their commanders, accomplished little. Then +disappointment and apprehension led the Roman people to demand as consul +Scipio Aemilianus, who had already distinguished himself as a military +tribune. He was only a candidate for the aedileship and legally ineligible +for the consulate. But the restrictions upon his candidature were +suspended, and he was elected consul for 147 B. C. A special law entrusted +him with the conduct of the war in Africa. He restored discipline in the +Roman army, defeated the Carthaginians in the field and energetically +pressed the siege of the city. The Carthaginians suffered frightfully from +hunger and their forces were greatly reduced. In the spring of 146 B. C. +the Romans forced their way into the city and captured it after desperate +fighting in the streets and houses. The handful of survivors were sold +into slavery, their city levelled to the ground and its site declared +accursed. Out of the Carthaginian territory the Romans created a new +province, called Africa. The last act in the dramatic struggle between the +two cities was ended. + + + + III. WAR WITH MACEDONIA AND THE ACHAEAN CONFEDERACY: 149–146 B. C. + + +*The Fourth Macedonian War: 149–148 B. C.* The mutual rivalries among the +Greek states, which frequently evoked senatorial intervention, and the +ill-will occasioned by the harshness of the Romans towards the anti-Roman +party everywhere, caused a large faction among the Hellenes to be ready to +seize the first favorable opportunity for freeing Greece from Roman +suzerainty. + +Relying upon this antagonism to Rome, a certain Andriscus, who claimed to +be a son of Perseus, appeared in Macedonia in 149 and claimed the throne. +He made himself master of the country and defeated the first Roman forces +sent against him. However, he was crushed in the following year at Pydna +by the praetor Metellus, and Macedonia was recovered. The four republics +were not restored but the whole country was organized as a Roman province +(148 B. C.). + +*The Achaeans assert their independence.* The Achaean Confederacy was one +of the states where the feeling against Rome ran especially high. There +the irksomeness of the Roman protectorate was heightened by the return of +the survivors of the political exiles of 167, 300 in number. The +anti-Roman party, supported by the extreme democratic elements in the +cities, was in control of the Confederacy when border difficulties with +Sparta broke out afresh in 149 B. C. The matter was referred to the Senate +for settlement, but the Achaeans did not await its decision. They attacked +and defeated Sparta, confident that the hands of the Romans were tied by +the wars in Spain, Africa and Macedonia. + +*The dissolution of the Confederacy: 146 B. C.* The Roman Senate +determined to punish the Confederacy by detaching certain important cities +from its membership. But in 147 the Achaean assembly tempestuously refused +to carry out the orders of the Roman ambassadors, in spite of the fact +that the Macedonian revolt had been crushed. Their leaders, expecting no +mercy from Rome, prepared for war and they were joined by the Boeotians +and other peoples of central Greece. The next year they resolved to attack +Sparta, whereupon the Romans sent a fleet and an army against them under +the consul Lucius Mummius. Metellus, the conqueror of Macedonia, subdued +central Greece and Mummius routed the forces of the Confederacy at +Leucopetra on the Isthmus (146 B. C.). Corinth was sacked and burnt; its +treasures were carried off to Rome; and its inhabitants sold into slavery. +Its land, like that of Carthage, was added to the Roman public domain. +Like Alexander’s destruction of Thebes this was a warning which the other +cities of Greece could not misinterpret. A senatorial commission dissolved +the Achaean Confederacy as well as the similar political combinations of +the Boeotians and Phocians, The cities of Greece entered into individual +relations with Rome. Those which had stood on the side of Rome, as Athens +and Sparta, retained their previous status as Roman allies; the rest were +made subject and tributary. Greece was not organized as a province, but +was put under the supervision of the governor of Macedonia. + + + + IV. THE ACQUISITION OF ASIA + + +*The province of Asia.* In 133 B. C. died Attalus III, King of Pergamon, +the last of his line. In his will he made the Roman people the heir to his +kingdom, probably with the feeling that otherwise disputes over the +succession would end in Roman interference and conquest. The Romans +accepted the inheritance but before they took possession a claimant +appeared in the person of an illegitimate son of Eumenes II, one +Aristonicus. He occupied part of the kingdom, defeated and killed the +consul Crassus in 131, but was himself beaten and captured by the latter’s +successor Perpena in 129. + +Out of the kingdom of Pergamon there was then formed the Roman province of +Asia (129 B. C.). The occupation of this country made Rome mistress of +both shores of the Aegean and gave her a convenient bridgehead for an +advance further eastward. The question of the financial administration of +Asia and its relation to Roman politics will be discussed in a subsequent +chapter. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + + + THE ROMAN STATE AND THE EMPIRE: 265–133 B. C. + + +The conquest of the hegemony of the Mediterranean world entailed the most +serious consequences for the Roman state itself. Indeed, the wars which +form the subject of the preceding chapters were the ultimate cause of the +crisis that led to the fall of the Roman Republic. In the present chapter +it will be our task to trace the changes and indicate the problems that +had their origin in these wars and the ensuing conquests. Such a survey is +best begun by considering the character of the Roman government during the +epoch in question. + + + + I. THE RULE OF THE SENATORIAL ARISTOCRACY + + +*The Senate’s control over the magistrates, tribunate, and assemblies.* +From the passing of the Hortensian Law in 287 B. C. to the tribunate of +Tiberius Gracchus in 133 B. C. the Senate exercised a practically +unchallenged control over the policy of the Roman state. For the Senate +was able to guide or nullify the actions of the magistrates, the +tribunate, and the assemblies; a condition made possible by the +composition of the Senate, which, in addition to the ex-magistrates, +included all those above the rank of quaestor actually in office, and by +the peculiar organization and limitations of the Roman popular assemblies. + +The higher magistrates were simply committees of senators elected by the +assemblies. Their interests were those of the Senate as a whole, and +constitutional practice required them to seek its advice upon all matters +of importance. The Senate assigned to the consuls and praetors their +spheres of duty, appointed pro-magistrates and allotted them their +commands, and no contracts let by the censors were valid unless approved +by the Senate. Except when the consuls were in the city, the Senate +controlled all expenditures from the public treasury. + +The chief weapon of the tribunes, their right of veto, which had been +instituted as a check upon the power of the Senate and the magistrates, +became an instrument whereby the Senate bridled the tribunate itself. For, +since after 287 the plebeians speedily came to constitute a majority in +the senate chamber, it was not difficult for this body to secure the veto +of the tribunes upon any measures of which it disapproved, whether they +originated with a consul or a tribune. + +And, because the popular assemblies could only vote upon such measures or +for such candidates as were submitted to them by the presiding +magistrates, the Senate through its influence over magistrates and +tribunes controlled both the legislative and elective activities of the +comitia. + +*The Senate and the public policy.* Since the Senate was a permanent body, +easily assembled and regularly summoned by the consuls to discuss all +matters of public concern, it was natural that the foreign policy of the +state should be entirely in its hands—subject, of course, to the right of +the Assembly of the Centuries to sanction the making of war or peace—and +hence the organization and government of Rome’s foreign possessions became +a senatorial prerogative. And, likewise, it fell to the Senate to deal +with all sudden crises which constituted a menace to the welfare of the +state, like the spread of the Bacchanalian associations which was ended by +the _Senatus Consultum_ of 186 B. C. And, finally, the Senate claimed the +right to proclaim a state of martial law by passing the so-called _Senatus +Consultum ultimum_, a decree which authorized the magistrates to use any +means whatsoever to preserve the state. + +*Polybius and the Roman Constitution.* Thus in spite of the fact that the +Greek historian and statesman, Polybius, who was an intimate of the +governing circles in Rome about the middle of the second century B. C., in +looking at the form of the Roman constitution could call it a nice balance +between monarchy, represented by the consuls, aristocracy, represented by +the Senate, and democracy, represented by the tribunate and assemblies, in +actual practice the state was governed by the Senate. It is true that the +Senate was not always absolute master of the situation. Between 233 and +217 B. C., the popular leader Caius Flaminius, as tribune, consul and +censor, was able to carry out a democratic policy at variance with the +Senate’s wishes, but with his death the control of the Senate became +firmer than ever. From what has been said it will readily be seen that the +Senate’s power rested mainly upon custom and precedent and upon the +prestige and influence of itself as a whole and its individual members, +not upon powers guaranteed by law. The Roman republic never was a true +democracy, but was strongly aristocratic in character. + +*The aristocracy of office.* The Senate was representative of a narrow +circle of wealthy patrician and plebeian families, which constituted the +new nobility that came into being with the cessation of the +patricio-plebeian struggle and which was in truth an office-holding +aristocracy. For, after the initial widening of the circle of families +enobled by admission to the Senate, the third century saw these create for +themselves a real, if not legal, monopoly of the magistracies and thus of +the regular gateway to the senate chamber. This they could do because the +expense involved in holding public offices, which were without salary, and +in conducting the election campaigns, which became increasingly costly as +time went on, deterred all but persons of considerable fortune from +seeking office, and because the exercise of personal influence and the +right of the officer conducting an election to reject the candidature of a +person of whom he disapproved, made it possible to prevent in most cases +the election of any one not _persona grata_ to the majority of the +senators. It was only individuals of exceptional force and ability, like +Cato the Elder, and in later times Marius and Cicero, who could penetrate +the barriers thus established. Such a person was signalled as a _novus +homo_, a “new-comer.” + +*The goal of office.* While Rome was hard-pressed by her enemies and while +the issue of the struggle for world empire was still in doubt, the Senate +displayed to a remarkable degree the qualities of self-sacrifice and +steadfastness which so largely contributed to Rome’s ultimate triumph, as +well as great political adroitness in the foreign relations of the state. +But with the passing of all external dangers, personal ambition and class +interest became more and more evident to the detriment of its patriotism +and prestige. Office-holding, with the opportunities it offered for ruling +over subject peoples and of commanding in profitable wars, became a ready +means for securing for oneself and one’s friends the wealth which was +needed to maintain the new standard of luxurious living now affected by +the ruling class of the imperial city. The higher magistracies were +rendered still more valuable in the eyes of the senators when the latter +were prohibited from participating directly in commercial ventures outside +of Italy by a law passed in 219 B. C., which forbade senators to own ships +of seagoing capacity, with the object probably of preventing the foreign +policy of the state from being directed by commercial interests. As a +consequence the rivalry for office became extremely keen, and the +customary canvassing for votes tended to degenerate into bribery both of +individuals and of the voting masses. In the latter case it took the form +of entertaining the public by the elaborate exhibition of lavish +spectacles in the theatre and the arena. + +*Attempts to restrain abuses.* However, the sense of responsibility was +still strong enough in the Senate as a whole to secure the passing of +legislation designed to check this evil. The Villian law (_lex Villia +annalis_) of 180 B. C. established a regular sequence for the holding of +the magistracies. Henceforth the quaestorship had to be held before the +praetorship, and the latter before the consulate. The aedileship was not +made imperative, but was regularly sought after the quaestorship, because +it involved the supervision of the public games and festivals, and in this +way gave a good opportunity for ingratiating oneself with the populace. +The tribunate was not considered as one of the regular magistracies, and +the censorship, according to the custom previously established, followed +the consulship. The minimum age of twenty-eight years was set for the +holding of the quaestorship, and an interval of two years was required +between successive magistracies. Somewhat later, about 151 B. C., +re-elections to the same office were forbidden. In the years 181 and 159 +B. C. laws were passed which established severe penalties for the bribery +of electors. Another attempt to check the same abuse was the introduction +of the secret ballot for voting in the assemblies. The Gabinian Law of 139 +provided for the use of the ballot in elections; two years later the +Cassian Law extended its use to trials in the _comitia_, and in 131 it was +finally employed in the legislative assemblies. + +But these laws accomplished no great results, as they dealt merely with +the symptoms, and not with the cause of the disorder. And the Roman +Senate, deteriorating in capacity and morale, was facing administrative, +military, and social problems, which might well have been beyond its power +to solve even in the days of its greatness. As we have indicated the +Senate’s power rested largely upon its successful foreign policy, but its +initial failures in the last wars with Macedonia and Carthage, and the +long and bloody struggles in Spain, had weakened its reputation and its +claim to control the public policy was challenged, from the middle of the +second century B. C., by the new commercial and capitalist class. + +*The Roman Constitution from 265 to 133 B. C.* During the period in +question there were few changes of importance in the political +organization of the Roman state. The dictatorship had been discarded, +although not abolished, before the close of the Hannibalic War, a step +which was in harmony with the policy of the Senate which sought to prevent +any official from attaining too independent a position. In 242 B. C. a +second praetorship, the office of the _praetor peregrinus_ or alien +praetor was established. The duty of this officer was to preside over the +trial of disputes arising between Roman citizens and foreigners. Two +additional praetorships were added in 227, and two more in 197 B. C., to +provide provincial governors of praetorian rank. In 241 B. C. the last two +rural tribal districts were created, making thirty-five tribes in all. +Hereafter when new settlements of Roman colonists were undertaken, or new +peoples admitted to citizenship, they were assigned to one or other of the +old tribes, and membership therein became hereditary, irrespective of +change of residence. + +*The reform of the centuries.* At some time subsequent to the creation of +these last two tribes, very probably in the censorship of Flaminius in 220 +B. C., a change was made in the organization of the centuriate assembly. +The centuries were organized on the basis of the tribes, an equal number +of centuries of juniors and seniors of each class being assigned to each +tribe.(9) The reform was evidently democratic in its nature, as it +diminished the relative importance of the first class, deprived the +equestrian centuries of the right of casting the first votes—a right now +exercised by a century chosen by lot for each meeting—and placed in +control of the Assembly of the Centuries the same elements as controlled +the Assembly of the Tribes. + +*The comitia an antiquated institution.* But by the second century B. C. +the Roman primary assemblies had become antiquated as a vehicle for the +expression of the wishes of the majority of the Roman citizens, because +with the spread of the Roman citizen body throughout Italy it was +impossible for more than a small percentage to attend the meetings of the +Comitia, and this situation became much worse with the settlement of +Romans in their foreign dependencies. It was the failure of the Romans to +devise some adequate substitute for this institution of a primitive +city-state, which was largely responsible for the people’s loss of its +sovereign powers. As it was, the assemblies came to be dominated by the +urban proletariat, a class absolutely unfitted to represent the Roman +citizens as a whole. + +*The allies of Rome in Italy.* The Latin and Italian allies, with the +exception of such as were punished for their defection in the war with +Hannibal, remained in their previous federate relationship with Rome. +However, the Romans were no longer careful to adhere strictly to their +treaty rights, and began to trespass upon the local independence of their +allies. Roman magistrates did not hesitate to issue orders to the +magistrates of federate communities, and to punish them for failure to +obey or for lack of respect. The spoils of war, furthermore, were no +longer divided in equal proportions between the Roman and allied troops. +Added to these aggravations came the fact that the allies were after all +dependents and had no share in the government or the financial +administration of the lands they had helped to conquer. But their most +serious grievance was their obligation to military service, which was +exacted without relaxation, and which, owing to reasons which we shall +discuss later, had become much more burdensome than when originally +imposed. It is not surprising, then, to find that by 133 B. C. the +federate allies were demanding to be admitted to Roman citizenship. + +However, it was not in Rome or in Italy, but in Rome’s foreign possessions +that the important administrative development of the third and second +centuries occurred. + + + + II. THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROVINCES + + +*The status of the conquered peoples.* The acquisition of Sicily in 241, +and of Sardinia and Corsica in 238 B. C. raised the question whether Rome +should extend to her non-Italian conquests the same treatment accorded to +the Italian peoples and include them within her military federation. This +question was answered in the negative and the status of federate allies +was only accorded to such communities as had previously attained this +relationship or merited it by zeal in the cause of Rome. All the rest were +treated as subjects, not as allies, enjoying only such rights as the +conquerors chose to leave them. The distinguishing mark of their condition +was their obligation to pay a tax or tribute to Rome. Except on special +occasions they were not called upon to render military service. + +*The provinces.* At first the Romans tried to conduct the administration +of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica through the regular city magistrates, but +finding this unsatisfactory in 227 B. C. they created two separate +administrative districts—Sicily forming one, and the other two islands the +second—called provinces from the word _provincia_, which meant the sphere +of duty assigned to a particular official. And in fact special magistrates +were assigned to them, two additional praetors being annually elected for +this purpose. In like manner the Romans in 197 organized the provinces of +Hither and Farther Spain, in 148 the province of Macedonia, in 146 that of +Africa, and in 129 Asia. Subsequent conquests were treated in the same +way. For the Spanish provinces new praetorships were created, “with +consular authority” because of the military importance of their posts. But +for those afterwards organized no new magistracies were added, and the +practice was established of appointing as governor an ex-consul or +ex-praetor with the title of pro-consul or pro-praetor. This method of +appointing provincial governors became, as we shall see, the rule for all +provinces under the republican régime. + +*The provincial charter.* Although each province had its own peculiar +features, in general all were organized and administered in the following +way. A provincial charter (_lex provinciae_) drawn up on the ground by a +commission of ten senators and ratified by the Senate fixed the rights and +obligations of the provincials. Each province was an aggregate of +communities (_civitates_), enjoying city or tribal organization, which had +no political bond of unity except in the representative of the Roman +authority. There were three classes of these communities: the free and +federate, the free and non-tributary, and the tributary (_civitates +liberae et foederatae_, _liberae et immunes_, _stipendiariae_). The first +were few in number and although within the borders of a province did not +really belong to it, as they were free allies of Rome whose status was +assured by a permanent treaty with the Roman state. The second class, +likewise not very numerous, enjoyed exemption from taxation by virtue of +the provincial charter, and this privilege the Senate could revoke at +will. The third group was by far the most numerous and furnished the +tribute laid upon the province. As a rule each of the communities enjoyed +its former constitution and laws, subject to the supervision of the Roman +authorities. + +*The Roman governor.* Over this aggregate of communities stood the Roman +governor and his staff. We have already seen how the governor was +appointed and what was his rank among the Roman magistrates. His term of +office was regularly for one year, except in the Spanish provinces where a +term of two years was usual. His duties were of a threefold nature: +military, administrative, and judicial. He was in command of the Roman +troops stationed in the province for the maintenance of order and the +protection of the frontiers; he supervised the relations between the +communities of his province and their internal administration, as well as +the collection of the tribute; he presided over the trial of the more +serious cases arising among provincials, over all cases between +provincials and Romans, or between Roman citizens. Upon entering his +province the governor published an edict, usually modelled upon that of +his predecessors or the praetor’s edict at Rome, stating what legal +principles he would enforce during his term of office. The province was +divided into judicial circuits (_conventus_), and cases arising in each of +these were tried in designated places at fixed times. + +*The governor’s staff.* The governor was accompanied by a quaestor, who +acted as his treasurer and received the provincial revenue from the tax +collectors. His staff also comprised three _legati_ or lieutenants, +senators appointed by the senate, but usually nominated by himself, whose +function it was to assist him with their counsel and act as his deputies +when necessary. He also took with him a number of companions (_comites_), +usually young men from the families of his friends, who were given this +opportunity of gaining a knowledge of provincial government and who could +be used in any official capacity. In addition, the governor brought his +own retinue, comprising clerks and household servants. + +*The provincial taxes.* The taxes levied upon the provinces were at first +designed to pay the expenses of occupation and defence. Hence they bore +the name _stipendium_, or soldiers’ pay. At a later date the provinces +were looked upon as the estates of the Roman people and the taxes as a +form of rental. The term _tributum_ (tribute), used of the property tax +imposed on Roman citizens did not come into general use for the provincial +revenues until a later epoch. As a rule the Romans accepted the tax system +already in vogue in each district before their occupancy, and exacted +either a fixed annual sum from the province as in Spain, Africa and +Macedonia or one tenth (_decuma_) of the annual produce of the soil, as in +Sicily and Asia. The tribute imposed by the Romans was not higher, but +usually lower than what had been exacted by the previous rulers. The +public lands, mines, and forests, of the conquered state were incorporated +in the Roman public domain, and the right to occupy or exploit them was +leased to individuals or companies of contractors. Customs dues +(_portoria_) were also collected in the harbors and on the frontiers of +the provinces. + +*The tax collectors.* Following the custom established in Italy, the Roman +state did not collect its taxes in the provinces through public officials +but leased for a period of five years the right to collect each particular +tax to the private corporation of tax collectors (_publicani_) which made +the highest bid for the privilege. These corporations were joint stock +companies, with a central office at Rome and agencies in the provinces in +which they were interested. It was this system which was responsible for +the greatest evils of Roman provincial administration. For the _publicani_ +were usually corporations of Romans, bent on making a profit from their +speculation, and practised under the guise of raising the revenue, all +manner of extortion upon the provincials. It was the duty of the governor +to check their rapacity, but from want of sympathy with the oppressed and +unwillingness to offend the Roman business interests this duty was rarely +performed. Hand in hand with tax collecting went the business of money +lending, for the Romans found a state of chronic bankruptcy prevailing in +the Greek world and made loans everywhere at exorbitant rates of interest. +To collect overdue payments the Roman bankers appealed to the governor, +who usually quartered troops upon delinquent communities until they +satisfied their creditors. + +*The rapacity of the governors.* A further source of misgovernment lay in +the greed of the governor and his staff. The temptations of unrestricted +power proved too great for the morality of the average Roman. It is true +that there were not wanting Roman governors who maintained the highest +traditions of Roman integrity in public office, but there were also only +too many who abused their power to enrich themselves. While the shortness +of his term of office prevented a good governor from thoroughly +understanding the conditions of his province, it served to augment the +criminal zeal with which an avaricious proconsul, often heavily indebted +from the expenses of his election campaigns, sought to wring a fortune +from the hapless provincials. Bribes, presents, illegal exactions, and +open confiscations were the chief means of amassing wealth. In this the +almost sovereign position of the governor and his freedom from immediate +senatorial control guaranteed him a free hand. + +*The quaestio rerum repetundarum: 149 B. C.* The mischief became so +serious that in 149 B. C. the public conscience awoke to the wrong and +ruin inflicted upon the provinces, and by a Calpurnian Law a standing +court was instituted for the trial of officials accused of extortion in +the provinces. This court was composed of fifty jurors drawn from the +Senate and was presided over by a praetor. From its judgment there was no +appeal. Its establishment marks an important innovation in Roman legal +procedure in criminal cases. It is possible also that the Senate was +encouraged to undertake the organization of new provinces shortly after +149 because it believed that this court would serve as an adequate means +of controlling the provincial governors. But it was useless to expect very +much from such a tribunal. The cost of a long trial at Rome, the +difficulty of securing testimony, the inadequacy of the penalty provided, +which was limited to restitution of the damage inflicted, as well as the +fear of vengeance from future governors, would deter the majority of +sufferers from seeking reparation. Nor could an impartial verdict be +expected from a jury of senators trying one of their own number for an +offense which many of them regarded as their prerogative. And so till the +end of the republic the provincials suffered from the oppression of their +governors, as well as from that of the tax-collectors. + + + + III. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT + + +*Outstanding characteristics of the period.* The epoch of foreign +expansion which we are considering was marked by a complete revolution in +the social and economic life of Rome and Italy. It witnessed the spread of +the slave plantations, the decline of the free Italian peasantry, the +growth of the city mob of Rome, the great increase in the power of the +commercial and capitalist class, and the introduction of a new standard of +living among the well-to-do. + +*The slave **plantations.* The introduction of the plantation system, that +is, of the cultivation of large estates (_latifundia_) by slave labor, was +the result of several causes: the Roman system of administering the public +domain, the devastation of the rural districts of South Italy in the +Hannibalic War, the abundant supply of cheap slaves taken as prisoners of +war, and the inability of the small proprietors to maintain themselves in +the face of the demands of military service abroad and the competition of +imported grain as well as that of the _latifundia_ themselves. + +The public domain that was not required for purposes of colonization had +always been open for pasturage or cultivation to persons paying a nominal +rental to the state. Those who profited most from this system were the +wealthier landholders who could occupy and cultivate very considerable +areas. This fact explains the senatorial opposition to the division and +settlement of the _ager Gallicus_ proposed and carried by the tribune +Flaminius in 233 B. C. The dangers of the practice to the smaller +proprietors caused the passing of laws, probably late in the third +century, which limited the amount of public land to be occupied by any +individual and his family. But these laws were disregarded, for the Senate +administered the public domain and the senators were the wealthy +landholders. After several generations the public lands occupied in this +way came to be regarded as private property. The havoc wrought by Hannibal +in South Italy, where he destroyed four hundred communities, caused the +disappearance of the country population and opened the way for the +acquisition of large estates there, and the law which restricted the +commercial activities of senators and forbade their engaging in tax +collecting or undertaking similar state contracts encouraged them to +invest their capital in Italian land and stimulated the growth of their +holdings. + +The change in agrarian conditions in Italy was also advantageous to large +estates. The cheapness of Sicilian grain rendered it more profitable in +Italy to cultivate vineyards and olive orchards, and to raise cattle and +sheep on a large scale. For the latter wide acreages were needed: a summer +pasturage in the mountains and a winter one in the lowlands of the coast. +Abundant capital and cheap labor were other requisites. And slaves were to +be had in such numbers that their labor was exploited without regard for +their lives. Cato the Elder, who exemplified the vices as well as the +virtues of the old Roman character, treated his slaves like cattle and +recommended that they be disposed of when no longer fit for work. Often +the slaves worked in irons, and were housed in underground prisons +(_ergastula_). The dangers of the presence of such masses of slaves so +brutally treated came to light in the Sicilian Slave War which broke out +in 136 B. C., when over 200,000 of them rebelled and defied the Roman arms +for a period of four years. + +*The decline of the free peasantry.* Partly a cause and partly a result of +the spread of the _latifundia_ was the decline of the free Italian +peasantry. As we have seen, the competition of the slave plantations +proved ruinous to those who tilled their own land. But another very potent +cause contributing to this result was the burden imposed by Rome’s foreign +wars. Since only those who had a property assessment of at least 4000 +asses were liable to military service, and since the majority of Roman +citizens were engaged in agricultural occupations, the Roman armies were +chiefly recruited from the country population. And no longer for a part of +each year only, but for a number of consecutive years, was the peasant +soldier kept from his home to the inevitable detriment of his fields and +his finances. Furthermore, a long period of military service with the +chances of gaining temporary riches from the spoils of war unfitted men +for the steady, laborious life of the farm. And so many discharged +soldiers, returning to find that their lands had been mortgaged in their +absence for the support of their families, and being unable or unwilling +to gain a livelihood on their small estates, let these pass into the hands +of their wealthier neighbors and flocked to Rome to swell the mob of +idlers there. Then came the heavy losses of the Second Punic and the +Spanish Wars. Although the census list of Roman citizens eligible for +military service shows an increase in the first half of the second century +B. C., between 164 and 136 it sank from 337,000 to 317,000. Yet the levies +had to be raised, even if, as we have seen, they were unpopular enough to +induce the tribunes to intercede against them. The Latin and Italian +allies felt the same drain as the Roman citizens, but had no recourse to +the tribunician intercession. The Senate was consequently brought face to +face with a very serious military problem. The provinces, once occupied, +had to be kept in subjection and defended. Since the Roman government +would not, or dare not, raise armies in the provinces, it had to meet +increasing military obligations with declining resources. + +*The urban proletariat.* Another difficulty was destined to arise from the +growth of a turbulent mob in Rome itself. This was in large measure due to +Rome’s position as the political and commercial center of the +Mediterranean world. By the end of this period of expansion the city had a +population of at least half a million, rivalling Alexandria and Antioch, +the great Hellenistic capitals. Although not a manufacturing city, Rome +had always been important as a market, and now her streets were thronged +with traders from all lands, and with persons who could cater in any way +to the wants and the appetites of an imperial city. There was a large +proportion of slaves belonging to the mansions of the wealthy, and of +freedmen engaged in business for themselves or for their patrons. Hither +flocked also the peasants who for various reasons had abandoned their +agricultural pursuits to pick up a precarious living in the city or to +depend upon the bounty of the patron to whom they attached themselves. +Owing to the slowness of transportation by land and its uncertainties by +sea, the congestion of population in Rome made the problem of supplying +the city with food one of great difficulty, since a rise in the price of +grain, or a delay in the arrival of the Sicilian wheat convoy would bring +the proletariat to the verge of starvation. And upon the popular +assemblies the presence of this unstable element had an unwholesome +effect. Dominated as these assemblies were by those who resided in the +city, their actions were bound to be determined by the particular +interests and passions of this portion of the citizen body. Furthermore, +in the _contiones_ or mass meetings for political purposes, non-citizens +as well as citizens could attend, and this afforded a ready means for +evoking the mob spirit in the hope of overawing the Comitia. This danger +would not have been present if the Roman constitution had provided +adequate means for policing the city. As it was, however, beyond the +magistrates and their personal attendants, there were no persons +authorized to maintain order in the city. And since the consuls lacked +military authority within the _pomerium_, there were no armed forces at +their disposal. + +*The equestrian order.* The Roman custom of depending as much as possible +upon individual initiative for the conduct of public business, as in the +construction of roads, aqueducts and other public works, the operation of +mines, and the collection of taxes of all kinds, had given rise to a class +of professional public contractors—the _publicani_. Their operations, with +the allied occupations of banking and money-lending, had been greatly +enlarged by the period of war and conquest which followed 265 B. C. +through the opportunities it brought for the exploitation of subject +peoples. Roman commerce, too, had spread with the extension of Roman +political influence. The exclusion of senators from direct participation +in these ventures led to the rise of a numerous, wealthy and influential +class whose interests differed from and often ran counter to those of the +senatorial order. In general they supported an aggressive foreign policy, +with the ruthless exploitation of conquered peoples, and they were +powerful enough to influence the destruction of Carthage and Corinth. In +the course of the second century this class developed into a distinct +order in the state—the equestrians. Since the Roman cavalry had +practically ceased to serve in the field, the term _equites_ came to be +applied to all those whose property would have permitted their serving as +cavalry at their own expense. The majority of these was formed by the +business class, although under the name of equestrians were still included +such members of the senatorial families as had not yet held office. + +*The new scale of living.* In the course of their campaigns in Sicily, +Africa, Greece, and Asia Minor, the Romans came into close contact with a +civilization older and higher than their own, where the art of living was +practised with a refinement and elegance unknown in Latium. In this +respect the conquerors showed themselves only too ready to learn from the +conquered, and all the luxurious externals of culture were transplanted to +Rome. But the old Periclean motto, “refinement without extravagance,” did +not appeal to the Romans who, like typical _nouveaux riches_ vied with one +another in the extravagant display of their wealth. The simple Roman house +with its one large _atrium_, serving at once as kitchen, living room, and +bed chamber, was completely transformed. The _atrium_ became a pillared +reception hall, special rooms were added for the various phases of +domestic life; in the rear of the _atrium_ arose a Greek peristyle +courtyard, and the house was filled with costly sculptures and other works +of art, plundered or purchased in the cities of Hellas. Banquets were +served on silver plate and exhibited the rarest and costliest dishes. The +homes of the wealthy were thronged with retinues of slaves, each specially +trained for some particular task; the looms of the East supplied garments +of delicate texture. A wide gulf yawned between the life of the rich and +the life of the poor. + +*Sumptuary legislation.* But the change did not come about without +vigorous opposition from the champions of the old Roman simplicity of life +who saw in the new refinement and luxury a danger to Roman vigor and +morality. The spokesman of the reactionaries was Cato the Elder, who in +his censorship in 184 B. C. assessed articles of luxury and expensive +slaves at ten times their market value and made them liable to taxation at +an exceptionally high rate, in case the property tax should be levied. But +such action was contrary to the spirit of the age; the next censors let +his regulations fall into abeyance. Attempts to check the growth of luxury +by legislation were equally futile. The Oppian Law, passed under stress of +the need for conservation in 215 B. C., restricting female extravagance in +dress and ornaments, was repealed in 195, and subsequent attempts at +sumptuary legislation in 181, 161, and 143, were equally in vain. + +To resume: in 133 B. C. the Roman state was faced with a bitter contest +between the Senate and the equestrians for the control of the government, +the Comitia was dominated by an unstable urban proletariat, the +provisioning of Rome was a source of anxiety, dissatisfaction was rife +among the Latin and Italian allies, the military resources of the state +were weakening, while its military burdens were greater than ever, and the +ruling circles had begun to display unmistakable signs of a declining +public morality. With a constitution adapted to a city-state Rome was now +forced to grapple with all the problems of imperial government. + + + + IV. CULTURAL PROGRESS + + +*Greek influences.* In addition to creating new administrative problems +and transforming the economic life of Italy, the expansion of Rome gave a +tremendous impulse to its cultural development. The chief stimulus thereto +was the close contact with Hellenic civilization. We have previously +mentioned that Rome had been subject to Greek influences both indirectly +through Etruria and directly from the Greek cities of South Italy, but +with the conquest of the latter, and the occupation of Sicily, Greece, and +part of Asia Minor, these influences became infinitely more immediate and +powerful. They were intensified by the number of Greeks who flocked to +Rome as ambassadors, teachers, physicians, merchants and artists, and by +the multitude of educated Greek slaves employed in Roman households. And +as the Hellenic civilization was more ancient and had reached a higher +stage than the Latin, it was inevitable that the latter should borrow +largely from the former and consciously or unconsciously imitate it in +many respects. In fact the intellectual life of Rome never attained the +freedom and richness of that of Greece upon which it was always dependent. +In this domain, as Horace phrased it, “Captive Greece took captive her +rude conqueror.” + +*New tendencies in Roman education.* A knowledge of Greek now became part +of the equipment of every educated man, the training of the sons of the +well-to-do was placed in the hands of Greek tutors, who were chiefly +domestic slaves, and the study of the masterpieces of Greek literature +created the genuine admiration for Greek achievements and the respect that +men like Flamininus showed towards their Greek contemporaries—a respect +which the political ineptitude of the latter soon changed to contempt. +These tendencies were vigorously opposed by the conservative Cato, who +regarded Greek influences as demoralizing. Following the old Roman custom +he personally trained his sons, and had no sympathy with a philhellenic +foreign policy. But even Cato in the end yielded so far as to learn Greek. +The chief patrons of Hellenism were men of the type of Scipio Africanus +the Elder; notably Titus Flamininus, Aemilius Paulus and Scipio +Aemilianus, at whose house gathered the leading intellectuals of the day. +Intimate associates there were the Achaean historian Polybius and the +Stoic philosopher Panaetius of Rhodes. + +*Roman literature: I. Poetry.* More than anything else Greek influences +contributed to the rise of Roman literature. Prior to the war with +Hannibal the Romans had no literature, although Latin prose had attained a +certain development in the formulation of laws and treaties and a rude +Latin verse had appeared. + +Not unnaturally Roman literature began with translations from the Greek, +and here poetry preceded prose. In the latter half of the third century +B. C., Livius Andronicus, a Greek freedman, translated the _Odyssey_ into +Latin Saturnian verse, as a text-book for school use. He also translated +Greek comedies and tragedies. At about the same time Cnaeus Naevius wrote +comedies and tragedies having Roman as well as Greek subjects. He also +composed an epic poem on the First Punic War, still using the native +Saturnian. + +Dramatic literature developed rapidly under the demand for plays to be +presented at the public festivals. In the second century appeared the +great comic poet Plautus, who drew his subjects from the Greek New Comedy, +but whose metre and language were strictly Latin. He was followed by +Terence, a man of lesser genius, who depended largely upon Greek +originals, but who was distinguished for the purity and elegance of his +Latin. A later dramatist of note was Lucius Accius, who brought Roman +tragedy to its height. In both comedy and tragedy Greek plots and +characters were gradually abandoned for those of native origin, but +tragedy failed to appeal to the Roman public which was in general too +uneducated to appreciate its worth and preferred the comedy, mime or +gladiatorial combat. A notable figure is Ennius, a Messapian, who began to +write at the close of the third century B. C. He created the Latin +hexameter verse in which he wrote a great epic portraying the history of +Rome from the migration of Aeneas. Another famous member of the Scipionic +circle was Gaius Lucilius, a Roman of equestrian rank, who originated the +one specifically Roman contribution to literary types, the satire. His +poems were a criticism of life in all its aspects, public and private. He +called them “talks” (_sermones_), but they received the popular name of +satires because their colloquial language and the variety of their +subjects recalled the native Italian medley of prose and verse, narrative +and drama, known as the _satura_. + +*II. Prose.* Latin prose developed more slowly. The earliest Roman +historical works by Fabius Pictor (after 201 B. C.), Cincius Alimentus, +and others, were written in Greek, for in that language alone could they +find suitable models. It remained for Cato, here as elsewhere the foe of +Hellenism, to create Latin historical prose in his _Origins_, an account +of the beginnings of Rome and the Italian peoples written about 168 B. C. +His earlier work on agriculture was the first book in Latin prose. The +work of the Carthaginian Mago on the same subject was translated into +Latin by a commission appointed by the Senate. + +*Oratory.* The demands of public life in Rome had already created a native +oratory. A speech delivered by Appius Claudius in 279 B. C. had been +written down and published, as were several funeral orations from the +close of the third century. But it was Cato who first published a +collection of his speeches, about one hundred and fifty in number, which +enjoyed a great reputation. A new impulse to this branch of literature was +given by the introduction of the systematic study of rhetoric under the +influence of Greek orators and teachers. + +*Juristic writings.* In the field of jurisprudence the Romans at this +period, were but little subject to Greek influences. The codification of +the law in the fifth century B. C. had been followed by the introduction +of new principles and forms of action, chiefly through the praetor’s +edict. The necessity arose of harmonizing the old law and the new, and of +systematizing the various forms of legal procedure. Roman juristic +literature begins with Sextus Aelius Paetus (consul in 198 B. C.), +surnamed Catus “the shrewd,” who compiled a work which later generations +regarded as “the cradle of the law.” It was in three parts; the first +contained an interpretation of the XII Tables, the second the development +of the law by the jurists, and the third new methods of legal procedure. A +knowledge of the law had always been highly esteemed at Rome and the +position of a jurist consult, that is, one who was consulted on difficult +legal problems, was one of especial honor. Consequently the study of the +law, together with that of oratory, formed the regular preparation for the +Roman who aimed at a public career. + +*Religion.* Greek religion, like Greek literature, had attained a more +advanced stage than that of Rome, and possessed a rich mythology when the +Romans had barely begun to ascribe distinct personalities to their gods. +Hence there came about a ready identification between Greek and Roman +divinities to whom similar powers were ascribed and the wholesale adoption +of Greek mythological lore. By the close of the third century B. C. there +was formally recognized in Rome a group of twelve greater divinities who +were identical with the twelve Olympic gods of Greece. There ensued also a +rapid neglect of the minor Latin divinities whose place was taken by those +of Greek origin. The old impersonal Roman deities had given place to +anthropomorphic Hellenic conceptions. This is reflected in the acceptance +of Greek types for the plastic representations of the gods, a strong +demand for which arose with the acquaintance of the works of art carried +off from Syracuse and other Greek cities. An important factor in this +hellenization of the Roman religion was the influence of the Sibylline +Books, a collection of Greek oracles imported from Cumae in the days of +the Roman kings and consulted in times of national danger. + +*The decree of the Senate against Bacchanalian societies: 186 B. C.* But +Greek influence in the sphere of religion went deeper than the +identification of Greek and Roman divinities, for the emotional cult of +Bacchus with its mystic ceremonies and doctrines made its way into Italy +where religious associations for its celebration were formed even in Rome +itself. The demoralizing effects of this worship called forth a senatorial +investigation which resulted, as we have seen, in the suppression of these +associations. A similar action was taken with regard to the Chaldean +astrologers, banished from Italy in 139 B. C. + +*The worship of the Great Mother.* Of a different character was the cult +of the Great Mother officially introduced into Rome in the year 204 B. C. +This was in essence a native nature worship of Asia Minor, disguised with +a veneer of Hellenism. It was the first of the so-called Oriental cults to +obtain a footing in the Roman world. + +*Skepticism and Stoicism.* Although the formalities of religion in so far +as they concerned public life were still scrupulously observed, there was +an ever increasing skepticism with regard to the existence and power of +the gods of the Graeco-Roman mythology. This was especially true of the +educated classes, who were influenced to a certain extent by the +rationalism of Euhemerus, whose work on the origin of the gods had been +translated by Ennius, but much more by the pantheism of the Stoic +philosophy. The Stoic doctrines, with their practical ethical +prescriptions, made a strong appeal to the Roman character and found an +able expositor in Panaetius of Rhodes who taught under the patronage of +Scipio Aemilianus. + +*Public festivals.* Of great importance in the life of the city were the +annual public festivals or games, of which six came to be regularly +celebrated by the middle of the second century, each lasting for several +days. Five of these were celebrated by the aediles, one by the city +praetor. A fixed sum was allotted by the state to defray the expenses of +these exhibits, but custom required that this must be largely supplemented +from the private purse of the person in charge. In this way the aedileship +afforded an excellent opportunity to win public favor by an exhibition of +generosity. To the original horse and chariot races there came to be added +scenic productions, wild beast hunts, and gladiatorial combats, in +imitation of those exhibited by private persons. The first private +exhibition of gladiators was given at a funeral in 264 B. C., and the +first wild beast hunt in 186 B. C. These types of exhibitions soon became +the most popular of all and exercised a brutalizing effect upon the +spectators. + +*The city Rome.* The growth of Rome in population and wealth brought about +a corresponding change in the appearance of the city. Tenement houses of +several stories and high rentals reflected the influx into the capital. +Public buildings began to be erected on a large scale. The Circus +Flaminius dates from the end of the third century, and several basilicas +or large public halls, suitable as places for transacting business or +conducting judicial hearings, were erected by 169 B. C. A new stone bridge +was built across the Tiber, a quay to facilitate the unloading of ships +was constructed on the bank of the river, a third aqueduct brought into +the city, and stone paving laid on many streets. Many temples were +erected, adorned with votive offerings, mainly spoils of war from Greek +cities. But no native art or architecture arose that was worthy of the +imperial position of Rome. + + + + + CHAPTER XII + + + THE STRUGGLE OF THE OPTIMATES AND THE POPULARES: 133–78 B. C. + + +*Civil war and imperial expansion.* The century which began with the year +133 B. C. is characterized by a condition of perpetual factional strife +within the Roman state; strife which frequently blazed forth into civil +war and which culminated in the fall of the republican system of +government. + +The question at issue was the right of the Senate to direct the policy of +Rome, and this right was challenged by the tribunate and the Assembly of +Tribes, by the equestrian order, and by the great military leaders who +appeared in the course of civil and foreign wars. + +For in spite of these unceasing internal disorders this century marks an +imperial expansion which rivalled that of the era of the Punic and +Macedonian Wars. In Gaul the Roman sway was extended to the Rhine and the +Ocean; in the east practically the whole peninsula of Asia Minor, as well +as Syria and Egypt, was incorporated in the Empire. With the exception of +Mauretania (i. e. modern Morocco, which was really a Roman dependency) the +Roman provinces completely encircled the Mediterranean. + +At the same time a new Italian nation was created by the admission to +Roman citizenship of all the peoples dwelling in Italy south of the Alps. + +The period 133 to 78 B. C. covers the first stage in the struggle which +brought the Republic to an end, and closes with the Senate in full +possession of its old prerogatives, while the powers of the tribunate and +Assembly have been seriously curtailed. In this struggle the Roman citizen +body was aligned in two groups. The one, which supported the claims of the +Senate, was called the party of the “Optimates” or aristocrats; the other, +which challenged these claims, was known as the people’s party or the +“Populares.” + + + + I. THE AGRARIAN LAWS OF TIBERIUS GRACCHUS: 133 B. C. + + +*Tiberius Gracchus, tribune, 133 B. C.* The opening of the struggle was +brought on by the agrarian legislation proposed by Tiberius Gracchus, a +tribune for the year 133 B. C. Gracchus, then thirty years of age, was one +of the most prominent young Romans of his time, being the son of the +consul whose name he bore and of Cornelia, daughter of the great Scipio +Africanus. Under his mother’s supervision, he had received a careful +education, which included rhetoric and Greek Stoic philosophy. As quaestor +in Spain in 136 he had distinguished himself for courage and honesty in +dealing with the native population and had acquainted himself with the +military needs of Rome. He saw in the decline of the free peasantry of +Italy the chief menace to the state, and when elected to the tribunate +proposed legislation which aimed to re-establish the class of free Roman +farmers, and thus provide new strength for the Roman armies. + +*The land law.* His proposed land law took the form of a re-enactment of a +previous agrarian measure dating, probably, from the end of the third +century B. C. This law had restricted the amount of public land which any +person might occupy to five hundred iugera (about three hundred and ten +acres), an amount which Gracchus augmented by two hundred and fifty iugera +for each of two grown sons. All land held in excess of this limit was to +be surrendered to the state, further occupation of public land was +forbidden, and what was within the legal limit was to be declared private +property. Compensation for improvements on surrendered lands was offered +to the late occupants, and a commission of three men was to be annually +elected with judicial powers to decide upon the rights of possessors (_III +vir agris iudicandis assignandis_). The land thus resumed by the state was +to be assigned by the commissioners to landless Roman citizens in small +allotments, incapable of alienation, and subject to a nominal rental to +the state. + +*Deposition of the tribune Octavius.* This proposal aroused widespread +consternation among the Senators, who saw their holdings threatened. In +many cases it had doubtless become impossible for them to distinguish +between their private properties and the public lands occupied by their +families for several generations. The Senate resorted to its customary +procedure in protecting its prerogatives and induced a tribune named +Octavius to veto the measure. But Gracchus was terribly in earnest with +his project of reform and took the unprecedented step of appealing to the +Assembly of the Tribes to depose Octavius, on the ground that he was +thwarting the will of the people. The Assembly voiced their approval of +Tiberius by depriving his opponent of his office. The land bill was +thereupon presented to the Assembly and passed. The first commissioners +elected to carry it into effect were Tiberius himself, his younger brother +Caius, and his father-in-law, Appius Claudius. + +*Death of Tiberius Gracchus.* To equip the allotments made to poor +settlers, Tiberius proposed the appropriation of the treasure of King +Attalus III of Pergamon, to which the Roman state had lately fallen heir. +Here was a direct attack upon the Senate’s customary control of such +matters. But before this proposal could be presented to the Comitia, the +elections to the tribunate for 132 fell due. Tiberius determined to +present himself for re-election in order to ensure the carrying out of his +land law and to protect himself from prosecution on the ground of the +unconstitutionality of some of his actions. Such a procedure was unusual, +if not illegal, and the Senate determined to prevent it at any cost. The +elections culminated in a riot in which Gracchus and three hundred +adherents were massacred by the armed slaves and clients of the senators. +Their bodies were thrown into the Tiber. A judicial commission appointed +by the Senate sought out and punished the leading supporters of the +murdered tribune. + +*The fate of the land commission.* However, the land law remained in force +and the commission set to work. But in 129 B. C. the commissioners were +deprived of their judicial powers, and, since they could no longer +expropriate land, their activity practically ceased. + +Still, the Senate’s opponents were not utterly crushed. In 131 an attempt +was made to legalize re-election to the tribunate, and although the +proposal failed at first, a law to that effect was passed some time prior +to 123 B. C. In the year 129 died Scipio Aemilianus, the conqueror of +Carthage and Numantia, the foremost Roman of the day. Upon returning from +Spain in 132 he had energetically taken sides with the Senate and had +caused the land commissioners to lose their right of jurisdiction. Thereby +he had become exceedingly unpopular with the Gracchan party, and when he +died suddenly in his fifty-sixth year, there were not wanting those who +accused his wife Sempronia, sister of Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, and +others of their family, of being responsible for his decease. + + + + II. THE TRIBUNATE OF CAIUS GRACCHUS: 124–121 B. C. + + +*Caius Gracchus, tribune, 123 B. C.* The return of Caius Gracchus from his +quaestorship in Sardinia in 124 B. C. and his immediate election to the +tribunate for the ensuing year heralded the opening of a new phase in the +conflict between the Optimates and the Populares. Caius was a passionate +orator, and a man of greater energy and more violent temperament than his +brother. He entered office pledged to support the agrarian policy of +Tiberius, but likewise determined to avenge the latter’s death and to +wrest from the Senate its control of the government. + +*The legislation of Caius Gracchus, 123 B. C.* Upon assuming office Caius +developed an extensive legislative program. Extraordinary judicial +commissions established by the Senate were declared illegal and the +ex-consul Popilius who had been the leader in the prosecution of the +followers of Tiberius, was forced into exile. A law was passed which +provided for a monthly distribution of grain to the city populace at one +half the current market price. In this way an expedient which had +occasionally been resorted to in times of distress was laid as a permanent +obligation upon the government. It has been pointed out above that the +lower classes in the city lived in perpetual danger of famine, and Caius +probably hoped to relieve the state of the perpetual menace of a hungry +proletariat at the capital by improving the arrangements for the city’s +grain supply and lowering the cost of grain to the poor. But in the end +this measure had the evil results of putting a severe drain upon the +treasury and a premium upon idleness. For the moment, however, it made the +city mob devoted adherents of Caius and strengthened his control of the +Assembly. The land law of 133 B. C. was re-enacted and the land +commissioners reclothed with judicial authority. In connection therewith +there was undertaken the extension and improvement of the road system of +Italy. Caius then assured himself of the support of the financial +interests by a law which provided that the whole revenue from the new +province of Asia should be auctioned off at Rome in a lump to Roman +contractors. A rich field was thus opened up to the Roman bankers. + +*Caius re-elected tribune for 122 B. C.* The activity of Caius in +supervising the execution of his legislation made him the leading figure +in the government, and he was re-elected to the tribunate for 122 B. C. It +seemed as though a sort of Periclean democracy had been established in +Rome, where the statesman who commanded a majority in the popular assembly +by securing his continuous re-election to the tribunate might supplant the +Senate in directing the public policy. + +*The Judiciary Law, 123 B. C.* Gracchus continued his legislative +activity. One of his most important laws was that which deprived senators +of the right to act as judges in the courts, including the permanent +_quaestiones_, and transferred this prerogative to the equestrians. This +was probably done by defining the qualifications of jurors in such a way +as to exclude both senators and those not potentially able to maintain the +equipment of a cavalryman at their own expense, i. e. those assessed at +less than 400,000 sesterces ($20,000). By the Acilian Law of 123, which +reorganized the _quaestio_ for the recovery of damages, the relatives of +senators, who were still eligible to the eighteen equestrian centuries, +were specifically excluded from serving as jurors. In this way the +equestrian order in its widest sense was defined and, being given specific +public duties, was rendered more conscious of its power and special +interests. In consequence the permanent tribunal for trying officials +charged with extortion in the provinces was manned by _equites_ instead of +senators. But the change brought no relief to the subjects of Rome for +this court was now composed of men who were interested in the financial +exploitation of the provincials and who thus were in a position to +intimidate a governor who endeavored to restrain the rapacity of tax +collectors and money-lenders. The control of the law courts became a +standing bone of contention between the Senate and the equestrian order. +Another law, which further restricted the powers of the Senate, dealt with +the allotment of the consular provinces. Previously these had been +assigned by the Senate after the election of the consuls, so that the +activities of one distrusted by the senators could be considerably +restricted. For the future the consular provinces had to be designated +prior to the elections and then assigned to the successful candidates. The +Senate’s control over the consuls was thereby considerably weakened. + +*Schemes for **colonization** and **extension** of Roman **citizenship**.* +Caius also secured the passage of an extensive scheme of colonization, +which provided for the establishment of Roman colonies at Capua and +Tarentum, and, what was an innovation, for a colony outside of Italy on +the site of Carthage. He further championed the cause of the Latin and +Italian allies, for whom he sought to secure Roman citizenship. The +Senatorial party thereupon endeavored to undermine his influence with the +people by proposing through the tribune Livius Drusus a more extensive +scheme of colonization, with exemption from rentals for colonists, and +opposing the extension of the franchise to the allied communities, a +measure unpopular with the masses who were jealous of sharing their +privileges with numbers of new citizens. + +*The overthrow of Caius Gracchus: 121 B. C.* Caius personally undertook +the foundation of the colony, named Junonia, which was located at +Carthage, and his absence of seventy days on this mission gave the +opposition time to organize their forces. His enemies accused him of +aiming at a tyranny, his proposal for extension of the franchise was +quashed by the veto of Drusus, and he himself failed to secure his +election as tribune for 121. With the opening of that year the Senate +initiated an attack upon some of his measures, especially the founding of +Junonia. The senators were determined to impeach or kill Gracchus, while +he and his friends organized themselves for defence. A riot in which one +of the senatorial faction was killed gave the Senate the pretext to +proclaim a state of martial law and authorize the consul Opimius to take +any steps to safeguard the state. The followers of Gracchus assembled on +the Aventine, their overtures were rejected and upon the refusal of Caius +and his chief adherent Flaccus to appear before the Senate, Opimius +attacked them at the head of the Senators, armed slaves and Cretan +archers. The Gracchans were routed; Caius had himself killed by a faithful +slave, and a judicial commission condemned three thousand of his +followers. + +*The consequences of the Gracchan disorders.* The memory of the Gracchi +retained a lasting hold upon the affections of the Roman plebs. But +although both were earnest patriots, who made a sincere attempt to reform +existing abuses in the state, one cannot but feel that the success of +their political aims would have brought about no permanent improvement. To +substitute for the Senate the fickle Assembly as the governing force in +the state was no true democratic measure owing to the fact that the +Assembly did not properly represent the mass of the citizen body, and as +the future years were to show, would merely have shifted the reins of +power from one incompetent body to another more incompetent still. As it +was, the Senate, although victorious, emerged from the contest weakened in +authority and prestige, and having left a feeling of bitter resentment in +the hearts of its opponents. It owed its success to violence and not to +legal measures and thus offered a precedent which others might follow +against itself. The alliance between the equestrians and the urban +proletariat while it lasted had proven stronger than the Senate, and this +lesson, too, was not lost upon future statesmen. Besides the loss of some +of its prerogatives, the Senate was weakened by the consolidation of the +business interests as a political party, with which it was brought into +sharp opposition over the question of provincial government. Well might +Caius Gracchus declare that by his judiciary law he had “thrust a dagger +into the side of the Senate.” For the provincials, the result of this law +was to usher in an era of increased oppression and misgovernment. The +refusal of the Romans to grant the franchise to the allies served to +estrange them still further from Rome. On the whole we may say that +conditions in Rome, Italy and the provinces were worse after the time of +the Gracchi than before. + +*Fate of the agrarian legislation.* It is impossible to estimate how many +Romans received allotments of land under the Gracchan laws. Although the +census list rose from 317,000 in 136 to 394,000 in 125, we cannot ascribe +this increase altogether to an increase in the number of small +proprietors. The admission of freedmen to citizenship doubtless accounts +for many. Still there was beyond question a decided addition made to the +free peasantry. The colony of Junonia was abandoned, but the settlers in +Africa were left undisturbed on their lands. By 120 the restrictions on +the sale of allotments in Italy were withdrawn; in 118 assignments ceased; +and in 111 rentals to the state were abolished and all lands then held in +possession were declared private property; an enactment which benefited +greatly the wealthy proprietors. + + + + III. THE WAR WITH JUGURTHA AND THE RISE OF MARIUS + + +*Foreign wars of the Gracchan Age.* While the Senate and the Gracchi were +struggling for the mastery in Rome, the Roman state engaged in continual +frontier struggles, particularly on the northern borders of Italy and +Macedonia. Most of these wars were of slight importance, but one resulted +in the occupation of the Balearic Islands, in 123–122, which gave Rome +full command of the sea route to Spain. Another, still more important, was +that waged between 125 and 123 in answer to an appeal from Massalia +against the Ligurian Salyes to the north of that city. Their subjugation +gave the Romans the command of the route across the Maritime Alps from +Italy to Gaul. The fortress of Aquae Sextiae was established to guard this +passage. + +*The Roman advance in Transalpine Gaul.* It now became the object of the +Romans to secure the land route to Spain. But beyond the territory of +their ally Massalia the way was blocked by powerful coalitions of Gallic +tribes. Chief among these were the Allobroges to the east of the Rhone, +the Arverni the greatest of all, whose territory lay west of that river, +from the Loire to the Pyrenees, and the Aedui, to the north of the +Arverni. The Romans made an alliance with the latter people who were at +enmity with the other two, and attacked the Allobroges because they had +received fugitives from the Salyes. The Arverni were drawn into the +conflict on the side of the Allobroges. + +*The province of Narbonese Gaul.* In 121 B. C. both these peoples were +decisively beaten in a great battle near the junction of the Isère and the +Rhone by the consul Fabius Maximus and the proconsul Domitius. The Romans +were now masters of all southern Gaul, except Massalia, and organized it +as a province. In 118 B. C. a Roman colony was established at Narbo, which +was with the exception of the abandoned settlement of Junonia, the first +colony of Roman citizens sent beyond the Italian peninsula, although +colonies with Latin rights had been founded in Spain long before. To link +Italy with Spain there was constructed the _via Domitia_, a military road +traversing the new province. + +*The Jugurthine War.* It was not long before Rome became involved in a +much more serious conflict that was destined to reveal to the world the +rottenness and incapacity of its ruling class, and to reawaken internal +political strife. In 118 B. C. occurred the death of Micipsa, who had +succeeded Masinissa as king of Numidia. Micipsa left his kingdom to be +ruled jointly by his two sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal, and a nephew, +Jugurtha. The latter was an able, energetic, but ambitious and +unscrupulous prince, who had gained a good knowledge of Roman society +through serving in the Roman army before Numantia. However, the three soon +quarreled and divided the kingdom. It was not long before Jugurtha caused +Hiempsal to be assassinated and drove Adherbal from the country. The +latter fled to Rome to appeal for aid, on the basis of the alliance with +Rome which he had inherited from his ancestors. Thereupon Jugurtha sent +his agents, with well filled purses, to plead his case before the Senate. +So successful was he that a Roman commission appointed to divide Numidia +between himself and Adherbal gave him the western or richest part of the +kingdom. But Jugurtha’s aim was to rule over the whole of Numidia, and so +he provoked Adherbal to war. In 113 B. C. he succeeded in besieging him in +his capital, Cirta, which was defended chiefly by Italians who had settled +there for commercial reasons. Two Roman commissions sent to investigate +the situation succumbed to Jugurtha’s diplomacy, and Cirta was forced to +surrender. Adherbal and all its defenders were put to death. + +*Rome declares war.* The slaughter of so many Italians raised a storm in +Rome, where the business elements and populace forced the Senate, which +was inclined to wink at Jugurtha’s disregard of its African settlement, to +declare war. In 111 a Roman army under the consul Bestia invaded Numidia. +Again Jugurtha resorted to bribes and secured terms of peace from the +consul after a sham submission. However, the opponents of the Senate saw +through the trick and forced an investigation. Jugurtha was summoned to +come to Rome under safe conduct to give evidence as to his relations with +the Roman officials in Numidia. He came and contrived to buy the +intervention of two tribunes who prevented his testimony from being taken. +But, relying too much upon his ability to buy immunity for any action, he +ventured to procure the assassination in Rome itself of a rival claimant +to the Numidian throne (110 B. C.). His friends in the Senate dared +protect him no longer and he had to leave Italy. + +*A Roman defeat, 109 B. C.* The war reopened but the first operations +ended in the early part of 109 B. C. with the defeat and capitulation of a +Roman army, which was forced to pass under the yoke, to be released when +its commander consented to a recognition of Jugurtha’s position and an +alliance between him and Rome. In this shameful episode bribery and +treachery had played their part. The terms were rejected at Rome, and a +tribunician proposal to try those guilty of misconduct with Jugurtha was +ratified by the Assembly. In the same year the consul Metellus took +command in Africa. One of his officers was Caius Marius. Marius was born +of an equestrian family at Arpinum; he served in the cavalry under Scipio +Aemilianus in the Numantine War; engaged with success in the handling of +state contracts; became tribune in 119, praetor in 116, and propraetor in +Spain in 115 B. C. He was able and ambitious and chafed under the disdain +with which he as a “new man” was treated by the senatorial aristocrats. + +*Marius, consul: 107 B. C.* Metellus, in contrast to the former commanders +against Jugurtha, was both energetic and honorable. He began a methodical +devastation of Numidia, and forced Jugurtha to abandon the field and +resort to guerilla warfare. He also tried to stir up disloyalty among the +king’s followers. But he failed to kill or capture the latter, which alone +would terminate the war. Hence when he scornfully refused the request of +Marius to be allowed to return and stand for the consulship in 108, Marius +intrigued to get the command transferred to himself, alleging that +Metellus was purposely prolonging the campaign. Finally, Metellus saw fit +to let him go and he was elected consul for the following year. However, +the Senate, wishing to keep Metellus in command, had not designated +Numidia as a consular province. And so the popular party passed a law in +the Assembly of the Tribes which conferred the command against Jugurtha +upon Marius. The Senate yielded to this encroachment upon its prerogatives +and Marius superseded Metellus in 107. His quaestor was Lucius Cornelius +Sulla, scion of a decayed patrician family, who was destined to become the +bitter rival of his chief. + +*The end of the war: 107–105 B. C.* Marius continued the methodical +subjugation of Numidia, but Jugurtha was strengthened by an alliance with +his father-in-law Bocchus, king of Mauretania. However, Marius won several +hard fought battles over the forces of both kings, and finally, through +the agency of Sulla, detached Bocchus from the cause of Jugurtha. Bocchus +treacherously seized his son-in-law and handed him over to the Romans. +This brought the war to an end. Numidia was divided among princes friendly +to Rome, and Marius returned to triumph in Rome, and to find himself +elected consul for the year 104 in defiance of precedent, owing to the +fear of a barbarian invasion of Italy from the north and the popular +confidence in him engendered by his African successes. Jugurtha, after +gracing his victor’s triumph, perished in a Roman dungeon. + +*Consequences of the war.* The corruptibility and incapacity, combined +with an utter lack of public responsibility, displayed by the senators in +this war contributed to further weaken the already diminished prestige of +their order. Besides it had again been demonstrated that a coalition of +the equestrians and the city populace could control the public policy, and +in the person of Marius, the war had produced a leader upon whom they +could unite. + + + + IV. THE INVASION OF THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONS + + +*The movements of the Cimbri and Teutons.* The fear of a barbarian +invasion of Italy which caused Marius to be elected to his second +consulship was occasioned by the wanderings of a group of Germanic and +Celtic peoples, chief of which were the Cimbri and the Teutons. In 113 +B. C. the former, a Germanic tribe, invaded the country of the Taurisci, +allies of Rome, who dwelt north of the Alps. A Roman army sent to the +rescue was defeated. The Cimbri then moved westwards to the Rhine, where +they were joined by the Teutons (Toygeni), who were probably a branch of +the Celtic Helvetii, by the Tigurini, another division of the same people, +and by the Ambrones, a tribe of uncertain origin. In 111, the united +peoples crossed the Rhine into Gaul and came into conflict with the Romans +in the new province. Two years later the consul Julius Silanus was +defeated by the Cimbri, who demanded lands for settlement within Roman +territory. Their demand was refused and hostilities continued. In 107 +another consul, Lucius Cassius, was defeated and slain by the Tigurini. In +106 Quintus Servilius Caepio recovered the town of Tolosa, which had +deserted the Roman cause, and carried off its immense temple treasures. +Three years later he was tried and condemned for defrauding the state of +this booty. In 105, two Roman armies were destroyed by the united tribes +in a battle at Arausio (Orange), in which 60,000 Romans were said to have +fallen. This disaster, the greatest suffered by Rome since Cannae, was +largely brought about by friction between the two Roman commanders. The +way to Italy lay open but the barbarians failed to take advantage of their +opportunity. The Cimbri invaded Spain and the rest remained in Gaul. + +*The army reforms of Marius.* In this crisis Marius was appointed to the +command against the Cimbri and their allies, and at once set to work to +create an army for the defence of Italy. The increasing luxury and +refinements of civilization in Italy had begun to undermine the military +spirit among the Romans, especially the propertied classes, and this had +led to a decline of discipline and efficiency in the Roman armies. +Furthermore, the universal obligation to military service was no longer +rigidly enforced, partly because of the residence abroad of so many +citizens. Appeals to volunteers became more and more frequent. No longer +were recruits enrolled for one year only, but took the oath of service for +sixteen years. In building up his new army Marius recognized these new +tendencies. He relied mainly upon voluntary enlistments, admitting to the +ranks, as he had done already in the Jugurthine War, those whose lack of +property had previously disqualified them for service in the legions. The +soldiers now became recognized professionals, who upon their discharge +looked to their commanders to provide for their future. Among the troops +loyalty to the state was supplanted by devotion to a successful general, +and the latter could rely upon his veterans to support him in his +political career. Marius also introduced changes in the arms and equipment +of the soldiers, and he is also credited, although with less certainty, +with the increase in the size of the legion to 6000 men and its division +into ten cohorts as tactical units. + +*Marius in Gaul.* During the years 104 and 103 Marius kept his army in +Gaul guarding the passage to Italy, while he completed the training of his +troops and dug a new channel at the mouth of the Rhone to facilitate the +passage of his transports into the river. He was re-elected to the +consulship for 103 and again for 102 since the danger from the barbarians +was not over. In 102 the Cimbri returned from Spain and, joining the other +tribes, prepared to invade Italy. The Teutons and Ambrones followed the +direct route from southern Gaul, while the Cimbri and Tigurini moved to +the north of the Alps to enter Italy by the eastern Alpine passes. Marius +permitted the Teutons and Ambrones to march by him, then he overtook and +annihilated them at Aquae Sextiae. In the meantime, the Cimbri had forced +the other consul, Quintus Lutatius Catulus, to abandon the defence of the +eastern passes and had crossed the Adige into the Po Valley, where they +wintered. Marius returned to Italy to join his colleague and face the new +peril. In the next year, while consul for the fifth time, he met and +destroyed the Cimbri on the Raudine plains near Vercellae. Thus Italy was +saved from a repetition of the Gallic invasion of the fourth century B. C. + +The vitality of the Roman state was by no means exhausted as the defeat of +the barbarians shows, and men of energy and ability were not lacking, but +under the existing régime it required a crisis to bring them to the front. + +*The Second Sicilian Slave War, 104–101 B. C.* While the barbarians were +knocking at the gates of Italy, Rome was called upon to suppress a series +of disorders in other parts of her empire, some of which were only quelled +after considerable effort. In 104 B. C. occurred a serious rebellion of +the slaves in Sicily, headed by two leaders Salvius and Anthenion, the +former of whom took the title of King Typhon. The rebels became masters of +the open country, defeated the forces sent against them, reduced the +Sicilian cities to the verge of starvation, and were only subdued by a +consular army under Manius Aquillius in 101 B. C. + +*War with the Pirates.* Before the slave war in Sicily had been brought to +a close the Romans were forced to make an effort to suppress piracy in the +Mediterranean. Piracy had been on the increase ever since the decline of +the Rhodian sea power, following the Second Macedonian War, for as there +were no longer any rival maritime powers Rome had neglected to maintain a +navy adequate even for policing the seas. The pirates were at the same +time slave traders, who made a business of kidnapping all over the +Mediterranean but particularly in the east to supply the slave mart at +Delos. In 104 B. C. the king of Bithynia complained to the Senate that +one-half of his ablebodied men had been carried into slavery. This traffic +was winked at by the Romans, since they needed slaves in great numbers for +their plantations, and their business interests profited by the trade. +However the depredations of the pirates at length became too serious to be +ignored, and in 102 B. C. the praetor Marcus Antonius was given a special +command against them. They had their chief strongholds on the Cilician +coast and the island of Crete, and Antonius proceeded to Cilicia, where he +destroyed several of their towns and annexed some territory, which became +the province of Cilicia. + +Besides these troubles the Romans had to face revolts in Spain which broke +out spasmodically down to 95 B. C., as well as continual inroads of +barbarians from Thrace into the provinces of Macedonia and Illyricum. + + + + V. SATURNINUS AND GLAUCIA + + +*Popular **triumphs** in Rome.* The successes of their champion, Marius, +emboldened the populares to undertake the prosecution of the corrupt and +incapable generals of the _optimates_, a number of whom were brought to +trial and convicted. Another popular victory was won in 104 B. C. when the +_lex Domitia_ transferred the election of new members of the colleges of +augurs and pontiffs from the colleges themselves to a Comitia of seventeen +tribes chosen by lot. + +*The sixth consulship of Marius, 100 B. C.* Upon Marius himself his +present prestige had an unwholesome effect. In spite of the fact that he +had violated the constitution by his five consulships, four of which were +held in succession, he determined to seek a sixth term, although there was +now no military danger to excuse his ambition. He leagued himself with the +leaders of the _populares_, Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, who as tribune +had supported Marius in 103, and Caius Servilius Glaucia. Both were +ambitious demagogues, who sought to imitate the rôle of the Gracchi by +introducing a legislative program catering to the popular party. For the +moment they were successful. Marius secured his sixth consulship for 100 +B. C., Saturninus became tribune a second time, and Glaucia praetor. But +violence had to be resorted to in order to carry the elections. Saturninus +then introduced bills for the distribution of grain to the city +proletariat at much less than half the market price, for the allotment of +the lands in north Italy which had been ravaged by the Cimbri, and for the +founding of colonies in the provinces. His corn law failed, but the others +were forced through by the aid of the disbanded Marian soldiers. However, +this appeal to mob violence caused the equestrians to desert the popular +leaders, who also lost the sympathy of Marius. Saturninus then sought the +consulship for the next year, and, when it seemed that he would be +defeated, caused one of his most influential rivals to be killed. The +Senate thereupon proclaimed a state of martial law and called upon Marius +to restore order. Saturninus, Glaucia, and their followers occupied the +Capitol, where they were attacked and forced to surrender upon promise +that their lives would be spared. But Marius was unable to protect them +from the vengeance of their foes who massacred all the captives. Again the +Senate had conquered by a resort to force, but this time their opponents +had first appealed to the same means. For the time Marius suffered a +political eclipse; he had shown no political capacity and had been unable +to control or protect his own party which was now divided and discredited. + + + + VI. THE TRIBUNATE OF MARCUS LIVIUS DRUSUS, 91 B. C. + + +*The **trial** of Rutilius Rufus: 93 B. C.* The senators and the +equestrians had combined for the moment against the terrorism instituted +by the popular demagogues but the coalition was not lasting. As Caius +Gracchus had foreseen the control of the law courts proved a standing bone +of contention between the two orders. Especially aggravating to the +senators was the use of the court established for the trial of cases of +extortion to force the provincial governors to administer the provinces in +the interest of the Roman financiers. A scandalous instance of this abuse +was the case of Rutilius Rufus in 93 B. C. He had been quaestor under +Mucius Scaevola, in 98 B. C. governor of Asia, where both had sternly +checked any unjust exactions by the agents of the _publicani_. A +trumped-up charge of extortion was now brought against Rutilius, and he +was tried and adjudged guilty. His fate was to serve as a warning to +officers who took their provincial obligations seriously. Rutilius retired +to Asia and lived in great esteem among the people whom he was condemned +for having oppressed. + +*The **legislative program** of Livius Drusus: 91 B. C.* Two years later +Marcus Livius Drusus, a tribune, of a prominent senatorial house, brought +forward a proposal for the reform of the juries. He proposed to increase +the number of the Senate to six hundred by the inclusion of three hundred +prominent equestrians, and to have the juries chosen half from the new +Senate and half from the remaining equestrians.(10) Equestrian _jurors_ +were to be made liable to prosecution for accepting bribes. To secure +support for his judiciary law, Drusus introduced a bill to found new +colonies and another to provide cheaper grain for the city populace. + +However, when he encountered serious opposition to his judicial reform in +the Senate as well as among the _equites_, Drusus combined this and his +other reforms with a law for the enfranchisement of the Italian allies. He +contrived to carry his measures through the Assembly, which was probably +coerced by the presence of large numbers of Italians in the city, but +since he had included several distinct proposals in one bill, which was +unconstitutional, the Senate declared his law invalid. Drusus yielded but +prepared to introduce the franchise bill to be voted on a second time. +Before this could be done he was mysteriously assassinated, doubtless by +an agent of his political opponents. Thus died the last civilian reformer +of Roman history. Later reforms were carried by the power of the sword. + + + + VII. THE ITALIAN OR MARSIC WAR, 90–88 B. C. + + +*The Italian Confederacy.* The death of Drusus was the signal for a revolt +of the Italian allies. They had been in close alliance with him, and had +taken steps for concerted action in arms if his bill should fail to pass. +A confederacy was organized, the government of which was vested in a +Senate of five hundred members with absolute powers, having as executive +officers two annual consuls and twelve praetors. The capital of the +confederacy was at Corfinium, in the territory of the Paeligni, which was +renamed Italia. A federal coinage was issued. Before opening hostilities +the Italians made a formal demand for Roman citizenship, which the Senate +definitely refused. Thereupon they declared their independence. + +*The resources of the rivals.* The Italian Confederacy embraced +practically all the warlike peoples of central and southern Italy. Of +particular importance were the Marsi who gave their name to the war. In +numbers the Italians were a match for the Romans, and they had acquired +Roman military tactics, organization and discipline through long service +in the Roman armies. They also could count on leaders of approved ability. +But the Latin colonies and the Greek cities in the south remained true to +their allegiance, and thus the Italians were cut off from the coast. +Furthermore Umbria and Etruria, although disaffected, did not at once take +up arms. Rome’s control of the sea enabled her to draw upon the resources +of the provinces in men, money, and supplies, and consequently she was in +a much better position to sustain a prolonged struggle. + +*The first year of the war: 90 B. C.* Hostilities opened in 90 B. C. with +the Italian forces attempting to reach Etruria in the north and occupy +Campania in the south and the Romans trying to forestall them by invading +the territory of the allies. In the south the year’s campaign resulted in +numerous Roman disasters. Much of Campania was won by the allies who +succeeded in penetrating to the coast. In the north the Romans also +suffered defeats, but were able to maintain themselves and win several +successes. Here Marius, in the capacity of a _legatus_, rendered valuable +service. + +Before the close of the year the revolt began to spread to Etruria and +Umbria. Thereupon the Romans, with the object of securing the support of +their still faithful allies and of weakening the ranks of the rebels, +passed the Julian Law which granted Roman citizenship to all who had not +joined the revolt and all who should at once lay down their arms. In this +way the Umbrians and Etrurians were quieted, the Latins and the Greek +allies rewarded, and many communities, which sought Roman citizenship but +not independence, induced to surrender. + +*The second year of the war.* In the following year the fortune of war +changed. The Romans were everywhere successful. The consul Pompeius +practically pacified the north, and the _legatus_ Sulla broke the power of +the allies in south Italy. A second franchise law, the _lex Plautia +Papiria_, helped thin the ranks of the allies by offering Roman +citizenship to all citizens of Italian federate communities who would +claim it within sixty days. A third, the Pompeian Law, gave the franchise +to all non-Romans in Gaul south of the Po, and Latin rights to those north +of the Po river. The Senate was now anxious to bring the war to a close +because affairs in the East had assumed a threatening aspect. + +*The end of the war and its significance.* In the course of the year 88 +B. C. organized resistance among the rebels died out. The new citizens +were not to be enrolled in all of the thirty-five Roman tribes, a step +which might make them dominate the Assemblies, but they were to vote in +certain tribes only, so that their influence could be restricted.(11) +Naturally, they were dissatisfied with this arrangement and their +enrollment became a burning question of Roman politics. Henceforth all +Italians were Romans and in the course of the next generation the various +racial elements of Italy were gradually welded into a Latin nation. As it +was impossible for the magistrates of Rome to oversee the administration +throughout so wide an area, the Romans organized the Italian towns into +locally self-governing municipalities of the type previously established +on Roman territory. At first these municipalities retained many of their +ancestral laws, customs and institutions, but in time they conformed to a +uniform type, the government of which was modelled upon that of the +capital city Rome. The municipalities were powerful agents in the +Latinization of the peninsula. + + + + VIII. THE FIRST MITHRADATIC WAR + + +*Mithradates VI., Eupator, King of Pontus.* The danger which in 89 B. C. +directed the attention of the Senate to the eastern Mediterranean was the +result of the establishment of the Kingdom of Pontus under an able and +ambitious ruler, Mithradates Eupator, who challenged the supremacy of Rome +in Asia Minor. In 121 B. C. Mithradates had succeeded to the throne of +northern Cappadocia, a small kingdom on the south shore of the Black Sea, +whose Asiatic population was imbued with Hellenistic culture and whose +rulers claimed descent from the ancient royal house of Persia and from +Seleucus, the founder of the Macedonian kingdom of Syria. For seven years +Mithradates shared the throne with his brother, under his mother’s +regency, but in 114 when eighteen years of age, he seized the reins of +government for himself. Subsequently he extended his power over the +eastern and northern shores of the Black Sea as far west as the Danube and +thus built up the kingdom of Pontus, i. e. the coast land of the Black +Sea, a name which later was applied to his native state of north +Cappadocia. + +*His **conflict** with Rome.* However, Mithradates also sought to extend +his sway in Asia Minor, where Greater Cappadocia became the object of his +ambitions. This brought him into conflict with Rome, whose policy was to +prevent the rise of any dangerous neighbor in the East and who refused to +suffer her settlement of Asia Minor to be disturbed. No less than five +times did Mithradates, between 112 and 92 B. C., attempt to bring this +district under his control, but upon each occasion he was forced by Roman +interference to forego the fruits of his victories, since he was not yet +prepared for war with Rome. In 91 B. C. he occupied the kingdom of +Bithynia, which lay between Pontus and the Roman province of Asia, but +again he yielded to Rome’s demands and withdrew. However, when Roman +agents encouraged the King of Bithynia to raid his territory and refused +him satisfaction he decided to challenge the Roman arms, seeing that Rome +was now involved in the war with her Italian allies. War began late in 89 +B. C. + +*The conquests of Mithradates in Asia, 89–88 B. C.* Mithradates was well +prepared; he had a trained army and a fleet of three hundred ships. He +experienced no difficulty in defeating the local levies raised by the +Roman governor of Asia, and speedily overran Bithynia and most of the +Roman province. Meanwhile his fleet swept the Aegean Sea. The Roman +provincials who had been unmercifully exploited by tax gatherers and +money-lenders greeted Mithradates as a deliverer. At his order on a set +date in 88 B. C. they massacred the Romans and Italians resident in Asia, +said to have numbered 80,000, a step which bound them firmly to the cause +of the king. + +*Athens and Delos.* In the same year, 88 B. C. the populace of Athens, in +the hope of overthrowing the oligarchic government which had been set up +in the city with the support of Rome, seized control of the state and +threw themselves into the hands of Mithradates. One of the king’s +generals, Archelaus, while on his way to Athens, exterminated the Italian +colony at Delos, the center of the Roman commercial and banking interests +in the East. From this blow the island port never fully recovered. +Archelaus soon won over most of southern Greece to his master’s cause, +while Mithradates sent a large army to enter Hellas by the northerly route +through Thrace and Macedonia. + +*Disorders in Rome.* This situation produced a crisis in Rome. Sulla, who +had been elected consul for 88 B. C., was allotted the command in the East +upon the outbreak of hostilities. However, he had been unable to leave +Italy where he was conducting the siege of Nola in Campania. Marius, +although in his sixty-eighth year, was as ambitious as ever and schemed to +secure the command against Mithradates for himself. In this he was +supported by the equestrians, who knew Sulla to be a firm upholder of the +Senate. Accordingly the Marians joined forces with the tribune Publius +Sulpicius Rufus, who had brought forward a bill to enroll the new citizens +and freedmen equally in each of the thirty-five tribes. Sulpicius +organized a body-guard of equestrians and instituted a reign of terror. He +passed his law by force in spite of the opposition of the consuls. When +Sulla had left the city to join his army, a law was passed in the Assembly +transferring his command in the East to Marius. But Sulla refused to admit +the legality of the act, and, relying upon the support of his troops, +marched on Rome. Having taken the city by surprise, he caused Sulpicius, +Marius, and others of their party to be outlawed. Sulpicius was slain; but +Marius made good his escape to Mauretania. The Sulpician Laws were +abrogated, and Sulla introduced a number of reforms, with the object of +strengthening the position of the Senate. The most significant of these +reforms was the revival of the Senatorial veto over laws proposed in the +Assembly of the Tribes. This done, upon the conclusion of his consulate, +Sulla embarked with his army for Greece early in 87 B. C. + +*Siege of Athens and Piraeus, 87–86 B. C.* Driving the forces of Archelaus +and the Athenians from the open country, Sulla began the siege of Athens +and of its harbor town Piraeus in the autumn of 87. Athens was completely +invested, but in spite of hunger the resistance was prolonged until March, +86, when Sulla’s troops penetrated an unguarded spot on the walls and the +city was sacked. A large number of the inhabitants were massacred but the +public buildings were spared. Soon after Piraeus was taken by storm at +terrific cost to the victors, but its citadel Munychia held out until +evacuated by Archelaus. + +*Chaeronea and Orchomenus.* From Athens Sulla hastened to meet the army of +Mithradates which had penetrated as far as Boeotia. At Chaeronea the +numerically inferior but better disciplined Romans won a complete victory. +At this juncture there arrived in Greece the consul Flaccus at the head of +another army, with orders to supersede Sulla. The latter, however, was not +disposed to give up his command and as Flaccus feared to force the issue +they came to an agreement whereby each pursued a separate campaign. This +left Sulla free to meet a new Mithradatic army which had crossed the +Aegean. At Orchomenus he attacked and annihilated it. But Mithradates +still controlled the Aegean, and Sulla, being unable to cross into Asia, +was forced to winter in Greece. + +*Peace with Mithradates, 85 B. C.* In 85 B. C. Lucius Lucullus, Sulla’s +quaestor, appeared in the Aegean with a fleet that he had gathered among +Rome’s allies in the East. He defeated the fleet of Mithradates and +secured Sulla’s passage to Asia. The king’s position was now precarious. +His exactions had alienated the sympathies of the Greek cities which now +began to desert his cause. Furthermore Flaccus, after recovering Macedonia +and Thrace, had crossed the Bosphorus into Bithynia. There he was killed +in a mutiny of his soldiers and was succeeded by his legate Fimbria, who +was popular with the troops because he gratified their desire for plunder. +But Fimbria was energetic; he defeated Mithradates and recovered the coast +district as far south as Pergamon (86 B. C.). Mithradates was ready for +peace and Sulla was anxious to have his hands free to return to Italy, +where the Marians were again in power. Negotiations were opened by +Mithradates with Sulla and after some delay peace was concluded in 85 +B. C. on the following terms: The king was to surrender Cappadocia, +Bithynia, the Roman province of Asia and his other conquests in Asia +Minor, to pay an indemnity of 3000 talents, and give up a part of his +fleet. His kingdom of Pontus remained intact. + +*Sulla’s treatment of Asia and Greece, 85–83 B. C.* Sulla spent the +following winter in Asia, readjusting affairs in the province. The +rebellious communities were punished by the quartering of troops upon +them, and by being forced to contribute to Sulla the huge sum of 20,000 +talents, or $24,000,000. To raise this amount they were forced to borrow +from Roman bankers and incur a crushing burden of debt. In 84 B. C. Sulla +crossed to Greece, there to complete his preparations for a return to +Italy. The Greek states had suffered heavily in the recent campaigns on +her soil. Sulla had carried off the temple treasures of Olympia, Delphi +and Epidaurus, Attica and Boeotia had been ravaged and depopulated, and +the coasts had been raided by the Mithradatic fleet. From the devastations +of the Mithradatic war Hellas never recovered. + + + + IX. SULLA’S DICTATORSHIP + + +*The Marian party in Rome 87–84 B. C.* While Sulla had been conducting his +successful campaign in Greece, in Italy the Marian party had again won the +upper hand. Scarcely had Sulla left Italy with his army when the consul +Cinna re-enacted the Sulpician Laws. His colleague Gnaeus Octavius and the +senatorial faction drove him from the city and had him deposed from +office. But Cinna received the support of the army in Campania, recalled +Marius, and made peace with the Samnites still under arms by granting them +Roman citizenship. Marius landed in Etruria, raised an army there, and he +and Cinna advanced on Rome. They forced the capitulation of their +opponents, had Cinna reinstated as consul, and had the banishment of +Marius revoked; Sulla’s laws were repealed, and his property confiscated. +Then ensued a massacre of the leading senators, including Octavius the +consul. On 1 January, 86, Marius entered upon his seventh consulship and +died a few days later. His successor, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, was sent to +supersede Sulla, a mission which cost him his life, as related before. In +85 B. C., the war with Mithradates was at an end and the Marians had to +face the prospect of the return of Sulla at the head of a victorious army. +The consuls Cinna and Carbo proceeded to raise troops to oppose him. They +illegally prolonged their office for the next year (84) and made +preparations to cross the Adriatic and meet Sulla in Macedonia. But the +army gathered for this purpose at Brundisium mutinied and murdered Cinna. +Carbo prevented the election of a successor and held office as sole +consul. The Senate had previously begun negotiations with Sulla in an +effort to prevent further civil war. He now demanded the restitution of +property and honors both for himself and all those who had taken refuge +with him. The Senate was inclined to yield, but was prevented by Carbo. + +In the spring of 83 B. C. Sulla landed at Brundisium, with an army of +40,000 veterans from whom he exacted an oath of allegiance to himself. He +made known his intentions of respecting all privileges granted to the +Italians, to prevent their joining his enemies. Still the bulk of the new +citizens, particularly in Samnium and Etruria, supported the Marian party. +Sulla was joined at once by the young Cnaeus Pompey, who had raised an +army on his own authority in Picenum, and by other men of influence. In +the operations which followed the leaders of the Marians showed themselves +lacking in coöperation and military skill. Sulla penetrated into Campania, +where he defeated one consul Norbanus, at Mount Tifata. The other consul +Scipio Asiaticus, entered into negotiations with him, and was deserted by +his army which went over to Sulla. + +In the following year Sulla advanced into Latium and won a hard fought +victory over the younger Marius, now consul, at Sacriportus. Rome fell +into his hands and Marius took refuge in Praeneste. Sulla then turned +against the second consul, Carbo, in Etruria, and, after several victories +forced him to flee to Africa. In a final effort the Marians, united with +the Samnites, tried to relieve Praeneste; failing to accomplish this they +made a dash upon Rome. But Sulla appeared in time to save the city and +utterly defeat his enemies in a bloody contest at the Colline Gate. +Praeneste fell soon after; Marius committed suicide, and except at a few +isolated points all resistance in Italy was over. + +*Sulla’s aims.* Sulla was absolute master of the situation and at once +proceeded to punish his enemies and reward his friends. In cold-blooded +cruelty, without any legal condemnation, his leading opponents were marked +out for vengeance; their names were posted in lists in the forum to +indicate that they might be slain with impunity and that their goods were +confiscated. Rewards were offered to informers who brought about the death +of such victims, and many were included in the lists to gratify the +personal enmities of Sulla’s friends. The goods of the proscribed were +auctioned off publicly under Sulla’s direction, and their children and +grandchildren declared ineligible for public office. From these +proscriptions the equestrians suffered particularly; 2600 of them are said +to have perished, together with ninety senators. The Italian +municipalities also felt Sulla’s avenging hand. Widespread confiscations +of land, especially in Samnium and Etruria, enabled him to provide for +150,000 of his veterans, whose settlement did much to hasten the +latinization of these districts. Ten thousand slaves of the proscribed +were set free by Sulla and took the name of Cornelii from their patron. +These arrangements were given the sanction of legality by a decree of the +Senate and a law which confirmed all his acts as consul and proconsul and +gave him full power for the future. + +*Sulla dictator: 82–79 B. C.* But Sulla’s aims went further than the +destruction of the Marian party. He sought to recreate a stable government +in the state. For this he required more constitutional powers than the +right of might. Therefore, since both consuls were dead, he caused the +appointment of an _interrex_ who by virtue of a special law appointed him +a dictator for an unlimited term to enact legislation and reorganize the +commonwealth (_dictator legibus scri__bundis et rei publicae +constituendae_). Sulla’s appointment occurred late in 82 B. C. The scope +of his powers and their unlimited duration gave him monarchical or rather +tyrannical authority. + +*Sulla’s reforms.* The general aim of Sulla’s legislation was to restore +the Senate to the position which it had held prior to 133 B. C. and to +guarantee the perpetuation of this condition. His reforms fall into two +classes; firstly, those directed to securing the rule of the _optimates_, +which were not long-lived; secondly, those seeking to increase the +efficiency of the administration, which being of a non-partizan character +enjoyed greater permanency than the preceding. Those of the former sort +constituted a renewal and extension of his reforms of 88 B. C. The +senatorial veto over legislation in the Assembly of Tribes was renewed, +and the tribunes’ intercession restricted to interference with the +exercise of the magistrate’s _imperium_. To deter able and ambitious men +from seeking the tribunate, it was made a bar to further political office. +The senators were once more made eligible for the juries, while the +equestrians were disqualified. The Domitian Law of 104 B. C. was abrogated +and the practise of co-opting the members of the priestly college was +revived. Most important of Sulla’s administrative reforms was that which +concerned the magistracy. The established order of offices in the _cursus +honorum_ was maintained, an age limit set for eligibility to each office, +and an interval of ten years required between successive tenures of the +same post. The number of quaestors was increased to twenty, that of the +praetors raised from six to eight. In connection therewith the method of +appointing provincial governors was regulated. By the organization of the +province of Cisalpine Gaul, the number of provinces was raised to ten, and +the two consuls and eight praetors, upon the completion of their year of +office in Rome, were to be appointed to the provinces as pro-consuls and +propraetors for one year. The pro-magistrates thus lost their original +extraordinary character and this change marks the first step in the +creation of an imperial civil service. + +As before, the Senate designated the consular provinces before the +election of the consuls who would be their proconsular governors. The +consuls were not deprived of the right of military command, but, as +before, regularly assumed control of military operations in Italy. The +consular _imperium_ remained senior to that of the provincial governors, +and might be exercised beyond the frontiers of Italy. However, in practise +the consuls were not regularly employed for overseas campaigns, since the +Senate now arrogated to itself what had previously been a prerogative of +the Assembly, namely, the right of selecting any person whatever to +exercise military _imperium_ in any sphere determined by itself. A new +field for the activity of the praetors arose from the establishment of +special jury courts for the trial of cases of bribery, treason, fraud, +peculation, assassination and assault with violence. These were modelled +on the court for damage suits brought against provincial officers, and +superseded the old procedure with its appeal from the verdict of the +magistrate to the Comitia. To provide a sufficient number of jurors for +these tribunals the membership of the Senate was increased from three +hundred to six hundred by enrolling equestrians who had supported Sulla. +This increased number was maintained by the annual admission of the twenty +ex-quaestors, whereby censors were rendered unnecessary for enrolling the +Senators. The administration, especially in its imperial aspects, was more +than ever concentrated in the Senate’s hands. + +*Pompey **“**the Great,**”** 79 B. C.* While Sulla was effecting his +settlement of affairs in Rome and Italy, the Marians in Sicily and Africa +were crushed by his lieutenant Cnaeus Pompey. Their leader Carbo was taken +and executed. In 82 B. C. Sulla had caused the Senate to confer upon +Pompey the command in this campaign with the _imperium_ of a propraetor, +although he had not yet held any public office. Having finished his task +Pompey demanded a triumph, an honor which previously had only been granted +to regular magistrates. Sulla at first opposed his wishes, but as Pompey +was insistent and defiant, he yielded to avoid a quarrel, and even +accorded him the name of Magnus or the Great. Pompey celebrated his +triumph 12 March, 79 B. C. + +*Sulla’s retirement and death, 78 B. C.* Sulla did not seek political +power for its own sake, and, after carrying his reforms into effect, he +resigned his dictatorship in 79 B. C. He retired to enjoy a life of ease +and pleasure on his Campanian estate, relying for his personal security +and that of his measures upon his veterans and the Cornelian freedmen. In +the following year he died at the age of sixty. Sulla’s genius was rather +military than political. Fond though he was of sensual pleasures, he was +possessed of great ambition which led him to such a position of prominence +that he was forced to adopt the cause of one of the two political factions +in the state. From that point he must crush his enemies or be crushed by +them; and in this lies the explanation of his attempt to extirpate the +Marian party. As a statesman he displayed little imagination or +constructive ability. He could think of nothing better than to restore the +Senate to a position which it had shown itself unable to maintain; and his +persecutions of his political opponents had not crushed out opposition to +the Senate, but left a legacy of hatred endangering the permanence of his +reforms. + +The epoch between the tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus and the death of +Sulla revealed the incapacity of either the Senate or the tribunes and the +Assembly to give a peaceful and stable government to the Roman state. +Sulla’s career, anticipating those of Caesar and Augustus, pointed the way +to the ultimate solution. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + + + THE RISE OF POMPEY THE GREAT: 78–60 B. C. + + +*The extraordinary commands.* For the period following the death of Sulla +in 78 B. C. Roman history centers around the lives of a small group of +eminent men, whose ambitions and rivalries are the determining factors in +the political life of the state. This is due to the fact that neither the +Senate nor the Assembly have the power to control the men to whom the +needs of the empire compel them to give military authority. The generation +of Marius and Sulla had seen the rise of the professional army which +revealed itself as the true power in the state, and the disturbances of +the Italian and Civil Wars supplied an abundance of needy recruits who +sought service with a popular and successful general for the sake of the +rewards which it lay in his power to bestow. As military achievements were +the sole sure foundation for political success, able men made it the goal +of their ambition to be entrusted with an important military command. The +dangers of civil and foreign wars at first compelled the Senate to confer +military power upon the few available men of recognized ability even when +it distrusted their ulterior motives, and later such appointments were +made by the Assembly through the coalition of the general and the +tribunate. In this way arose the so-called extraordinary commands, that +is, such as involved a military _imperium_ which in some way exceeded that +of the regular constitutional officers and required to be created or +defined by a special enactment of the Senate or Comitia. + +The man who first realized the value of the extraordinary command as a +path to power was Pompey the Great. + + + + I. POMPEY’S COMMAND AGAINST SERTORIUS IN SPAIN: 77–71 B. C. + + +*The revolt of Lepidus.* It was not to be expected that Sulla’s measures +would long remain unassailed. Those dispossessed of their property, those +disqualified for office, and the equestrians who sought to regain control +of the courts, were all anxious to undo part of his work. They found a +leader in Lepidus, who as consul in 78 B. C., the very year of Sulla’s +death, sought to renew the distribution of cheap grain to the masses in +Rome, which Sulla had suppressed, to restore the Marian exiles, and +reinstate those who had lost their lands. For the time he failed to carry +his proposals, but in the next year, as proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul, he +raised an army and marched on Rome to seize the consulate for a second +term, since disorders had prevented the election of consuls for that year. +However he was defeated by his former colleague, the proconsul Catulus, +and Pompey, whom the Senate had appointed to a subordinate command in view +of his military expedience. Lepidus crossed over to Sardinia where he died +shortly after, and the bulk of his forces under Marcus Perperna withdrew +to Spain, to join the Marians who were in revolt there. + +*Sertorius in Spain, 83–78 B. C.* The rebellion in Spain was headed by +Quintus Sertorius, who had been appointed governor of Hither Spain by +Cinna in 83 B. C. Two years later he was driven out by Sulla’s +representative, but, after various adventures, returned in 80 B. C. to +head a revolt of the Lusitanians. His ability as a guerrilla leader, and +the confidence which he aroused among the native Spaniards soon created +alarm in Rome. Sertorius professed to take the field not against Rome but +against the Senate. He regarded himself as the legitimate governor of +Spain, employed members of the Marian party as his military and civil +subordinates and organized a Senate among the Romans of his following. To +crush the revolt Sulla sent out to Farther Spain Metellus, the consul of +80 B. C., but he failed to make any headway, and Sertorius was able to +overrun Hither Spain also. In 79 B. C. the praetor of that province was +killed in battle, and the same fate befell the proconsul of Narbonese Gaul +who came to the help of Metellus (78 B. C.). + +*Pompey sent to Spain, 78 B. C.* It was imperative to send a new commander +and a new army to Spain. As the consuls were unwilling to go, Pompey, who +had refused to disband his army at the orders of Catulus, sought the +command. The Senate could not help itself and, in spite of considerable +opposition, passed a decree conferring upon him proconsular _imperium_ and +entrusting him with the conduct of the war in Hither Spain. Even after the +arrival of Pompey with an army of 40,000 men Sertorius was more than able +to hold his own against his foes in 76 and 75 B. C. At the end of the +latter year Pompey was forced to recross the Pyrenees and appeal to the +Senate for reinforcements. At the same time Sertorius, through the agency +of the pirates, entered into alliance with Mithradates, King of Pontus, +who was again on the point of war with Rome. + +The arrival of the desired reinforcements enabled Pompey in 74 and 73 +B. C. to turn the tide against Sertorius. To prevent desertions the latter +resorted to severe punishments which alienated the Spaniards, who were +already estranged by the acts of his subordinates. He was further hampered +by dissensions in the ranks of his Roman supporters. The center of +disaffection was Perpenna, who treacherously assassinated Sertorius in 72 +B. C. and assumed command of his forces. However he was defeated by +Pompey, taken captive and executed. The revolt was broken and pacification +of Spain speedily accomplished. Pompey was able to return to Rome in 71 +B. C. + + + + II. THE COMMAND OF LUCULLUS AGAINST MITHRADATES: 74–66 B. C. + + +*The situation in the Near East.* After concluding peace with Sulla in 85 +B. C., Mithradates Eupator directed his energies to consolidating his +kingdom and reorganizing his forces in expectation of a renewal of the +struggle with Rome. He recognised that Sulla had been ready to make peace +only because of the situation in Italy and the fact that he had been +unable to secure written confirmation of the terms of the treaty warned +him that the Romans still contemplated his complete overthrow. Indeed he +had been attacked in the years 83 and 82 B. C. by Lucius Murena, the +proconsul of Asia, but had been able to defend himself and Sulla had once +more brought about a cessation of hostilities. Meantime, Tigranes of +Armenia, the ally of Mithradates, had enlarged his dominions by the +annexation of Syria (83 B. C.), where he terminated the rule of the house +of Seleucus, and of Greater Cappadocia. + +*The command of Lucullus and Cotta, 74 B. C.* In 75 B. C. occurred the +death of Nicomedes III, King of Bithynia, who left his kingdom to the +Roman people. The Senate accepted the inheritance and made Bithynia a +province, but Mithradates championed the claims of a son of Nicomedes and +determined to dispute the possession of Bithynia with the Romans. He had +raised an efficient army and navy, was leagued with the pirates, and in +alliance with Sertorius, who supplied him with officers and recognized his +claims to Bithynia and other districts in Asia Minor. Rome was threatened +with another serious war. One of the senatorial faction, the consul Lucius +Lucullus, contrived to have assigned to himself by a senatorial decree the +provinces of Cilicia and Asia with command of the main operations against +Mithradates, while his colleague Cotta received Bithynia and a fleet to +guard the Hellespont. At the same time a praetor, Marcus Antonius, was +given an extraordinary command against the pirates with an unlimited +_imperium_ over the Mediterranean Sea and its coast. However, he proved +utterly incompetent, was defeated in an attack upon Crete, and died there. + +*Siege of Cyzicus, 74–3 B. C.* Early in 74 B. C., Mithradates invaded +Bithynia. There he was encountered by Cotta, whom he defeated and +blockaded in Chalcedon. Thereupon he invaded Asia and laid siege to +Cyzicus. But Lucullus cut off his communications and in the ensuing winter +he was forced to raise the siege and retire with heavy losses into +Bithynia. The following year a fleet which Lucullus had raised defeated +that of Mithradates. This enabled the Romans to recover Bithynia and +invade Pontus. In 72 B. C. Lucullus defeated Mithradates and forced him to +take refuge in Armenia. In the course of this and the two following years +he completed the subjugation of Pontus by the systematic reduction of its +fortified cities. Cotta undertook the siege of Heraclea in Bithynia and +upon its fall in 71 B. C. returned to Rome. The winter of 71–70 B. C. +Lucullus spent in Asia reorganizing the financial situation. There the +cities were laboring under a frightful burden of indebtedness to Roman +bankers and taxgatherers which had its origin in the exactions of Sulla. +Lucullus interfered on behalf of the provincials and by reducing the +accumulated interest on their debts enabled them to pay off their +obligations within four years. This care for the provincials won for +himself the bitter enmity of the Roman financial interests which sought to +deprive him of his command. + +*Invasion of Armenia, 69 B. C.* As the war could not be regarded as +terminated so long as Mithradates was at large, Lucullus demanded his +surrender from Tigranes. When the latter refused Lucullus invaded Armenia, +defeated him and took his capital, Tigranocerta, 69 B. C. In the following +year Lucullus attempted to complete the subjugation of Armenia but was +prevented by the mutinous conduct of his troops. He was unpopular with his +men because he maintained discipline and protected the subject peoples +from the excesses of the soldiers. Also some of his legions had come to +the East with Fimbria in 86 B. C. and clamored for the discharge to which +they were entitled. In 67 B. C. Mithradates reappeared in Pontus and +Lucullus had to return from Armenia to face him, whereupon Tigranes began +to recover lost ground. Because of the mutiny in his army Lucullus was +forced to remain inactive. He had already been superseded in the command +of Asia, Cilicia and Bithynia, which had come under his control with the +return of Cotta, and his enemies in Rome deprived him of the remnants of +his authority in 66 B. C. + + + + III. THE REVOLT OF THE GLADIATORS: 73–71 B. C. + + +*Spartacus.* While Pompey was fighting Sertorius in Spain and Lucullus was +pursuing Mithradates in Bithynia a serious slave war arose in Italy. It +began in 73 B. C. with the revolt of a band of gladiators from a training +school in Capua under the leadership of the Thracian Spartacus and the +Gauls, Crixus and Onemaus. Taking refuge on the slopes of Vesuvius they +rapidly recruited large numbers of runaway slaves. They defeated the +armies of two Roman praetors and overran Campania, Lucania, and all +southern Italy. By the end of the year 73 B. C. their number had grown to +70,000. + +In the next year they divided their forces; the Gauls and Germans followed +Crixus, the Thracians Spartacus. The two consuls took the field against +them; Crixus and his horde were defeated in Apulia. Spartacus marched +north, intending to make his way through the Alps to Thrace. The consuls +pursued him, and he defeated them one after the other. Thereupon his +followers refused to leave Italy and turned southwards, plundering as they +went. Again Spartacus defeated the consuls but dared not attack Rome and +retired to South Italy. + +*Crassus in command, 71 B. C.* In 71 B. C. the consuls displayed no +enthusiasm to undertake the command against Spartacus, and so the Senate +appointed as extraordinary commander the praetor Marcus Licinius Crassus, +one of Sulla’s veteran officers, who volunteered his services. After +restoring discipline among his troops, Crassus succeeded in penning up +Spartacus in the peninsula of Bruttium. Spartacus hired some Cilician +pirates to transport him to Sicily, but, after receiving their price, they +abandoned him to his fate. He succeeded in breaking through Crassus’ +lines, but his forces divided into two detachments, each of which was +caught and beaten. Spartacus fell in battle; while 6000 of his following +were taken and crucified. Crassus had bent all his energies to bring the +revolt to a close before the arrival of Pompey, who was on his way from +Spain. This he might fairly claim to have accomplished although a body of +5000 slaves who had escaped to North Italy were met by Pompey and +annihilated. + + + + IV. THE CONSULATE OF POMPEY AND CRASSUS: 70 B. C. + + +*Pompey and Crassus consuls.* Both Pompey and Crassus, flushed by their +victories in Spain and in Italy, now demanded the right to stand for the +consulship for 70 B. C. Both sought triumphs and under this pretext did +not disband their armies. The Senate resisted their claims, for Pompey’s +candidature was clearly unconstitutional, and since Crassus was praetor in +71 he was not eligible for the consulate in the following year. +Furthermore both were distrusted because of their ambitious natures. In +view of this opposition Crassus, in spite of mutual jealousy between +himself and Pompey, made overtures to the latter and they agreed to unite +their forces. They also made a bid for the support of the _populares_ by +promising to restore the tribunate to its former privileges and for that +of the equestrians by promising to reinstate them in the jury courts. This +combination overawed senatorial opposition, their candidatures were +legalized by special bills and both were elected. In their consulate the +tribunes were relieved of the restrictions which Sulla had placed upon +their activities, and the jury courts were reorganized. However, the +latter were not given over completely to the equestrians, but each panel +of jurors was to consist of three equal sections, one drawn from the +Senate, one from the _equites_, and one from the _tribuni aerarii_, the +class of citizens whose assessment was next to that of the _equites_. The +Sullan régime was at an end, and in the tribunate emancipated from the +Senate’s control the ambitious general of the future was to find his most +valuable ally. + +*Trial of Verres.* In the same year, prior to the passing of the Aurelian +Law which reformed the juries, occurred the trial of Caius Verres, +ex-propraetor of Sicily, a case notable because the prosecution was +conducted by the young Marcus Tullius Cicero, whose accusation contained +in his published _Orations against Caius Verres_ constitutes a most +illuminating commentary upon provincial misgovernment under the Sullan +régime. The senatorial juries after 82 B. C., had protected the interests +of the provinces no better than had the equestrian juries established by +Caius Gracchus. They had shown themselves shamelessly venal, and a +provincial governor who made judicious disbursements could be confident +that he would be acquitted of any charges of extortion brought against +him. Relying upon this Verres, who was propraetor of Sicily in 73, 72 and +71 B. C., had carried off from that province money and valuables estimated +at 40,000,000 sesterces ($2,000,000). He had openly boasted that he +intended the profits of one year for himself, those of the second for his +friends and patrons, and those of the third for his jurors. At the opening +of the year 70 B. C. the Sicilian cities sued Verres for restitution of +damages and chose Cicero as their advocate. Cicero was a native of +Arpinum, the birthplace of Marius, and was now in his thirty-sixth year. +His upright conduct as quaestor in western Sicily in 75 B. C. had earned +him the confidence of the Sicilians, and his successful conduct of the +defense in several previous trials had marked him as a pleader of +exceptional ability. But Verres had entrusted his case to Quintus +Hortensius Hortalus, regarded at the time as the foremost of Roman +orators, and every conceivable device was resorted to in order to prevent +the case from coming to trial. Another prosecutor appeared, who claimed to +have a better right than Cicero to bring suit against Verres. This +necessitated a trial to decide which could better claim to represent the +Sicilians. Cicero was able to expose the falsity of the claims of his +rival, who was acting in collusion with Verres. He then proceeded to +Sicily where he gathered his evidence in fifty of the hundred and ten days +allowed him for the purpose. Before the hearing the elections for the next +year were held and Hortensius elected consul, but Cicero was returned as +aedile in spite of all the efforts of his opponents to weaken his prestige +by a defeat at the polls. + +The trial was set for the fifth of August, and as there were fifty +holidays for various festivals between that date and the end of the year, +the defense hoped to drag out the trial until after January first, when a +praetor friendly to Verres would preside over the court for extortion. But +Cicero defeated their hopes by abstaining from any long formal speech of +accusation and contenting himself with a brief statement of the obstacles +the defense had placed in his way, a threat to punish in his capacity of +aedile any attempts at corruption, and a short statement of the charge +against Verres. He then called his witnesses. Hortensius found himself +without any arguments to combat and could not refute the evidence. Before +the hearing of the witnesses was concluded Verres went into exile. He was +condemned in his absence and Cicero became the leading advocate of the +day. However, it must be admitted that the condemnation of Verres was also +partly due to the danger of the loss of their privileges which threatened +the senatorial jurors. + +*The crimes of Verres.* The evidence which had been brought out against +Verres was afterwards used by Cicero in composing his _Second Pleading +against Verres_ (_actio secunda in Verrem_) which was of course never +delivered, but was a political pamphlet in the form of a fictitious +oration. From it we learn the devices of which the governor made use to +amass a fortune at the expense of his province. By initiating false +accusations, by rendering, or intimidating other judges to render unjust +decisions, he secured the confiscation of property the value of which he +diverted to his own pockets. He sold justice to the highest bidder. While +saving himself expense by defrauding the collectors of port dues of the +tax on his valuables shipped out of Sicily, he added to his profits by the +sale of municipal offices and priesthoods. He entered into partnership +with the _decumani_ or collectors of the ten per cent produce tax, and +ordered the cultivators to pay whatever the collectors demanded, and then, +if dissatisfied, seek redress in his court, a redress which, needless to +say, was never gained. He loaned public funds at usurious rates of +interest, and either did not pay in full or paid nothing for corn +purchased from the Sicilian communities for the Roman government, while +charging the state the market price. At the same time he insisted upon the +cities commuting into money payments at rates far above current prices the +grain allotted for the upkeep of the governor’s establishment. At times +the demands made upon cultivators exceeded the total of their annual crop, +and in despair they fled from their holdings. To the money gained by such +methods Verres added a costly treasure of works of art, which he collected +from both individuals and cities by theft, seizure and intimidation. Even +the sacred ornaments of temples were not spared. All who resisted or +denounced him, even Roman citizens, were subjected to illegal +imprisonment, torture or execution. These iniquities were carried out in +defiance of the provincial charter, but there was no power in his province +to restrain him, and the Senate, which should have done so, remained +indifferent to the complaints which were carried to Rome. The sad truth +was that after all Verres was only more shameless and unscrupulous than +the average provincial governor, and consequently the sympathies of the +Senate were with him rather than with his victims—the provincials. + + + +V. THE COMMANDS OF POMPEY AGAINST THE PIRATES AND IN THE EAST: 67–62 B. C. + + +*The pirate scourge.* Both Pompey and Crassus had declined proconsular +appointments at the close of 70 B. C., because there were no provinces +open which promised an opportunity to augment their influence or military +reputation. Accordingly they remained in Rome watching for some more +favorable chance to employ their talents. Pompey found such an opportunity +in the ravages of the Cilician pirates. After the failure of Marcus +Antonius (74–72 B. C.), Caecilius Metellus had been sent to Crete in 69 +B. C. and in the course of the next two years reduced the island to +subjection and made it a province. But his operations there did little to +check the pirate plague. So bold had these robbers become that they did +not hesitate to raid the coasts of Italy and to plunder Ostia. When +finally their depredations interrupted the importation of grain for the +supply of the city, a famine threatened, and decisive measures had to be +taken against them. + +*The Gabinian Law, 67 B. C.* The only way to deal with the question was to +appoint a commander with power to operate against the pirates everywhere, +and the obvious man for the position was Pompey. However, the Senate +mistrusted him and in addition feared the consequences of creating such an +extensive extraordinary command. But since 71 B. C. Pompey had stood on +the side of the _populares_ and now, like Marius, he found in the +tribunate an ally able to aid him in attaining his goal. In 67 B. C. the +tribune Aulus Gabinius proposed a law for the appointment of a single +commander of consular rank who should have command over the whole sea +within the pillars of Hercules and all Roman territory to a distance of +fifty miles inland. His appointment was to be for three years, he was to +have the power to nominate senatorial _legati_, to raise money in addition +to what he received from the quaestors, and recruit soldiers and sailors +at discretion for his fleet. This command was modelled upon that of +Antonius the praetor in 74 B. C., but conveyed higher authority and +greater resources. The Senate bitterly resisted the passage of the bill +but it passed and the Senate had to relinquish its prerogative of creating +the extraordinary commands. Although no person had been nominated for this +command in the law of Gabinius, the opinion of the voters had been so +clearly expressed in a _contio_ that the Senate had to appoint Pompey. He +received twenty-four _legati_ and a fleet of five hundred vessels. + +*The pirates crushed.* Pompey set to work energetically and +systematically. In forty days he swept the pirates from the western +Mediterranean. In forty-nine more he cornered them in Cilicia, where he +forced the surrender of their strongholds. His victory was hastened by the +mildness shown to those who surrendered. They received their lives and +freedom, and in many cases were used as colonists to revive cities with a +declining population. Within three months he had brought the pirate war to +a triumphant conclusion, but his _imperium_ would not terminate for three +years and he was anxious to gather fresh laurels. + +*The Manilian Law, 66 B. C.* It so happened that Pompey’s success +coincided with the temporary check to the Roman arms in Pontus, owing to +the disaffection of the troops of Lucullus and the machinations of the +latter’s enemies in Rome. Pompey now sought to have the command of +Lucullus added to his own, and in this he had the support of the +equestrian order. Early in 66 B. C. one of the tribunes, Caius Manilius, +proposed a law transferring to Pompey the provinces of Bithynia and +Cilicia and the conduct of the war against Mithradates and Tigranes. +Cicero, then a praetor, supported the measure in his speech, _For the +Manilian Law_. His support was probably dictated by the fact that he was a +man without family backing and consequently had to have the friendship of +an influential personage if he was to secure the political advancement +which he desired. The Senate strongly opposed any extension of Pompey’s +military authority, but the bill was passed and he took over the command +of Lucullus. He was clothed with power to make peace or war with whom he +chose, and enjoyed an unexampled concentration of authority in his hands. + +*The campaigns of Pompey in the East.* Pompey at once advanced into Pontus +and attacked Mithradates. The latter was forced to withdraw into Lesser +Armenia where he was overtaken and his army scattered by Pompey. The king +fled to the neighborhood of the Sea of Asov. Upon the defeat of +Mithradates, Tigranes deserted his cause and submitted to Pompey. He was +permitted to retain his kingdom as a Roman ally. In the following year, 65 +B. C., Pompey reduced to submission the peoples situated south of the +Caucasus, between the Black and the Caspian Seas, who had been in alliance +with Mithradates, and so completed the subjugation of Pontus, which he +made into a province (64 B. C.). + +In 64 B. C. he turned his attention to Syria, where a state of chaos had +reigned since Lucullus had wrested it from Tigranes and where a scion of +the Seleucids had failed to find recognition. Pompey decided to treat +Syria as a Roman conquest and incorporate it within the empire. He then +interfered in a dynastic struggle in the kingdom of Judaea. After a brief +struggle, in which the temple of Jerusalem was stormed by the Romans, he +installed his nominee as High Priest at the head of the local government. +Judaea was then annexed to the province of Syria (63 B. C.). + +While Pompey was in Judaea the death of Mithradates occurred. Deserted by +the Greek cities of the northern Euxine, he formed the plan of joining the +Celtic peoples of the Danube valley and invading Italy. But his army +deserted him for his son Pharnaces, who revolted against his father, and +Mithradates committed suicide. Thereupon Pharnaces made peace with Pompey. + +The Mithradatic war was finally over and Pompey, after organizing affairs +in Asia Minor and the adjoining countries, started on a triumphal return +to Italy with his victorious army and rich spoils of war (62 B. C.). + + + + VI. THE CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE, 63 B. C. + + +*The situation in Rome.* While Pompey was adding to his military +reputation in the East he was regarded with jealous and anxious eyes not +only by the Senate but also by the other champions of the popular party, +Crassus who found his wealth no match for Pompey’s military achievements, +and Caius Julius Caesar who was rapidly coming to be one of the leading +figures in Roman public life. Caesar was born in 100 B. C., of the +patrician _gens_ of the Julii, but since his aunt was the wife of Marius, +and he himself had married the daughter of Cinna, his lot was cast with +the Populares. As a young man he had distinguished himself by refusing to +divorce his wife at Sulla’s behest, whereat Sulla was with difficulty +induced to spare his life, saying that he saw in him many a Marius. For +the time being Caesar judged it prudent to withdraw from Rome to Rhodes. +While in the East he was captured by pirates, and after being ransomed, +fulfilled his threat to avenge himself by taking and executing his +captors. After the death of Sulla, Caesar returned to Rome and devoted his +more than average oratorical abilities to the cause of the Marians. In 69 +or 68 B. C. he was quaestor in Farther Spain, and shortly afterwards he +became closely associated with Crassus in the attempt to develop a +counterpoise to Pompey’s influence. While aedile in 65 B. C. he curried +favor with the populace by the extraordinary lavishness with which he +celebrated the public festivals, by the restoration of the public +monuments of the campaign of Marius and by supporting the prosecution of +agents in the Sullan proscriptions. The splendor of his shows had obliged +Caesar to contract heavy debts, and Crassus was in all probability his +chief creditor. Both were therefore interested in securing for Caesar a +position in which he could secure the wealth to meet his obligations. + +The unrest in Rome was heightened by the presence there of a number of men +of ruined fortunes, both Marians dispossessed by Sulla and those of the +opposite party who had squandered their resources or had been excluded +from the Senate by the censors of 70 B. C. This element was ready to +resort to any means, however desperate, to win wealth or office. Foremost +among them was Lucius Sergius Catilina, a patrician who enjoyed an evil +repute for his share in the Sullan proscriptions and the viciousness of +his private life. Symptomatic of the weakening of the public authority was +the organization of partizan gangs to terrorize opposition and control the +Assembly. + +*Cicero elected consul, 64 B. C.* In the year 64 B. C. three candidates +presented themselves for the consulship, Catiline, Caius Antonius, a noble +of the same type as Catiline, and Cicero. The first two were supported by +Caesar and Crassus who hoped to use them for their own ends. Cicero, as a +_novus homo_, was distasteful to the Optimates, but since they felt that +Catiline must be defeated at all costs they supported the orator, who was +elected with Antonius. From that time Cicero ranged himself on the side of +the Optimates, and his political watchword was the “harmony of the +orders,” that is, of the senators and the equestrians. Of the consular +provinces Cicero received by lot Macedonia and Antonius Cisalpine Gaul. As +the latter was dissatisfied Cicero resigned Macedonia to him, in return +for his public assurance of abstaining from opposing Cicero’s acts during +their year of office. + +*The land bill of Rullus, 63 B. C.* On the first day of his consulate +Cicero delivered a speech in which he scathingly criticized a land bill +proposed by the tribune Servilius Rullus. This bill aimed to create a land +commission of ten members of praetorian rank, elected in a special +_comitia_ of seventeen tribes, which Rullus was to choose by lot. These +commissioners were to be vested with extraordinary powers for five years, +including the right to sell the public land in Italy and in Pompey’s +recent conquests, to exercise judicial authority, to confiscate lands, to +found colonies, and to enroll and maintain troops. The bill would have +placed in the hands of the commissioners extraordinary military authority +both in Italy and in the provinces, guaranteed by the income derived from +the sale of land. Pompey was excluded from the commission by a clause +requiring the personal appearance of candidates. Everyone was aware that +the measure was devised in the interests of Caesar and Crassus and that +they would dominate the commission. However, the attack upon the Senate’s +control of the public land and the general mistrust of the purposes of a +bill of this sort caused such strong opposition that its sponsors did not +bring the matter to a vote. + +*Caesar, **Pontifex** Maximus.* But Caesar could console himself with +victory in another sphere. The position of Pontifex Maximus had become +vacant, and by a tribunician bill the _lex Domitia_, revoked by Sulla, was +again brought into effect and election to the priesthood entrusted to a +_comitia_ of seventeen tribes. In the ensuing election Caesar was +victorious. + +*The Catilinarian conspiracy: 63 B. C.* In July, 63 B. C., occurred the +consular elections for the next year. Catiline was again a competitor, but +now he lacked the support of Crassus and Caesar and appealed directly to +all needy and desperate characters throughout Italy, who hoped to enrich +themselves by violent means. He was bitterly opposed by Cicero and the +Optimates and was defeated. Thereupon he and his followers conspired to +overthrow the government by armed force. Cicero, who was on the watch, got +news of the conspiracy and induced the Senate to pass the “last decree” +empowering him to use any means to save the state. Catiline then left the +city to join the bands his supporters had raised in Etruria. He was +declared a public enemy and a force under the consul Antonius dispatched +against him. December seventeenth was the day set for a rising in Rome, +when the city was to be fired, the consuls and others murdered, and a +reign of terror instituted. But the plan was betrayed by a delegation of +the Gallic Allobroges who happened to be in Rome and whom the conspirators +endeavored to enlist on their side. The leading Catilinarians in Rome were +arrested, and, in accordance with a decree of the Senate, put to death. +Caesar had argued for a milder sentence, but the firm stand of the young +Marcus Porcius Cato, a man of uncompromising uprightness and loyalty to +the constitution, sealed the fate of the plotters. Upon the failure of his +plans in Rome, Catiline endeavored to make his way with his army into +Cisalpine Gaul, but was overtaken and forced to give battle to the forces +of Antonius at Pistoria. He and most of his followers died sword in hand. +The suppression of the conspiracy added to Cicero’s reputation and greatly +strengthened the position of the Senate and the Optimates. + +But the whole episode bears testimony to the general weakness of the +government and the danger of the absence of a regular police force for the +maintenance of the public peace. + + + + VII. THE COALITION OF POMPEY, CAESAR AND CRASSUS: 60 B. C. + + +*Pompey’s return.* Towards the close of the year 62 B. C. Pompey landed in +Italy and, contrary to the expectations of those who feared that he would +prove a second Sulla, disbanded his army. The following September (61) he +celebrated a memorable triumph. He was exceedingly anxious to crown his +achievements by having the Senate ratify his eastern arrangements and +securing land grants for his veterans. However, since the dismissal of his +troops he was no longer feared by the Senate, which insisted on examining +his acts in detail and not ratifying them _en bloc_ as he demanded. Thus +the Optimates lost the opportunity of binding Pompey to their side, and at +the same time they fell out with the equestrians over the demand made by +the _publicani_ who had contracted for the taxes of Asia for a +modification of the terms of their contract on the ground of poor harvests +in the province. + +*The coalition of 60 B. C.* No settlement had been reached when Caesar +returned to Rome in 60 B. C. He had been praetor in 62 and for the +following year governor of Further Spain, where he waged successful border +wars, conciliated the provincials and yet contrived to find the means to +satisfy his creditors. He now requested a triumph and the privilege of +standing for the consulate while waiting outside the city for the former +honor. However, when the Senate delayed its decision he gave up the +triumph and became a candidate for the consulate. He now succeeded in +reconciling Pompey and Crassus and the three formed a secret coalition to +secure the election of Caesar and the satisfaction of their particular +aims. This unofficial coalition is known as the First Triumvirate. Through +the influence of his supporters Caesar was easily elected but his +colleague was Calpurnius Bibulus, the nominee of the Optimates. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV + + + THE RIVALRY OF POMPEY AND CAESAR: CAESAR’S DICTATORSHIP; 59–44 B. C. + + + + I. CAESAR CONSUL: 59 B. C. + + +*A rule of force.* At the beginning of his consulship Caesar tried to +induce the Senate to approve his measures, but, when they failed to do so, +he carried them directly to the Assembly. And when Bibulus and Cato +essayed to obstruct legislation in the Comitia he crushed all opposition +by the aid of Pompey’s veterans. Bibulus, protesting against the +illegality of Caesar’s proceedings, shut himself up in his own house. Thus +Caesar carried two land laws for the benefit of the soldiers of Pompey, +induced the Senate to ratify the latter’s eastern settlement, and secured +for the equestrians, whose cause was championed by Crassus, the remission +of one third of the contract price for the revenues of Asia. + +*The Vatinian Law.* A lucky chance enabled Caesar to secure his own future +by an extended military command. The Senate had taken pains to render him +harmless by assigning as the consular provinces for 58 the care of forests +and country roads in Italy, but in February, 59, the death of Metellus +Celer, proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul, left vacant a post of considerable +importance in view of the imminent danger of war breaking out in +Transalpine Gaul. Accordingly a law proposed by the tribune Vatinius +transferred to Caesar the command of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, with a +garrison of three legions, for a term of five years beginning 1 March, 59. +To this the Senate, at the suggestion of Pompey, added Transalpine Gaul +and another legion. + +*The banishment of Cicero, 58 B. C.* Caesar’s consulship had been an open +defiance of constitutional precedent, and had revealed the fact that the +triumvirate was stronger than the established organs of government, and +that the Roman Empire was really controlled by three men. Well might Cato +say that the coalition was the beginning of the end of the Republic. +Within the triumvirate itself Pompey was the dominant figure owing to his +military renown and the influence of his veterans. Caesar appeared as his +agent, yet displayed far greater political insight and succeeded in +creating for himself a position which would enable him to play a more +independent rôle in the future. The coalition did not break up at the end +of Caesar’s consulship; its members determined to retain their control of +the state policy, and to this end secured for 58 B. C. the election of two +consuls in whom they had confidence. To cement the alliance Pompey married +Caesar’s daughter Julia, and Caesar married the daughter of Piso, one of +the consuls-elect. To secure themselves from attack they felt it necessary +to remove from the city their two ablest opponents, Cato and Cicero. The +latter had refused all proposals to join their side, and had sharply +criticized them on several public occasions. His banishment was secured +through the agency of the tribune Clodius, whose transfer from patrician +to plebeian status Caesar had facilitated. Clodius was a man of ill repute +who hated Cicero because the latter had testified against him when he was +on trial for sacrilege. Early in 58 B. C. Clodius carried a bill which +outlawed any person who had put to death Roman citizens without regular +judicial proceedings. This law was aimed at Cicero for his share in the +execution of the Catalinarian conspirators. Finding that he could not rely +upon the support of his friends, Cicero went into exile without awaiting +trial. He was formally banished, his property was confiscated, and he +himself sought refuge in Thessalonica, where the governor of Macedonia +offered him protection. Cato was entrusted with a special mission to +accomplish the incorporation of Cyprus, then ruled by one of the Egyptian +Ptolemies, into the Roman Empire, and his Stoic conception of duty +prevented him from refusing the appointment. Caesar remained with his army +in the vicinity of Rome until after Cicero’s banishment and then set out +for his province. + + + + II. CAESAR’S CONQUEST OF GAUL: 58–51 B. C. + + +*The defeat of the Helvetii and Ariovistus: 58 B. C.* In 58 B. C., when +Caesar entered upon his Gallic command, the Roman province in Transalpine +Gaul (_Gallia __Narbonensis_) embraced the coast districts from the Alps +to the borders of Spain and the land between the Alps and the Rhone as far +north as Lake Geneva. The country which stretched from the Pyrenees to the +Rhine, and from the Rhone to the ocean was called _Gallia comata_ or +“long-haired Gaul,” and was occupied by a large number of peoples of +varying importance. These were usually regarded as falling into three +groups, (1) those of Aquitania, between the Pyrenees and the Loire, where +there was a large Iberian element, (2) those called Celts, in a narrow +sense of the word, stretching from the Loire to the Seine and the Marne, +and (3) the Belgian Gauls, dwelling between these rivers and the Rhine. +Among the latter were peoples of Germanic origin. Although conscious of a +general unity of language, race and customs, the Gauls had not developed a +national state, owing to the mutual jealousy of the individual peoples, +and each tribe was perpetually divided into rival factions supporting +different chiefs. Rome had sought to protect the province of Narbonensis +by establishing friendly relations with some of these Gallic peoples and +had long before (c. 121 B. C.) made an alliance with the Aedui. About 70 +B. C. conditions in _Gallia comata_ had been disturbed by an invasion of +Germanic Suevi, from across the Rhine, under their King Ariovistus. He +united with the rivals of the Aedui, the Sequani, and after a number of +years reduced the former to submission. In 59 B. C. he reached an +agreement with Rome, became a “friend” of the Roman people, and, while +abstaining from further aggression, remained firmly established in what is +now Alsace. For some time the Roman province had been alarmed by the +threat of a migration of the Helvetii, then settled in western +Switzerland, and in March, 58 B. C., this people started in search of new +abodes. Caesar reached Gaul in time to prevent their crossing the upper +Rhone, and followed them as they turned westward into the lands of the +Sequani and Aedui. Defeated in two battles, they were forced to return to +their home and to become allies of Rome. The movement of the Helvetii had +given Caesar the opportunity for intervention in _Gallia comata_, and a +pretext for extending his influence there was found in the hostility of +some of the Gauls to Ariovistus, and the knowledge that a band of Suevi +was expected soon to cross the Rhine to reinforce the latter. To frustrate +a German occupation of Gaul now became Caesar’s object. Ariovistus +rejected the demands of Caesar, who thereupon attacked him, defeated him +in the vicinity of Strassburg and drove him across the Rhine. Caesar was +now the dominant power in Gaul, and many of the leading tribes entered +into alliance with Rome. Of the Belgae, however, only the Remi came over +to the side of Rome. + +*The conquest of the Belgae, Veneti, and Aquitanians, 57–56 B. C.* In the +next year, 57 B. C., Caesar marched against the united forces of the +Belgae, defeated them, and subdued many tribes, chief of whom were the +Nervii. At the same time his legates received the submission of the +peoples of Normandy and Brittany. In the course of the following winter +some of these, led by the Veneti, broke off their alliance and attacked +Caesar’s garrisons. Thereupon he set to work to build a fleet, with which +in the course of the next summer the fleet of the Veneti was destroyed and +their strongholds on the coast taken (56 B. C.). The same year witnessed +the submission of the Aquitanians, which brought practically the whole of +Gaul under Roman sway. + +*Events in Rome, 58–55 B. C.* Meanwhile important changes had taken place +in the situation at Rome. Pompey had broken with Clodius, and supported +the tribune Titus Annius Milo who pressed for Cicero’s recall. A law of +the Assembly withdrew his sentence of outlawry, his property was restored, +and the orator returned in September, 57 B. C., to enjoy a warm reception +both in the municipal towns and at the capital. For the moment Pompey and +the Optimates were on friendly terms, and the former made use of a grain +famine in the city to secure for himself an appointment as curator of the +grain supply (_curator annonae_) for a period of five years. This +appointment carried with it proconsular _imperium_ within and without +Italy, and the control of the ports, markets and traffic in grain within +the Roman dominions. It was really an extraordinary military command. +Pompey relieved the situation but could do nothing to allay the disorders +in Rome, where Clodius and Milo with their armed gangs set law and order +at defiance. The news of Caesar’s victories and the influence which he was +acquiring in the city by a judicious distribution of the spoils of war +fired the ambitions of Pompey and Crassus who were no longer on good terms +with one another. Furthermore, the return of Cato in 56 B. C. had again +given the Optimates an energetic leader. Consequently Caesar felt it +necessary for the coalition to reach a new agreement. Accordingly while +spending the winter in Cisalpine Gaul he arranged a conference at Luca in +April, 56, where the three settled their differences and laid plans for +the future. They agreed that Pompey and Crassus should be consuls in 55 +B. C., that the former should be given the Spanish provinces and Libya for +five years, that Crassus should have Syria for an equal period, and that +Caesar’s command in Gaul should be prolonged for another five year term to +run from 1 March, 54.(12) + +These arrangements were duly carried out. Since it was too late for Pompey +and Crassus to be candidates at the regular elections in 56 B. C., they +forcibly prevented any elections being held that year. The following +January, after forcing the other candidates to withdraw, they secured +their election. Thereupon a law of the tribune Gaius Trebonius made +effective the assignment of provinces agreed upon at Luca. Once more it +was made plain that the coalition actually ruled the empire. Cicero, who +was indebted to Pompey for his recall, was forced to support the +triumvirate, and the Optimates found their boldest leader in Cato, who had +returned to Rome early in 56 B. C. + +*Caesar’s crossing of the Rhine and invasion of Britain: 55–54 B. C.* +During the winter following the subjugation of the Veneti, two Germanic +tribes, the Usipetes and the Tencteri, crossed the lower Rhine into Gaul. +In the next summer, 55 B. C., Caesar attacked and annihilated their +forces, only a few escaping across the river. As a warning against future +invasion, Caesar bridged the Rhine and made a demonstration upon the right +bank, destroying his bridge when he withdrew. Towards the close of the +summer he crossed the Straits of Dover to Britain, to punish the Britons +for aiding his enemies in Gaul. But owing to the lateness of the season +and the smallness of his force he returned to Gaul after a brief +reconnaissance. + +In the following year, after gathering a larger fleet, he again landed on +the island with a force of almost 30,000 men. This time he forced his way +across the Thames and received the submission of Cassivellaunus, the chief +who led the British tribes against the invaders. After taking hostages, +and receiving promises of tribute, Caesar returned to Gaul. Britain was in +no sense subdued, but the island had felt the power of Rome, and, besides +enlarging the geographical knowledge of the time, Caesar had brought back +numbers of captives. In Rome the exploit produced great excitement and +enthusiasm. + +*Revolts in Gaul: 54–53 B. C.* Although the Gauls had submitted to Caesar, +they were not yet reconciled to Roman rule, which put an end to their +inter-tribal wars and to the feuds among the nobility. Consequently, many +of the tribes were restive and not inclined to surrender all hopes of +freedom without another struggle. In the course of the winter 54–53 B. C. +the Nervii, Treveri and Eburones in Belgian Gaul attacked the Roman +detachments stationed in their territories. One of these was cut to pieces +but the rest held their ground until relieved by Caesar, who stamped out +the rebellion. + +*Vercingetorix, 52 B. C.* A more serious movement started in 52 B. C. +among the peoples of central Gaul who found a national leader in +Vercingetorix, a young noble of the Arverni. The revolt took Caesar by +surprise when he was in Cisalpine Gaul and his troops still scattered in +winter quarters. He recrossed the Alps with all haste, secured the +Narbonese province and succeeded in uniting his forces. These he +strengthened with German cavalry from across the Rhine. However, a +temporary check in an attack upon the position of Vercingetorix at +Gergovia caused the Aedui to desert the Roman cause, and the revolt spread +to practically the whole of Gaul. Caesar was on the point of retiring to +the province, but after repulsing an attack made upon him he was able to +pen up Vercingetorix in the fortress of Alesia. A great effort made by the +Gauls to relieve the siege failed to break Caesar’s lines, and the +defenders were starved into submission. The crisis was over, although +another year was required before the revolting tribes were all reduced to +submission and the Roman authority re-established (51 B. C.). Caesar used +all possible mildness in his treatment of the conquered and the Gauls were +not only pacified but won over. In the days to come they were among his +most loyal supporters. The conquest of Gaul was an event of supreme +importance for the future history of the Roman empire, and for the +development of European civilization as well. For the time _Gallia comata_ +was not formed into a province. Its peoples were made allies of Rome, +under the supervision of the governor of Narbonese Gaul, under obligation +to furnish troops and for the most part liable to a fixed tribute. +Caesar’s campaign in Gaul had given him the opportunity to develop his +unusual military talents and to create a veteran army devoted to himself. +His power had become so great that both Pompey and the Optimates desired +his destruction and he was in a position to refuse to be eliminated +without a struggle. The plots laid in Rome to deprive him of his power had +made him hasten to quell the revolt of the Gauls with all speed. When this +was accomplished he was free to turn his attention to Roman affairs. + +*Crassus in Syria, 55–53 B. C.* After the assignment of the provinces by +the Trebonian Law in 55 B. C., Crassus set out for Syria intending to win +military power and prestige by a war against the Parthians, an Asiatic +people who, once the subjects of the Persians and Seleucids, had +established a kingdom which included the provinces of the Seleucid empire +as far west as the Euphrates. Crassus had no real excuse for opening +hostilities, but the Parthians were a potentially dangerous neighbor and a +campaign against them gave promise of profit and glory. Accordingly, in 54 +B. C., Crassus made a short incursion into Mesopotamia and then withdrew +to Syria. The next year he again crossed the Euphrates, intending to +penetrate deeply into the enemy’s country. But he had underestimated the +strength of the Parthians and the difficulties of desert warfare. In the +Mesopotamian desert near Carrhae his troops were surrounded and cut to +pieces by the Parthian horsemen; Crassus himself was enticed into a +conference and treacherously slain, and only a small remnant of his force +escaped (53 B. C.). But the Parthians were slow in following up their +advantage and Crassus’ quaestor, Cassius Longinus, was able to hold Syria. +Still Roman prestige in the East had received a severe blow and for the +next three centuries the Romans found the Parthians dangerous neighbors. +The death of Crassus tended to hasten a crisis in Rome for it brought into +sharp conflict the incompatible ambitions of Pompey and Caesar, whose +estrangement had already begun with the death of Pompey’s wife Julia in 54 +B. C. + +*Affairs in Rome, 54–49 B. C.* At the end of his consulship Pompey left +Rome but remained in Italy, on the pretext of his curatorship of the grain +supply, and governed his province through his legates. In Rome disorder +reigned; no consuls were elected in 54 B. C. nor before July of the +following year; the partizans of Clodius and Milo kept everything in +confusion. Pompey could have restored order but preferred to create a +situation which would force the Senate to grant him new powers, so he +backed Clodius, while Milo championed the Optimates. Owing to broils +between the supporters of the candidates, no consuls or praetors could be +elected for 52 B. C. In January of that year Clodius was slain by Milo’s +body-guard on the Appian Way, and the ensuing outburst of mob violence in +the city forced the Senate to appeal to Pompey. He was made sole consul, +until he should choose a colleague, and was entrusted with the task of +restoring order. His troops brought quiet into the city; Milo was tried on +a charge of public violence, convicted, and banished. Pompey had attained +the height of his official career; he was sole consul, at the same time he +had a province embracing the Spains, Libya, and the sphere assigned to him +with the grain curatorship, he governed his provinces through _legati_, +and his armies were maintained by the public treasury. In reality he was +the chief power in the state, for without him the Senate was helpless, and +he was justly regarded by contemporaries as the First Citizen or Princeps. +In many ways his position foreshadowed the Principate of Augustus. +However, Pompey did not wish to overthrow the republican régime; his +ambition was to be regarded as the indispensable and permanent mainstay of +the government and to enjoy corresponding power and honor. In such a +scheme there was no room for a rival, and therefore he determined upon +Caesar’s overthrow. This decision put him on the side of the extreme +Optimates, who were alarmed by Caesar’s wealth, influence and fame and +feared him as a dangerous radical. They had no hesitation in choosing +between Pompey and Caesar. + +*Pompey’s attack upon Caesar: 52 B. C.* The latter’s immediate aim was to +secure the consulship for 48 B. C. and to retain his proconsular command +until the end of December, 49. He knew that he had reached a position +where his destruction was the desire of many, and that the moment he +surrendered his _imperium_ he would be open to prosecution by those +seeking to procure his ruin. But he had no intention of placing himself in +the power of his enemies. The consulship would not only save him from +prosecution but would enable him to confirm his arrangements in Gaul, +reward his army, and secure his own future by another proconsular +appointment. However, to secure his election, he had to be exempted from +presenting himself in person for his candidature in 49, and this +permission was accorded him by a tribunician law early in 52 B. C. So far +his position was strictly legal, but Pompey, whose own consulship was +unconstitutional, now broke openly with Caesar by passing legislation +which would undermine the latter’s position. One of Pompey’s laws +prohibited candidacies for office _in absentia_, and when Caesar’s friends +protested, he added to the text of the law after it had passed a clause +exempting Caesar from its operation; a procedure of more than dubious +legality. A second law provided that in future provincial governorships +should not be filled by the city magistrates just completing their term of +office but by those whose terms had expired five years previously. This +latter law may have been intended to check the mad rivalry for provincial +appointments, but its immediate significance lay in the fact that it +permitted a successor to be appointed to take over Caesar’s provinces on 1 +March, 49 B. C. He would thus have to stand as a private citizen for the +consulship and would no longer enjoy immunity from legal attack. At the +same time Pompey had his own command in Spain extended for another five +years. + +*Negotiations between Caesar, Pompey and the Senate, 51–50 B. C.* The +question of appointing a successor to Caesar’s provinces filled the next +two years and was the immediate cause of civil war. Caesar claimed that +his position should not be affected by the Pompeian law, and pressed for +permission to hold his command until the close of 49 B. C. The extreme +conservatives sought to supersede him on March first of that year, but +Caesar’s friends and agents thwarted their efforts. Pompey was not willing +to have Caesar’s command to run beyond 13 November, 49. Cicero, who had +distinguished himself by his uprightness as governor of Cilicia in 51, +strove to effect a compromise, but in vain. Caesar offered to give up +Transalpine Gaul and part of his army, if allowed to retain the Cisalpine +province but the overture was rejected. Finally, in December, 50 B. C., he +formally promised to resign his provinces and disband his troops, if +Pompey would do the same, but the Senate insisted upon his absolute +surrender. On 7 January, 49 B. C., the Senate passed the “last decree” +calling upon the magistrates and proconsuls (i. e. Pompey) to protect the +state, and declaring Caesar a public enemy. Caesar’s friends left the city +and fled to meet him in Cisalpine Gaul, where he and his army were in +readiness for this emergency. + + + + III. THE CIVIL WAR BETWEEN CAESAR AND THE SENATE: 49–46 B. C. + + +*Caesar’s conquest of Italy and Spain, 49 B. C.* The senatorial +conservatives had forced the issue and for Caesar there remained the +alternative of victory or destruction. He possessed the advantages of a +loyal army ready for immediate action and the undisputed control over his +own troops. On the other hand, his opponents had no veteran troops in +Italy, and although Pompey acted as commander-in-chief of the senatorial +forces, he was greatly hampered by having at times to defer to the +judgment of the consuls and senators who were in his camp. It was +obviously to Caesar’s advantage to take the offensive and to force a +decision before his enemies could concentrate against him the resources of +the provinces. Hence he determined to act without delay, and, upon +receiving news of the Senate’s action on 7 January, he crossed the +Rubicon, which divided Cisalpine Gaul and Italy, with a small force, +ordering the legions beyond the Alps to join him with all speed. The +Italian municipalities opened their gates at his approach and the newly +raised levies went over to his side. Everywhere his mildness to his +opponents won him new adherents. Pompey decided to abandon Italy and +withdraw to the East, intending later to concentrate upon the peninsula +from all sides; a plan made feasible by his control of the sea. Caesar +divined his intention and tried to cut off his retreat at Brundisium, but +could not prevent his embarkation. With his army and the majority of the +Senate Pompey crossed to Epirus. Owing to his lack of a fleet Caesar could +not follow and returned to Rome. There some of the magistrates were still +functioning, in conjunction with a remnant of the Senate. Being in dire +need of money, he wished to obtain funds from the treasury, and when this +was opposed by a tribune, Caesar ignored the latter’s veto and forcibly +seized the reserve treasure which the Pompeians had left behind in their +hasty flight. In the meantime Caesar’s lieutenants had seized Sardinia and +Sicily, and crossed over into Africa. He himself determined to attack the +well organized Pompeian forces in Spain and destroy them before Pompey was +ready for an offensive from the East. On his way to Spain, Caesar began +the siege of Massalia which closed its gates to him. Leaving the city +under blockade he hastened to Spain, where after an initial defeat he +forced the surrender of the Pompeian armies. Some of the prisoners joined +his forces; the rest were dismissed to their homes. Caesar hastened back +to Massalia. The city capitulated at his arrival, and was punished by +requisitions, the loss of its territory and the temporary deprivation of +its autonomy. From here Caesar pressed on to Rome, where he had been +appointed dictator by virtue of a special law. After holding the elections +in which he and an approved colleague were returned as consuls for 48, he +resigned his dictatorship and set out for Brundisium. There he had +assembled his army and transports for the passage to Epirus. + +*Pharsalus, 48 B. C.* During Caesar’s Spanish campaign Pompey had gathered +a large force in Macedonia, nine Roman legions reinforced by contingents +from the Roman allies. His fleet, recruited largely from the maritime +cities in the East, commanded the Adriatic. Nevertheless, at the opening +of winter (Nov. 49 B. C.) Caesar effected a landing on the coast of Epirus +with part of his army and seized Apollonia. However, Pompey arrived from +Macedonia in time to save Dyrrhachium. Throughout the winter the two +armies remained inactive, but Pompey’s fleet prevented Caesar from +receiving reinforcements until the spring of 48 B. C., when Marcus +Antonius effected a crossing with another detachment. As Caesar’s troops +began to suffer from shortage of supplies he was forced to take the +offensive and tried to blockade Pompey’s larger force in Dyrrhachium. +However, the attempt failed, his lines of investment were broken, and he +withdrew to Thessaly. Thither he was followed by Pompey, who suffered +himself to be influenced by the overconfident senators to risk a battle. +Near the town of Old Pharsalus he attacked Caesar but was defeated and his +army dispersed. He himself sought refuge in Egypt and there he was put to +death by order of the king whose father he had protected in the days of +his power. Pompey’s great weakness was that his resolution did not match +his ambition. His ambition led him to seek a position incompatible with +the constitution; but his lack of resolution did not permit him to +overthrow the constitution. The Optimates had sided with him only because +they held him less dangerous than Caesar and had he been victorious they +would have sought to compass his downfall. + +*Caesar in the East, 48–47 B. C.* After Pharsalus Caesar had set out in +pursuit of Pompey, but arrived in Egypt after the murder of his foe. His +ever pressing need of money probably induced Caesar to intervene as +arbiter in the name of Rome in the dynastic struggle then raging in Egypt +between the twenty-year-old Cleopatra and her thirteen-year-old brother, +Ptolemy XIV Dionysus, who was also, following the Egyptian custom, her +husband. Caesar got the young king in his power and brought back +Cleopatra, whom the people of Alexandria had driven out. Angered thereat, +and resenting his exactions, the Alexandrians rose in arms and from +October, 48, to March, 47 B. C., besieged Caesar in the royal quarter of +the city. Having but few troops with him Caesar was in dire straits and +was only able to maintain himself through his control of the sea which +enabled him to eventually receive reinforcements. His relief was effected +by a force raised by Mithradates of Pergamon who invaded Egypt from Syria. +In co-operation with him Caesar defeated the Egyptians in battle; Ptolemy +Dionysus perished in flight; and Alexandria submitted. Cleopatra was +married to a still younger brother and put in possession of the kingdom of +Egypt. Caesar had succumbed to the charms of the Egyptian queen and +tarried in her company for the rest of the winter. He was called away to +face a new danger in Pharnaces, son of Mithradates Eupator, who had taken +advantage of the civil war to recover Pontus and overrun Lesser Armenia, +Cappadocia and Bithynia. Hastening through Syria Caesar entered Pontus and +defeated Pharnaces at Zela. After settling affairs in Asia Minor he +proceeded with all speed to the West, where his presence was urgently +needed. + +*Thapsus, 46 B. C.* Both the fleet and the army of Pompey had dispersed +after Pharsalus, but Caesar’s delay in the East had given the republicans +an opportunity to reassemble their forces. They gathered in Africa where +Caesar’s lieutenant Curio, who had invaded the province in 49 B. C., had +been defeated and killed by the Pompeians through the aid of King Juba of +Numidia. From Africa they were now preparing to attack Italy. In Rome, +Caesar had been appointed dictator for 47 B. C. with Antony as his master +of the horse. Here disorder reigned as a result of the distress arising +from the financial stringency brought on by the war. Antony, who was in +Rome, had proved unable to deal with the situation. Caesar reached Italy +in September, 47 B. C., and soon restored order in the city. He was then +called upon to face a serious mutiny of his troops who demanded the +fulfillment of his promises of money and land and their release from +service. By boldness and presence of mind Caesar won them back to their +allegiance and set out for Africa in December, 47 B. C. He landed with +only a portion of his troops and at first was defeated by the republicans +under Scipio and Juba. But he was supported by King Bogud of Mauretania +and a Catalinarian soldier of fortune, Publius Sittius, and after +receiving reinforcements from Italy he besieged the seaport Thapsus. +Scipio came to the rescue but was completely defeated in a bloody battle +near the town. The whole of the province fell into Caesar’s hands. Cato, +who was in command of Utica, did not force the citizens to resist but +committed suicide; the other republican leaders, including Juba, either +followed his example, or were taken and executed by the Caesarians. From +Africa Caesar returned to Rome where he celebrated a costly triumph over +Gaul, Egypt, Pharnaces and Juba. He was now undisputed master of the state +and proceeded according to his own judgment to settle the problem of +governing the Roman world. + + + + IV. THE DICTATORSHIP OF JULIUS CAESAR: 46–44 B. C. + + +*The problem of imperial government.* From 28 July, 46, to 15 March, 44 +B. C., Caesar ruled the Roman Empire with despotic power, his position +unchallenged except for a revolt of the Pompeian party in Spain which +required his attention from the autumn of 46 to the spring of 45 B. C. His +victory over Pompey and the republicans had placed upon him the obligation +to provide the empire with a stable form of government and this +responsibility he accepted. Sulla, when faced with the same problem, had +been content to place the Senate once more at the head of the state, but +from his own experience Caesar knew how futile this policy had been. Nor +could the ideal of Pompey commend itself as a means of ending civil war +and rebellion. Caesar was prepared to deal much more radically with the +old régime, but death overtook him before he had completed his +reorganization. What was the goal of his policy will best be understood +from a consideration of his official position during the year and a half +which followed the battle of Thapsus. + +*Caesar’s offices, powers and honors.* Caesar’s autocratic position rested +in the last instance upon the support of his veterans, of the associates +who owed their advancement to him, and of such small forces as he kept +under arms, but his position was legalized by the accumulation in his +hands of various offices, special powers and unusual honors. Foremost +among his offices came the dictatorship. We have seen that he had held +this already for a short time in 49 and again in 47. In 46 B. C. he was +appointed dictator for ten years, and in the following year for life. At +the same time he was consul, an office which he held continuously from 48 +B. C., in 45 as sole consul, but usually with a colleague. In addition to +these offices he enjoyed the tribunician authority (_tribunicia +potestas_), that is, the power of the tribunes without the name. This +included the right to sit with the tribunes and the right of intercession, +granted him as early as 48 B. C., and also personal inviolability +(_sacrosanctitas_) which he received in 45. He had been Chief Pontiff +since 63, and in 48 B. C. was admitted to all the patrician priestly +corporations. And in 46 B. C. he was given the powers of the censorship +under the title of “prefect of morals” (_praefectus morum_), at first for +three years and later for life. In addition to these official positions of +more or less established scope, Caesar received other powers not dependent +upon any office. He was granted the right to appoint to both Roman and +provincial magistracies, until in 44 B. C. he had the authority to +nominate half the officials annually; and in reality appointed all. In 48 +B. C. he received the power of making war and peace without consulting the +Senate, in 46 the right of expressing his opinion first in the Senate +(_ius primae sententiae_), and in 45 the sole right to command troops and +to control the public moneys. In the next year ratification was given in +advance to all his future arrangements, and magistrates entering upon +office were required to swear to uphold his acts. The concentration of +these powers in his person placed Caesar above the law, and reduced the +holders of public offices to the position of his servants. Honors to match +his extraordinary powers were heaped upon Caesar, partly by his own +desire, partly by the servility and fulsome flattery of the Senate. He was +granted a seat with the consuls in the Senate, if he should not be consul +himself; he received the title of parent or father of his country +(_parens_ or _pater patriae_); his statue was placed among those of the +kings of Rome, his image in the temple of Quirinus; the month Quinctilis, +in which he was born, was renamed Julius (July) in his honor; a new +college of priests, the Julian Luperci, was created; a temple was erected +to himself and the Goddess Clementia, and a priest (flamen) appointed for +his worship there; and he was authorized to build a house on the Palatine +with a pediment like a temple. Most of these honors he received after his +victory over the Pompeians in Spain in 45 B. C. However, the title +_imperator_ (Emperor), which was regularly the prerogative of a general +who was entitled to a triumph and was surrendered along with his military +_imperium_, was employed by Caesar continuously from 49 until after the +battle of Thapsus in 46, when he celebrated his triumph over the Gauls and +his other non-Roman enemies. He assumed it again after Munda in the +following year. + +*Caesar’s aim—monarchy.* Taking into account the powers which Caesar +wielded and his lifelong tenure of certain offices there can be no doubt +that he not only had established monarchical government in Rome but also +aimed to make his monarchy permanent. And this gives the explanation why +he accepted honors which were more suited to a god than to a man, for +since the time of Alexander the Great deification had been accepted in the +Greek East as the legal and moral basis for the exercise of absolute +power, and as distinguishing a legitimate autocracy from a tyranny. To a +polytheistic age, familiar with the idea of the deification of “heroes” +after death and permeated in its educated circles with the teaching of +Euhemerus that the gods were but men who in their sojourn upon earth had +been benefactors of the human race, the deification of a monarch in no way +offended religious susceptibilities. The Romans were acquainted with +monarchies of this type in Syria and in Egypt. Indeed this was the only +type of monarchy familiar to the Romans of the first century B. C., if we +exclude the Parthian and other despotisms, and it was bound to influence +any form of monarchical government set up in Rome. The plebs actually +hailed Caesar as “_rex_,” and at the feast of the Lupercalia in February, +44 B. C., Antony publicly offered him a crown. It is possible that he +would have assumed the title if popular opinion had supported this step. +And there may well have been some truth in the rumor that he contemplated +marriage with Cleopatra, who came to Rome in 46 B. C., for a queen would +be a fit mate for a monarch and such a step would have effected the +peaceful incorporation of Egypt into the Roman Empire. + +*Caesar’s reforms.* Upon returning to Rome after the battle of Thapsus +Caesar began a series of reforms which affected practically every side of +Roman life. One of the most useful was the reform of the Roman calendar. +Hitherto the Romans had employed a lunar year of three hundred and +fifty-five days (the calendar year beginning on March first and the civil +year, since 153 B. C., on January first) which was approximately corrected +to the solar year by the addition of an intercalary month of twenty-two +days in the second, and one of twenty-three days in the fourth year, of +cycles of four years. For personal or political motives the pontiffs had +trifled with the intercalation of these months until in 46 B. C. the Roman +year was completely out of touch with the solar year. With the assistance +of the Greek astronomer Sosigenes, Caesar introduced the Egyptian solar +year of approximately 365¼ days, in such a way that three years of 365 +days were followed by one of 366 days in which an extra day was added to +February after the twenty-fourth of the month. The new Julian calendar +went into effect on 1 January, 45 B. C. Another abuse was partially +rectified by the reduction of the number who were entitled to receive +cheap grain in Rome from about 320,000 to 150,000. The Roman plebeian +colleges and guilds, which had become political clubs and had contributed +to the recent disorders in the city, were dissolved with the exception of +the ancient association of craftsmen. The _tribuni aerarii_ were removed +from the jury courts and the penalties for criminal offences increased. +Plans were laid for a codification of the Roman law but this was not +carried into effect. Municipal administration in Rome and the Italian +towns was regulated by the Julian Municipal Law, which brought uniformity +into the municipal organization of Italy. The Roman magistracies were +increased in number; the quaestorships from twenty to forty, and the eight +praetorships finally to sixteen. At the same time the priesthoods were +likewise enlarged. Administrative needs and the wish to reward a greater +number of followers probably influenced these changes. A number of new +patrician families were created to take the places of those which had died +out. The membership of the Senate was increased to 900, and many new men, +including ex-soldiers of Caesar and enfranchised Gauls, were enrolled in +it. Caesar provided for his veterans by settling them in Italian +municipalities and in colonies in the provinces. The deserted sites of +Carthage and Corinth were repeopled with Roman colonists and once more +became flourishing cities. In this way Caesar promoted the romanization of +the provinces, a policy which he had begun with his conferment of the +franchise upon the Transpadane Gauls in 49, and continued in the case of +many Spanish communities. This romanization of the provinces and the +admission of provincials to the Senate points to an imperial policy which +would end the exploitation of the provinces in the interests of a +governing caste and a city mob. + +*Munda, 45 B. C.* Caesar proved himself a magnanimous conqueror. No Sullan +proscriptions disgraced his victory. After Pharsalus he permitted all the +republican leaders who submitted (among them Cicero), to return to Rome. +Even after Thapsus at the intercession of his friends he pardoned bitter +foes like Marcus Marcellus, one of the consuls of 50 B. C. But there +remained some irreconcilables led by his old lieutenant Labienus, Varus, +and Gnaeus and Sextus Pompey, sons of Pompey the Great, who after +Pharsalus had betaken themselves with a small naval force to the western +Mediterranean. In 46 B. C. they were joined by Labienus and Varus and +landed in Spain where they rallied to their cause the old Pompeian +soldiers who had entered Caesar’s service but whose sympathies had been +alienated by one of his _legati_, Quintus Cassius. The Caesarian +commanders could make no headway against them and it became necessary for +the dictator to take the field in person. In December 46 B. C. he set out +for Spain. Throughout the winter he sought in vain to force the enemy to +battle, but in March 45 the two armies met at Munda, where Caesar’s eight +defeated the thirteen Pompeian legions. The Caesarians gave no quarter and +the Pompeian forces were annihilated; Labienus and Varus fell on the +field, Gnaeus Pompey was later taken and put to death, but his brother +Sextus escaped. Caesar returned to Italy in September, 45 B. C., and +celebrated a triumph for his success. + +*The **assassination** of Julius Caesar, 15 March, 44 B. C.* His victory +at Munda had strengthened Caesar’s autocratic position, and was +responsible for the granting of most of the exceptional honors which we +have noted above. It was now clear at Rome that Caesar did not intend to +restore the republic. In the conduct of the government he allowed no +freedom of action to either Senate or Assembly, and although in general +mild and forgiving he was quick to resent any attempt to slight him or +question his authority. The realization that Caesar contemplated the +establishment of a monarchy aroused bitter animosity among certain +representatives of the old governing oligarchy, who chafed under the +restraints imposed upon them by his autocratic power and resented the +degradation of the Senate to the position of a mere advisory council. It +could hardly be expected that members of the Roman aristocracy with all +their traditions of imperial government would tamely submit to being +excluded from political life except as ministers of an autocrat who was +until lately one of themselves. This attitude was shared by many who had +hitherto been active in Caesar’s cause, as well as by republicans who had +made their peace with him. And so among these disgruntled elements a +conspiracy was formed against the dictator’s life. The originator of the +plot was the ex-Pompeian Caius Cassius, whom Caesar had made praetor for +44, and who won over to his design Marcus Junius Brutus, a member of the +house descended from the Brutus who was reputed to have delivered Rome +from the tyranny of the Tarquins. Brutus had gone over to Caesar after the +battle of Pharsalus and was highly esteemed by him, but allowed himself to +be persuaded that it was his duty to imitate his ancestor’s conduct. Other +conspirators of note were the Caesarians Gaius Trebonius and Decimus +Junius Brutus. In all some sixty senators shared in the conspiracy. They +set the Ides of March, 44, as the date for the execution of the plot. +Caesar was now busily engaged with preparations for a war against the +Parthians, who had been a menace to Syria ever since the defeat of +Crassus. This defeat Caesar aimed to avenge and, in addition, to +definitely secure the eastern frontier of the empire. An army of sixteen +legions and 10,000 cavalry was being assembled in Greece for this +campaign, and Caesar was about to leave Rome to assume command. He is said +to have been informed that a conspiracy against his life was on foot, but +to have disregarded the warning. He had dismissed his body-guard of +soldiers and refused one of senators and equestrians. On the fatal day he +entered the Senate chamber, where the question of granting him the title +of king in the provinces was to be discussed. A group of the conspirators +surrounded him, and, drawing concealed daggers, stabbed him to death. He +fell at the foot of Pompey’s statue. + +*Estimate of Caesar’s career.* By the Roman writers who preserved the +republican tradition Brutus, Cassius, and their associates were honored as +tyrannicides who in the name of liberty had sought to save the republic. +Cato, who had died rather than witness the triumph of Caesar, became their +hero. But this is an extremely narrow and partizan view. The republic +which Caesar had overthrown was no system of popular government but one +whereby a small group of Roman nobles and capitalists exploited for their +own personal ends and for the satisfaction of an idle city mob millions of +subjects in the provinces. The republican organs of government had ceased +to voice the opinion even of the whole Roman citizen body. The governing +circles had proven themselves incapable of bringing about any improvement +in the situation and had completely lost the power of preserving peace in +the state. Radical reforms were imperative and could only be effective by +virtue of superior force. In his resort to corruption and violence in +furthering his own career and in his appeal to arms to decide the issue +between himself and the Senate, Caesar must be judged according to the +practices of his time. He was the child of his age and advanced himself by +means which his predecessors and contemporaries employed. That he was +ambitious and a lover of power is undeniable but hardly a cause for +reproach; and who shall blame him, if when the Senate sought to destroy +him by force, he used the same means to defend himself. His claim to +greatness lies not in his ability to outwit his rivals in the political +arena or outgeneral his enemies on the field of battle, but in his +realization, when the fate of the civilized world was in his hands, that +the old order was beyond remedy and in his courage in attempting to set up +a new order which promised to give peace and security both to Roman +citizens and to the provincials. Caesar fell before he had been able to +give stability to his organization, but the republic could not be +quickened into life. After Caesar some form of monarchical government was +inevitable. + + + + + CHAPTER XV + + + THE PASSING OF THE REPUBLIC: 44–27 B. C. + + + + I. THE RISE OF OCTAVIAN + + +*The political situation after Caesar’s death.* Caesar had made no +arrangements for a successor, and his death produced the greatest +consternation in Rome. The conspirators had made no plans to seize the +reins of power, and instead of finding their act greeted with an outburst +of popular approval, they were left face to face with the fact that +although Caesar was dead the Caesarian party lived on in his veterans and +the city populace, led by the consul Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius +Lepidus, Caesar’s master of the horse. The Senate met on 17 March, and it +was evident that a majority of its members supported the assassins, but +they were afraid of the legion which Lepidus had under his orders and the +Caesarian veterans in the city. Antony, who had obtained possession of +Caesar’s papers and money, took the lead of the Caesarian party and came +to terms with their opponents. It was agreed that the conspirators should +go unpunished, but that the acts of Caesar should be ratified, even those +which had not yet been carried into effect, that his will should be +approved, and that he should receive a public funeral. + +The reading of Caesar’s will revealed that he had left his gardens on the +right bank of the Tiber as a public park, had bequeathed a donation of +three hundred sesterces (about fifteen dollars) to each Roman citizen and +had adopted his grand-nephew Caius Octavius as his son and heir to +three-fourths of his fortune. By a speech delivered to the people on the +day of Caesar’s funeral Antony skilfully enflamed popular sentiment +against Caesar’s murderers. The mob seized the dictator’s corpse, burned +it in the forum and buried the ashes there. The chief conspirators did not +dare to remain in the city; Decimus Brutus went to his province of +Cisalpine Gaul, Marcus Brutus and Cassius lingered in the neighborhood of +Rome. Antony was master of the situation in the capital and overawed +opposition by his bodyguard of 6000 veterans. He held in check Lepidus and +other Caesarians who called for vengeance upon the conspirators. Lepidus +was won over by his election to the position of Pontifex Maximus to +succeed Caesar and was induced to leave the city for his province of +Hither Spain to check the progress of Sextus Pompey, who had reappeared in +Farther Spain and defeated the Caesarian governor. It was hoped that +Sextus would be satisfied with permission to return to Rome and +compensation for his father’s property. Caesar’s arrangements for the +provincial governorships had assigned Macedonia to Antony and Syria to +Dolabella, who became Antony’s colleague in the consulate at Caesar’s +death. This assignment Antony altered by a law which granted him Cisalpine +Gaul and the Transalpine district outside the Narbonese province for a +term of six years in violation of a law of Caesar’s, which limited +proconsular commands to two years. Dolabella was to have Syria for a like +period and Decimus Brutus was given Macedonia in exchange for Cisalpine +Gaul. The consuls were to occupy their provinces at once. To Brutus and +Cassius were assigned for the next year the provinces of Crete and Cyrene; +while for the present they were given a special commission to collect +grain in Sicily and Asia. The two left Italy for the East with the +intention of seizing the provinces there before the arrival of Dolabella. +They hoped to raise a force which would enable them to check Antony’s +career, for it was evident that Antony regarded himself as Caesar’s +political heir and was planning to follow the latter’s path to absolute +power. + +*Caius Octavius.* But he found an unexpected rival in the person of +Caesar’s adopted son, Caius Octavius, a youth of eighteen years, who at +the time of Caesar’s death was at Apollonia in Illyricum with the army +that was being assembled for the Parthian War. Against the advice of his +parents he returned to Rome and claimed his inheritance. His presence was +unwelcome to Antony, who had expended Caesar’s money, and refused to +refund it. Thereupon Octavius raised funds by selling his own properties +and borrowing, and began to pay off the legacies of Caesar. By this means +he soon acquired popularity with the Caesarians. The formalities of his +adoption were not completed until the following year, but from this time +on he took the name of Caesar.(13) + +Antony underestimated the capacities of this rather sickly youth and +continued to refuse him recognition, but was soon made aware of his +mistake. He himself was anxious to occupy his province of Cisalpine Gaul, +and since Decimus Brutus refused to evacuate it, Antony determined to +drive him out and obtained permission to recall for that purpose the four +legions from Macedonia. Before their arrival Octavian raised a force among +Caesar’s veterans in Campania, and on the march from Brundisium to Rome +two of the four Macedonian legions deserted to him. The Caesarians were +now divided into two parties, and Octavian began to coöperate with the +republicans in the Senate. The latter were thus encouraged to oppose +Antony with whom reconciliation was impossible. Cicero, who had not been +among the conspirators but who had subsequently approved Caesar’s murder, +was about to leave Italy to join Brutus when he heard of the changed +situation in Rome and returned to assume the leadership of the republican +party. Antony left Rome for the Cisalpine province early in December, 44 +B. C., and Cicero induced the Senate to enter into a coalition with +Octavian against him. In his _Philippic Orations_ he gave full vent to his +bitter hatred of Antony and so aroused the latter’s undying enmity. + +*The war at Mutina, December 44–April 43 B. C.* In Cisalpine Gaul Decimus +Brutus, relying upon the support of the Senate, refused to yield to Antony +and was blockaded in Mutina. The Senate made preparations for his relief. +Antony was ordered to leave the province, and Hirtius and Pansa, who +became consuls in January, 43, took the field against him. The aid of +Octavian was indispensable and the Senate conferred upon him the +propraetorian _imperium_ with consular rank in the Senate. The combined +armies defeated Antony in two battles in the vicinity of Mutina, forcing +him to give up the siege and flee towards Transalpine Gaul. But Pansa died +of wounds received in the first engagement and Hirtius fell in the course +of the second. Ignoring Octavian, the Senate entrusted Brutus with the +command and the task of pursuing Antony. The power of the Senate seemed +reëstablished, for Marcus Brutus and Cassius had succeeded in their design +of getting control of the eastern provinces, Dolabella having perished in +the conflict, and were at the head of a considerable military and naval +force. The Senate accordingly conferred upon them supreme military +authority (_maius imperium_), and gave to Sextus Pompey, then at Massalia, +a naval command. At last Cicero could induce the senators to declare +Antony a public enemy. He no longer felt the support of Octavian a +necessity and expressed the attitude of the republicans towards him in the +saying “the young man is to be praised, to be honored, to be set +aside.”(14) But it was soon evident that the experienced orator had +entirely misjudged this young man who, so far from being the tool of the +Senate, had used that body for his own ends. Octavian refused to aid +Decimus Brutus, and demanded from the Senate his own appointment as +consul, a triumph, and rewards for his troops. His demands were rejected, +whereupon he marched upon Rome with his army, and occupied the city. On 19 +August, he had himself elected consul with Quintus Pedius as his +colleague. The latter carried a bill which established a special court for +the trial of Caesar’s murderers, who were condemned and banished. The same +penalty was pronounced upon Sextus Pompey. The Senate’s decree against +Antony was revoked. + +*The Triumvirate, 43 B. C.* On his way to Transalpine Gaul Antony had met +with Lepidus, whom the Senate had summoned from Spain to the assistance of +Decimus Brutus. But Lepidus was a Caesarian and, alarmed by the success of +Marcus Brutus and Cassius, allowed his troops to go over to Antony. +Decimus Brutus had taken up the pursuit of Antony and joined forces with +Plancus, governor of Narbonese Gaul. However, upon news of the events in +Rome, Plancus abandoned Brutus and joined Antony. Brutus was deserted by +his troops and killed while a fugitive in Gaul. + + + + II. THE TRIUMVIRATE OF 43 B. C. + + +Octavian had taken care to have the defense of Italy against Antony and +Lepidus entrusted to himself, and hastened northwards to meet the advance +of their forces. But both sides were ready to come to terms and unite +their forces for the purpose of crushing their common enemies, Brutus and +Cassius. Accordingly, at a conference of the three leaders on an island in +the river Renus near Bononia, a reconciliation between Antony and Octavian +was effected and plans laid for their coöperation in the immediate future. +The three decided to have themselves appointed triumvirs for the +settlement of the commonwealth (_triumviri reipublicae __constituendae_) +for a term of five years. They were to have consular _imperium_ with the +right to appoint to the magistracies and their acts were to be valid +without the approval of the Senate. Furthermore, they divided among +themselves the western provinces; Antony received those previously +assigned to him, Lepidus took the Spains and Narbonese Gaul; while to +Octavian fell Sardinia, Sicily and Africa. Octavian was to resign his +consulship, but in the next year to be joint commander with Antony in a +campaign against the republican armies in the East while Lepidus protected +their interests in Rome. The triumvirate was legalized by a tribunician +law (the _lex Titia_) of 27 November, 43, and its members formally entered +upon office on the first of January following. Unlike the secret coalition +of Pompey, Crassus and Caesar, the present one constituted a commission +clothed with almost supreme public powers. + +*Proscriptions.* The formation of the coalition was followed by the +proscription of the enemies of the triumvirs, partly for the sake of +vengeance but largely to secure money for their troops from the +confiscation of the properties of the proscribed. Among the chief victims +was Cicero, whose death Antony demanded. He died with courage for the sake +of the republican ideal to which he was devoted, but it must be recognized +that this devotion was to the cause of a corrupt aristocracy, whose crimes +he refused to share, although he forced himself to condone and justify +them. The exactions of the triumvirs did not end with the confiscation of +the goods of the proscribed; special taxes were laid upon the propertied +classes in Italy and eighteen of the most flourishing Italian +municipalities were marked out as sites for colonies of veterans. + +*Divus Julius.* In 42 B. C. Octavian dedicated a temple to Julius Caesar +in the forum where his body had been burned. Later by a special law Caesar +was elevated among the gods of the Roman state with the name of Divus +Julius. Meanwhile Octavian had found difficulty in occupying his allotted +provinces. Africa was eventually conquered by one of his lieutenants, but +Sextus Pompey, who controlled the sea, had occupied Sardinia and Sicily. +His forces were augmented by many of the proscribed and by adventurers of +all sorts, and Octavian could not dislodge him before setting out against +Brutus and Cassius. + +*Philippi, 42 B. C.* These republican generals had raised an army of +80,000 troops, in addition to allied contingents, and taken up a position +in Thrace to await the attack of the triumvirs. In the summer of 42 B. C. +the latter transported their troops across the Adriatic in spite of the +fleet of their enemies, and the two armies faced each other near Philippi +on the borders of Macedonia and Thrace. An indecisive battle was fought in +which Antony defeated Cassius, who committed suicide in despair, but +Brutus routed the troops commanded by Octavian. Shortly afterwards Brutus +was forced by his soldiers to risk another battle. This time he was +completely defeated, and took his own life. + +*The division of the Empire.* The triumvirs now redistributed the +provinces among themselves, Cisalpine Gaul was incorporated in Italy, +whose political boundaries at length coincided with its geographical +frontier. The whole of Transalpine Gaul was given to Antony, Octavian +received the two Spains, while Lepidus was forced to content himself with +Africa. He was suspected by his colleagues of having intrigued with Sextus +Pompey, and they were now in a position to weaken him at the risk of his +open hostility. From the time of the meeting near Bononia Antony had been +the chief personage in the coalition and his prestige was enhanced by his +success at Philippi. It was now agreed that he should settle conditions in +the eastern provinces and raise funds there, while Octavian should return +to Italy and carry out the promised assignment of lands to their troops. +This decision was of momentous consequence for the future. In the summer +of 41 B. C. Antony received a visit from Cleopatra at Tarsus in Cilicia. +Her personal charms and keen intelligence, which had enthralled the great +Julius, exercised an even greater fascination over Antony, whose cardinal +weaknesses were indolence and sensual indulgence. He followed Cleopatra to +Egypt, where he remained until 40 B. C. + +*Octavian in Italy, 42–40 B. C.* In Italy Octavian was confronted with the +task of providing lands for some 170,000 veterans. The eighteen +municipalities previously selected for this purpose proved insufficient, +and a general confiscation of small holdings took place, whereby many +persons were rendered homeless and destitute. Few, like the poet Virgil, +found compensation through the influence of a powerful patron. A heavy +blow was dealt to the prosperity of Italy. The task of Octavian was +greatly hampered by opposition from the friends of Antony, led by the +latter’s wife Fulvia and his brother Lucius Antonius. Hostilities broke +out in which Lucius was besieged in Perusia and starved into submission +(40 B. C.). Fulvia went to join Antony, while others of their faction fled +to Sextus Pompey who still held Sicily. Of great importance to Octavian +was his acquisition of Gaul which came into his hands through the death of +Antony’s legate, Calenus. An indication of the approaching break between +Octavian and Antony was the former’s divorce of his wife Clodia, and his +marriage with Scribonia, a relative of Sextus Pompey, whom he hoped to win +over to his side. + +*Treaty of Brundisium, 40 B. C.* While Octavian had been involved in the +Perusian war, the Parthians had overrun the province of Syria, and in +conjunction with them Quintus Labienus, a follower of Brutus and Cassius, +penetrated Asia Minor as far as the Aegean coast. Antony thereupon +returned to Italy to gather troops to reëstablish Roman authority in the +East. Both he and Octavian were prepared for war and hostilities began +around Brundisium, which refused Antony admittance. However, a +reconciliation was effected, and an agreement entered into which was known +as the treaty of Brundisium. It was provided that Octavian should have +Spain, Gaul, Sardinia, Sicily and Dalmatia, while Antony should hold the +Roman possessions east of the Ionian sea; Lepidus retained Africa, and +Italy was to be held in common. To cement the alliance Antony, whose wife +Fulvia had died, married Octavia, sister of Octavian. + +*The treaty of Misenum, 39 B. C.* In the following year Antony and +Octavian were forced to come to terms with Sextus Pompey. He still +defiantly held Sicily and in addition wrested Sardinia from Octavian. His +command of these islands and of the seas about Italy enabled him to cut +off the grain supply of Rome, where a famine broke out. This brought about +a meeting of the three at Misenum in which it was agreed that Sextus +should govern Sardinia, Sicily and Achaia for five years, should be consul +and augur, and receive a monetary compensation for his father’s property +in Rome. In return he engaged to secure peace at sea and convoy the grain +supply for the city. However, the terms of the treaty were never fully +carried out and in the next year Octavian and Sextus were again at war. +The former regained possession of Sardinia but failed in an attack upon +Sicily. + +*Treaty of Tarentum, 37 B. C.* Meanwhile Antony had returned to the East +where in the years 39–37 B. C. his lieutenants won back the Asiatic +provinces from Labienus and the Parthians and drove the latter beyond the +Euphrates. He now resolved to carry out the plan of Julius Caesar for the +conquest of the Parthian kingdom. This necessitated his return to Italy to +secure reinforcements. But, his landing was opposed by Octavian who was +angry because Antony had not supported him against Sextus Pompey, whom +Antony evidently regarded as a useful check upon his colleague’s power. +However, Octavia managed to reconcile her brother and her husband, and the +two reached a new agreement at Tarentum. Here it was arranged that Antony +should supply Octavian with one hundred ships for operations against +Pompey, that Lepidus should coöperate in the attack upon Sicily, and that +both he and Octavian should furnish Antony with soldiers for the Parthian +war. As the power of the triumvirs had legally lapsed on 31 December, 38 +B. C., they decided to have themselves reappointed for another five years, +which would terminate at the close of 33 B. C. This appointment like the +first was carried into effect by a special law. + +*The defeat of Sextus Pompey, 36 B. C.* Octavian now energetically pressed +his attack upon Sicily, while Lepidus coöperated by besieging Lilybaeum. +At length, in September, 36 B. C., Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Octavian’s +ablest general, destroyed the bulk of Pompey’s fleet in a battle off +Naulochus. Pompey fled to Asia, where two years later he was captured by +Antony’s forces and executed. After the flight of Sextus, Lepidus +challenged Octavian’s claim to Sicily, but his troops deserted him for +Octavian and he was forced to throw himself upon the latter’s mercy. +Stripped of his power and retaining only his office of chief pontiff, he +lived under guard in an Italian municipality until his death in 12 B. C. +His provinces were taken by Octavian. The defeat of Sextus Pompey and the +deposition of Lepidus gave Octavian sole power over the western half of +the empire, and inevitably tended to sharpen the rivalry and antagonism +which had long existed between himself and Antony. In the same year +Octavian was granted the tribunician sacrosanctity and the right to sit on +the tribune’s bench in the Senate. + + + + III. THE VICTORY OF OCTAVIAN OVER ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA + + +*The Parthian war, 36 B. C.* After the Treaty of Tarentum Antony proceeded +to Syria to begin preparations for his campaign against the Parthians +which he began in 36 B. C. Avoiding the Mesopotamian desert, he marched to +the north through Armenia into Media Atropatene in the hope of surprising +the enemy. However, having met with a repulse in his siege of the fortress +Phraata (or Praaspa), he was forced to retreat. He was vigorously pursued +by the Parthians, but by skilful generalship managed to conduct the bulk +of his army back to Armenia. Still he lost over 20,000 of his troops, and +his reputation suffered severely from the complete failure of the +undertaking. And so he prepared once more to take the offensive. As he +attributed the failure of the late expedition to the disloyalty of the +king of Armenia, Antony marched against him, treacherously took him +prisoner and occupied his kingdom (34 B. C.). Thereupon he entered into an +alliance with the king of Media Atropatene, a vassal of Parthia, and +formed ambitious projects for the conquest of the eastern provinces of the +empires of Alexander the great and the Seleucids. But these plans could +only be executed with the help of the military resources of Italy and the +western provinces that were now completely in the hands of Octavian. In +view of the jealousy existing between the two triumvirs it was not likely +that Octavian would willingly provide Antony with the means to increase +his power, and so the latter was prepared to resort to force to make good +his claim upon Italy. + +*Antony and Cleopatra.* Another factor in the quarrel was Antony’s +connection with Cleopatra. While in Antioch in 36 B. C. he openly married +Cleopatra, and in the next year refused his legal wife, Octavia, +permission to join him. This was equivalent to publicly renouncing his +friendship with Octavian. Although it cannot be said that Antony had +become a mere tool of Cleopatra, he was completely won over to her plans +for the future of Egypt; namely, that since Egypt must sooner or later be +incorporated in the Roman empire, this should be brought about by her +union with the ruler of the Romans. Consequently, since her marriage with +Antony she actively supported his ambition to be the successor of Julius +Caesar. Their aims were clearly revealed by a pageant staged in Alexandria +in 34 B. C., in which Antony and Cleopatra appeared as the god Dionysus +and the goddess Isis, seated on golden thrones. In an address to the +assembled public Antony proclaimed Cleopatra “queen of queens,” and ruler +of Egypt, Cyprus, Crete and Coele-Syria; joint ruler with her was Ptolemy +Caesarion, the son she had borne to Caesar. The two young sons of Antony +and Cleopatra were proclaimed “kings of kings”; the elder as king of +Armenia, Media and the Parthians, the younger as king of Syria, Phoenicia +and Cilicia. To their daughter, Cleopatra, was assigned Cyrene. These +arrangements aroused great mistrust and hostility towards Antony among the +Romans, who resented the partition of Rome’s eastern provinces in the +interest of oriental potentates. Relying upon this sentiment, Octavian in +33 B. C. refused Antony’s demands for troops and joint authority in Italy. +Antony at once postponed the resumption of the Parthian war and prepared +to march against his rival. + +*The outbreak of hostilities, 32 B. C.* The final break came early in 32 +B. C. The triumvirate legally terminated with the close of 33 B. C. and +two consuls of Antony’s faction came into office for the following year. +To win support in Rome, Antony wrote to the Senate offering to surrender +his powers as triumvir and restore the old constitution. His friends +introduced a proposal that Octavian should surrender his _imperium_ at +once, but this was vetoed by a tribune. Octavian then took charge of +affairs in Rome, and the consuls, not daring to oppose him, fled to +Antony, accompanied by many senators of his party. Thereupon Octavian +caused the Assembly to abrogate the former’s _imperium_ and also his +appointment to the consulship for 31 B. C. To justify his actions and +convince the Italians of the danger which threatened them from the +alliance of Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian seized and published Antony’s +will which had been deposited in the temple of Vesta. The will confirmed +the disposition which he had made of the eastern provinces in the interest +of the house of Cleopatra. Octavian was now able to bring about a +declaration of war against the Egyptian queen and to exact an oath of +loyalty to himself from the senators in Rome and from the municipalities +of Italy and the western provinces. It was this oath of allegiance which +was the main basis of his authority for the next few years. In reply to +these measures, Antony formally divorced Octavia and refused to recognize +the validity of the laws which deprived him of his powers. + +*Actium, 31 B. C.* In the fall of 33 B. C. Antony and Cleopatra began +assembling their forces in Greece with the intention of invading Italy. By +the next year they had brought together an army of about 100,000 men, +supported by a fleet of 500 ships of war. However, no favorable occasion +for attempting a landing in Italy presented itself and both the fleet and +the army went into winter quarters in the gulf of Ambracia (32–1 B. C.). +In the spring of 31 B. C. Octavian with 80,000 men and 400 warships +crossed over to Epirus and took up a position facing his opponents who had +taken their station in the bay of Actium at the entrance to the gulf of +Ambracia. His most capable general was Agrippa. Owing to discord which had +arisen between Cleopatra and his Roman officers, Antony remained inactive +while detachments of Octavian’s forces won over important points in +Greece. Antony began to suffer from a shortage of supplies and some of his +influential followers deserted to the opposite camp. At length he risked a +naval battle, in the course of which Cleopatra and the Egyptian squadron +set sail for Egypt and Antony followed her. His fleet was defeated and his +army, which attempted to retreat to Macedonia, was forced to surrender. +There is little doubt that Cleopatra had for some time been contemplating +treachery to Antony, and her desertion was probably based on the +calculation that if Octavian should prove victorious she would be able to +claim credit for her services, while if Antony should be the victor, she +was confident of obtaining pardon for her conduct. Probably she did not +anticipate that Antony would join her in flight. At any rate, when Antony +abandoned his still undefeated fleet and army he sealed both his fate and +hers. The victor advanced slowly eastwards and in the summer of 30 B. C. +began his invasion of Egypt. Antony’s attempts at defense were unavailing; +his troops went over to Octavian who occupied Alexandria. In despair he +committed suicide. For a time Cleopatra, who had frustrated Antony’s last +attempt at resistance, hoped to win over Octavian as she had won Caesar +and Antony, so that she might save at least Egypt for her dynasty. But +finding her efforts unavailing, she poisoned herself rather than grace +Octavian’s triumph. The kingdom of Egypt was added to the Roman empire, +not as a province but as part of an estate to be directly administered by +the ruler of the Roman world who took his place as the heir of the +Pharaohs and the Ptolemies. The treasures of Egypt reimbursed Octavian for +the expenses of his late campaigns. After reëstablishing the old provinces +and client kingdoms in the East, Octavian returned to Rome in 29 B. C., +where he celebrated a three-day triumph over the non-Roman peoples of +Europe, Asia and Africa, whom he or his generals had subjugated during his +triumvirate. + +At the age of thirty-three Octavian had made good his claim to the +political inheritance of Julius Caesar. His victory over Antony closed the +century of civil strife which had begun with the tribunate of Tiberius +Gracchus. War and the proscriptions had exacted a heavy toll from Romans +and Italians; Greece, Macedonia and Asia had been brought to the verge of +ruin; the whole empire longed for peace. Everywhere was Octavian hailed as +the savior of the world and, as the founder of a new golden age, men were +ready to worship him as a god. + + + + IV. SOCIETY AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE IN THE LAST CENTURY OF THE REPUBLIC + + +*The upper classes.* The characteristics of Roman society in the last +century of the republic are the same which we have previously seen +developing as a result of Rome’s imperial expansion. The upper classes of +society comprise the senatorial nobility and the equestrians; the former +finding their goal in public office, the latter in banking and financial +ventures, and both alike callously exploiting the subjects of Rome in +their own interests. Of this one example will suffice. Marcus Brutus, the +conspirator, who enjoyed a high repute for his honorable character, loaned +money to the cities of Cyprus at the exorbitant rate of 48% and influenced +the senate to declare the contract valid. He did not hesitate to secure +for his agents military authority with which to enforce payment, and was +much disappointed when Cicero, as governor of Cilicia and Cyprus, refused +to give his representative such power or to allow him to collect more than +12% interest on his debt. + +As corruption characterized the public, so did extravagance and luxury the +private life of the governing classes. The palaces of the wealthy in Rome +were supplemented by villas in the Sabine hills, in the watering places of +the Campanian coast, and other attractive points. The word villa, which +originally designated a farm house, now meant a country seat equipped with +all the modern conveniences of city life. + +The solidarity of the family life which had been the foundation of Roman +morality was fast disappearing. In general, wives no longer came under the +authority (_manus_) of their husbands upon marriage, and so retained +control of their properties acquired by inheritance or dowry through a +guardian from their own families. Consequently women played an +increasingly independent and important part in the society of the day. In +Rome at least the age was one of a low tone in morals, and divorces were +of common occurrence. At the same time social intercourse was +characterized by a high degree of urbanity—the good manners which mark the +society of cultured men. + +*The plebs.* Of the life of the plebs who thronged the high tenement +houses and narrow streets of Rome we know very little. But until the +Assembly was overawed or superseded by armed forces the city populace +could not be ignored by the upper classes. Their votes must be courted by +magnificent displays at the public games, by entertainments and largesses +of all kinds, and care must be taken to provide them with food to prevent +their becoming a menace to the public peace. This latter problem was +solved as we have seen after the time of Caius Gracchus by providing them +with a monthly allowance of corn, at first at a greatly reduced price, but +after 57 B. C. gratuitously. Julius Caesar found about 320,000 persons +sharing in this distribution, and reduced the number to 150,000 male +citizens. The city mob thus became to a certain degree state pensioners, +and placed a heavy burden on the treasury. There can be no doubt that the +ranks of the urban proletariat were swelled by peasants who had lost their +holdings in the course of the civil wars and the settlements of discharged +soldiers on Italian soil, but the chief increase came from the manumission +of slaves, who as _liberti_ or freedmen became Roman citizens. Sulla’s +10,000 Cornelii were of this number. The influx of these heterogeneous +elements radically changed the character of the city populace which could +no longer claim to be mainly of Roman and Italian stock but embraced +representatives of all races of the Mediterranean world. The population +was further augmented by the great numbers of slaves attached to the +houses of the wealthy or engaged in various industrial occupations for +their masters or others who hired their services. + +In the rural districts of Italy the plantation system had been widely +extended and agriculture and grazing were in the main carried on by slave +labor. Yet the free farmers had by no means entirely disappeared and free +labor was employed even on the _latifundia_ themselves. The discharged +veterans who were provided with lands attest the presence of considerable +numbers of free landholders. + +*Religion.* In religion this period witnessed a striking decline of +interest and faith in the public religion of the Roman state. This was in +part due to the influence of Greek mythology which changed the current +conceptions of the Roman divinities and to Greek philosophy with its +varying doctrines as to the nature and powers of the gods. The latter +especially affected the upper classes of society upon whom fell the duty +of maintaining the public cults. From the time of the Gracchi the public +priesthoods declined in importance; and in many cases they were used +solely as a tool for political purposes. The increase in the numbers of +the priestly colleges and the substitution of election for coöptation +brought in many members unversed in the ancient traditions, and the +holders of the priesthoods in general showed great ignorance of their +duties, especially with regard to the ordering of the state calendar. Some +religious associations like the Arval Brotherhood ceased to exist and +knowledge of the character of some of the minor deities was completely +lost. The patrician priesthoods, which involved serious duties and +restricted the freedom of their incumbents were avoided as much as +possible. At the same time the private religious rites, hereditary within +family groups, fell into decay. While the attitude of educated circles +towards the state cults was thus one of indifference or skepticism, it is +hard to speak of that of the common people. Superstitious they were beyond +a doubt, but in the performance of the state cults they had never actively +participated. The more emotional cults of the oriental type made a greater +appeal to them if we may judge from the difficulty which the Senate +experienced in banishing the priests of Isis from the city. + +*Stoicism and Epicureanism.* The philosophic systems which made the most +converts among the educated Romans were Stoicism and Epicureanism. The +former, as we have seen, had been introduced to Rome by Panaetius, whose +teaching was continued by Posidonius. It appealed to the Romans as +offering a practical rule of life for men engaged in public affairs. On +the other hand, the doctrine of Epicurus that men should withdraw from the +annoyances of political life and seek happiness in the pursuit of +pleasure, that is, intellectual pleasure, was interpreted by the Roman as +sanctioning sensual indulgence and became the creed of those who gave +themselves up to a life of ease and indolence. + +*Literature.* The last century of the republic saw the completion of the +amalgamation of Greek and Roman culture which had begun in the previous +epoch. The resulting Graeco-Roman culture was a bi-lingual civilization +based upon Greek intellectual and Roman political achievement which it was +the mission of the empire to spread to the barbaric peoples of the western +provinces. The age was marked by many-sided, keen, intellectual activity +which brought Rome’s intellectual development to its height. Yet this +Graeco-Roman culture was almost exclusively a possession of the higher +classes. + +*The drama.* In the field of dramatic literature the writing of tragedy +practically ceased and comedy took the popular forms of caricature +(_fabula Atellana_) and the mime, or realistic imitation of the life of +the lower classes. Both forms were derived from Greek prototypes but dealt +with subjects of everyday life and won great popularity in the theatrical +exhibitions given at the public games. + +*Poetry: Catullus, 87–c. 54 B. C.* The best exponent of the poetry of the +age is Catullus, a native of Verona in Cisalpine Gaul, who as a young man +was drawn into the vortex of fashionable society at the capital. This new +poetry appealed to a highly educated class, conversant alike with the +literature of the Greek classic and Hellenistic periods as well as with +modern production, and able to appreciate the most elaborate and +diversified meters. The works of Catullus show the wide range of form and +subject which appealed to contemporary taste. Translations and copies of +Greek originals find their place alongside epigrams and lyric poems of +personal experience. It is his poetry of passion, of love and hate, which +places him among the foremost lyric poets of all time. + +*Lucretius, 98–53 B. C.* An exception among the poets of his time was +Lucretius, who combined the spirit of a poet with that of a religious +teacher. He felt a mission to free the minds of men from fear of the power +of the gods and of death. To this end he wrote a didactic epic poem, _On +the Nature of Things_, in which he explained the atomic theory of +Democritus which was the foundation of the philosophical teachings of +Epicurus. The essence of this doctrine was that the world and all living +creatures were produced by the fortuitous concourse of atoms falling +through space and that death was simply the dissolution of the body into +its component atomic elements. Consequently, there was no future existence +to be dreaded. True poetic value is given to the work by the author’s +great imaginative powers and his keen observation of nature and human +life. Lucretius made the Latin hexameter a fitting medium for the +expression of sustained and lofty thought. + +*Oratory.* It was through the study and practice of oratory that Roman +prose attained its perfection between the time of the Gracchi and Julius +Caesar. Political and legal orations were weapons in the party strife of +the day and were frequently polished and edited as political pamphlets. +Along with political documents of this type appeared orations that were +not written to be delivered in the forum or senate chamber but were +addressed solely to a reading public. Among the great forensic orators of +the age were the two Gracchi, of whom the younger, Caius, had the +reputation of being the most effective speaker that Rome ever knew. Others +of note were Marcus Antonius, grandfather of the triumvir, Lucius Licinius +Crassus, and Quintus Hortensius Hortalus. But it was Cicero who brought to +its perfection the Roman oration in its literary form. + +*Cicero, 106–43 B. C.* Cicero was beyond question the intellectual leader +of his day. He was above all things an orator and until past the age of +fifty his literary productivity was almost entirely in that field. In his +latter years he undertook the great task of making Hellenistic philosophy +accessible to the Roman world through the medium of Latin prose. In +addition to his speeches and oratorical and philosophic treatises Cicero +left to posterity a great collection of letters which were collected and +published after his death by his freedman secretary. His correspondence +with his friends is a mine of information for the student of society and +politics in the last century of the republic. + +*Caesar, 100–44 B. C.* Julius Caesar made his genius felt in the world of +letters as well as of politics. Though an orator of high rank, he is +better known as the author of his lucid commentaries on the Gallic war and +on the Civil war, which present the view that he desired the Roman public +to take of his conflict with the senate. + +*Sallust, 86–36 B. C.* Foremost among historical writers of the period was +Caius Sallustius Crispus, “the first scientific Roman historian.” +Subsequent generations ranked him as the greatest Roman historian. His +chief work, a history of the period 78–67 B. C., is almost entirely lost, +but two shorter studies on the Jugurthine war and Cataline’s conspiracy +have been preserved. In contrast to Cicero, he is the protagonist of +Caesarianism. + +*Varro, 116–27 B. C.* Of great interest to later ages were the works of +the antiquarian and philologist, Marcus Terentius Varro, the most learned +Roman of his time. His great work on Roman religious and political +antiquities has been lost, but a part of his study _On the Latin Language_ +is still extant, as well as his three books _On Rural Conditions_. The +latter give a good picture of agricultural conditions in Italy towards the +end of the republic. + +*Jurisprudence.* To legal literature considerable contributions were made +both in the domain of applied law and of legal theory. We have already +noticed the appeal which the Stoic philosophy made to the best that was in +Roman character and many of the leading Roman jurists accepted its +principles. It was natural then that Roman legal philosophy should begin +under the influence of the Stoic doctrine of a universal divine law ruling +the world, this law being an emanation of right reason, i. e. the divine +power governing the universe. The most influential legal writers of the +period were Quintus Mucius Scaevola who compiled a systematic treatment of +the civil law in eighteen books, and Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the +contemporary of Cicero. Sulpicius was a most productive author, whose +works included _Commentaries_ on the XII Tables, and on the Praetor’s +Edict, as well as studies on special aspects of Roman law. + + + + + + PART III + + + THE PRINCIPATE OR EARLY EMPIRE: 27 B. C.–285 A. D. + + + [Illustration: The Roman Empire from 31 B. C. to 300 A. D.] + + + + + CHAPTER XVI + + + THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PRINCIPATE: 27 B. C.–14 A. D. + + + + I. THE PRINCEPS + + +*The settlement of 27 B. C.* During his sixth and seventh consulships, in +the years 28 and 27 B. C., Octavian surrendered the extraordinary powers +which he had exercised during the war against Antony and Cleopatra and, as +he later expressed it, placed the commonwealth at the disposal of the +Senate and the Roman people. But this step did not imply that the old +machinery of government was to be restored without modifications and +restrictions or that Octavian intended to abdicate his position as arbiter +of the fate of the Roman world. Nor would he have been justified in so +doing, for such a course of action would have led to a repetition of the +anarchy which followed the retirement and death of Sulla, and, in +disposing of his rivals, Octavian had assumed the obligation of giving to +the Roman world a stable form of government. Public sentiment demanded a +strong administration, even if this could only be attained at the expense +of the old republican institutions. + +But while ambition and duty alike forbade him to relinquish his hold upon +the helm of state, Octavian shrank from realizing the ideal of Julius +Caesar and establishing a monarchical form of government. From this he was +deterred both by the fate of his adoptive father and his own cautious, +conservative character which gave him such a shrewd understanding of Roman +temperament. His solution of the problem was to retain the old Roman +constitution as far as was practicable, while securing for himself such +powers as would enable him to uphold the constitution and prevent a +renewal of the disorders of the preceding century. What powers were +necessary to this end, Octavian determined on the basis of practical +experience between 27 and 18 B. C. And so his restoration of the +commonwealth signified the end of a régime of force and paved the way for +his reception of new authority legally conferred upon him. + +*The imperium.* Nothing had contributed more directly to the failure of +the republican form of government than the growth of the professional army +and the inability of the Senate to control its commanders. Therefore, it +was absolutely necessary for the guardian of peace and of the constitution +to concentrate the supreme military authority in his own hands. +Consequently on 13 January, 27 B. C., the birthday of the new order, +Octavian, by vote of the Assembly and Senate, received for a period of ten +years the command and administration of the provinces of Hither Spain, +Gaul and Syria, that is, the chief provinces in which peace was not yet +firmly established and which consequently required the presence of the +bulk of the Roman armies. Egypt, over which he had ruled as the successor +of the Ptolemies since 30 B. C., remained directly subject to his +authority. As long as he continued to hold the consulship, the _imperium_ +of Octavian was senior (_maius_) to that of the governors of the other +provinces which remained under the control of the Senate. In effect, his +solution of the military problem was to have conferred upon himself an +extraordinary command which found its precedents in those of Lucullus, +Pompey and Caesar, but which was of such scope and duration that it made +him the commander-in-chief of the forces of the empire. + +*The titles Augustus and Imperator.* On 16 January of the same year the +Senate conferred upon Octavian the title of Augustus (Greek, _Sebastos_) +by which he was henceforth regularly designated. It was a term which +implied no definite powers, but, being an epithet equally applicable to +gods or men, was well adapted to express the exalted position of its +bearer. A second title was that of Imperator. Following the republican +custom, this had been conferred upon Augustus by his army and the Senate +after his victory at Mutina in 43 B. C., and in imitation of Julius Caesar +he converted this temporary title of honor into a permanent one. Finally, +in 38 B. C., he placed it first among his personal names (as a +_praenomen_). After 27 B. C. Augustus made a two-fold use of the term; as +a permanent _praenomen_, and as a title of honor assumed upon the occasion +of victories won by his officers. From this time the _praenomen_ Imperator +was a prerogative of the Roman commander-in-chief. However, during his +principate Augustus did not stress its use, since he did not wish to +emphasize the military basis of his power. But in the Greek-speaking +provinces, where his power rested exclusively upon his military authority, +the title Imperator was seized upon as the expression of his unlimited +_imperium_ and was translated in that sense by _autocrator_. From the +_praenomen_ imperator is derived the term emperor, commonly used in modern +times to designate Augustus and his successors. + +*The tribunicia potestas, 23 B. C.* From 27 to 23 B. C. the authority of +Augustus rested upon his annual tenure of the consulship and his +provincial command. But in the summer of 23 B. C. he resigned the +consulship and received from the Senate and people the tribunician +authority (_tribunicia potestas_) for life. As early as 36 B. C. he had +been granted the personal inviolability of the tribunes, and in 30 B. C. +their right of giving aid (_auxilium_). To these privileges there must now +have been added the right of intercession and of summoning the _comitia_ +(_jus agendi cum populo_).(15) In this way Augustus acquired a control +over comitial and senatorial legislation and openly assumed the position +of protector of the interests of the city plebs. He was moreover amply +compensated for the loss of civil power which his resignation of the +consulship involved, and at the same time he got rid of an office which +must be shared with a colleague of equal rank and the perpetual tenure of +which was a violation of constitutional tradition. The tribunician +authority was regarded as being held for successive annual periods, which +Augustus reckoned from 23 B. C. + +*Special powers and honors.* At the time of the conferment of the +tribunician authority, a series of senatorial decrees added or gave +greater precision to the powers of Augustus. He received the right to +introduce the first topic for consideration at each meeting of the Senate, +his military _imperium_ was made valid within the _pomerium_, but, in view +of his resignation of the consulship, became proconsular in the provinces. +It was probably in 23 B. C. also that Augustus received the unrestricted +right of making war or peace, upon the occasion of the coming of an +embassy from the king of the Parthians. In the next year he was granted +the right to call meetings of the Senate. Three years later he was +accorded the consular insignia, with twelve lictors, and the privilege of +taking his seat on a curule chair between the consuls in office. These +marks of honor gave him upon official occasions the precedence among the +magistrates which his authority warranted. On the other hand, in 22 B. C. +Augustus refused the dictatorship or the perpetual consulship, which were +conferred upon him at the insistence of the city populace; and in the same +spirit he declined to accept a general censorship of laws and morals +(_cura legum et morum_) which was proffered to him in 19 B. C. + +*The principate.* It was by the gradual acquisition of the above powers +that the position which Augustus was to hold in the state was finally +determined. This position may be defined as that of a magistrate, whose +province was a combination of various powers conferred upon him by the +Senate and the Roman people, and who differed from the other magistrates +of the state in the immensely wider scope of his functions and the greater +length of his official term. But these various powers were separately +conferred upon him and for each he could urge constitutional precedents. +It was in this spirit of deference to constitutional traditions that +Augustus did not create for himself one new office which would have given +him the same authority nor accept any position that would have clothed him +with autocratic power. Therefore, as he held no definite office, Augustus +had no definite official title. But the reception of such wide powers +caused him to surpass all other Romans in dignity; hence he came to be +designated as the _princeps_, i. e. the first of the Roman citizens +(_princeps civium Romanorum_). From this arose the term principate to +designate the tenure of office of the princeps; a term which we now apply +also to the system of government that Augustus established for the Roman +Empire. The crowning honor of his career was received by Augustus in 2 +A. D., when the senate, upon the motion of one who had fought under Brutus +at Philippi, conferred upon him the title of “Father of His Country” +(_pater patriae_), thus marking the reconciliation between the bulk of the +old aristocracy and the new régime. + +*Renewal of the imperium.* His _imperium_, which lapsed in 18 B. C., +Augustus caused to be reconferred upon himself for successive periods of +five or ten years, thus preserving the continuity of his power until his +death in 14 A. D. + + + + II. THE SENATE, THE EQUESTRIANS AND THE PLEBS + + +*The three orders.* The social classification of the Romans into the +senatorial, equestrian and plebeian orders passed, with sharper +definitions, from the republic into the principate. For each class a +distinct field of opportunity and public service was opened; for senators, +the magistracies and the chief military posts; for the _equites_ a new +career in the civil and military service of the princeps, and for the +plebs service as privates and subaltern officers in the professional army. +However, these orders were by no means closed castes; the way lay open to +able and successful men for advancement from the lower to the higher +grades, and for the consequent infusion of fresh vitality into the ranks +of the latter. + +*The Senate and the senatorial order.* The senatorial order was composed +of the members of the Senate and their families. Its distinctive emblem +was the broad purple stripe worn on the toga. Sons of senators assumed +this badge of the order by right of birth; equestrians, by grant of the +princeps. However, of the former those who failed to qualify for the +Senate were reduced to the rank of equestrians. The possession of property +valued at 1,000,000 sesterces ($50,000) was made a requirement for +admission to the Senate. + +The prospective senator was obliged to fill one of the minor city +magistracies known as the board of twenty (_viginti-virate_), next to +serve as a legionary tribune and then, at the age of twenty-five, to +become a candidate for the quaestorship, which gave admission to the +Senate. From the quaestorship the official career of the senator led +through the regular magistracies, the aedileship or tribunate, and the +praetorship, to the consulship. As an ex-praetor and ex-consul a senator +might be appointed a promagistrate to govern a senatorial province; a +legate to command a legion or administer an imperial province; or a +curator in charge of some administrative commission in Rome or Italy. + +During the republic the Senate had been the actual center of the +administration and Augustus intended that it should continue to be so for +the greater part of the empire. Through the ordinary magistrates it should +govern Rome and Italy, and through the promagistrates the senatorial +provinces. Furthermore, the state treasury, the _aerarium saturni_, +supported by the revenues from Italy and the Senate’s provinces, remained +under the authority of that body. However, to render it capable of +fulfilling its task and to reëstablish its prestige, the Senate which now +numbered over one thousand had to be purged of many undesirable members +who had been admitted to its roll during the recent civil wars. Therefore, +in 28 B. C., Augustus in his consular capacity supervised a revision of +the senatorial list whereby two hundred unworthy persons were excluded. On +that occasion his name was placed at the head of the new roll as the +_princeps senatus_. A second recension ten years later reduced the total +membership to six hundred. A third, in 4 A. D., commenced through a +specially chosen committee of three with the object of further reducing +their number was not carried out. The Senate was automatically recruited +by the annual admission of the twenty quaestors, but in addition the +princeps enjoyed the right of appointing new members who might be entered +upon the roll of the Senate among the past holders of any magistracy. In +this way many prominent equestrians were admitted to the senatorial order. + +*The equestrian order.* For the conduct of his share of the public +administration the princeps required a great number of assistants in his +personal employ. For his legates to command the legions or his provinces +with delegated military authority Augustus could draw upon the senators, +but both custom and the prestige of the Senate forbade their entering his +service in other capacities. On the other hand, freedmen and slaves, who +might well be employed in a clerical position, obviously could not be made +the sole civil servants of the princeps. Therefore, Augustus drew into his +service the equestrian order whose business interests and traditional +connection with the public finances seemed to mark them out as peculiarly +fitted to be his agents in the financial administration of the provinces. + +The equestrian order in general was open to all Roman citizens in Italy +and the provinces who were eighteen years of age, of free birth and good +character, and possessed a census rating of 400,000 sesterces ($20,000). +Admission to the order was in the control of the princeps, and carried the +right to wear a narrow purple stripe on the toga and to receive a public +horse, the possession of which qualified an equestrian for the imperial +civil and military service. With the bestowal of the public horse Augustus +revived the long neglected annual parade and inspection of the _equites_. + +Like the career of the senators, that of the equestrians included both +military and civil appointments. At the outset of his _cursus honorum_ the +equestrian held several military appointments, which somewhat later came +regularly to include a prefecture of a corps of auxiliary infantry, a +tribunate of a legionary cohort, and a prefecture of an auxiliary cavalry +corps. Thereupon he was eligible for a procuratorship, that is, a post in +the imperial civil service, usually in connection with the administration +of the finances. After filling several of these procuratorships, of which +there were a great number of varying importance, an equestrian might +finally attain one of the great prefectures, as commander of the city +watch, administrator of the corn supply of Rome, commander of the imperial +guards, or governor of Egypt. At the end of his equestrian career he might +be enrolled in the senatorial order. Thus through the imperial service the +equestrian order was bound closely to the princeps and from its ranks +there gradually developed a nobility thoroughly loyal to the new régime. + +*The Comitia and the plebs.* The _comitia_, which had so long voiced the +will of the sovereign Roman people was not abolished, although it could no +longer claim to speak in the name of the Roman citizens as a whole. It +still kept up the form of electing magistrates and enacting legislation, +but its action was largely determined by the recommendations of the +princeps and his tribunician authority. + +While the city plebs, accustomed to receive its free distributions of +grain, and to be entertained at costly public spectacles, was a heavy +drain upon the resources of the state, the vigorous third estate in the +Italian municipalities supplied the subaltern officers of the legions. +These were the centurions, who were the mainstay of the discipline and +efficiency of the troops, and from whose ranks many advanced to an +equestrian career. + + + + III. THE MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT + + +*Reorganization of the army.* Upon his return to Italy in 30 B. C., +Augustus found himself at the head of an army of about 500,000 men. Of +these he released more than 300,000 from service and settled them in +colonies or in their native municipalities upon lands which it was his +boast to have purchased and not confiscated. This done, he proceeded to +reorganize the military establishment. Accepting the lessons of the civil +wars, he maintained a permanent, professional army, recruited as far as +possible by voluntary enlistment. This army comprised two main categories +of troops, the legionaries and the auxiliaries. + +*The legions and auxilia.* The legionaries were recruited from Roman +citizens or from provincials who received Roman citizenship upon their +enlistment. Their units of organization, the legions, comprised nearly +6000 men, of whom 120 were cavalry and the rest infantry. The number of +legions was at first eighteen, but was later raised to twenty-five, giving +a total of about 150,000 men. The auxiliaries, who took the place of the +contingents of Italian allies of earlier days, were recruited from among +the most warlike subject peoples of the empire and their numbers were +approximately equal to the legionaries. They were organized in small +infantry and cavalry corps (cohorts and _alae_), each 480 or 960 strong. +At the expiration of their term of service the auxiliaries were granted +the reward of Roman citizenship. + +*The praetorians.* A third category of troops, which, although greatly +inferior in number to the legions and auxiliaries, played an exceptionally +influential rôle in the history of the principate, was the praetorian +guard. This was the imperial bodyguard which attended Augustus in his +capacity of commander-in-chief of the Roman armies. It owed its influence +to the fact that it was stationed in the vicinity of Rome while the other +troops were stationed in the provinces. Under Augustus the praetorian +guard comprised nine cohorts, each 1000 strong, under the command of two +praetorian prefects of equestrian rank. The praetorians were recruited +exclusively from the Italian peninsula, and enjoyed a shorter term of +service and higher pay than the other corps. + +*Conditions of service.* It was not until 6 A. D. that the term of +enlistment and the conditions of discharge were definitely fixed. From +that date service in the praetorian guard was for sixteen years, in the +legions for twenty and in the _auxilia_ for twenty-five. At their +discharge the praetorians received a bonus of 5000 denarii ($1000), while +the legionaries were given 3000 denarii ($600) in addition to an +assignment of land. The discharged legionaries were regularly settled in +colonies throughout the provinces. To meet this increased expense Augustus +was obliged to establish a military treasury (the _aerarium militare_), +endowed out of his private patrimony, and supported by the revenue derived +from two newly imposed taxes, a five per cent inheritance tax (_vincesima +hereditatium_) which affected all Roman citizens, and a one per cent tax +on all goods publicly sold (_centesima rerum venalium_). + +*The fleets.* For the policing of the coast of Italy and the adjacent seas +Augustus created a permanent fleet with stations at Ravenna and Misenum. +Conforming to the comparative unimportance of the Roman naval, in contrast +to their military establishment, the personnel of this fleet was recruited +in large measure from imperial freedmen and slaves. Only after Augustus +were these squadrons and other similar ones in the provinces placed under +equestrian prefects. + +The military system of Augustus strongly emphasized and guaranteed the +supremacy of Italy and the Italians over the provincials. Both the +officers and the elite troops were drawn almost exclusively from Italy or +the latinized parts of the western provinces. In like manner the +reservation of the higher grades of the civil administration, the second +prop of Roman rule, for Roman senators and equestrians, as well as the +exclusion of the provincial imperial cult from Italian soil, marked +clearly the distinction between the conquering and the subject races of +the empire. Yet it was Augustus himself who pointed the way to the +ultimate romanization of the provincials by the bestowal of citizenship as +one of the rewards for military service and by the settlement of colonies +of veterans in the provinces. + + + + IV. THE REVIVAL OF RELIGION AND MORALITY + + +*The ideals of Augustus.* A counterpart to the governmental reorganization +effected by Augustus was his attempt to revive the old time Roman virtues +which had fallen into contempt during the last centuries of the republic. +This moral regeneration of the Roman people he regarded as the absolutely +essential basis for a new era of peace and prosperity. And the reawakening +of morality was necessarily preceded by a revival of the religious rites +and ceremonies that in recent times had passed into oblivion through the +attraction of new cults, the growth of skepticism, or the general disorder +into which the public administration had fallen as a result of civil +strife. + +*The revival of public religion.* One step in this direction was the +reëstablishment of the ancient priestly colleges devoted to the +performance of particular rites or the cult of particular deities. To +provide these colleges with the required number of patrician members +Augustus created new patrician families. He himself was enrolled in each +of these colleges and, at the death of Lepidus in 12 B. C., was elected +chief pontiff, the head of the state religion. A second measure was the +repair of temples and shrines which had lapsed into decay. The temple of +Jupiter Capitolinus, those of Quirinus and the Magna Mater, besides +eighty-two other shrines of lesser fame, were repaired or restored by him. +One of his generals, Munatius Plancus, renewed the temple of Saturn in the +forum. A new temple was erected by Augustus to Mars the Avenger on the +forum begun by Julius Caesar, another to the deified Julius himself on the +old forum, and a third on the Palatine hill to Apollo, to whom he rendered +thanks for the victory at Actium. + +*The Lares and the Genius Augusti.* Among the divinities whose cult was +thus quickened into life were the Lares, the guardian deities of the +crossways, whose worship was especially practiced by the common folk. +Between the years 12 and 7 B. C. each of the two hundred and sixty-five +_vici_ into which the city of Rome was then divided was provided with a +shrine dedicated to the Lares and the Genius of Augustus, that is, the +divine spirit which watched over his fortunes. This worship was conducted +by a committee of masters, annually elected by the inhabitants of these +quarters. In this way the city plebs while not worshipping the princeps +himself, were yet encouraged to look upon him as their protector and +guardian. + +*The imperial cult.* A new religion which was to be symbolic of the unity +of the empire and the loyalty of the provincials was the cult of Rome and +Augustus, commonly known as the imperial cult. The worship of the goddess +Roma, the personification of the Roman state, had sprung up voluntarily in +the cities of Greece and Asia after 197 B. C. when the power of Rome began +to supplant the authority of the Hellenistic monarchs for whom deification +by their subjects was the theoretical basis of their autocratic power. +This voluntary worship had also been accorded to individual Romans, as +Flamininus, Sulla, Caesar and Mark Antony. As early as 29 B. C. the cities +of Pergamon in Asia and Nicomedia in Bithynia erected temples dedicated to +Roma and Augustus, and established quinquennial religious festivals called +_Romaia Sebasta_. Other cities followed their example and before the death +of Augustus each province in the Orient had at least one altar dedicated +to Roma and the princeps. From the East the imperial cult was officially +transplanted to the West. + +In the year 12 B. C. an altar of Rome and Augustus was established at the +junction of the rivers Rhone and Sâone, opposite the town of Lugdunum +(modern Lyons), the administrative center of Transalpine Gaul apart from +the Narbonese province. Here the peoples of Gaul were to unite in the +outward manifestation of their loyalty to Roman rule. A similar altar was +erected at what is now Cologne in the land of the Ubii between 9 B. C. and +9 A. D. Both in the East and in the West the maintenance of the imperial +cult was imposed upon provincial councils, composed of representatives of +the municipal or tribal units in which each province was divided. + +The imperial cult in the provinces was thus the expression of the absolute +authority of Rome and Augustus over the subjects of Rome, but for that +very reason Augustus could not admit its development on Italian soil; for +to do so would be to deny his claim to be a Roman magistrate, deriving his +authority from the Roman people, among whom he was the chief citizen, and +would stamp his government as monarchical and autocratic. Therefore, +although the poet Horace, voicing the public sentiment, in 27 B. C. +acclaimed him as the new Mercury, and both municipalities and individuals +in southern Italy spontaneously established his worship, this movement +received no official encouragement and never became important. However, +from the year 12 B. C. onwards, there were established religious colleges +of _Augustales_, or priestly officers called _Sevìri Augustales_, in many +Italian municipalities for the celebration of the cult of Augustus either +alone or in conjunction with some other divinity such as Mercury or +Hercules. As these Augustales were almost exclusively drawn from the class +of freedmen who were no longer admitted to full Roman citizenship, +Augustus avoided receiving worship from the latter, while assuring himself +of the loyalty of the _liberti_ and gratifying their pride by encouraging +a municipal office to which they were eligible. + +*The leges Juliae and the lex Papia Poppaea.* However, Augustus was not +content to trust solely to the moral effects of religious exercises and +resorted to legislative action to check the degenerate tendencies of his +age. The Julian laws of 19 and 18 B. C. aimed at the restoration of the +soundness of family life, the encouragement of marriage, and the +discouragement of childlessness, by placing disabilities upon unmarried +and childless persons. These measures provoked great opposition, but +Augustus was in earnest and supplemented his earlier laws by the _lex +Papia Poppaea_ of 9 A. D. which gave precedence to fathers over less +fortunate persons among the candidates for public office. A commentary on +the effectiveness of his earlier laws was the fact that both the consuls +who sponsored this later one were themselves unmarried. To prevent the +Italian element among the citizens from being swamped by a continuous +influx of liberated slaves, Augustus placed restrictions upon the right of +manumission and refused freedmen the public rights of Roman citizens, +although granting these to their sons. By example as well as by precept he +sought to hold in check the luxurious tendencies of the age, and in his +own household to furnish a model of ancient Roman simplicity. + +*The Secular Games, 17 B. C.* To publicly inaugurate the new era in the +life of the state begun under his auspices, Augustus celebrated the +festival of the Secular Games in the year 17 B. C., for which Horace wrote +the inaugural ode, his _Carmen Saeculare_. + + + + V. THE PROVINCES AND THE FRONTIERS + + +*The Dyarchy.* The division of the provinces between Augustus and the +Senate in 27 B. C. had the effect of creating an administrative dyarchy, +or joint rule of two independent authorities, for the empire. However, the +original allotment of the provinces underwent some modification subsequent +to 27 B. C. In 23 B. C., Augustus transferred to the Senate Narbonese Gaul +where the rapid progress of colonization had made it “more a part of Italy +than a province.” In exchange he took over Illyricum, where the progress +of the Roman arms had been interrupted by the outbreak of the war with +Antony and where the Romans were confronted by warlike and restless +peoples of the hinterland. Somewhat later Cilicia also became an imperial +province and in 6 A. D. Sardinia was placed under an imperial procurator +because of disturbances on the island. Southern Greece, previously +dependent upon the province of Macedon, was placed under the government of +the Senate as the province of Achaea. New administrative districts +organized by Augustus out of territories conquered by his generals +remained under his control. + +*Survey and census of the empire.* The main expense of the military and +civil establishment of the empire was defrayed by the revenues from the +provinces. As a basis for an accurate estimate of their resources for +purposes of taxation and recruitment Augustus caused a comprehensive +census of the population and an evaluation of property to be taken in each +newly organized district, and provided for a systematic revision of the +census in all the imperial provinces. In addition a general chart of the +empire was compiled on the basis of an extended survey conducted under the +direction of Agrippa. + +*The foreign policy of Augustus.* As we have seen, Augustus since he was +commander-in-chief of the Roman armies and in charge of the administration +of the most important border provinces, was entrusted by the senate with +the direction of the foreign relations of the state. Here his aims +conformed to the general conservatism of his policies and were directed +towards securing a defensible frontier for the empire which should protect +the peace that he had established within its borders. His military +operations were conducted with due regard to the man power and the +financial resources of the state. To secure the defensible frontier at +which he aimed it was necessary for Augustus to incorporate in the empire +a number of border peoples whose independence was a menace to the peace of +the provinces and to establish some client kingdoms as buffer states +between Roman territory and otherwise dangerous neighbors. + +*The settlement in Spain.* The northwestern corner of the Spanish +peninsula was still occupied by independent peoples, the Cantabri, Astures +and the Callaeci, who harassed with their forays the pacified inhabitants +of the Roman provinces. To secure peace in this quarter Augustus +determined upon the complete subjugation of these peoples. From 27 to 24 +B. C. he was present in Spain and between these years his lieutenants +Antistius, Carisius and Agrippa conducted campaigns against them in their +mountain fastness, and, overcoming their desperate resistance, settled +them in the valleys and secured their territory by founding colonies of +veterans. A subsequent revolt in 20–19 was crushed by Marcus Agrippa. + +*The pacification of the Alps, 25–8 B. C.* A similar problem was presented +by the Alpine peoples, who not only made devastating raids into northern +Italy but also in the west occupied the passes which offered the most +direct routes between Italy and Transalpine Gaul. In 26 B. C. occurred a +revolt of the Salassi, in the neighborhood of the Little St. Bernard, who +had been subdued eight years before. In the following year they were +completely subjugated, and those who escaped slaughter were sold into +slavery. In 16 B. C. the district of Noricum, i. e., modern Tyrol and +Salzburg, was occupied by Publius Silius Nerva, in consequence of a raid +of the Noricans into the Istrian peninsula. In 15 B. C., the step-son of +Augustus, Nero Claudius Drusus, crossed the Brenner Pass and forced his +way over the Vorarlberg range to Lake Constance, subduing the Raeti on his +way. On the shores of Lake Constance he met his elder brother, Tiberius +Claudius Nero, who had marched eastwards from Gaul. Together they defeated +and subjugated the Vindelici. On the north the Danube was now the Roman +frontier. A number of isolated campaigns completed the subjugation of the +remaining Alpine peoples by 8 B. C. Raetia and Noricum were organized as +procuratorial provinces, while the smaller Alpine districts were placed +under imperial prefects. + +*Gaul and Germany.* Caesar had left the land of Gallia Comata crushed but +still unsettled and not fully incorporated in the empire. It fell to the +lot of Augustus to complete its organization, which was accomplished +between 27 and 13 B. C. Subsequent to the transfer of the Narbonese +province to the Senate _Gallia comata_ was divided into three districts; +Aquitania, Lugdunensis and Belgica, which, however, during the lifetime of +Augustus, formed an administrative unity, under one governor with +subordinate _legati_ in each district. The colony of Lugdunum was the seat +of the administration, as well as of the imperial cult. No attempt was +made to latinize the three Gauls by the founding of Roman colonies; but +they remained divided into sixty-four separate peoples, called +_civitates_, with a tribal organization under the control of a native +nobility. As early as 27 B. C. Augustus took a census in Gaul, and on this +basis fixed its tax obligations. The rich lands of Gaul were as important +a source of imperial revenue as its vigorous population was of recruits +for the Roman auxiliary forces. + +But the Gauls were restive under their new burdens and were in addition +liable to be stirred up by the Germanic tribes who came from across the +Rhine. An invading horde of Sugambri in 16 B. C. defeated a Roman army +and, upon a renewed inroad by the same people in 12 B. C., Augustus +determined to cross the Rhine and secure the frontier of Gaul by the +subjugation of the Germans to the north. The Germans, like the Gauls at +the time of the Roman conquest, were divided into a number of independent +tribes usually at enmity with one another and hence incapable of forming a +lasting combination against a common foe. Individually they were powerful +and courageous, but their military efficiency was impaired by their lack +of unity and discipline. + +Drusus, conqueror of the Raeti, was appointed to command the Roman army of +invasion. He first secured the Rhine frontier by the construction of a +line of fortresses stretching from Vindonissa (near Basle) to Castra +Vetera (near Xanten), the latter of which, with Mogontiacum (Mainz) were +his chief bases. Then, crossing the river, in four campaigns (12–9 B. C.) +he overran and subjugated the territory between the Rhine and the Elbe. +His operations were greatly aided by his fleet, for which he constructed a +canal from the Rhine to the Zuider Zee, and which facilitated the conquest +of the coast peoples, among them the Batavi, who became firm Roman allies. +On the return march from the Elbe in 9 B. C., Drusus was fatally injured +by a fall from his horse. His brother Tiberius succeeded him in command +and strengthened the Roman hold on the transrhenene conquests. Drusus was +buried in Rome, whither Tiberius escorted his corpse on foot, and was +honored with the name Germanicus. + +*Illyricum and Thrace.* To the east of the Adriatic the Roman provinces of +Illyricum and Macedonia were subject to constant incursions of the +Pannonians, Getae (or Dacians) and Bastarnae, peoples settled in the +middle and lower Danube valley. Marcus Licinius Crassus, Governor of +Macedonia, in 30 and 29 B. C. defeated the Getae and Bastarnae, crossed +the Balkans, carried the Roman arms to the Danube and subdued the Moesi to +the south of that river. However, it required a considerable time before +the various Thracian tribes were finally subdued and a client kingdom +under the Thracian prince Cotys was interposed between Macedonia and the +lower Danube. Meantime, the Pannonians had been conquered in a number of +hard fought campaigns which were brought to a successful conclusion by +Tiberius (12–9 B. C.) who made the Drave the Roman boundary. The +contemporaneous conquest of Pannonia and of Germany between the Rhine and +the Elbe was one of the greatest feats of Roman arms and reveals the army +of the empire at the height of its discipline and organization. In 13 +B. C., during a lull in these frontier struggles, the Senate voted the +erection of an altar to the peace of Augustus (the _ara pacis Augustae_), +in grateful recognition of his maintenance of peace within the empire. + +*The revolt of Illyricum and Germany.* For several years following the +death of Drusus no further conquests were attempted until 4 A. D., when +Tiberius was again appointed to command the army of the Rhine. After +assuring himself of the allegiance of the Germans by a demonstration as +far as the Elbe and by the establishment of fortified posts, he prepared +to complete the northern boundary by the conquest of the kingdom of the +Marcomanni, in modern Bohemia, between the Elbe and the Danube. In 6 A. D. +Tiberius was on the point of advancing northward from the Danube, in +coöperation with Gaius Saturninus, who was to move eastwards from the +Rhine, when a revolt broke out in Illyricum which forced the abandonment +of the undertaking and the conclusion of peace with Marbod, the king of +the Marcomanni. The revolt, in which both Pannonians and Dalmatians +joined, was caused by the severity of the Roman exactions, especially the +levies for the army. For a moment Italy trembled in fear of an invasion; +in the raising of new legions even freedmen were called into service. But +the arrival of reinforcements from other provinces enabled Tiberius after +three years of ruthless warfare to utterly crush the desperate resistance +of the rebels (9 A. D.). The organization of Pannonia as a separate +province followed the reëstablishment of peace. + +Until the last year of the war in Illyricum the Germanic tribes had +remained quiet under Roman overlordship. But in 9 A. D., provoked by the +attempt of the new Roman commander, Publius Quinctilius Varus, to subject +them to stricter control, they united to free themselves from foreign +rule. In the coalition the Cherusci and Chatti were the chief peoples, and +Arminius, a young chieftain of the Cherusci, was its leading spirit. Varus +and his army of three legions were surprised on the march in the Teutoberg +Forest and completely annihilated. Rome was in panic over the news, but +the Germans did not follow up their initial success. Tiberius was again +sent to the post of danger and vindicated the honor of Rome by two +successful expeditions across the Rhine. But no attempt was made to +recover permanently the lost ground. The frontier of the Elbe was given up +for that of the Rhine with momentous consequences for the future of the +empire and of Europe. The coast peoples, however, remained Roman allies +and a narrow strip of territory was held on the right bank of the Rhine. +The reason lay in the weakness of the Roman military organization, caused +by the strain of the Illyrian revolt and the difficulty of finding +recruits for the Roman legions among the Italians. The cry of Augustus, +“Quinctilius Varus, give back my legions,” gives the clue to his +abandonment of Germany. + +*The eastern frontier.* In the East alone was Rome confronted by a power +which was in any way a match for her military strength and which had +disastrously defeated two Roman invasions. The conquest of this, the +Parthian kingdom, appeared to Augustus to offer no compensation comparable +to the exertions it would entail and therefore he determined to rest +content with such a reassertion of Roman supremacy in the Near East as +would wipe out the shame of the defeats of Crassus and Antony and +guarantee Roman territory from Parthian attack. He was prepared to accept +the natural frontier of the Euphrates as the eastern boundary of Roman +territory. Between the Roman provinces in Asia Minor and the upper +Euphrates lay a number of client kingdoms, Galatia, Pontus, Cappadocia and +Lesser Armenia, and Commagene. At the death of Amyntas, king of Galatia, +in 25 B. C., his kingdom was made into a province, but the others were +left under their native dynasts. Across the Euphrates lay Armenia, a +buffer state between the Roman possessions and Parthia, which was of +strategic importance because it commanded the military routes between Asia +Minor and the heart of the Parthian country. To establish a protectorate +over Armenia was therefore the ambition of both Rome and Parthia. During +the presence of Augustus in the East (22–19 B. C.), Tiberius placed a +Roman nominee on the Armenian throne, and received from the Parthian king, +Phraates IV, the Roman standards and captives in Parthian hands, a success +which earned Augustus the salutation of _imperator_ from his troops. Later +Phraates sent four of his sons as hostages to Rome. But the Roman +protectorate over Armenia was by no means permanent; its supporters had +soon to give way to the Parthian party. Gaius Caesar between 1 B. C. and 2 +A. D. restored Roman influence, but again the Parthians got the upper hand +and held it until 9 A. D., when Phraates was overthrown and was succeeded +by one of his sons whom Augustus sent from Rome at the request of the +Parthians. + +*Judaea and Arabia.* To the south of the Roman province of Syria lay the +kingdom of Judaea, ruled by Herod until his death in 4 B. C., when it was +divided among his sons. Subsequently Judaea proper was made a province +administered by a Roman procurator. To the east of the Dead Sea was the +kingdom of the Nabataean Arabs, who controlled the caravan routes of the +Arabian peninsula and who were firm Roman allies. With their aid a Roman +army under Aelius Gallus in 25 B. C. sought to penetrate into the rich +spice land of Arabia Felix, but suffered such losses in its march across +the desert that it was forced to return without effecting a conquest. At +the same time Gaius Petronius defeated the Ethiopians under Queen Candace +and secured the southern frontier of Egypt. Through the ports of Egypt on +the Red Sea a brisk trade developed with India, from which distant land +embassies on various occasions came to Augustus. Further west in Africa, +Augustus added the kingdom of Numidia to the province of Africa, and +transferred its ruler, Juba II, whose wife was Cleopatra, daughter of +Antony the triumvir, to the kingdom of Mauretania (25 B. C.). + +The conquests of Augustus established in their essential features the +future boundaries of the Roman Empire. At his death he left it as a maxim +of state for his successor to abstain from further expansion. + + + + VI. THE ADMINISTRATION OF ROME + + +*The problem of police.* One of the great problems which had confronted +the Roman government from the time of the Gracchi was the policing of Rome +and the suppression of mob violence. To a certain extent the establishment +of the praetorian guard served to overawe the city mob, although only +three of its cohorts were at first stationed in the city. As a supplement +to the praetorians Augustus organized three urban cohorts, each originally +1500 strong, who ranked between the legionaries and praetorians. Between +12 and 7 B. C. the city was divided for administrative purposes into +fourteen regions, subdivided into 265 _vici_ or wards. Each region was put +in charge of a tribune or aedile. A force of six hundred slaves under the +two curule aediles was formed as a fire brigade. But as these proved +ineffective in 6 A. D. Augustus created a corps of _vigiles_ to serve as a +fire brigade and night watch. This corps consisted of seven cohorts, one +for every two regions, and was under the command of an equestrian prefect +of the watch (_praefectus vigilum_). + +*The Annona.* Another vital problem was the provision of an adequate +supply of grain for the city. A famine in 22 B. C. produced so serious a +situation that the Senate was forced to call upon Augustus to assume the +responsibility for this branch of the administration. At first he tried to +meet the situation through the appointment of curators of senatorial rank, +but after 6 A. D. he created the office of prefect of the grain supply, +filled by an equestrian appointee of the princeps. His duty was to see +that there was an adequate supply of grain on hand for the market at a +reasonable price and in addition to make the monthly distribution of free +grain to the city plebs. The number of recipients of this benefit was +fixed at 200,000. + +In this way Augustus was forced to take over one of the spheres of the +government which he had intended should remain under the direction of the +Senate and to witness himself the first step towards the breakdown of the +administrative dyarchy which he had created. + + + + VII. THE PROBLEM OF THE SUCCESSION + + +*The policy of Augustus.* In theory the position of the princeps was that +of a magistrate who derived his powers from the Senate and the Roman +people, and hence the choice of his successor legally lay in their hands. +However, Augustus realized that to leave the field open to rival +candidates would inevitably lead to a recrudescence of civil war. +Therefore he determined to designate his own successor and to make the +latter’s appointment a matter beyond dispute. Furthermore, his own career +as the son and heir of Julius Caesar warned him that this heir to the +principate must be found within his own household, and his precarious +health was a constant reminder that he could not await the approach of old +age before settling this problem. And so, from the early years of his +office, he arranged the matrimonial alliances of his kinsfolk in the +interests of the state without regard to their personal preferences, to +the end that in the event of his decease there would be a member of the +Julian house prepared to assume his laborious task. Yet the unexpected +length of his life caused Augustus to outlive many of those whom he from +time to time looked upon as the heirs to his position in the state. + +*Marcus Marcellus and Agrippa.* Augustus had one daughter Julia, by his +second wife Scribonia. He had no sons, but Livia Drusilla, whom he took as +his third wife in 36 B. C., brought him two stepsons, Tiberius and Drusus. +Yet not one of these but his nephew, Marcus Marcellus, was his first +choice for a successor. Marcellus received Julia as his wife in 25 B. C., +the next year at the age of nineteen he was admitted to the Senate, and in +23 B. C., as aedile, he won the favor of the populace by his magnificent +public shows. When Marcellus died in 23 B. C., Augustus turned to his +loyal adherent Agrippa, to whom Julia was now wedded. In 18 B. C. Agrippa +received proconsular _imperium_ and the _tribunicia potestas_ for five +years, powers that were reconferred with those of Augustus in 13 B. C. + +*Tiberius.* But in the next year Agrippa died, and Augustus, regarding his +eldest stepson Tiberius, the conqueror of Noricum, as the one best +qualified to succeed himself, forced him to divorce the wife to whom he +was devoted and to marry Julia. At that time he was given the important +Illyrian command and in 6 B. C. the tribunician authority was granted him +for a five year term. But Tiberius, recognizing that he was soon to be set +aside for the two elder sons of Agrippa and Julia, Gaius and Lucius +Caesar, whom Augustus had adopted and taken into his own house, and being +disgusted with the flagrant unfaithfulness of Julia, retired into private +life at Rhodes, thereby incurring the deep enmity of his stepfather. + +*Gaius and Lucius Caesar.* Gaius and Lucius Caesar assumed the garb of +manhood (the _toga virilis_) at the age of fifteen in 5 and 2 B. C., +respectively. To celebrate each occasion Augustus held the consulship, and +placed them at the head of the equestrian order with the title _principes +iuventutis_. They were exempted from the limitations of the _cursus +honorum_ so that each might hold the consulate in his twentieth year. In 1 +A. D. Gaius was sent to the East with proconsular imperium to settle fresh +trouble in Armenia. There in the siege of a petty fortress he received a +wound from which he died in 4 A. D. Two years previously Lucius had fallen +a victim to fever while on his way to Spain. In the meantime Augustus had +experienced another blow in his discovery of the scandalous conduct of +Julia. Her guilt was the more unpardonable in view of the efforts of her +father to restore the moral tone of society. She was banished to the +island rock of Pandataria, her companions in crime were punished, the most +with banishment, one with death on a charge of treason (1 B. C.). Her +elder daughter, also called Julia, later met the same fate for a like +offence. + +*Tiberius.* At the death of Gaius Caesar, Augustus turned once more to +Tiberius, who had been permitted to leave Rhodes at the intercession of +Livia. In 4 A. D. he was adopted by Augustus and received the _tribunicia +potestas_ for ten years. In 13 A. D. his tribunician power was renewed and +he was made the colleague of Augustus in the _imperium_. Tiberius himself +had been obliged to adopt his nephew Germanicus, the son of Drusus, who +married Agrippina, the younger daughter of Agrippa and Julia. Association +in authority and adoption where necessary had become the means of +designating the successor in the principate. + + + + VIII. AUGUSTUS AS A STATESMAN + + +*The death of Augustus.* In 14 A. D. Augustus held a census of the Roman +citizens in the empire. They numbered 4,937,000, an increase of 826,000 +since 28 B. C. In the same year he set up in Rome an inscription recording +his exploits and the sums which he had expended in the interests of the +state. A copy of this has been found inscribed on the walls of the temple +of Roma and Augustus at Ancyra, and hence is known as the Monument of +Ancyra. On 19 August, 14 A. D., Augustus died at Nola in Campania, at the +age of seventy-six. + +*An estimate of his statesmanship.* Opinions have differed and probably +always will differ upon the question whether or not Augustus sought to +establish a disguised form of monarchical government. Still, in his favor +stands the fact that, although when a young man confronted or allied with +rivals who sought his destruction he seized power by illegal means, after +the fate of the state was in his hands and he had reëstablished an orderly +form of government, he conscientiously restricted himself to the use of +the powers which were legally conferred upon him. So ably did he +conciliate public opinion that the few conspiracies formed against his +life and power had no serious backing and constituted no real danger to +himself or his system. To have effected so important a change in the +constitution with so little friction is proof of a statesmanship of a high +order. + +His principate marks the beginning of a new epoch in Roman history and +determined the course of the subsequent political development of the +empire. And the system he inaugurated finds its greatest justification in +the era of the _pax Romana_ which it ushered in. + +*The weakness of his system.* Yet it must be admitted that this system +contained two innate weaknesses. Firstly, it was built up around the +personality of Augustus, who could trust himself not to abuse his great +power, and secondly, the princeps, as commander-in-chief of the Roman +army, was immeasurably more powerful than the second partner in the +administration, the Senate, and able to assert his will against all +opposition. Now, as has well been observed, the working of the principate +depended upon the coöperation of the Senate and the self-restraint of the +emperors, consequently, when the former proved incapable and the latter +abused their power, the inevitable consequence was an autocracy. That +Augustus realized this himself towards the end of his life is highly +probable, yet as the one who brought order out of chaos and gave peace to +an exhausted world his name will always be one of the greatest in the +history of Rome or indeed of the human race. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII + + + THE JULIO-CLAUDIAN LINE AND THE FLAVIANS: 14–96 A. D. + + + + I. TIBERIUS, 14–37 A. D. + + +*Tiberius princeps.* At the death of Augustus, Tiberius by right of his +_imperium_ assumed command of the army and through his tribunician +authority convoked the Senate to pay the last honors to Augustus and +decide upon his successor. Like Julius Caesar, Augustus was deified, and a +priestly college of Augustales, chosen from the senatorial order was +founded to maintain his worship in Rome. In accordance with a wish +expressed in his will, his widow Livia was honored with the name Augusta. +Tiberius received the title of Augustus and the other honors and powers +which his predecessor had made the prerogatives of the princeps. His +_imperium_, however, was conferred for life, and not for a limited period. +The ease of his succession shows how solidly the principate was +established at the death of its founder. + +*Character and policy.* Tiberius was now fifty-six years of age. He had +spent the greater part of his life in the public service, and consequently +had a full appreciation of the burden of responsibility which the princeps +must assume. He was the incarnation of the old Roman sense of duty to the +state, and at the same time exhibited the proud reserve of the Roman +patricians. Stern in his maintenance of law and order, he made an +excellent subordinate, but when called upon to guide the policy of state, +he displayed hesitation and lack of decision. The incidents of his +marriage with Julia and his exile had rendered him bitter and suspicious, +and he utterly lacked the personal charm and adaptability of his +predecessor. Thus he was temperamentally unsuited to the position he was +called upon to fill and this was responsible for his frequent +misunderstandings with the Senate. Such an incident occurred in the +meetings of the Senate after the death of Augustus. Tiberius, conscious of +his unpopularity, sought to have the Senate press upon him the appointment +as the successor of Augustus, and so feigned reluctance to accept, a +course which made the senators suspect that he was laying a trap for +possible rivals. Yet there was no princeps who tried more conscientiously +to govern in the spirit of Augustus, or upheld more rigidly the rights and +dignity of the Senate. At the beginning of his principate he transferred +from the Assembly to the Senate the right of the election to the +magistracies, thus relieving the senators from the expense and annoyance +of canvassing the populace. + +*Mutinies in Illyricum and on the Rhine.* Two serious mutinies followed +the accession of Tiberius, one in the army stationed in Illyricum, the +other among the legions on the Rhine. Failure to discharge those who had +completed their terms of service and the severity of the service itself +were the grounds of dissatisfaction. The Illyrian mutiny was quelled by +the praetorian prefect Lucius Aelius Seianus; the army of the Rhine was +brought back to its allegiance by Germanicus, the son of Drusus, whom +Tiberius had adopted at the command of Augustus in 4 A. D. He had married +Agrippina, daughter of Agrippa and Julia, and was looked upon as the heir +of Tiberius in preference to the latter’s younger and less able son, +Drusus. + +*The campaigns of Germanicus, 14–17 A. D.* To restore discipline among his +troops and relieve them from the monotony of camp life, as well as to +emulate the achievements of his father, Germanicus, without the +authorization of Tiberius, led his army across the Rhine. The German +tribes were still united in the coalition formed in the time of Varus, +and, under their leaders Arminius and Inguiomerus, offered vigorous +opposition to the Roman invasion. Nevertheless, in three successive +campaigns (14–16 A. D.), Germanicus ravaged the territory between the +Rhine and the Weser and inflicted several defeats upon the Germans. Still +Arminius and his allies were by no means subdued, and the Romans had +sustained heavy losses. One army had narrowly escaped the fate of the +legions of Varus, and twice had the transports of Germanicus suffered +through storms in the North Sea. For these reasons Tiberius forbade the +prolongation of the war and recalled Germanicus. With his departure, each +of the three Gauls was made an independent province, and two new +administrative districts called Upper and Lower Germany, under legates of +consular rank, were created on the left bank of the Rhine. Freed from the +danger of Roman interference, the Germanic tribes led by Arminius now +engaged in a bitter struggle with Marbod, king of the Marcomanni, which +ultimately led to the overthrow of the latter’s kingdom. Not long +afterwards Arminius himself fell a victim to the jealousy of his fellow +tribesmen (19 A. D.). + +*Eastern mission and death of Germanicus, 17–19 A. D.* After his return +from Gaul, Germanicus was sent by Tiberius to settle affairs in the East, +where the Armenian question had again become acute. While he was in Syria, +a bitter quarrel developed between himself and Piso, the legate of the +province. Accordingly, when Germanicus fell ill and died there, many +accused Piso of having poisoned him. Although the accusation was false +Piso was called to Rome to stand his trial on that charge, and, finding +that the popularity of Germanicus had biased popular opinion against him, +and that Tiberius refused him his protection because of his attempt to +assert his rights by armed force, he committed suicide. Agrippina, the +ambitious wife of Germanicus, believed that Tiberius from motives of +jealousy had been responsible for her husband’s death. She openly +displayed her hostility to the princeps, and by plotting to secure the +succession for her own children, helped to bring about their ruin and her +own. + +*The withdrawal of Tiberius from Rome, 26 A. D.* The decision of Tiberius +to leave Rome in 26 A. D. and take up his residence on the island of Capri +had important consequences. One was that the office of city prefect, who +was the representative of the princeps, became permanent. It was filled by +a senator of consular rank who commanded the urban cohorts and had wide +judicial functions. + +*The plot of Seianus.* In the second place the absence of Tiberius gave +his able and ambitious praetorian prefect Aelius Seianus encouragement and +opportunity to perfect the plot he had formed to seize the principate for +himself. He it was who concentrated the praetorian guard, now 10,000 +strong, in their camp on the edge of the city, and paved the way for their +baneful influence upon the future history of the principate. Having caused +the death of Drusus, the son of Tiberius, by poison, in 23 A. D., he +intrigued to remove from his path the sons of Germanicus, Drusus and Nero. +They and their mother Agrippina were condemned to imprisonment or exile on +charges of treason. In 31 A. D. Seianus attained the consulate and +received proconsular _imperium_ in the provinces. He allied himself with +the Julian house by his betrothal to Julia, the grand-daughter of +Tiberius. But in the same year the princeps became aware of his plans. +Tiberius acted with energy. Seianus and many of his supporters were +arrested and executed. + +*The last years of Tiberius.* The discovery of Seianus’ treachery seems to +have affected the reason of the aging princeps. His fear of treachery +became an obsession. The law of treason (_lex de maiestate_) was +rigorously enforced and many persons were condemned to death, among them +Agrippina and her sons. The senators lived in terror of being accused by +informers (_delatores_), and in their anxiety to conciliate the princeps +they were only too ready to condemn any of their own number. + +The memory of his later years caused Tiberius to pass down in the +traditions of the senatorial order, represented by Tacitus and Suetonius, +as a ruthless tyrant, and to obscure his real services as a conscientious +and economical administrator. His parsimony in expenditures of the public +money won him unpopularity with the city mob, but was a blessing to the +provincials to whose welfare Tiberius directed particular attention, while +he vigorously protected them against the oppression of imperial officials. +During his rule the peace of the empire was disturbed only by a brief +rising in Gaul (21 A. D.) and a rather prolonged struggle with Tacfarinas, +a rebellious Berber chieftain, in Numidia (17–24 A. D.). + + + + II. CAIUS CALIGULA, 37–41 A. D. + + +*Accession.* Tiberius left as his heirs his adoptive grandson Caius, the +sole surviving son of Germanicus, better known by his childhood name of +Caligula, acquired in the camps on the Rhine, and his grandson by birth, +Tiberius Gemellus. Upon Caius, the elder of the two, then twenty-five +years of age, the Senate immediately conferred the powers of the +principate. The resentment of the senators towards his predecessor found +vent in refusing him the posthumous honor of deification. Caius adopted +his cousin, but within a year had him put to death. + +*Early months of his rule.* The early months of his rule seemed the dawn +of a new era. The pardoning of political offenders, the banishment of +informers, the reduction of taxes, coupled with lavishness in public +entertainments and donations, all made Gaius popular with the Senate, the +army and the city plebs. However, he was a weakling in body and in mind, +and a serious illness, brought on by his excesses, seems to have left him +mentally deranged. + +*Absolutism his ideal.* Reared in the house of Antonia, daughter of Antony +and Octavia, in company with eastern princes of the stamp of Herod +Agrippa, he naturally came to look upon the principate as an autocracy of +the Hellenistic type. In his attempt to carry this conception into effect, +the vein of madness in his character led him to ridiculous extremes. Not +content with claiming deification for himself and his sisters, he built a +lofty bridge connecting the Palatine Hill with the Capitoline, so that he +might communicate with Jupiter, his brother god. He prescribed the +sacrifices to be offered to himself, and was accused of seeking to imitate +the Ptolemaic custom of sister marriage. Thoroughly consistent with +absolutism was his scorn of republican magistracies and disregard of the +rights of the Senate; likewise his attempt to have himself saluted as +_dominus_ or “lord.” + +*The conflict with the Jews.* His demand for the acknowledgment of his +deification by all inhabitants of the empire brought Caius into conflict +with the Jews, who had been exempted from this formal expression of +loyalty. In Alexandria there was a large Jewish colony, which enjoyed +exceptional privileges and was consequently hated by the other +Alexandrians. Their refusal to worship the images of Caius furnished the +mob with a pretext for sacking the Jewish quarters and forcibly installing +statues of the princeps in some of their synagogues. The Jews sent a +delegation to plead their case before Caius but could obtain no redress. +In the meantime Caius had ordered Petronius, the legate of Syria, to set +up his statue in the temple at Jerusalem, by force, if need be. However, +the prudent Petronius, seeing that this would bring about a national +revolt among the Jews delayed obeying the order, and the death of Caius +relieved him of the necessity of executing it at all. + +*Tyranny.* In less than a year the reckless extravagance of Caius had +exhausted the immense surplus Tiberius had left in the treasury. To secure +new funds he resorted to openly tyrannical measures, extraordinary taxes, +judicial murders, confiscations, and forced legacies. By these means money +was extorted not only from Romans of all classes but provincials also. +Ptolemy, king of Mauretania, was executed for the sake of his treasure and +his kingdom made a province. + +*Assassination.* Caius contemplated invasions of Germany and of Britain, +but the former ended with a military parade across the Rhine and the +latter with a march to the shores of the Straits of Dover. The fear +awakened by his rule of capricious violence soon resulted in conspiracies +against his life. In January, 41 A. D., he was assassinated by a tribune +of the imperial guards. + + + + III. CLAUDIUS, 41–54 A. D. + + +*Nominated by the Praetorians.* In the choice of a successor to Caius the +power of the praetorian guard was first clearly demonstrated. Caius was +the last male representative of the Julian _gens_, and at his death the +Senate debated the question of restoring the republic. However, the +decision was made for them by the praetorians, who dragged from his hiding +place and saluted as Imperator the surviving brother of Germanicus, +Tiberius Claudius Germanicus. The Senate had to acquiesce in his +nomination and grant him the powers of the princeps. + +*Character.* Claudius was already fifty-one years old, but because of his +ungainly figure and limited mentality had never been seriously considered +for the principate. He was learned and pedantic, but lacking in energy and +resolution. His greatest weakness was that he was completely under the +influence of his wives, of whom he had in succession four, and his +favorite freedmen. + +*Policy.* In general the policy of Claudius followed that of Augustus and +Tiberius. But in 47 A. D. he assumed the censorship for five years, an +office which Augustus had avoided because it set its holder directly above +the Senate. + +In the capacity of censor, Claudius extended to the Gallic Aedui the _jus +honorum_ and consequently the right of admission to the Senate. This was +in accord with his policy of generously granting citizenship to the +provincials. The census taken in 47 and 48 A. D. showed approximately six +million Romans, nearly a million more than in the time of Augustus. +Claudius also renewed the attempt of Julius Caesar to occupy the island of +Britain. In 43 A. D. his legates Aulus Plautius, Vespasian and Ostorius +Scapula subdued the island as far as the Thames, and in the following +years extended their conquests farther northward. The southern part of the +island became the province of Britain. In 46 A. D., Thrace was +incorporated as a province at the death of its client prince. + +*Influence of freedmen.* During the rule of Claudius the real heads of the +administration were a group of able freedmen, Narcissus, Pallas, Polybius +and, later, Callistus. While it is true that they abused their power to +amass riches for themselves, they contributed a great deal to the +organization of the imperial bureaucracy. Their influence caused the +widespread employment of imperial freedmen in procuratorial positions. + +*Agrippina the younger.* In 49 A. D. the plot of Messalina, the third wife +of Claudius, and her lover Gaius Silius, to depose the princeps in favor +of Silius, endangered the power of the trio Pallas, Narcissus and +Callistus. It was Narcissus who revealed the conspiracy to Claudius, +secured his order for the execution of Messalina, and saw that it was +carried into effect. But it was Pallas who induced the princeps to take as +his fourth wife his own niece Agrippina, whose ambitions were to prove his +ruin. + +*Death of Claudius.* By Messalina Claudius had a son Britannicus and a +daughter Octavia, but Agrippina determined to secure the succession for +Domitius, her son by her previous husband Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. In +50 A. D., Domitius was adopted by Claudius as Nero Claudius Caesar. The +following year he received the _imperium_, and was thus openly designated +as the future princeps. In 53 A. D. Nero was married to Octavia and a year +later Claudius died, poisoned, as all believed, by Agrippina, who feared +that further delay would endanger her plans. + + + + IV. NERO, 54–68 A. D. + + +*The quinquennium Neronis.* Agrippina had previously made sure of the +support of the praetorians, and so the appointment of Nero to the +principate transpired without opposition. The first five years of his rule +were noted as a period of excellent administration. During that time his +counsels were guided by the praetorian prefect, Afranius Burrus from +Narbonese Gaul, and by Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the famous writer and orator +from Spain, whom Agrippina had appointed as his tutor in 49 A. D. + +*Fall of Agrippina.* This epoch is also characterized by the attempt of +Agrippina to act as regent for her son and retain the influence she had +acquired during the later years of the life of Claudius. But in this she +was opposed both by Nero himself and his able advisors. In 55 A. D. Nero +caused his adoptive brother Britannicus to be poisoned, through fear that +he might prove a rival. Finally, under the influence of his mistress, +Poppaea Sabina, the wife of Titus Salvius Otho, he had Agrippina murdered +(59 A. D.). Thereupon he divorced Octavia, who was later banished and put +to death, and married Poppaea. + +*The government of Nero.* Freed from the fear of any rival influence, +Nero, now twenty-two years of age, took the reins of government into his +own hands. After the death of Burrus in 62, Seneca lost his influence over +the princeps, who took as his chief advisor the worthless praetorian +prefect, Tigellinus. The Senate, whose support he had courted in his +opposition to Agrippina, now found itself without any influence; and, +since his wanton extravagances emptied the treasury, Nero was forced to +resort to oppressive measures to satisfy his needs. The sole object of his +policy was the gratification of his capricious whims. In the conviction +that he was an artist of extraordinary genius, he hungered for the +applause of the successful performer, and in 65 A. D. publicly appeared in +the theatre as a singer and musician. Nothing could have more deeply +alienated the respect of the upper classes of Roman society. Eager to +duplicate his theatrical successes in the home of the Muses, in 66 A. D. +Nero visited Greece and exhibited his talent at the Olympian and Delphic +games. + +*The fire in Rome and the first persecution of the Christians, 64 A. D.* +In 64 A. D. a tremendous fire, which lasted for six continuous days and +broke out a second time, devastated the greater part of the city of Rome. +Subsequently, Nero was accused of having caused the fire, but there is +absolutely no proof of his guilt. However, he did seize the opportunity to +rebuild the damaged quarter on a new plan which did away with the +offensive slum districts, and to erect his famous “Golden House,” a +magnificent palace and park on the Esquiline. Popular opinion demanded +some scapegoat for the disaster, and Nero laid the blame upon the +Christians in Rome, possibly at the instigation of the Jews whose +community was divided by the spread of Christian doctrines. Many +Christians were condemned as incendiaries, and suffered painful and +ignominious deaths. This was the first persecution of the Christians. + +*The Armenian problem, 51–67 A. D.* In 51 A. D. an able and ambitious +ruler, Vologases, came to the Parthian throne. He soon found a chance to +set his brother Tiridates on the throne of Armenia and was able to +maintain him there until the death of Claudius. However, at the accession +of Nero, Caius Domitius Corbulo was sent to Cappadocia to reassert the +Roman suzerainty over Armenia. At first Vologases abandoned Armenia, owing +to a revolt in Parthia, but in 58 A. D. Tiridates reappeared on the scene +and war broke out. In two campaigns Corbulo was able to occupy the country +and set up a Roman nominee as the Armenian king (60 A. D.). It was not +long before the latter was driven out by Vologases, who succeeded in +surrounding a Roman force under Caesennius Paetus, the new commander in +Cappadocia, and forcing him to purchase his safety by concluding an +agreement favorable to the Parthian (62 A. D.). The situation was saved by +Corbulo, then legate of Syria, who was finally entrusted with the sole +command of operations and forced Vologases to meet the Roman terms (63 +A. D.). Tiridates retained the Armenian throne, but acknowledged the Roman +overlordship by coming to Rome to receive his crown from Nero’s hands. + +*The revolt in Britain, 60 A. D.* Under Claudius the Romans had extended +their dominion in Britain as far north as the Humber, and westwards to +Cornwall and Wales. In 59 A. D. Suetonius Paulinus occupied the island of +Mona (Anglesea), the chief seat of the religion of the Druids. While he +was engaged in this undertaking a serious revolt broke out among the Iceni +and Trinovantes, who lived between the Wash and the Thames. It was caused +by the severity of the Roman administration and in particular the +ill-treatment of Boudicca, the queen of the Iceni, who headed the +insurrection, by Roman procurators. The Roman towns of Camulodunum +(Colchester), Verulamium (St. Alban’s), and Londinium (London) were +destroyed, and 70,000 Romans were said to have been massacred. A Roman +legion was defeated in battle and it was not until Paulinus returned and +united the scattered Roman forces that the insurgents were checked. The +Britons were decisively defeated and Boudicca committed suicide. + +*The conspiracy of Piso, 65 A. D.* About 62 A. D. there began a long +series of treason trials in Rome occasioned partly by the desire to +confiscate the property of the accused and partly by the suspicion which +is the inevitable concomitant of tyranny. The resulting insecurity of the +senatorial order naturally produced a real attempt to overthrow the +princeps. A wide-reaching conspiracy, in which one of the praetorian +prefects was involved and which was headed by the senator Gaius Calpurnius +Piso, was discovered in 65 A. D. Among those who were executed for +complicity therein were the poet Lucan and his uncle Seneca. Other notable +victims of Nero’s vengeance were Thrasea Paetus and Borea Sonarus, the +Stoic senators, whose guilt was their silent but unmistakable disapproval +of his tyrannical acts. No man of prominence was safe; even the famous +general Corbulo was forced to commit suicide in 67 A. D. + +*The rebellion of Vindex, 68 A. D.* Upon Nero’s return from Greece, a more +serious movement began in Gaul where Caius Julius Vindex, the legate of +the province of Lugdunensis, raised the standard of revolt and was +supported by the provincials who were suffering under the pressure of +taxation. Vindex was joined by Sulpicius Galba, governor of Hither Spain, +and other legates. The commander of Upper Germany, Verginius Rufus, who +remained true to Nero, defeated Vindex, but, the revolt spread to the +troops of Verginius himself and these hailed their commander as imperator. +He, however, refused the honor and gave the Senate the opportunity to name +the princeps. Nero’s fate was sealed by his own cowardice and the +treachery of the prefect Sabinus, who bought the support of the praetorian +guards for Galba. The Senate followed their lead, and Nero, who had fled +from Rome, had himself killed by a faithful freedman. With him ends the +Julio-Claudian dynasty. + + + +V. THE FIRST WAR OF THE LEGIONS OR THE YEAR OF THE FOUR EMPERORS, 68–69 A. + D. + + +*The power of the army.* The year 68–69 witnessed the accession of four +emperors, each the nominee of the soldiery. And, while up to this time the +praetorians had exercised the right of acclamation in the name of the army +as a whole, now the legions stationed on the various frontiers asserted +for themselves the same privilege. As Tacitus expresses it, the fatal +secret of the empire was discovered, namely, that the princeps could be +nominated elsewhere than in Rome. Although the principate may be said to +have been founded by the universal consent of the Roman world, +nevertheless, from its inception the power of the princeps had rested +directly upon his military command, and the civil war of 68–69 showed how +completely the professional army was master of the situation. + +*Galba, 68 A. D.* Galba, who succeeded Nero, was a man of good family but +moderate attainments and soon showed himself unable to maintain his +authority. That he would have been held “fit to rule, had he not ruled,” +is the judgment of Tacitus. He had never been enthusiastically supported +by the Rhine legions nor the praetorians, and his severity in maintaining +discipline, added to his failure to pay the promised donative, completely +alienated the loyalty of the guards. At the news that the troops in Upper +and Lower Germany had declared for Aulus Vitellius, legate of the latter +province (1 Jan., 69), Galba sought to strengthen his position by adopting +as his son and destined successor, Lucius Calpurnius Piso, a young man of +high birth but no experience. By this step he offended Marcus Salvius +Otho, the onetime husband of Nero’s wife Poppaea Sabina, who had been one +of Galba’s staunch adherents and hoped to succeed him. Otho now won over +the disgruntled praetorian guards who slew Galba and Piso, and proclaimed +Otho Imperator. + +*Otho, Jan.–April, 69.* The Senate acquiesced in their decision but not so +the legions of Vitellius which were already on the march to Italy. They +crossed the Alps without opposition but were checked by the forces of Otho +at Bedriacum, north of the Po. Without waiting for the arrival of +reinforcements from the Danubian army, Otho ordered an attack upon the +Vitellians at Cremona. His army was defeated and he took his own life. + +*Vitellius, April–December, 69 A. D.* Thereupon Vitellius was recognized +as princeps by the Senate and his forces occupied Rome. Vitellius owed his +nomination to the energy of the legates Valens and Caecina, and, although +well-meaning and by no means tyrannical, showed himself lacking in energy +and force of character. He was unable to control the license of his +soldiery who plundered the Italian towns or his officers who enriched +themselves at the public expense, while he devoted himself to the +pleasures of the table. + +Meanwhile the army of the East, which had recognized Galba, Otho and, at +first, Vitellius also, set up its own Imperator, Titus Flavius +Vespasianus, who as legate of Judaea was conducting a war against the +Jews. Vespasian himself proceeded to occupy Egypt and thus cut off the +grain supply of Rome while his ablest lieutenant, Mucianus, set out for +Italy. The Danubian legions, who had supported Otho, now declared +themselves for Vespasian and, led by Antonius Primus, marched at once upon +Italy. The fleet at Ravenna espoused Vespasian’s cause, and Caecina, who +led the Vitellians against Primus, contemplated treachery. His troops, +however, were loyal, but were defeated in a bloody night battle at Cremona +and the way lay open to Rome. Vitellius then opened negotiations and +offered to abdicate, but his soldiers would not let him and suppressed a +rising in Rome led by the brother of Vespasian. Thereupon the city was +stormed and sacked by the army of Primus. Vitellius himself was slain. + +*Vespasian, December, 69 A. D.* Vespasian obtained his recognition as +princeps from the Senate and the troops in the West. He entered Rome early +in 70 A. D. + + + + VI. VESPASIAN AND TITUS, 69–81 A. D. + + +*Caesar an imperial title.* Following the example of Galba, Vespasian on +his accession took the name of Caesar, which became from this time a +prerogative of the family of the princeps. The new princeps inherited from +his predecessors two serious wars, both national revolts against Roman +rule, the one in Gaul and Lower Germany, the other in Judaea. + +*The revolt of the Batavi, 69 A. D.* The movement in Lower Germany was +headed by Julius Civilis, a Batavian chieftain, formerly an officer in the +Roman service, who won over the eight Batavian cohorts attached to the +Rhine army. At first he posed as a supporter of Vespasian against +Vitellius, but at the news of the former’s victory he renounced his +allegiance to Rome and called to his aid Germanic tribes from across the +Rhine. At the same time the Gallic Treveri and Lingones, the former led by +Julius Classicus and Julius Tutor, the latter by Julius Sabinus, rose in +rebellion and sought to establish an empire of the Gauls with its capital +at Trèves (Augusta Treverorum). They were joined by the Roman legions +stationed on the Rhine. However, the remaining peoples of Gaul refused to +join the revolt, preferring the Roman peace to a renewal of the old +intertribal struggles. + +Upon the arrival of an adequate Roman force despatched by Vespasian the +mutinous legions returned to their duty, the Treveri and Lingones were +subdued, and Civilis forced to flee into Germany. The Batavi returned to +their former status of Roman allies under the obligation of furnishing +troops to the Roman armies (70 A. D.). But Rome had seen the danger of +stationing national corps under their native officers in their home +countries. Henceforth the auxiliaries were no longer organized on a +national basis and served in provinces other than those in which they were +recruited. + +*The Jewish War, 66–70 A. D.* From the year 6 A. D. Judaea had formed a +Roman procuratorial province except for its brief incorporation in the +principality of Agrippa I (41–44 A. D.). During this time the Jews had +occupied a privileged position among the Roman subjects, being exempted +from military service and the obligation of the imperial cult, +notwithstanding the design of Caligula to set up his image in the temple +at Jerusalem. These privileges were the source of constant friction +between the Jews and the Greco-Syrian inhabitants of the cities of +Palestine, which frequently necessitated the interference of Roman +officials. Another cause of unrest was the pressure of the Roman taxation, +which rendered agriculture unprofitable and drove many persons from the +plains to the mountains to find a livelihood through brigandage. But a +more deeply-seated cause of animosity to Roman rule lay in the fact that +the Jewish people were a religious community and that for them national +loyalty was identical with religious fanaticism. The chief Jewish sects +were those of the Sadducees and the Pharisees, of whom the former composed +the aristocracy and the latter the democracy. The Sadducees were supported +by the Romans and monopolized the offices of the religious community, +whereas the Pharisees courted the support of the masses by a policy of +hostility to Rome and religious intolerance. It is improbable that the +Pharisees actually sought to bring about a revolt but they kindled a fire +which they could not control and strengthened the development of a party +of direct action, the Zealots, who aimed to liberate Judaea from the Roman +force, trusting in the support of Jehovah. By 66 A. D. all Judaea was in a +ferment and it required but little incitement to produce a national +revolt. + +*Massacres in Caesarea and Jerusalem, 66 A. D.* Such a provocation was +afforded by the decision of the Roman government that Jews were not +entitled to citizenship in Caesarea, the Roman capital of Judaea, and by a +massacre of the Jews by the Greeks in a riot which followed. However, at +the same time in Jerusalem the Zealots had overpowered the Roman garrison +of one cohort, and massacred both the Romans and their Jewish supporters. +At the news, further massacres took place in the towns of Syria and Egypt, +the Jews suffering wherever they were in a minority but avenging their +countrymen where they got the upper hand. The Romans awoke to the +seriousness of the situation when the legate of Syria, Cestius Gallus, who +had marched on Jerusalem, was forced to beat an ignominious retreat. + +*Vespasian in command, 67 A. D.* In 67 A. D. Vespasian was appointed to +the command of an army of 50,000 assembled for the reconquest of Judaea. +In this and the following year he reduced the open country and isolated +fortresses, and was ready to begin the blockade of Jerusalem, where the +majority of the Jews had fled for refuge. However, Vespasian’s elevation +to the principate caused a suspension of hostilities for ten months, +during which factional strife raged fiercely within the city. + +*Siege of Jerusalem, 70 A. D.* The conclusion of the war Vespasian +entrusted to his eldest son Titus, who at once began the siege of +Jerusalem (70 A. D.). The city had a double line of fortifications, and +within the inner wall were two natural citadels, the temple and the old +city of Mount Zion. The population, augmented by great numbers of +refugees, suffered terribly from hunger but resisted with the fury of +despair. The outer and inner walls were stormed, and then the Romans +forced their way into the temple which was destroyed by fire. Mount Zion +defied assault but was starved into submission. Jerusalem was destroyed, +and Judaea became a province under an imperial legate. The political +community of the Jews was dissolved and they were subjugated to a yearly +head-tax of two denarii (40 cents) each, payable to the temple of Jupiter +Capitolinus, in consideration of which they enjoyed their previous +immunities. The victory of Titus was commemorated by the arch which still +stands near the Roman forum. + +*The frontiers.* The disorders of the recent wars rendered it necessary +for Vespasian to reorganize many branches of the administration, a task +which won for him the name of the second founder of the principate. The +security of the frontiers received his particular attention. In Germany he +annexed the territory between the Rhine above its junction with the Main +and the upper Danube, henceforth known as the Agri Decumates from the +tithe (_decuma_) paid as rental by colonists who settled there. Further +east on the Danube two strong legionary camps were constructed at +Carnuntum and Vindobona (Vienna). The Euphrates frontier was strengthened +by the establishment of Roman garrisons at Melitene and Satala on the +Upper Euphrates, and by annexing to the Syrian province the kingdom of +Commagene, which Gaius had restored to its native dynasty. Other client +principalities met a like fate. Among the soldiery discipline was restored +by disbanding four of the mutinous Rhine legions and replacing them with +new units. The praetorian guard, dissolved by Vitellius, was reconstituted +out of Italian cohorts following the precedent set by Augustus. + +*The finances.* The most serious problem was that of the finances, for the +extravagance of the preceding emperors had left the government in a state +of bankruptcy and the provinces financially exhausted. Vespasian estimated +that the sum of $2,000,000,000 was required to make the necessary outlays. +To obtain this amount it was necessary to impose new taxes and avoid all +needless expenditures. Yet he not only succeeded in making the state +solvent but was able to carry out extensive building operations in Italy +and in the provinces. In Rome the Capitoline Temple which had been burned +in the fighting with the Vitellians was rebuilt, a temple of Peace was +erected on the forum, and the huge Colosseum arose on the site of one of +the lakes of Nero’s Golden House. Vespasian also granted state support to +the teachers of Greek and Roman oratory in Rome. + +In 74 A. D. Vespasian assumed the censorship and took a census of the +empire in addition to filling the ranks of the Senate which had been +depleted by the late civil wars. He was generous in his grants of +citizenship to provincials, and bestowed the Latin right on all the +non-Roman communities of Spain, as a preliminary step to their complete +romanization. + +*Vespasian and the senate.* Vespasian was the first princeps who was not +of the Roman nobility. He was a native of the Italian municipality of +Reate and his family was only of equestrian rank. He was furthermore an +eminently practical man who made no attempt to disguise the fact that he +was the real master in the state. Significant in this respect was his +revival of the _praenomen_ imperator, which had been neglected by the +successors of Augustus. He treated the Senate with respect, and recognized +its judicial authority, but excluded it from all effective share in the +government. A senatorial decree and a law of the _comitia_ conferred upon +Vespasian the powers of the principate, yet he dated the beginning of his +reign from the day of his salutation as Imperator by his army. All these +things, combined with his refusal to punish the informers of Nero’s reign, +earned him the ill-will of the senators. Some of them proceeded to open +criticism of the princeps and a futile advocacy of republicanism in the +form of a cult of Brutus and Cato the Younger. The leader of this group +was Helvidius Priscus, son-in-law of Paetus Thrasea, whom Nero had put to +death, and like him a Stoic. Although not very dangerous, such opposition +could not be ignored and Priscus was banished. He was later executed, +probably for conspiracy. In all probability it was the antimonarchical +tendency of contemporary Stoic teachings that induced Vespasian to banish +philosophers from Rome. + +*The praetorian prefecture.* To forestall any disloyalty in the praetorian +guard, Vespasian made his son Titus praetorian prefect. Titus also +received the _imperium_ and _tribunicia potestas_, and when Vespasian died +in 79 A. D. succeeded to the principate. + +*Titus, 79–81 A. D.* His rule lasted little over two years, and is chiefly +remarkable for two great disasters. In 79 A. D. an eruption of the volcano +of Vesuvius buried the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabii in +Campania. Beneath the heavy deposit of volcanic ashes the buildings of +these towns have been preserved from disintegration, and the excavation of +the site of Pompeii has revealed with wonderful freshness the life of an +Italian municipality under the principate. The following year Rome was +devastated by a fire which raged for three days and destroyed Vespasian’s +new temple of Capitoline Jupiter. In September, 81 A. D., Titus died, +deeply mourned by the whole Roman world. + + + + VII. DOMITIAN, 81–96 A. D. + + +*Character and policy.* Titus was followed by his younger brother +Domitian, whom, on account of his ambition, neither Vespasian nor Titus +had permitted to share in the government. Domitian was a thorough autocrat +and his administration was characterized by great vigor and capacity. Far +from being a mere tyrant, he paid great attention to the welfare of the +provinces and exercised a strict supervision over his officers. He also +displayed a real interest in literature and replaced the libraries +destroyed in the fire of 80 A. D. + +His autocratic policy is clearly seen in his assumption of the censorship +as perpetual censor in 84 A. D., whereby he acquired complete control over +the composition of the Senate, a power which, without the title, was +henceforth one of the prerogatives of the princeps. Even more emphatically +does his absolutism come to light in the title _dominus__ et deus_ (Lord +and God), which he required from the officers of his household, and by +which he was generally designated, although he did not employ it himself +in official documents. For the cult of the deified emperors Domitian +erected a special temple in Rome, and he also established a priestly +college of Flaviales, modelled on the Augustales of Rome, to perpetuate +the worship of his deified father and brother. + +*Frontier policy: Britain.* The desire for military successes as a support +for his absolutism led Domitian to adopt an aggressive frontier policy. In +Britain, Julius Agricola, legate from 77 to 84 A. D., led the Roman +legions north of the Clyde and Firth of Forth and defeated the united +Caledonians under their chief Galgacus (84 A. D.). He also sent his fleet +around the north of Scotland and proved that Great Britain was an island. +But his projects, which included an invasion of Ireland, seemed too costly +to Domitian who recalled him, possibly in view of the military situation +on the continent. The conquest of Scotland was not completed and the Roman +authority was confined to the territory south of the Tyne. + +*Germany.* In 83 A. D. Domitian led an army across the Rhine from Mainz +and annexed the district of Wetterau, where the lowlands were already in +Roman hands although the hills were still occupied by the hostile Chatti. +A chain of forts was built to protect the conquered region. In the winter +of 88–89 A. D. the legate of Upper Germany, Antonius Saturninus, was +hailed as Imperator by the two legions stationed at Mainz. Aid was +expected by the mutineers from the German tribes, but this failed to +materialize and the movement was suppressed by loyal troops, possibly from +the lower province. In consequence of this mutiny Domitian adopted the +policy of not quartering more than one legion in any permanent camp. At +the same time he separated the financial administration of the German +provinces from that of Gallia Belgica. + +*The lower Danube.* More powerful neighbors faced the Romans along the +middle and lower Danube, and in dealing with these the policy of Domitian +was less successful. These people were the Germanic tribes of the +Marcomanni and Quadi in Bohemia, the Sarmatian Iazyges between the Danube +and the Theiss, and the Dacians, who occupied the greater portion of +modern Hungary and Roumania. The most powerful of all were the Dacians, +among whom a king named Decebalus had built up a strong state. In 85 A. D. +they crossed the Danube into Moesia, where they defeated and killed the +Roman governor. Thereupon Domitian himself took command and drove the +Dacians back across the river. But the pretorian prefect Cornelius Fuscus +in attempting to invade Dacia suffered a disastrous defeat in which he and +most of his army perished. His successor Tettius Julianus was more +successful. However, a complete victory was prevented by Domitian, who +rashly invaded the territory of the Marcomanni and Iazyges, and was +defeated by them. He thereupon made peace with Decebalus, who gave up his +prisoners of war and acknowledged the formal overlordship of Rome, but +received an annual subsidy from Domitian in addition to the services of +Roman military engineers (89 A. D.). Although Domitian celebrated a +triumph for his exploits, his victory was by no means certain and his +settlement was only temporary. In the course of the Dacian war Moesia was +divided into two provinces. + +*Conflict with the Senate.* Feeling that the army was the surest support +of his power, Domitian sought to secure its fidelity by increasing the pay +of the soldiers by one third. This new expense, added to the outlays +necessitated by his wars, the construction of public works, like the +restoration of the Capitoline Temple, and the celebration of public +festivals, forced him to augment the taxes and this produced discontent in +the provinces. In Rome, particularly after the revolt of Saturninus, his +relations with the Senate became more and more strained. Many prominent +senators were executed on charges of treason; the teachers of philosophy +were again banished from Italy; and notable converts to Judaism or +Christianity were prosecuted, the latter on the ground of atheism. The +general feeling of insecurity produced the inevitable result; a plot in +which the praetorian prefects and his wife Domitia were concerned was +formed against his life; he was assassinated, 18 September, 96 A. D. His +memory was cursed by the Senate and his name erased from public monuments. +It was the oppression of the last years of Domitian’s rule that so +strongly biased the attitude of Tacitus towards the principate and its +founder. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII + + + FROM NERVA TO DIOCLETIAN: 96–285 A. D. + + + + I. NERVA AND TRAJAN, 96–117 A. D. + + +*Nerva and the Senate.* Before assassinating Domitian, the conspirators +had secured a successor who would be supported by the Senate and not prove +inacceptable to the pretorians. Their choice was the elderly senator +Marcus Cocceius Nerva, one of a family distinguished for its juristic +attainments. He took an oath never to put a senator to death, recalled the +philosophers and political exiles, and permitted the prosecution of +informers. But he was lacking in force and did not feel his position +sufficiently secure to refuse the demands of the praetorian guard for +vengeance upon the murderers of Domitian. Therefore to strengthen his +authority he adopted a tried soldier, Marcus Ulpius Traianus, the legate +of Upper Germany. Trajan received the tribunician authority and +proconsular _imperium_ (97 A. D.). + +*The alimenta.* Nerva’s administration benefitted Italy in particular. Not +only were the taxes and other obligations of the Italians lessened, but +the so-called alimentary system was devised in the interests of poor +farmers and the children of poor parents. Under this system of state +charity, sums of money were lent to poor landholders at low rates of +interest on the security of their land. The interest from these loans was +paid over to their respective municipalities and expended by them in +supporting the pauper children. The scheme was perfected and extended by +the succeeding princes. + +*An era of internal peace.* With Nerva begins a period in the history of +the principate that is characterized by amicable relations between the +princeps and the Senate. The basis of this concord was the agreement by +the successive emperors to acknowledge the freedom of senators from the +imperial jurisdiction. There was no longer any question of an active +participation by the Senate as a whole in the administration, nevertheless +it continued to exercise its influence through the official posts reserved +for senators. In addition to the establishment of these harmonious +relations, the peaceful succession of a number of able rulers who were +designated by adoption and association in the powers of the principate has +caused this epoch to be regarded as one of the happiest periods of Roman +history. + +Nerva died in January, 98 A. D., after a rule of less than two years, and +was succeeded by Trajan, who assumed office at Cologne. + +*Trajan’s character and policy.* Trajan was a native of the Roman colony +of Italica in Spain, and the first provincial to attain the principate. +His accession is evidence not only for the degree of romanization in the +Spanish provinces but also for the decline of the dominance of the +strictly Italian element within the empire and the transformation of the +Italian into an imperial nobility of wealth and office. The new princeps +was above all things a soldier, and the desire for military glory was his +chief weakness. At the same time he was an energetic and conscientious +administrator, and showed a personal interest in the welfare of Italy and +the provinces, as we see from his correspondence with the younger Pliny, +governor of Bithynia in 111–113 A. D. He respected the rights of the +Senate and repeated Nerva’s oath not to condemn one of that body to death. + +*The **conquest** of Dacia, 101–106 A. D.* In the third year of his rule +Trajan undertook the conquest of Dacia, for Domitian’s agreement with +Decebalus was regarded as a disgrace and the existence of a strong Dacian +kingdom was a perpetual menace to the Danubian frontier. Decebalus was +still king of the Dacians and proved himself a valiant opponent, but in +two well-conducted campaigns (101–102 A. D.) Trajan forced him to sue for +peace. He was obliged to give up his engines of war with the Roman +engineers whom he had received from Domitian, to acknowledge Roman +overlordship and render military service to Rome. Trajan built a permanent +stone bridge across the Danube below the Iron Gates to secure +communication with the northern bank, and returned to Rome to celebrate +his victory with a triumph. But Decebalus was not content to remain as a +Roman vassal and made preparations to recover his people’s independence. +In 105 A. D. he opened hostilities by an invasion of Moesia. However, +Trajan hurried to the scene, secured the support of the neighboring +tribes, and in the following year entered Dacia. His victory was complete, +the capital of Decebalus was captured, the king took his own life, and +such of the Dacians as did not abandon their country were hunted down and +exterminated. Dacia was made a Roman province, and was peopled with +settlers from various parts of the empire, particularly from Asia Minor. +The new province was of importance both on account of its gold mines and +its position as a bulwark defending the provinces to the south of the +Danube. To commemorate his Dacian wars, Trajan erected a stone column, one +hundred feet high, in the new forum which bore his name. The column, which +is still in place, is adorned with a spiral band of sculptured reliefs +that vividly trace the course of the military operations. + +On other frontiers also Trajan strengthened or extended the boundaries of +the empire. In 106 he annexed the kingdom of the Nabataean Arabs to the +east of Palestine and Syria. From this was formed the province of Arabia. +In Africa also the Romans occupied new territory, and secured it against +Berber raids by creating new fortresses at Lambaesis and Timgad. + +*The Parthian war, 114–116 A. D.* The peaceful relations which had existed +between Rome and Parthia since the time of Nero were broken in 114 A. D. +when the Parthian king Chosroes drove out the Armenian ruler, who had +received his crown from Trajan’s hands, and set his own son Parthamasiris +in his stead. Trajan at once repaired to the East and concentrated an army +for the invasion of Armenia. Parthamasiris offered to acknowledge the +Roman suzerainty over Armenia, but Trajan determined to effect a definite +settlement of the eastern frontier by the permanent occupation of Armenia +and, for strategic reasons, of Mesopotamia also. In 114 he effected an +easy conquest of Armenia, and in the next year annexed Upper Mesopotamia. +He now resolved to complete his success by the overthrow of the Parthian +kingdom. Accordingly, in 116 A. D., he overran Assyria and made it a +province, and then pressed on to the Persian gulf, capturing Seleucia, +Babylon and the Parthian capital Ctesiphon on his way. From dreams of +further conquests Trajan was recalled by a serious revolt in Mesopotamia +which was only subdued with great effort, and in 117 A. D. Chosroes was +able to reoccupy his capital. At the same time the eastern provinces were +disturbed by a rising of the Jews, which began in Cyrene in 115 A. D. and +spread to Cyprus, Egypt and Mesopotamia. Horrible massacres were +perpetrated both by the Jews and their enemies, and large numbers of +troops had to be employed before order was restored. + +News of revolts in Africa and Britain, and of troubles on the Danubian +border, led Trajan to set out for Rome. On the way he fell ill and died at +Selinus in Cilicia on 8 August, 117 A. D. + + + + II. HADRIAN, 117–138 A. D. + + +*Hadrian princeps.* Trajan left no male heir and had associated no one +with himself in the _imperium_ or tribunician power. However, on his +deathbed he adopted his cousin and one-time ward, Publius Aelius +Hadrianus, also a native of Italica. Hadrian was married to Sabina, a +grand-daughter of Trajan’s sister Marciana. He had had a distinguished +military career and in 117 A. D. was commander of the army in Syria. At +the news of his adoption his troops saluted him as Imperator and his +nomination was confirmed by the Senate. The only opposition came from some +of the ablest of Trajan’s officers, notably Lusius Quietus, who soon +plotted against his life. But their conspiracy was detected and the Senate +condemned to death the four leaders in the plot. + +*Hellenism.* Hadrian was a man of restless energy and extraordinary +versatility. He had a keen appreciation of all forms of art and +literature, and a great admiration for Hellenism; an admiration which +probably arose from a realization of the fact that the culture of the +Roman empire was in its foundations Hellenic, but which caused him to be +scornfully dubbed a “Greekling” by the Roman aristocracy. + +*General character of Hadrian’s government.* In public life he displayed +the greatest devotion to duty, in the belief that “the ruler exists for +the state, not the state for the ruler,” and there was no branch of the +public administration that was not affected by his zeal. Two extended +tours, one in 121–126 and the other in 129–132 A. D., made him acquainted +with conditions in the provinces and enabled him to take measures to +promote their welfare. The Senate he treated with all outward marks of +respect, taking the oath to respect the lives of its members, but at the +same time he regarded it as a negligible factor in the government. + +*Military policy.* Realizing that Trajan’s policy of imperial expansion +had overtaxed the economic resources of the empire, he began his rule by +abandoning the new provinces of Mesopotamia and Assyria, and reverting to +the previous Roman policy in Armenia, where a Parthian prince acknowledged +his overlordship. He devoted his energies to strengthening the system of +frontier defences and raising the standards of discipline and efficiency +among the soldiers. Aside from the suppression of the revolts which had +broken out in the last years of Trajan’s rule, his most serious military +undertaking was the quelling of a new rising of the Jews in Palestine, +which followed the foundation of a Roman colony on the site of Jerusalem. +Only after a two years’ struggle (132–134 A. D.) was the rebellion +crushed. + +*Judicial and administrative reforms.* To aid him in the administration of +justice, Hadrian formed a permanent council of eminent jurists. He, too, +was responsible for codifying and editing in a final form the praetor’s +edict, upon which was based the procedure of the Roman civil law. This +task was carried out by the jurist Salvius Julianus. With the object of +relieving the city courts of an excessive burden of judicial business, +Hadrian divided Italy into four districts, and appointed an official of +consular rank to administer justice in each. This was a further step in +removing Italy from the control of the Senate and approximating its status +to that of a province. Hadrian’s administrative reforms were the result of +the steady increase in the sphere of public business carried on by the +officers of the princeps, and furthered the development of a centralized +bureaucracy. By creating new offices—among them the post of advocate of +the fiscus (_advocatus fisci_) as an alternative for the subaltern +military offices—he greatly increased the importance of the equestrian +career and the influence of the _equites_ in the government. In the three +departments of the military, civil and judicial administration the +principate of Hadrian marks a distinct epoch. + +*Building activity.* Everywhere throughout the empire Hadrian built and +repaired with the greatest zeal; but particularly in Rome and Athens. In +Rome, among other structures, he built the great double temple of Venus +and Roma and his own mausoleum, the present Castel Sant’ Angelo. At Athens +he completed the great temple of Olympian Zeus, begun by Pisistratus in +the sixth century B. C., and added a new quarter to the city. + +*The choice of a successor.* In 136 A. D., Hadrian fell seriously ill and, +having no children, adopted Lucius Ceionius Commodus under the name of +Lucius Aelius Caesar, and clothed him with the tribunician authority. +Hadrian himself withdrew from Rome to his splendid villa at Tibur. +However, Aelius died at the beginning of 138 A. D., and thereupon the +princeps adopted an elderly senator named Titus Aurelius Antoninus, who in +turn adopted the son of the deceased Aelius and his own nephew, Marcus +Annius Verus. Antoninus received the _imperium_ and tribunician power and +became the partner of Hadrian in the principate. After a long and painful +illness the latter died in July, 138 A. D. His later years were clouded by +ill health which rendered him moody and suspicious, and probably led to +the execution of his brother-in-law and the latter’s grandson on a charge +of conspiracy. He had never been popular with the Senate and this step +widened the breach between them. Only the energetic action of his +successor prevented the execration of his memory and secured his +deification. + + + + III. THE ANTONINES, 138–192 A. D. + + +*Antoninus Pius, 138–161 A. D.* Antoninus, who received the name of Pius +in the first year of his rule, was the personification of ancient Roman +piety, i. e. the dutiful performance of obligations in public and private +life. His mildness and uprightness enabled him to act in perfect harmony +with the senators, and as a concession to them he removed the four +_consulares juridici_ whom Hadrian had appointed in Italy. + +*His public policy.* Antoninus adhered to Hadrian’s peaceful foreign +policy, but had to wage several border wars and suppress some +insurrections in the provinces. In Britain a line of fortifications was +constructed from the Firth of Forth to the Clyde. Antoninus laid great +emphasis upon an upright administration of justice. At this time, too, the +Roman law was greatly enriched through the introduction of principles of +equity and began to receive at the hands of the jurists the systematic +form by which it was later characterized. In 147 A. D. he conferred the +title of Caesar upon the elder of his adopted sons, Marcus Aurelius, whom +he had previously married to his daughter, and took him as an associate in +the government. Upon the death of Antoninus in March, 161 A. D., Aurelius +succeeded to the principate. + +*The dual principate—Marcus Aurelius, 161–180 A. D., and Lucius Verus, +161–169.* Marcus Aurelius at once took as associate in the principate his +adoptive brother, Lucius Verus, and for the first time two Augusti shared +the _imperium_. But the real power rested in the hands of Aurelius, for +Verus was a weak character, indolent and sensual. Although he did not take +the oath not to put a senator to death, and restored the _consulares +iuridici_ removed by Antoninus, the elder Augustus respected the Senate +and remained on good terms with it. Marcus Aurelius was by nature a +student and philosopher, a devoted follower of the Stoic rule of life; his +_Meditations_ bear testimony to the true nobility of his character. Such +was the princeps who was fated to spend his remaining years in an +unceasing struggle against the enemies of the state and, true to his +principles, he obeyed the call of duty and devoted himself unsparingly to +the public service. + +*Parthian war: 161–65 A. D.* Even before the death of Antoninus, Vologases +III of Parthia had begun hostilities and had overrun Armenia. The Roman +legate of Cappadocia was defeated and the Parthians broke into Syria, +where they won another victory. The situation was critical. Aurelius sent +his colleague Verus to the scene, and although the latter displayed +neither energy nor capacity, his able generals restored the fortunes of +the Roman arms. In 163 Statius Priscus reëstablished Roman authority over +Armenia and placed a Roman vassal on the throne. In 164–65, Avidius +Cassius invaded Mesopotamia and took the Parthian capitals Seleucia and +Ctesiphon. Yet, on the march back, he suffered considerable losses from +hunger and disease, and a peace was made with Parthia which gave the +Romans territory in upper Mesopotamia to the east of the Euphrates (166 +A. D.). But the returning troops brought with them a plague which ravaged +the whole empire and caused widespread depopulation. + +*Wars with the Marcomanni, Quadi and Iazyges: 167–175 A. D.* In the +meantime a dangerous situation had arisen on the Danubian frontier, where, +probably in consequence of the pressure of migratory peoples, the +Marcomanni, Quadi and the Sarmatian Iazyges united in an attempt to force +their way into the Roman provinces. The army of the Danube had been +weakened to reinforce the Syrian troops in the Parthian war and this +enabled the barbarians to penetrate the frontier defences and ravage +Noricum and Pannonia as far as Aquileia at the head of the Adriatic. The +two Augusti proceeded to the scene of war, and after a protracted struggle +in which Dacia suffered from a hostile invasion, the enemy were forced to +make peace. The Marcomanni submitted in 172, and the Quadi and Sarmatians +in 175 A. D. They were forced to surrender the prisoners carried off from +the Roman provinces, over 160,000 in number, and to furnish military aid +to Rome, while large numbers of them were settled on waste lands south of +the Danube under the obligation of tilling the soil and rendering military +service. The Roman victory was commemorated by the erection of a column at +Rome with sculptures picturing incidents of the war, in imitation of +Trajan’s memorial. In addition to the prosecution of this war, the +strength of the empire had been taxed by serious outbreaks in Mauretania, +Gaul and Egypt. + +*Revolt of Avidius Cassius, 175 A. D.* The complete subjugation of the +northern foe was hindered by the revolt of Avidius Cassius, the general +who had distinguished himself in the Parthian war and had suppressed the +revolt in Egypt. Verus, the colleague of Aurelius, had died in 169, and at +a rumor of the death of Aurelius himself in 175 A. D., Cassius proclaimed +himself Imperator in Syria. Thereupon Aurelius hastened to conclude peace +with the Sarmatians and proceeded to the East. Upon his arrival he found +that Cassius had been killed by his own soldiers. Soon afterwards +Commodus, the son of Aurelius, received the title Augustus and became +co-ruler with his father (177 A. D.). + +*Second war with the Marcomanni and Quadi, 177–180 A. D.* In 177 A. D. war +broke out anew with the Quadi and Marcomanni. Aurelius again took command +on the Danube and after two years’ fighting had won so complete a victory +that he contemplated the annexation of the region occupied by these +peoples. But for a second time he was robbed of the fruits of his toil, on +this occasion by the hand of death, 17 March, 180 A. D. The principate +passed to his son and colleague, Commodus. + +*Lucius Aurelius Commodus, **sole princeps**, 180–192 A. D.* Lucius +Aurelius Commodus, the ignoble son of a noble father, is one of the few in +the long line of Roman rulers of whom nothing good can be said. Cowardly, +cruel and sensual, he gave himself up to a life of pleasure and left the +conduct of the government in the hands of a succession of favorites, who +used their power to further their own interests. He abandoned the war with +the Marcomanni and Quadi without carrying out his father’s plans and +granted them peace on lenient terms so that he might return to the +enjoyments of the capital. His chief ambition was to win fame as a +gladiator. He frequently appeared in the arena, and finally determined to +assume the consulate on 1 January, 193 A. D. in a gladiator’s costume. +However, on the preceding night he was assassinated at the instigation of +the pretorian prefect, Quintus Aemilius Laetus. + + + + IV. THE SECOND WAR OF THE LEGIONS, 193–197 A. D. + + +*Pertinax: January–March, 193 A. D.* The new princeps (Publius Helvius +Pertinax, a senator of low birth but proved military capacity) was the +nominee of Laetus. However, his strictness in enforcing discipline among +the troops and his economies, necessitated by the exhausted condition of +the public finances, soon alienated the goodwill of the praetorians and +Laetus himself. After less than three months’ rule he was killed in a +mutiny of the pretorian guard (March, 193 A. D.). + +*Didius Julianus.* Their choice for a successor was an old and wealthy +senator, Didius Julianus, who purchased his nomination by the promise of a +high donative. But his rule was destined to be short for, as in 68 A. D., +the armies on the frontiers asserted their claim to appoint the princeps. + +*The **rivals**: Severus, Niger and Albinus.* Almost simultaneously three +commanders were saluted as Imperator by their soldiers. These were +Pescennius Niger in Syria, Clodius Albinus in Britain, and Septimius +Severus in Upper Pannonia. With their nominations a second war of the +legions began. Severus had the advantage of position and immediately +marched on Rome as the avenger of Pertinax. He also was able to arrange a +truce with Albinus by promising to recognize him as his successor with the +title of Caesar. The praetorians offered no resistance to the Danubian +army; Julianus was deposed by the Senate and put to death (June, 193 +A. D.); and the Senate ratified the nomination of Severus. + +*Defeat of Niger and Albinus.* But the position of Severus was not yet +secure, for Niger had been recognized in the eastern provinces and also +had a strong following in Rome. He was preparing to march upon Italy and +had already occupied Byzantium. Severus at once set out to anticipate his +attack. After investing Byzantium he crossed over to Asia Minor and +defeated the forces of his rival near Cyzicus and Nicaea, forcing them to +withdraw south of the Taurus mountains. The Cilician Gates were forced and +Niger decisively beaten in a battle at Issus (194 A. D.). He tried to +escape into Parthia but was overtaken and killed. Severus advanced across +the Euphrates to punish the Parthian king for his support of Niger. He +occupied northern Mesopotamia, and made Nisibis a Roman colony and +frontier fortress (196 A. D.). In the same year Byzantium was taken, its +fortifications destroyed, and its inhabitants deprived of the right of +municipal organization. Severus had brought his Parthian campaign to a +hasty conclusion, for in the West Clodius Albinus, feeling his position +insecure, had assumed the title of Augustus and occupied Gaul. Severus now +elevated his eldest son Bassianus, better known as Caracalla, to the +position of Caesar with the additional title of _imperator designatus_, +and set out to meet the usurper. In a great battle at Lugdunum, in which +150,000 men are said to have fought on either side, the army of Severus +was victorious and Albinus fell by his own hand (197 A. D.). Many of his +adherents, including numerous senators, were put to death. + + + + V. THE DYNASTY OF THE SEVERI, 197–235 A. D. + + +*The Parthian war of 197–199 A. D.* Severus was now unchallenged ruler of +the empire. Shortly after the defeat of Albinus, he returned to the East +and resumed hostilities against the Parthians, whose king, Vologases IV, +had taken advantage of his absence to invade Armenia and Mesopotamia and +was besieging Nisibis. Severus relieved the beleaguered town and pressed +on into the enemy’s territory, where he sacked the two Parthian capitals, +Seleucia and Ctesiphon, in 198 A. D. By a peace arranged in the next year +northern Mesopotamia was ceded to Rome and was organized as a province +under a governor of equestrian rank. + +*A **military monarchy**.* Septimius Severus was a native of Leptis in +Africa. He came from an equestrian family and had begun his official +career as an advocate of the _fiscus_. To secure the prestige of noble +lineage he caused himself to be proclaimed as the adopted son of Marcus +Aurelius, and took the latter’s family name of Antoninus for himself and +his house. His rule was frankly autocratic in character and he made no +attempt to disguise the fact that his authority rested upon the support of +the soldiery. Light is thrown upon Severus’ policy in general by the +significant fact that under him Rome, which he adorned with magnificent +structures, received the title _sacra_ (sacred), a term regularly used to +designate things under the control of the princeps. The activity of the +Senate was limited to registering its approval of his measures, and +equestrians were appointed to military posts hitherto filled only by +senators. The special privileges which Italy and the Italians had +continued to enjoy were equally disregarded. The title proconsul, which +Trajan and his successors had used in the provinces, was now employed by +Severus in Italy. In 193 he disbanded the old praetorian guard, which had +been recruited from Italy and the more thoroughly latinized provinces, and +organized a new corps of picked troops drawn from the legions in general, +but especially those of the Danubian army. Severus enrolled three new +legions for the Parthian war and placed them under the command of +equestrian prefects instead of senatorial legates. Two of these legions +were stationed in Mesopotamia, but the third was quartered at the Alban +Mount in Latium. This step had the effect of reducing Italy to the status +of a garrisoned province, but it was probably taken with the view of +providing a larger reserve force to supplement the frontier garrisons. +Severus also was the author of many reforms which improved the conditions +or increased the rewards of military service. The pay of the troops was +raised, the legionaries were allowed to contract a legal marriage when in +service, and the equestrian career was opened to veteran centurians. +However, there seems to be no proof that Severus deliberately fostered the +barbarization of the army by the exclusion of Italian centurians, or that +he ruined the discipline of the soldiers by permitting the married +legionaries to reside outside of barracks. To rescue the government from +the state of insolvency into which it had been brought by his +predecessors, Severus stood in need of a large sum of money. This he +secured by confiscating the estates of the adherents of Niger and Albinus. + +Of signal importance was the increase in the power of the praetorian +prefecture at this time. This office was for a number of years held by a +single prefect, Publius Fulvius Plautianus, whose daughter was married to +the eldest son of Severus. However, his great power proved his undoing, +and in 205 A. D. he was executed on a charge of treason made by his own +son-in-law. At his death two prefects were again appointed, one of whom +was Papinian, the greatest of all Roman jurists. His appointment seems to +indicate a division between the military and the civil functions of the +prefecture. For from this time the prefect exercised supreme jurisdiction +over criminal cases in Italy beyond the hundredth milestone from the city, +and in the matter of appeals from the judgments of provincial governors. +In the absence of the princeps he also presided over the imperial judicial +council. Following Papinian other eminent jurists filled this office. +Furthermore, the supervision of the transportation of grain to Rome was +transferred from the prefect of the grain supply to the praetorian +prefect, and the former officer merely supervised its distribution within +the city. + +*War in Britain, 208–211 A. D.* Like Hadrian, Severus paid great attention +to strengthening the frontier defences of the empire, particularly the +fortifications which linked the Rhine and the Danube. In 208 A. D. when +Britain was invaded by the Caledonians, he took the field, accompanied by +his two sons. He reinforced Hadrian’s earthen wall between the Tyne and +the Solway by a wall of stone, and carried on guerilla warfare against the +tribes of the northern part of the island. However, they had not been +completely pacified when he died at York in February, 211 A. D., leaving +the principate to his sons, Caracalla and Geta, both of whom had +previously received the title of Augustus. + +*Caracalla, 211–217 A. D.* The bitter enmity which had long existed +between the two brothers continued during a year of joint rule, and +divided the empire into rival factions. Then Caracalla, who had previously +sought to make himself sole ruler, succeeded in having Geta assassinated. +Many of the latter’s friends, among them the prefect Papinian, were +executed. Caracalla was cruel and vicious, and displayed no capacity for +governing. He relied solely upon the goodwill of the soldiery and courted +their support by increased pay and lavish donatives. In 212 A. D., by the +famous Antonian Constitution (_constitutio Antoniniana_) he extended Roman +citizenship to all the provincials of the empire, except those who were in +a condition of vassalage, such as some of the barbarian peoples who had +been settled on waste lands within the Roman borders, and not citizens of +organized municipalities (_dediticii_). This act was the logical +culmination of the policy of his predecessors who had granted citizenship +to many provincial municipalities and had sanctioned its automatic +extension to soldiers of the legions and auxiliary corps. Perhaps +Caracalla’s chief motive was to supply a fresh source of income for the +treasury, which was sadly depleted by his extravagances, for he greatly +increased the number of those liable to the five per cent inheritance tax +which fell only upon Roman citizens. A second motive may well have been +the desire to secure a uniformity of legal status and of municipal +organization throughout the empire. + +*Germanic and Parthian wars.* In 213 A. D. an attack of a confederacy of +German tribes, the Alamanni, upon the Raetian frontier was successfully +repelled, and in the next year Caracalla set out for the East, where he +planned to conduct a Parthian war in imitation of the conquests of his +idol, Alexander the Great. In 215, the Parthian king, Vologases V, came to +terms, but when he was dethroned by his brother, Artabanos V, who refused +Caracalla’s request for the hand of his daughter, Caracalla prepared to +invade Parthian territory. But before he embarked on his venture he was +assassinated by the order of the praetorian prefect Marcus Opellius +Macrinus, April, 217 A. D. + +*Macrinus, 217–218 A. D.* Macrinus was recognized without opposition as +Caracalla’s successor, and bestowed upon his young son Diadumenianus the +title of Caesar. He was the first princeps who had not attained senatorial +rank. As a ruler he displayed moderation and good sense, but was lacking +in force. He purchased peace from the Parthians, abolished oppressive +taxes, and sought to lessen the military burden by cancelling the +increases of pay which Caracalla had granted to the troops. This latter +step cost him the support of the soldiery, and part of the Syrian army +declared its allegiance to the fourteen-year-old Bassianus, a great-nephew +of Julia Domna, the Syrian wife of Septimius Severus. Bassianus could +claim to be a representative of the house of Severus, and consequently was +hailed as Imperator under the name of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. However, +he is better known as Elagabalus, for he was by hereditary right the +priest of the Sun God worshipped under that name at Emesa. + +Macrinus tried to suppress the revolt, but he was defeated near Antioch, +and he and his son were captured and killed (June, 218 A. D.). + +*Elagabalus, 218–222 A. D.* Thereupon Elagabalus was universally +recognized as princeps and entered Rome in the following year. There he +introduced the worship of the sun as the supreme deity of the Roman world, +and added to the imperial title that of “most exalted priest of the +Unconquered Sun God Elagabalus.” His rule was a riot of debauch, in which +his associates were worthless favorites, whom he appointed to the highest +offices. His grandmother, Julia Maesa, really conducted the government +and, realizing his unfitness to rule, forced him to adopt his cousin +Severus Alexander with the title of Caesar in 221 A. D. When Elagabalus +sought to rid himself of his relative the praetorians forced him to make +Alexander his colleague, and finally murdered him (March, 222 A. D.). + +*Severus Alexander, 222–235 A. D.* Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander was +now sole ruler. However, since he was a mere youth, his mother, Julia +Mamaea, daughter of Julia Maesa, exercised the powers of a regent. As he +grew up Alexander showed himself well-meaning and conscientious, but +lacking in self-reliance, and he never emancipated himself from his +mother’s tutelage. During his rule the Senate enjoyed a temporary revival +of influence. Two councils of senators, one of sixteen and one of seventy +members, acted as an imperial cabinet and an advisory legislative council, +respectively. At this time, too, the praetorian prefecture became a +senatorial office in that it conferred senatorial rank upon its holder. An +attempt was made to remedy public abuses, in particular to restore +discipline among the troops, and to reduce the military expenditure. But +the army had gotten out of hand, especially the praetorians, from whose +anger Alexander was unable to protect the noted jurist Paul, who held the +praetorian prefecture. + +*The new Persian empire.* The widespread military insubordination was all +the more dangerous since new and more aggressive foes began to threaten +the integrity of the empire. In 227 A. D. the Parthian dynasty of the +Arsacids was overthrown by the Persian Ardaschir (Artaxerxes) who founded +the dynasty of the Sassanids. The establishment of this new Persian +kingdom was accompanied by a revival of the national Persian religion, +Zoroastrianism, and of the Persian claims to the eastern Roman provinces. +In 231 the Persians drove the Roman troops out of Mesopotamia and +penetrated Cappadocia and Syria. Alexander himself then went to the East, +where he took the offensive in the following year. The details of his +campaign are uncertain, but at any rate Mesopotamia was recovered and +Alexander celebrated a triumph over the Persians in Rome (233 A. D.). + +*The Germanic campaign and death of Severus Alexander.* But the northern +frontier was threatened by the attacks of Germanic tribes, and in 234 +Alexander assumed the conduct of operations on the Rhine, with his +headquarters at Mainz. The barbarians were induced to make peace, but only +by the payment of subsidies, and this cost Alexander the respect of the +army, who were disgruntled at his policy of retrenchment and his +subservience to his mother. A mutiny broke out, led by Gaius Julius Verus +Maximinus, a Thracian of peasant origin who had risen from the ranks to +high command. Alexander and Julia Mamaea were put to death, and Maximinus +was proclaimed Augustus (March, 235 A. D.). With his accession began a +half century of confusion and anarchy. + + + + VI. THE DISSOLUTION AND RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE: 235–285 A. D. + + +*The end of the pax Romana.* The period of fifty years from 235 to 285 +A. D. is a prolonged repetition of the shorter epochs of civil war of +68–69 and 193–197 A. D. During this interval twenty-six Augusti, including +such as were colleagues in the _imperium_, obtained recognition in Rome +and of these only one escaped a violent death. In addition, there were +numerous usurpers or “tyrants,” as candidates who failed to make good +their claims to the principate were called. Almost all of these emperors +were the nominees of the soldiery, and at least possessed military +qualifications that were above the average. In general they +conscientiously devoted themselves to the task of restoring order in the +empire, but their efforts were in the main nullified by the treachery of +their own troops and the rise of rival emperors. + +*The mutiny of the army.* The main cause of this disorganization lay in +the fact that the professional army had lost all sense of loyalty to the +empire, an attitude already frequently evidenced by the praetorians, and +by the legions also under Caracalla and his successors. Recruited, as the +latter now were, almost entirely from the frontiers of the Roman world, +they felt no community of interest with the inhabitants of the peaceful +provinces and turned upon them, like unfaithful sheep dogs upon the flocks +whom it was their duty to guard. The sole object of the troops was to +enrich themselves by plunder and the extortion of high pay and frequent +largesses from the emperor whom they supported. Hence, in the expectation +of fresh rewards, each army hailed as Imperator the commander who had led +it to victory over foreign foes or revolting soldiers of Rome. + +*Barbarian invasions.* In addition to constant civil war, the Roman world +was exposed to all the horrors of barbarian invasions. We have already +noticed the rise of a new Persian state whose object was the +reëstablishment of the empire as it had existed prior to the conquests of +Alexander the Great. Likewise on the whole extent of the northern frontier +new and more aggressive peoples assaulted and penetrated the frontier +defences. On the North Sea coast, between the Rhine and the Weser were the +Saxons whose ships raided the shores of Britain and Gaul. Facing the +Romans along the lower Rhine were the Franks, along the upper Rhine the +Alamanni, further east on the upper Danube the Marcomanni, while on the +eastern frontier of Dacia and to the north of the Black Sea were situated +the Goths and the Heruli. The withdrawal of troops from some sectors of +the frontier to meet attacks at others and the neglect of their duty by +the army corps who plunged into the maelstrom of civil war in support of +various candidates for the imperial power gave the northern barbarians the +opportunity to sweep down in destructive hordes upon the peaceful and +undefended provinces. + +*Dissolution of the empire.* The natural consequence of the failure of the +imperial government to defend the provinces from hostile invasions was +that the provincials began to take measures for their own protection and +to transfer their allegiance from the Roman emperors to local authorities, +who proved a more efficient help in time of trouble. These separatist +tendencies were active both in the East and in the West and led to a +temporary dissolution of the unity of the Empire. + +*Pestilence.* A third scourge which afflicted the Roman world at this +critical period was a pestilence which, originating in the East, entered +the Empire about 252 A. D., and raged for fifteen years. + +*Valerian and Gallienus: 253–268 A. D.* The fortunes of the Empire reached +their lowest ebb under Valerian and his son Gallienus (253–268 A. D.). In +256, the Persians invaded Mesopotamia and Syria, and captured Antioch. +Valerian at once undertook the defence of the eastern provinces, leaving +Gallienus in charge of the West. Antioch was recovered, but when Valerian +entered Mesopotamia to relieve the blockade of Edessa, he was defeated by +the Persian king Sapor, and taken prisoner (258 A. D.). He died soon +afterwards in captivity. The Persians not only reoccupied Antioch but also +seized Tarsus in Cilicia and Caesarea in Cappadocia, and ravaged Asia +Minor to the shores of the Aegean Sea. + +While Valerian was waging his ill-fated war in the East, the rest of the +empire was in a continual state of turmoil. In 257 the Goths and other +peoples overran Dacia, crossed the Danube and penetrated as far south as +Macedonia and Achaia. In 258 a revolt broke out in Mauretania. The Berber +tribesmen, led by an able chief, Faraxen, invaded the province of Numidia, +and were only reduced to submission by the capture of their leader (260 +A. D.). At the same time the Alamanni broke into Raetia, and made their +way over the Alps into the Po valley. Gallienus hastened to the rescue and +defeated them near Milan. But in his absence in Italy the Franks crossed +the Rhine and poured in devastating hordes over Gaul and Spain. The Roman +possessions on the right bank of the Rhine were lost at this time and +never recovered. + +*The empire of the Gauls.* At the news of the death of Valerian the +commander in Pannonia, Ingenuus, raised the standard of revolt. After +defeating him, Gallienus found another serious rival in Regalianus, whom, +however, he was likewise able to overcome. But at the same time (258 +A. D.), Marcus Cassius Latinius Postumus, whom Gallienus had left in +command in Gaul, assumed the imperial title, after a victory gained over a +body of Franks. He was able to clear Gaul of its foes and make himself +master of Britain and Spain. Gallienus was powerless to depose him. +Postumus did not endeavor to establish a national Gallic state but +regarded himself as exercising the Roman _imperium_ in a portion of the +empire. He fixed his capital at Trèves, and organized a senate and other +institutions on the Roman model. His coins bore the inscription _Roma +Aeterna_. + +*Palmyra.* In the Orient the Persians were unable to retain their hold on +Syria and Asia Minor. Their withdrawal was in large measure caused by the +activities of Odaenathus, the ruler of the city of Palmyra, who inflicted +a severe defeat upon Sapor and recovered Roman Mesopotamia. Thereupon two +brothers, Fulvius Macrianus and Fulvius Quietus, sons of an officer who +had distinguished himself against the Persians, were acclaimed as emperors +in Asia Minor. However, the one was defeated in attempting to invade +Europe and the other was overthrown by Odaenathus. In recognition of his +services Gallienus bestowed upon him the title of “Commander of the East” +(_dux orientis_), with the duty of protecting the East (264 A. D.). In +Palmyra, he ruled as _basileus_, or king, and although he nominally +acknowledged the overlordship of the Roman emperor, he was practically an +independent sovereign. + +*The Goths.* A fresh peril arose in the maritime raids of the Goths, +Heruli, and other tribes who had seized the harbors on the north coast of +the Black Sea. With the ships that they thus secured they ravaged the +northern coast of Asia Minor as early as 256 A. D. In 262 they forced the +passage of the Bosphorus and Hellespont and plundered the shores of the +Aegean. Their most noted raid was in 267, when they sacked the chief +cities of Greece, including Athens. + +No less than eighteen usurpers, for the most part officers who had risen +from the ranks, had unsuccessfully challenged the authority of Gallienus +in the various provinces. At last, in 268 A. D., one of his leading +generals, Aureolus, laid claim to the imperial title. Gallienus defeated +him and was besieging him in Milan, when he was killed at the instigation +of his officers, who proclaimed as his successor one of their own number, +Marcus Aurelius Claudius. + +*Claudius Gothicus, 268–270 A. D.* The rule of Claudius lasted only two +years, in which his greatest achievement was the crushing defeat which he +inflicted upon the Goths who had again overrun Greece and the adjacent +lands (269 A. D.). This victory won him the name of Gothicus. Upon the +death of Claudius in 270 A. D., the army chose Lucius Domitius Aurelianus +as emperor. + +*Lucius Domitius Aurelianus, 270–275 A. D.* Aurelian’s first task was to +clear Italy and the Danubian provinces of barbarian invaders. Two +incursions of the Alamanni into Raetia and Italy were repulsed, the latter +with great slaughter. But the emperor recognized that the security of +Italy could no longer be guaranteed and so he ordered the fortification of +the Italian cities. The imposing wall which still marks the boundary of +part of ancient Rome was begun by Aurelian. A horde of Vandals were beaten +and driven out of Pannonia and a victory was won over the Goths in Moesia. +But the exposed position of Dacia, and the fact that it was already in +large part occupied by the barbarians, induced Aurelian to abandon it +altogether. The rest of the Roman settlers were withdrawn to Moesia, where +a new province of Dacia was formed behind the barrier of the Danube. + +*The overthrow of Palmyra.* Aurelian was now ready to attempt his second +and greater task, the restoration of imperial unity. And in this the East +first claimed his attention. There Vaballathus, the son of Odaenathus, +ruled over Palmyra, supported and directed by his mother, Zenobia. At the +outset Aurelian had recognized his position but in 271 Vaballathus assumed +the title of Augustus and thereby declared his independence of Roman +suzerainty. He was able to extend his authority over Egypt and a great +part of Asia Minor. In 272 Aurelian set out to bring back the East to its +allegiance. He speedily recovered Asia Minor, and entered Syria, where he +signally defeated the famous Palmyrene archers and mailed horsemen at +Emesa. He then crossed the desert and laid siege to Palmyra itself. +Zenobia tried to escape, but was taken, and the city surrendered. The +queen and her family were carried off to Rome but Palmyra was at first +spared. However, it rebelled again when Aurelian had set out for Rome. +Thereupon the emperor returned with all speed and recaptured the city. +This time it was utterly destroyed. The authority of Rome was once more +firmly reëstablished in the East. + +*The reconquest of Gaul.* Following his conquest of Palmyra, Aurelian +proceeded to overthrow the already tottering empire of the Gauls. At the +death of Postumus in 268, Spain and Narbonese Gaul had acknowledged the +Roman emperor Claudius Gothicus. After several successors of Postumus had +been overthrown by the mutinous Gallic soldiery, Publius Esuvius Tetricus +was appointed emperor in Gaul and Britain. However, foreseeing the speedy +dissolution of his empire, he secretly entered into negotiations with +Aurelian. The latter invaded Gaul and met the Gallic army at the plain of +Chalons. In the course of the battle, Tetricus went over to Aurelian, who +won a complete victory. Britain and Gaul submitted to the conqueror (274 +A. D.). Thus the unity of the empire was restored and Aurelian assumed the +title of “Restorer of the World” (_restitutor orbis_). + +*Dominus et deus natus.* Not only was Aurelian one of the greatest of +Roman commanders; he also displayed sound judgment in his administration. +Here his chief work was the suppression of the debased silver currency and +the issuing of a much improved coinage. Aurelian regarded himself as an +absolute monarch and employed on his coins the titles _dominus et deus +natus_—“born Lord and God.” He likewise reëstablished in Rome the official +cult of the Unconquered Sun God, previously introduced by Elagabalus. One +of the characteristics of this cult was the belief that the monarch was +the incarnation of the divine spirit, a belief which gave a moral +justification to absolutism. + +*Probus, 276–282 A. D.* Aurelian was murdered in 275 A. D., and was +succeeded by Tacitus, who met a like fate after a rule of less than two +years. He was followed by Marcus Aurelius Probus, an able Illyrian +officer. Probus was called upon to repel fresh invasions of Germanic +peoples, to subdue the rebellious Isaurians in Asia Minor and suppress a +revolt in Egypt. Everywhere he successfully upheld the authority of the +empire, but his strict discipline eventually cost him the favor of the +soldiers who hailed as Imperator Marcus Aurelius Carus. Probus was put to +death (282 A. D.). Like his predecessor, Carus was a general of great +ability. He appointed his eldest son Carinus Augustus as his co-ruler, and +left him in charge of the West while he embarked on a campaign against the +Persians. This was crowned with complete success and terminated with the +capture of Ctesiphon. But on his return march he died, probably at the +hands of his troops (283 A. D.). His younger son, the Caesar Numerianus, +who took command of the army, was assassinated by the praetorian prefect +Aper. However, the choice of the army fell upon Gaius Valerius Aurelius +Diocletianus, who assumed the imperial title in September, 284 A. D. But +Carinus had retained his hold upon the West and advanced to crush +Diocletian. In the course of a battle at the river Margus in Moesia he was +murdered by his own officers (285 A. D.), and with the victory of +Diocletian a new period of Roman history begins. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX + + + THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION UNDER THE PRINCIPATE + + + + I. THE VICTORY OF AUTOCRACY + + +*The senate and the appointment of the princeps.* In the preceding +chapters we have traced in outline the political history of the principate +to the point where it had become an undisguised military autocracy. This +change is clearly seen in connection with the imperial nomination. The +appointment to the principate originally involved the conferment of the +_imperium_, the tribunician power and other rights and privileges. The +_imperium_ might be bestowed either by a senatorial decree or through the +acclamation as _imperator_ by a part of the soldiery. Each of these forms +was regarded as valid, but was regularly confirmed by the other. But the +tribunician authority and the remaining powers of the princeps were +conferred only by a decree of the Senate, confirmed, during the first +century at least, by a vote of the Assembly of the Centuries. However, +after the accession of Carus (282 A. D.), the Senate, which could no +longer claim to exercise any authority in the state, ceased to participate +in the appointment of the new ruler. This marks the formal end of the +principate. + +*The Senate’s loss of administrative power. I. Rome and Italy.* The +constitutional history of the principate is the story of the gradual +absorption of the Senate’s powers by the princeps and the supplanting of +the Senate’s officers by those in the imperial service. It has been well +said that Augustus aimed at the impossible when he sought to be the chief +magistrate in the state without being at the same time the head of the +administration. He had intended that the Senate should conduct the +administration of Rome, Italy and the ungarrisoned provinces, but, as we +have seen, he himself had been brought by force of circumstances to take +the initial steps in infringing upon the Senate’s prerogatives. Not only +did he take over the duties of provisioning and policing the city by +establishing the prefectures of the grain supply and the watch, but he +also assumed responsibility for the upkeep of the public buildings, +streets and aqueducts of Rome, as well as the highways of Italy. These +departments of public works were put in charge of commissioners of +senatorial rank, called curators, whom the princeps nominated. However, +from the time of Claudius equestrian officials, entitled procurators, were +appointed to these departments and became their real directors. Finally, +under Septimius Severus, the senatorial curators were dispensed with. + +*II. The aerarium.* Augustus had left to the Senate the control of the +public treasury, the _aerarium_, which was maintained by revenues from the +senatorial provinces and Italy. But when the princeps came to assume +control of those branches of the administration the expense of which was +defrayed by the _aerarium_, it was inevitable that the treasury itself +should pass in some degree under his supervision. And so in 44 A. D. the +princeps began to designate two quaestors to be in charge of the treasury +for a three-year period. Under Nero the place of these quaestors was taken +by two prefects appointed in the same manner but from among the +ex-praetors. The importance of the _aerarium_ declined in proportion as +its revenues passed into the hands of the ministers of the princeps, until +in the period between Septimius Severus and Diocletian it sank to the +position of a municipal chest for the city of Rome. + +*III. The senatorial provinces.* In the early principate the senatorial +provinces were administered by appointees of the Senate, all of whom now +bore the title of proconsul, assisted as in former days by quaestors. +However, only the proconsul of Africa was at the same time commander of a +provincial garrison, and his command was transferred to the imperial +governor of Numidia by Caligula. Even in the time of Augustus the imperial +procurators had appeared in the senatorial provinces in charge of the +revenues which were at the disposal of the princeps, and, before the close +of the third century they were in complete control of the financial +administration of these provinces. But long before this, by the opening of +the second century, the princeps had usurped the Senate’s privilege of +appointing the proconsuls. The result was that by the close of the +principate all the provinces without distinction were equally under +imperial control. + +*Restriction of Senate’s elective powers.* It was Tiberius who transferred +to the Senate the electoral functions of the Assembly but he, as Augustus +before him, limited the Senate’s freedom of action by the recommendation +of imperial candidates for the lower magistracies. From the time of Nero +the consulship also was regularly filled by nominees of the emperors. The +custom of appointing several successive consular pairs in the course of +each year, each pair functioning for two or four months, greatly weakened +the influence of the consulate, while it enabled the emperors to gratify +the ambitions of a larger number of candidates for that office. + +*Loss of legislative functions.* The rapid disappearance of the Assembly +resulted in the transfer of its sovereign legislative powers to the +Senate. The decrees of the Senate thus acquired the validity of laws and +after the time of Nerva comitial legislation completely ceased. However, +the influence of the princeps encroached more and more upon the +legislative freedom of the Senate until in the time of the Severi the +senatorial decrees were merely proclamations of the princeps (_orationes +principis_) which were read to the Senate and approved by it. Furthermore, +the princeps developed independent legislative power and by the middle of +the second century the ordinances or constitutions of the princeps had +acquired the force of law. Early in the third century legislation of this +type altogether superseded the senatorial decrees. The imperial +constitutions included edicts, _decreta_, or judicial verdicts, responses +to the petitions of officers of the princeps or private citizens, and +mandates or instructions to his subordinates. Originally, the edicts were +only valid during the principate of their author and the other forms of +constitutions merely applied to special cases. However, in course of time, +they all alike came to be recognized as establishing rules of public and +private law which remained in force unless they were specifically revoked +by another imperial constitution. + +*The administration of justice.* The republican system of civil and +criminal jurisdiction was inherited by the principate, and the courts of +the praetors continued to function for Rome and Italy, while the +proconsuls were in charge of the administration of justice in the +senatorial provinces. In addition the Senate, under the presidency of the +consuls, acted as a tribunal for the trial of political offences and +criminal charges brought against members of the senatorial order. The +Senate also served as a court of appeals from the decisions of the +proconsuls. But from the time of Augustus the princeps exercised an +unlimited right of jurisdiction which enabled him to take cases under his +personal cognizance (_cognitio_), or appoint a delegate to try them. The +imperial officials administered justice in their respective spheres by +virtue of delegated authority and consequently appeals from their courts +were directed to the princeps. The development of judicial functions by +the military and administrative officials of the princeps in Rome—the +praetorian prefect, the city prefect, the prefects of the watch and the +prefect of the grain supply—seriously encroached upon the judicial power +of the praetors. In addition, the _consulares_ of Hadrian, and the +_iuridici_ of Marcus Aurelius further limited the sphere of the praetorian +courts. Ultimately, under Septimius Severus, we find the city prefect as +the supreme judicial authority for all criminal cases arising in Rome or +within a radius of one hundred miles of the city and also exercising +appellate jurisdiction in civil cases within the same limits, subject +however, to an appeal to the court of the princeps. For the rest of Italy, +the court of the praetorian prefect was now the highest tribunal in both +criminal and civil suits. By this time also the princeps had acquired +supreme appellate jurisdiction for the whole empire, a power which was +regularly exercised by the praetorian prefect acting in his place, In the +third century the Senate ceased to exercise any judicial authority +whatever. + +As a result of the above processes the princeps became in the end the sole +source of legislative, administrative and judicial authority. The +republican magistrates had become practically municipal officers, and one +of them, the aedileship, disappeared in the third century. The complete +victory of the princeps over the Senate is marked by the exclusion of +senators from military commands under Gallienus, and their removal from +the provincial governorships in which they had continued to exercise civil +authority between the time of Aurelian and the accession of Diocletian. + +*The friction between the Senate and the princeps.* It might be thought +that owing to the gradual admission to the Senate of the nominees of the +princeps that harmony would have been established between the two +administrative heads of the state. But although this new nobility was +thoroughly loyal to the principate, they proved just as tenacious of the +rights of the Senate as the descendants of the older nobility who +preserved the tradition of senatorial rule. Augustus and Tiberius +endeavored to govern in concord with the Senate by organizing an advisory +council appointed from the Senate, but their successors abandoned the +practice. The friction between the princeps and the Senate was due in part +to the realization that it was from the senatorial order that rivals might +arise and in part to the fact that those emperors who did not interpret +their position, as did Augustus, in the light of a magistracy responsible +to the Senate, were bound to regard the Senate’s powers as restrictions +upon their own freedom of action, and as an unnecessary complication of +the administration. The chief services of the Senate were to provide a +head for the government when the principate was vacant, and to furnish the +only means for the expression of opinion with regard to the character of +the administration of the individual emperors. The spontaneous deification +or the _damnatio memoriae_ of a deceased princeps was not without weight, +for it expressed the opinion of the most influential class in the state. + +While the Senate as a body was thus stripped of its power, the senatorial +order remained a powerful class. Originally embracing the chief +landholders of Italy, it came to include those of the whole empire. +Collectively the senators lost in influence, but individually they gained. +By the end of the second century the senatorial order had acquired an +hereditary title, that of _clarissimus_ (most noble), indicative of their +rank. + + + + II. THE GROWTH OF THE CIVIL SERVICE + + +*The first steps.* The necessary counterpart to the assumption of +administrative duties by the princeps was the development of an imperial +civil service, the officials of which were nominated by the princeps, and +promoted or removed at his pleasure. In this Augustus had taken the first +steps by the establishment of equestrian procuratorships and prefectures, +and the opening up of an equestrian career, but the number of these posts +greatly increased with the extension of the administrative sphere of the +princeps at the expense of the Senate. The idea of conducting the +government through various departments manned by permanent salaried +officials was absolutely foreign to the Roman republic, which only +employed such servants for clerical positions of minor importance in Rome. +However, the chaotic conditions which had resulted from the republican +system showed the need of a change, and the concentration of a large share +of the administration in the hands of the princeps both required and gave +the opportunity for the development of an organized civil service. This +development was unquestionably stimulated and influenced by the +incorporation in the Roman empire of the kingdom of Egypt, which possessed +a highly organized bureaucratic system that continued to function +unchanged in its essential characteristics. + +*The imperial secretaryships.* At first the imperial civil service lacked +system and there was little or no connection between the various +administrative offices in Italy and in the provinces. Augustus and his +immediate successors conducted the administration as part of their private +business, keeping in touch with the imperial officials through the private +secretaries of their own households, that is to say, their freedmen, who, +in another capacity, conducted the management of the private estate of the +princeps. An important change was introduced under Claudius, when his +influential freedmen caused the creation within the imperial household of +a number of secretaryships with definite titles that indicated the sphere +of their duties. The chief of these secretaryships were the _a +rationibus_, the _ab epistulis_, the _a libellis_, the _a __cognitionibus_ +and the _a studiis._ The _a rationibus_ acted as a secretary of the +treasury, being in charge of the finances of the empire which were +controlled by the princeps; the _ab epistulis_ was a secretary for +correspondence, who prepared the orders which the princeps issued to his +officials and other persons; the _a libellis_ was a secretary for +petitions, who received all requests addressed to the princeps; the _a +__cognitionibus_ served as a secretary for the imperial inquests, +entrusted with the duty of preparing the information necessary for the +rendering of the imperial decision in the judicial investigations +personally conducted by the princeps (_cognitiones_); and the _a studiis_, +or secretary of the records, had the duty of searching out precedents for +the guidance of the princeps in the conduct of judicial or administrative +business. The establishment of these secretaryships in the imperial +household tended to centralize more completely the imperial administration +and to give it greater uniformity and regularity. At the same time the +influence of the freedmen who occupied these important positions was +responsible for the admission of freedmen to many of the minor +administrative procuratorships. It was under Claudius also that the +preliminary military career of the procurators was more definitely fixed. + +*The reforms of Hadrian and Septimius Severus.* Hadrian took the next +decisive step in the development of the central administrative offices +when he transformed the secretaryships of the imperial household into +secretaryships of state by filling them with equestrians of procuratorial +rank in place of imperial freedmen. From this time the latter were +restricted to minor positions in the various departments. Under Hadrian +also there was a marked increase in the number of administrative +procuratorships owing to the final abolition of the system of farming the +revenues and their subsequent direct collection by imperial officials as +well as the establishment of the public post as a means of intercourse +throughout all the provinces. It was possibly with the object of supplying +the necessary officials to undertake these new tasks that Hadrian created +the office of the advocate of the _fiscus_ as an alternative for the +preliminary military career of the procurators. + +Septimius Severus, as we have seen, opened the posts of the civil +administration to veteran officers upon the completion of a long period of +military service. Thus, although a purely civil career was established, +which led ultimately to the highest prefectures, nevertheless, during the +principate the civil administrative offices were never completely +separated from the traditional preliminary military service. It was +Septimius Severus also who made the praetorian prefect, as the +representative of the princeps, the head of the civil as well as of the +military administration. + +*The salary and titles of the equestrian officials.* The ordinary career +of an official in the imperial civil service included a considerable +number of procuratorships in various branches of the administration, both +in Rome, Italy and the provinces. Although from the time of Augustus a +definite salary was attached to each of these offices, it was not until +after the reforms of Hadrian that four distinct classes of procurators +were recognized on the basis of the relative importance of their offices +expressed in terms of pay. These four classes of procurators were the +_tercenarii_, _ducenarii_, _centenarii_ and _sexagenarii_, who received +respectively an annual salary of 300,000, 200,000, 100,000 and 60,000 +sesterces; this classification remained unchanged until the close of the +third century. At that time the highest class included the imperial +secretaries of state, whose title was now that of _magister_, or master. +The salary of the four chief prefectures was probably higher still. + +Following the example of the senatorial order, the equestrians also +acquired titles of honor, which depended upon their official rank. From +the time of Hadrian the title _vir eminentissimus_ (most eminent) was the +prerogative of the praetorian prefects. Under Marcus Aurelius appear two +other equestrian titles, _vir perfectissimus_ and _vir egregius_. In the +third century the latter was borne by all the imperial procurators, while +the former was reserved for the higher prefectures (apart from the +praetorian), the chief officials of the treasury and the imperial +secretaries. + +*Administration of the finances: (I). The Fiscus.* The most important +branch of the civil administration was that of the public finances, which +merits special consideration. Augustus did not centralize the +administration of the provincial revenues which were at his disposal, but +created a separate treasury or _fiscus_ for each imperial province. +However, he did establish the _aerarium militare_ at Rome for the control +of the revenues destined for the pensioning of veteran troops. +Furthermore, Augustus drew a sharp distinction between the public revenues +which were administered by the princeps in his magisterial capacity, and +the income from his own private property or patrimony. For the expenditure +of the former he acknowledged a strict accountability to the Senate. The +policy of Augustus was followed by Tiberius and Caligula, but under +Claudius a central _fiscus_ was organized at Rome for the administration +of all the public revenues of the princeps. The provincial _fisci_ +disappeared, and the military treasury became a department of the +_fiscus_. This new imperial _fiscus_ was under the direction of the _a +rationibus_. From this time the princeps ceased to hold himself +accountable for the expenditure of the public imperial revenues, and the +_fiscus_ assumes an independent position alongside of the old _aerarium_ +of the Roman people, which, as we have shown, it ultimately deprived of +all share in the control of the public finances. However, the distinction +between the public and private revenues of the princeps was still +observed, and the _patrimonium_ was independently administered by a +special procurator. + +*(II). The Patrimonium.* But with the extinction of the Julio-Claudian +house and the accession of Vespasian the patrimony of the Caesars passed +as an appendage of the principate to the new ruler. It then became state +property, and as it had grown to enormous size owing to the inheritances +of Augustus and the confiscations of Caligula and Nero, the _patrimonium_ +was organized as an independent branch of the imperial financial +administration. The personal estate of the princeps was henceforth +distinguished as the _patrimonium privatum_. This situation continued +until the accession of Septimius Severus, whose enormous confiscations of +the property of the adherents of Niger and Albinus were incorporated in +his personal estate. This, the _patrimonium privatum_, was now placed +under a new department of the public administration called the _ratio_ or +_res privata_. The old _patrimonium_ became a subordinate branch of the +_fiscus_. The title of the secretary of the treasury in charge of the +_fiscus_ was now changed to that of _rationalis_, while the new secretary +in charge of the privy purse was called at first _procurator_, and later +_magister_, _rei privatae_. The reform of Severus, which gave to the +private income of the princeps a status in the administration comparable +to that of the public revenues, is a further expression of the monarchical +tendencies of his rule. + +*The officiales.* The subaltern personnel of the various bureaus, the +clerks, accountants, etc., during the first two centuries of the +principate was composed almost entirely of imperial freedmen and slaves. +Among these there was apparently no fixed order of promotion or uniform +system of pay, nor could they ever advance to the higher ranks of the +service. However, from the time of Severus soldiers began to be employed +in these capacities and a military organization was introduced into the +bureaus. The way was thus gradually paved for completely dispensing with +the services of freedmen and slaves in any part of the civil +administration. + + + + III. THE ARMY AND THE DEFENCE OF THE FRONTIERS + + +*The barbarization of the army.* It will be recalled that the military +policy of Augustus aimed at securing the supremacy of the Roman element in +the empire by restricting admission to the legions to Roman citizens or to +freeborn inhabitants of provincial municipalities who received a grant of +citizenship upon entering the service. The gradual abandonment of this +policy is one of the most significant facts in the military history of the +principate. + +*The territorial recruitment of the legions.* Under the Augustan system +the legions in the West were recruited from Italy and the romanized +provinces of the West, the eastern legions from the Greek East and +Galatia. But the increasing reluctance of the Italians to render military +service led to the practical, although not to the theoretical, exemption +of Italy from this burden which now rested more heavily upon the latinized +provinces. An innovation of utmost importance was the introduction of the +principle of territorial recruitment for the legions by Hadrian. +Henceforth these corps were recruited principally from the provinces in +which they were stationed, and consequently freedom from the levy was +extended to the ungarrisoned provinces, Baetica, Narbonese Gaul, Achaia +and Asia. The effect of Hadrian’s reform is well illustrated by a +comparison of the various racial elements in the legions stationed in +Egypt under the early principate with those in the same legions in the +time of Marcus Aurelius. The lists of the veterans discharged from these +legions under Augustus or Tiberius show that fifty per cent were recruited +from Galatia, twenty-five per cent from the Greek municipalities in Egypt, +fifteen per cent from Syria and the Greek East, and the remainder from the +western provinces. A similar list from 168 A. D. shows sixty-five per cent +from Egypt, the remainder from the Greek East, and none from Galatia or +the West. In general, the consequence of Hadrian’s policy was to displace +gradually in the legions the more cultured element by the more warlike, +but less civilized, population from the frontiers of the provinces. It was +Hadrian also who opened the pretorian guard to provincials from Spain, +Noricum and Macedonia. As we have seen, Severus recruited the pretorians +from the legions and so deprived the more thoroughly latinized parts of +the empire of any real representation in the ranks of the army. + +*The auxiliaries.* The auxiliary corps, unlike the legions, were not +raised by Augustus from Roman citizens but from the non-Roman provincials +and allies. At first they were recruited and stationed in their native +provinces, but after the revolt of the Batavi in 68 A. D. they were +regularly quartered along distant frontiers. From the time of Hadrian, +they were generally recruited, in the same manner as the legions, from the +districts in which they were in garrison. The extension of Roman +citizenship to practically the whole Roman world by Caracalla in 212 A. D. +removed the basic distinction between the legions and the auxiliaries. + +*The numeri.* A new and completely barbarous element was introduced by +Hadrian into the Roman army by the organization of the so-called _numeri_, +corps of varying size, recruited from the non-Romanized peoples on the +frontiers, who retained their local language, weapons and methods of +warfare but were commanded by Roman prefects. The conquered German peoples +settled on Roman soil by Marcus Aurelius and his successors supplied +contingents of this sort. + +*The strength of the army.* At the death of Augustus the number of the +legions was twenty-five; under Vespasian it was thirty; and Severus +increased it to thirty-three, totalling over 180,000 men. A corresponding +increase had been made in the numbers of the auxiliaries. From about +150,000 in the time of Augustus they had increased to about 220,000 in the +second century. The total number of troops in the Roman service at the +opening of the third century was therefore about 400,000; one of the +largest professional armies the world has ever seen. + +*The system of frontier defence.* A second momentous fact in the military +history of the principate was the transformation of the army from a field +force into garrison troops. This was the result of the system developed +for the defence of the frontiers. Augustus, for the first time in the +history of the Roman state endeavored to preclude the possibility of +indefinite expansion by attaining a frontier protected by natural barriers +beyond which the Roman power should not be extended. Roughly speaking +these natural defences of the empire were the ocean on the west, the Rhine +and the Danube on the north, and the desert on the east and south. At +strategic points behind this frontier Augustus stationed his troops in +large fortified camps, in which both legionaries and auxiliaries were +quartered. These camps served as bases of operations and from them +military roads were constructed to advantageous points on the frontier +itself to permit the rapid movement of troops for offensive or defensive +purposes. Such roads were called _limites_ or “boundary paths,” a name +which subsequently was used in the sense of frontiers. These _limites_ +were protected by small forts manned by auxiliary troops. + +*The fortification of the limites.* Although Claudius and Vespasian +discarded the maxims of Augustus in favor of an aggressive border policy +they adhered to his system for protecting their new acquisitions in +Britain and the Agri Decumates. However, these conquests and that of the +Wetterau region by Domitian pushed the frontier beyond the line of natural +defences and led to the attempt to construct an artificial barrier as a +substitute. It was Domitian who took the initial step in this direction by +fortifying the _limites_ between the Rhine and Main, and the Main and the +Neckar, with a chain of small earthen forts connected by a line of wooden +watchtowers. To the rear of this advanced line there were placed larger +stone forts, each garrisoned by a corps of auxiliaries, and connected by +roads to the posts on the border. While the auxiliary troops were thus +distributed along the frontiers in small detachments, the larger legionary +cantonments were broken up, and after 89 A. D. no camp regularly contained +more than a single legion. Trajan, who also waged his frontier wars +offensively, merely improved the system of communication between the +border provinces by building military highways along the line of the +frontier from the Rhine to the Black Sea, in Arabia, and in Africa. + +In the matter of frontier defence, as in so many other spheres, a new +epoch begins with Hadrian. He reverted abruptly to the defensive policy of +Augustus and began to fortify the _limites_ on a more elaborate scale. The +frontier between the Rhine and the Danube was protected by an unbroken +line of ditch and palisade, in which stone forts, each large enough for an +auxiliary cohort, took the place of the earthen forts of Domitian. At the +same time the _limes_ was shortened and straightened, and the secondary +line of forts abandoned. In Britain a wall of turf was constructed from +the Tyne to the Solway, and in the Dobrudja a similar wall linked the +Danube to the Black Sea. The eastern frontier of Dacia was likewise +defended by a line of fortifications. Here, as on the other borders, the +Roman sphere of influence, and even of military occupation, extended +beyond the fortified _limes_. + +Antonius Pius followed Hadrian’s example and ran an earthen rampart with +forts at intervals from the Forth to the Clyde in northern Britain. This +line of defence was abandoned by Septimius Severus, who rebuilt Hadrian’s +rampart in the form of a stone wall with small forts at intervals of a +mile and intervening watch towers. In addition seventeen larger forts were +constructed along the line of the wall. The _limes_ in Germany was +strengthened by the addition of a ditch and earthen wall behind Hadrian’s +palisade, but along the so-called Raetian _limes_, between the Danube and +the Main, another stone wall, 110 miles long, took the place of the +earlier defences. A similar change was made in the fortifications of the +Dobrudja. However, this system was not followed out in the East or in +Africa, where the _limes_ was guarded merely by a chain of blockhouses. + +*The consequences of permanent fortifications.* The result of the +construction of permanent fortifications along the frontier was the +complete immobilization of the auxiliary corps. Stationed continuously as +they were for the most part in the same sectors from early in the second +century, and recruited, in increasing proportion, from among the children +of the camps, it only required the granting to them of frontier lands by +Severus Alexander, upon condition of their defending them, to complete +their transformation into a border militia (_limitanei_). At the same time +the scattering of the legions along the line of the frontiers made the +assembling of any adequate mobile force a matter of considerable time. And +the fortifications themselves, while useful in checking predatory raids by +isolated bands and in regulating intercourse across the frontiers, proved +incapable of preventing the invasion of larger forces. Consequently, when +in the third century the barbarians broke through the _limites_ they found +no forces capable of checking them until they had penetrated deeply into +the heart of the provinces. + +The chaos which followed the death of Severus Alexander was the result of +a military policy which left the richest and most highly civilized parts +of the empire without any means of self-defence; created a huge +professional army the rank and file of which had come to lose all contact +with the ungarrisoned provinces, all interest in the maintenance of an +orderly government and all respect for civil authority; and at the same +time rendered the army itself incapable of performing the task for which +it was organized. + +On the other hand the army had been one of the most influential agents in +the spread of the material and cultural aspects of Roman civilization. The +great highways of the empire, bridges, fortifications and numerous public +works of other sorts were constructed by the soldiers. Every camp was a +center for the spread of the Latin language and Roman institutions and the +number of Roman citizens was being augmented continuously by the stream of +discharged auxiliaries whose term of service had expired. In the +_canabae_, or villages of the civilian hangers-on of the army corps, +sprang up organized communities of Roman veterans with all the +institutions and material advantages of municipal life. The constant +movement of troops from one quarter of the empire to another furnished a +ready medium for the exchange of cultural, in particular of religious, +ideas. To the ideal of the empire the army remained loyal throughout the +principate, although this loyalty came at length to be interpreted in the +light of its own particular interests. Not only was the army the support +of the power of the princeps; it was also the mainstay of the _pax Romana_ +which endured with two brief interruptions from the battle of Actium to +the death of Severus Alexander and was the necessary condition for the +civilizing mission of Rome. + + + + IV. THE PROVINCES UNDER THE PRINCIPATE + + +It is to the provinces that one must turn to win a true appreciation of +the beneficial aspects of Roman government during the principate. As +Mommsen(16) has said: “It is in the agricultural towns of Africa, in the +homes of the vine-dressers on the Moselle, in the flourishing townships of +the Lycian mountains, and on the margin of the Syrian desert that the work +of the imperial period is to be sought and found.” In this sphere the +chief tasks of the principate were the correction of the abuses of the +republican administration and the extension of Graeco-Roman civilization +over the barbarian provinces of the west and north. How well this latter +work was done is attested not merely by the material remains of once +flourishing communities but also by the extent to which the civilization +of Western Europe rests upon the basis of Roman culture. + +*Number of the provinces.* At the establishment of the principate there +were about thirteen provinces, at the death of Augustus twenty-eight, and +under Hadrian forty-five. In the course of the third century the latter +number was considerably increased. The new provinces were formed partly by +the organization of newly conquered countries as separate administrative +districts and partly by the subdivision of larger units. At times this +subdivision was made in order to relieve a governor of an excessively +heavy task and to improve the administration, and at times it proceeded +from a desire to lessen the dangers of a revolt of the army by breaking up +the larger military commands. + +*Senatorial and imperial provinces.* As we have seen the provinces were +divided into two classes, senatorial or public and imperial or Caesarian, +corresponding to the division of administrative authority between the +Senate and the princeps. The general principle laid down by Augustus that +the garrisoned provinces should come under the authority of the princeps +was adhered to, and consequently certain provinces were at times taken +over by the latter in view of military necessities while others were given +up by him to the Senate. As a rule newly organized provinces were placed +under imperial governors, so that these soon came to outnumber the +appointees of the Senate. Eventually, as has been observed in connection +with the history of the civil service, the public provinces passed +completely into the hands of the princeps. + +*Administrative officials.* The governors of the senatorial provinces were +entitled proconsuls, even if they were of pretorian rank. However, Asia +and Africa were reserved for ex-consuls. Following the law of Pompey, a +period of five years intervened between the holding of a magistracy and a +promagisterial appointment. Each proconsul was assisted by a _quaestor_, +and by three propraetorian _legati_ whose appointment was approved by the +princeps. The imperial governors were of two classes, _legati Augusti_ and +procurators. In the time of Hadrian there were eleven proconsuls, +twenty-four _legati Augusti_ and nine procurators, besides the prefect of +Egypt. The subordinates of the _legati Augusti_ were the legates in +command of the legions, and the fiscal procurators. The procuratorial +governors, at first called prefects, were equestrians, and were placed in +command of military districts of lesser importance which were garrisoned +by auxiliaries only. An exception to this practice was made in the case of +Egypt, which senators were forbidden to enter, and which was governed by a +prefect who ranked next to the praetorian prefect and had under his orders +a garrison of three legions. These governmental procurators had, in +addition to their military duties, the task of supervising financial +administration. The title _praeses_ (plural _praesides_) which was used in +the second century for the imperial governors of senatorial rank, came to +designate the equestrian governors when these supplanted the _legati_ in +the latter half of the third century. + +As under the republic, the governors exercised administrative, judicial, +and, in the imperial provinces, military authority. However, with the +advent of the principate the government of the empire aimed to secure the +welfare and not the spoliation of its subjects, and hence a new era dawned +for the provinces. All the governors now received fixed salaries and thus +one of their chief temptations to abuse their power was removed. +Oppressive governors were still to be found, but they were readily brought +to justice—the senatorial governors before the Senate and the imperial +before the princeps—and condemnations, not acquittals, were the rule. It +was from the exactions of the imperial fiscal procurators rather than +those of the governors that the provinces suffered under the principate. +Although the term of the senatorial governors, as before, was limited to +one year, tried imperial appointees were frequently kept at their posts +for a number of years in the interests of good government. + +It has been mentioned before that under Augustus the taxation of the +provinces was revised to correspond more closely to their taxpaying +capacity. Under the principate these taxes were of two kinds, direct or +_tributa_ and indirect or _vectigalia_. The _tributa_, consisted of a +poll-tax (_tributum capitis_), payable by all who had not Roman or Latin +citizenship, and a land and property tax (_tributum soli_), from which +only communities whose land was granted the status of Italian soil (_ius +Italicum_) were exempt. The chief indirect taxes were the customs dues +(_portoria_), the five per cent tax on the value of emancipated slaves, +possibly the one per cent tax on sales, and the five per cent inheritance +tax which was levied on Roman citizens only. In the imperial provinces the +land tax was a fixed proportion of the annual yield of the soil, whereas +in the senatorial provinces it was a definite sum (_stipendium_) annually +fixed for each community. + +The principate did not break abruptly with the republican practice of +employing associations of _publicani_ in collecting the public revenues. +It is true that they had been excluded from Asia by Julius Caesar, and it +is possible that Augustus dispensed with them for the raising of the +direct taxes in the imperial provinces, but even in the time of Tiberius +they seem to have been active in connection with the _tributa_ in some of +the senatorial provinces. Their place in the imperial provinces was taken +by the procurator and his agents, in the senatorial at first by the +proconsul assisted by the taxpaying communities themselves and later by +imperial officials. + +On the other hand the indirect taxes long continued to be raised +exclusively by the corporations of tax collectors in all the provinces. +However, the operations of these _publicani_ were strictly supervised by +the imperial procurators. In place of the previous custom of paying a +fixed sum to the state in return for which they acquired a right to the +total returns from the taxes in question, the _publicani_ now received a +fixed percentage of the amount actually collected. Under Hadrian the +companies of _publicani_ engaged in collecting the customs dues began to +be superseded by individual contractors (_conductores_), who like the +companies received a definite proportion of the amount raised. About the +time of Commodus the system of direct collection by public officials was +introduced and the contractors gave way to imperial procurators. In the +same way, the five percent taxes on inheritances and manumissions were at +first farmed out, but later (under Hadrian in the case of the former) +collected directly by agents of the state. + +*The municipalities.* Each province was an aggregate of communes +(_civitates_), some of which were organized towns, while others were +tribal or village communities. From the opening of the principate it +became a fixed principle of imperial policy to convert the rural +communities into organized municipalities, which would assume the burden +of local administration. Under the Republic the provincial communities had +been grouped into the three classes, free and federate (_liberae et +foederatae_), free and immune (_liberae et immunes_), and tributary +(_stipendiariae_). In addition to these native communities there had begun +to appear in the provinces Roman and Latin colonies. Towards the close of +the Republic and in the early principate the majority of the free +communities lost their immunity from taxation and became tributary. Some +of them exchanged the status of federate allies of Rome for that of Roman +colonies. During the same period the number of colonies of both types was +greatly increased by the founding of new settlements or the planting of +colonists in provincial towns. Some of the latter also acquired the status +of Roman municipalities. Thus arose a great variety of provincial +communities, which is well illustrated by conditions in the Spanish +province of Baetica (Farther Spain) under Vespasian. At that time this +province contained nine colonies and eight municipalities of Roman +citizens; twenty-nine Latin towns; six free, three federate, and one +hundred and twenty tributary communities. + +We have already mentioned the policy of transforming rural communities +into organized municipalities. How rapidly this transformation took place +may be gathered from the fact that in Tarraconesis (Hither Spain) the +number of rural districts sunk from one hundred and fourteen to +twenty-seven between the time of Vespasian and that of Hadrian. A parallel +movement was the conversion of the native towns into Roman colonies and +municipalities, often through the transitional stage of Latin communities, +a status that now existed in the provinces only. The acquirement of Roman +or Latin status brought exemption from the poll-tax, while the former +opened the way to all the civil and military offices of the empire. An +added advantage was won with the charter of a Roman colony, for this +usually involved immunity from the land tax also. The last step in the +Romanization of the provincial towns was Caracalla’s edict of 212 A. D. +which conferred Roman citizenship upon all non-Roman municipalities +throughout the empire. + +*The three Gauls and Egypt.* From this municipalization of the provinces +two districts were at first excluded on grounds of public policy. These +districts were the three Gauls (Aquitania, Lugdunensis and Belgica) and +Egypt. At the time of its conquest Gaul was a rich agricultural country, +with sharply defined tribal communities, but little or no city +development. This condition Augustus judged well adapted, under strict +imperial control, to furnishing recruits and supplies of money and kind +for the great army of the Rhine. Therefore he continued the division of +Gaul in tribal units (_civitates_), sixty-four in number, each controlled +by its native nobility. His policy was in general adhered to for about two +hundred years, but in the course of the third century the municipal system +was introduced by converting the chief town of each _civitas_ into a +municipality with the rest of the _civitas_ as its _territorium_ or +district under its administrative control. + +In Egypt Augustus by right of conquest was the heir of the Ptolemies and +was recognized by the Egyptians proper as “king of upper Egypt and king of +lower Egypt, lord of the two lands, _autocrator_, son of the Sun.” For the +Greek residents he was an absolute deified ruler of the Hellenistic type. +Thus Egypt, although a part of the Roman empire, was looked upon as +subject to the rule of the princeps alone. And, as in the theory of +government, so in the political institutions of the country the Romans +adapted to their purposes existing conditions in place of introducing +radical changes. + +In the time of Augustus there were three Greek towns in Egypt, Alexandria +the capital, Ptolemais and Naucratis. To these Hadrian added a third, +Antinoopolis. Ptolemais, Naucratis and Antinoopolis enjoyed municipal +institutions, but Alexandria because of the turbulence of its population +was ruled by imperial officials following the Ptolemaic practice. The rest +of the population of the country lived in villages throughout the Nile +Valley, which was divided for administrative purposes into thirty-six +districts called nomes (_nomoi_). The bulk of the land of Egypt was +imperial or public domain land, and the great majority of the Egyptian +population were tenants on the imperial domain. For the collection of the +land tax, poll tax, professional and other taxes, for the supervision of +irrigation, and for the maintenance of the public records of the +cultivated acreage and the population (for which a census was taken every +fourteen years) there had been developed a highly organized bureaucracy +with central offices at Alexandria and agents in each of the nomes. This +system of government was maintained by the Romans, and profoundly +influenced the organization of the imperial civil service. At the head of +the administration of Egypt stood the prefect, an equestrian because of +his position as a personal employee of the princeps, and because the power +concentrated in his hands would have proved a dangerous temptation to a +senator. The chief burden laid upon Egypt was to supply one third of the +grain consumed at Rome, or about 5,000,000 bushels annually. This amount +was drawn partly from the land tax which was paid in kind and partly from +grain purchased by the government. + +The first step towards spreading municipal government throughout all Egypt +was taken in 202 A. D., when Septimius Severus organized a _boule_, or +senate of the Greek type, in Alexandria and in the metropolis or seat of +administration of each nome. His object was to create in each metropolis a +body which could be made to assume definite responsibilities in connection +with the administration. However, it was not until after Diocletian that +these villages received a full municipal organization. + +The principate’s greatest service to the provinces was the gift of two and +a half centuries of orderly government, which led in many quarters to a +material development unequalled in these regions before or since. It is in +these centuries that the history of Rome becomes the history of the +provinces. At the opening of the period the Italians occupied a privileged +position within the empire, at its close they and their one-time subjects +were on the same level. The army and the senatorial and equestrian orders +had been thoroughly provincialized, and the emperors had come to be as a +rule of provincial birth. Rome was still the seat of the administration, +but this and the corn dole to the city proletariat were the only things +that distinguished it from a provincial city. + +The imperial government of Rome had crushed out all vestiges of national +loyalty among the peoples it had absorbed, and had failed to create any +political institutions which would have permitted the provincials, as +such, to have participated in the government of the empire. With the +gradual decline of municipal autonomy the great mass of the provincials +were deprived of the last traces of an independent political life. The +provincial councils established for the maintenance of the imperial cult +did indeed occasionally voice the complaints of the provincials but never +acquired active political powers. And that the Roman administration proved +a heavy burden is attested by the numerous complaints against the weight +of taxation and the necessity which many emperors felt of remitting the +arrears of tribute. + + + + V. MUNICIPAL LIFE + + +The Roman empire was at bottom an aggregate of locally self-governing +communities, which served as units for conscription, taxation and +jurisdiction. They were held together by the army and the civil service, +and were united by the bonds of a common Graeco-Roman civilization. These +municipalities were of two general types, the Hellenic in the East and the +Latin in the West. + +The Hellenic municipalities were developments from the _poleis_, or +city-states, which existed prior to the Roman conquest in Greece and the +Hellenized areas of Asia and Africa. Municipal towns organized in these +areas subsequent to the Roman occupation were of the same type. Their +language of government, as well as of general intercourse, was Greek. The +characteristic political institutions of the Hellenic municipalities were +a popular assembly, a council or _boule_ and annual magistrates. The +assembly had the power to initiate legislation; the council and +magistrates were elected by it or were chosen by lot. But even under the +Roman republic these democratic institutions were considerably modified in +the interests of the wealthier classes. Timocratic constitutions were +established with required property qualifications for citizenship and for +the council and offices. The principate saw a further development along +the same lines. The assemblies lost their right to initiate legislation, a +power which passed to the magistrates, while the council tended to become +a body of ex-magistrates who held their seats for life. However, in spite +of this approximation to the Latin type, the Greek official terminology +remained unchanged throughout the first three centuries A. D. + +The Latin type of municipality was that which developed on Italian soil +with the extension of Roman domination over the peninsula, and which was +given uniformity by the legislation of Julius Caesar. With the +Romanization of the western part of the empire it spread to Africa, Spain, +Gaul, Britain, Germany and the Danubian provinces. In spite of the +distinctions in status between Roman and Latin colonies and _municipia_, +all these classes of municipalities were of the same general type which is +revealed to us in the Julian Municipal Law (45 B. C.), the charter of the +Roman _Colonia Genetiva Julia_ (44 B. C.), and those of the Latin +municipalities of Malaca and Salpensa (81–84 A. D.). + +The constitutions of these municipalities were patterned closely after +that of Rome, although certain titles, like those of consul and Senate +were reserved for the capital city. Like Rome, the municipal towns had +their officials, their council (_curia_, _ordo_), and their plebs. The +chief magistrates were a pair of duovirs (or at times a college of +quattuovirs), who were assisted by two aediles, and two quaestors The +duovirs were in charge of the local administration of justice, and in +general conducted the public affairs of the community. Every fifth year +the duovirs were called _quinquennales_ and took the census. The aediles +had charge of public works, and market and police regulations, while the +quaestors were the local treasury officials. All the officials were +elected by popular vote, but a definite property qualification was +required of each candidate. If no candidates presented themselves for any +particular office, provision was made for the nomination of candidates who +must serve if elected. At his election each magistrate paid into the +treasury, or expended in accordance with the direction of the council, a +definite sum of money (_summa honoraria_), which varied for each office in +different communities. Oftentimes these officers did not restrict +themselves to the required sum but took this opportunity for displaying +their municipal loyalty. As other prominent citizens followed their +example the municipalities were richly provided with useful and ornamental +public works donated by the richer classes. Thus the municipal offices, +being unsalaried, were a heavy drain upon the resources of their holders, +but at the same time they offered almost the sole opportunity for +gratifying the political ambitions of the population of the provinces. In +addition to these civil officials, each community had its colleges of +pontiffs and augurs. + +The members of the _curia_ were called _decuriones_, and were usually one +hundred in number. They comprised those who had held some local +magistracy, and others having the requisite property qualification who +were enrolled directly (_adlecti_) in the council. The council supervised +the work of the magistrates and really directed the municipal +administration. As in early Rome, so in the municipalities the people were +grouped in _curiae_, which were the voting units in the local assembly or +_comitia_. This assembly elected the magistrates and had legislative +powers corresponding to those of the Roman assemblies. However, in the +course of the second century A. D. these legislative powers passed into +the hands of the council, whose decrees became the sole form of municipal +legislation. + +*The collegia.* While the plebs of Rome and the municipalities alike had +little opportunity for political activity they found a compensation in the +social life of their guilds or colleges. These were associations of +persons who had some common tie, such as a common trade or profession, a +common worship, or the humble desire to secure for themselves a decent +burial by mutual coöperation. Thus arose professional, religious, and +funerary colleges. The organization of the colleges was modelled on that +of the municipalities. They had their patrons, their presidents +(_magistri_, or _quinquennales_), their quaestors, and their treasury +sustained by initiation fees, monthly dues, fines, contributions, gifts +and legacies. The membership was called plebs or _populus_. The chief +factor in the life of the colleges was the social element and their most +important gatherings were for the purpose of holding a common banquet. The +professional colleges in no way corresponded to the modern trades unions; +they attempted no collective bargaining with regard to wages, prices or +working hours, although they did not altogether neglect the common +interests of their profession. + +Apparently until late republican times no restrictions had been placed +upon the forming of such collegiate associations, but in 64 B. C. all such +unions in Rome had been abolished because of the disorders occasioned by +political clubs. In 58 B. C. complete freedom of association was restored, +only to be revoked again by Julius Caesar who permitted only the old and +reputable professional and religious colleges to remain in existence. +Under Augustus a law was passed which regulated for the future the +character, organization and activities of these associations. New colleges +could only be established in Italy or the provinces if sanctioned by a +decree of the Senate or edict of the princeps, and membership in an +unauthorized college was a treasonable offence. Trajan authorized the +unrestricted formation of funerary colleges (_collegia tenuiorum_) in +Rome, and Septimius Severus extended this privilege to Italy and the +provinces. Under Marcus Aurelius the colleges were recognized as juristic +persons, with power to manumit slaves and receive legacies. Not only +persons of free birth but also freedmen and slaves, and in many cases +women as well as men, were freely admitted to membership in the colleges. + +*The decline of the municipalities.* The prosperity of the empire depended +upon the prosperity of the municipalities and it is in the latter that the +first symptoms of internal decay are noticeable. These symptoms were +economic decline and the consequent loss of local autonomy. The reasons +for the economic decline are hard to trace. Among them we may perhaps +place the ruin of many of the wealthier families by the requirements of +office-holding, the withdrawal of others who were eligible for the +imperial service with its salaried offices; overtaxation, bad management +of local finances, and the disappearance of a free peasantry in the +surrounding rural districts who had furnished a market for the +manufacturers and merchants of the towns. The devastating wars of the +third century with the resultant general paralysis of trade and commerce, +plus the depopulation caused by plague and barbarian invasions, struck the +municipalities a crushing blow from which they never recovered. + +As early as the time of Trajan the imperial government found it necessary +to appoint officials called curators to reorganize the financial +conditions in one or more municipalities, sometimes those of a whole +province. At first these were irregular officials, senators or +equestrians, but by the third century they had become a fixture in +municipal administration and were chosen from among the local +_decuriones_. Another evidence of the same conditions is the change which +took place in the position of the local magistracies. In the second +century these offices were still an honor for which candidates voluntarily +presented themselves, although there were unmistakable signs that in some +districts they were coming to be regarded as a burden. In the third +century the magistracies had become an obligation resting upon the local +senatorial order, and to which appointments were made by the _curia_. The +_decurionate_ also had become a burden which all who possessed a definite +census rating must assume. To assure itself of its revenues in view of the +declining prosperity of the communities the imperial government had hit +upon the expedient of making the local decurions responsible for +collecting the taxes, and consequently had been forced to make the +decurionate an obligatory status. The _curia_ and municipal magistracies +had ended by becoming unwilling cogs in the imperial financial +administration. + +This loss of municipal independence was accompanied by the conversion of +the voluntary professional colleges into compulsory public service +corporations. From the opening of the principate the government had +depended largely upon private initiative for the performance of many +necessary services in connection with the provisioning of the city of +Rome, a task which became increasingly complicated when the state +undertook the distribution of oil under Septimius Severus, of bread in +place of grain and of cheap wine under Aurelian. Therefore such colleges +as the shipowners (_navicularii_), bakers (_pistores_), pork merchants +(_suarii_), wine merchants (_vinarii_), and oil merchants (_olerarii_) +received official encouragement. Their members individually assumed public +contracts and in course of time came to receive certain privileges because +it was recognized that they were performing services necessary to the +public welfare. Marcus Aurelius, Severus and Caracalla were among the +emperors who thus fostered the professional guilds. Gradually the idea +developed that these services were public duties (_munera_) to which the +several colleges were obligated, and hence Severus Alexander took the +initiative in founding new colleges until all the city trades were thus +organized. The same princeps appointed judicial representatives from each +guild and placed them under the jurisdiction of definite courts. The +colleges from this time onward operated under governmental supervision and +really formed a part of the machinery of the administration, although they +had not yet become compulsory and hereditary organizations. + +The history of the colleges in the municipalities paralleled that of the +Roman guilds, although it cannot be traced so clearly in detail. The best +known of the municipal colleges are those of the artificers (_fabri_), the +makers of rag cloths (_centonarii_), and the wood cutters (_dendrophori_). +The organization of these colleges was everywhere encouraged because their +members had the obligation of acting as a local fire brigade, but in the +exercise of their trades they were not in the service of their respective +communities. + +It was in the latter part of the third century, when the whole fabric of +society seemed threatened with destruction, that the state, with the +object of maintaining organized industry and commerce, placed upon the +properties of the members of the various colleges in Rome and in the +municipalities the burden of maintaining the work of these corporations; a +burden which soon came also to be laid upon the individual members +thereof. In this way the plebeian class throughout the empire sank to the +status of laborers in the service of the state. + + + + VI. THE COLONATE OR SERFDOM + + +While the municipal decurions, and the Roman and municipal plebs had thus +sunk to the position of fiscally exploited classes, the bulk of the +agricultural population of the empire had fallen into a species of serfdom +known to the Romans as the colonate, from the use of the word _colonus_ to +denote a tenant farmer. This condition arose under varying circumstances +in the different parts of the empire, but its development in Italy and the +West was much influenced by the situation in some of the eastern +provinces, where the peasantry were in a state of quasi-serfdom prior to +the Roman conquest. + +*Egypt.* In Egypt under the Ptolemies the inhabitants of village +communities were compelled to perform personal services to the state, +including the cultivation of royal land not let out on contract, each +within the boundaries of the community in which he was registered (his +_idia_). With the introduction of Roman rule this theory of the _idia_ was +given greater precision. All the land of each village had to be tilled by +the residents thereof, either as owners or tenants. At times, indeed, the +inhabitants of one village might be forced to cultivate vacant lands at a +distance. During the seasons of sowing and harvest the presence of every +villager was required in his _idia_. The crushing weight of taxation, +added to the other obligations of the peasantry caused many of them to +flee from their _idia_, and this led to an increasing amount of unleased +state land. As a large number of private estates had developed, chiefly +because of the encouragement extended to those who brought waste land +under cultivation, the government forced the property holders to assume +the contracts for the vacant public lands in their districts. With the +introduction of the municipal councils in the course of the third century, +these were made responsible for the collection of the taxes of each nome. +To enable the councillors, who were property holders, to fulfill this +obligation, their tenants were forbidden to leave their holdings. And so, +as state or private tenants, the peasants came to be bound to the soil. + +The development in Asia Minor was similar. There the royal lands of the +Seleucids became the public land of Rome, and out of this the Roman +magnates of the later Republic developed vast estates which in turn were +concentrated in the hands of Augustus. These imperial domains were +cultivated by peasants, who lived in village communities and paid a yearly +rental for the land they occupied. The rest of the land of Asia formed the +territories dependent upon the Greek cities, and was occupied by a native +population who were in part free peasants settled in villages. On the +imperial domains the village came to be the _idia_ to which the peasant +was permanently attached for the performance of his liturgies or +obligatory services, while on the municipal territories the agricultural +population was bound to the soil as tenants of the municipal landholders, +the local senators, upon whom had been placed the responsibility for the +payment of the taxes of their municipalities. + +*Africa.* In Africa the transformation was effected differently. There, at +the opening of the principate, outside of the municipal territories, the +land fell into _ager publicus_, private estates of Roman senators and +imperial domains. Under the early emperors, particularly Nero, the bulk of +the private estates passed by legacy and confiscation into the control of +the princeps, who also took over the administration of the public domain +in so far as it was not absorbed in new municipal areas. This domain land +was divided into large districts (_tractus_, _regiones_) which were +directly administered by imperial procurators. Each district comprised a +number of estates (_saltus_, _fundi_). Whatever slave labor had at one +time been used in African agricultural operations was, by the early +principate, largely displaced by free laborers, called _coloni_. These +_coloni_ were either Italian immigrants or tributary native holders of the +public land. + +The estates were usually managed as follows. The procurators leased them +to tenant contractors (_conductores_), who retained a part of their lease +holds under their own supervision, and sublet the remainder to tenant +farmers (_coloni_). The relation of these _coloni_ to the contractors as +well as to the owners of private estates or their bailiffs (_vilici_), was +regulated by an edict of a certain Mancia, apparently a procurator under +the Flavians. By this edict the _coloni_ were obliged to pay a definite +proportion of their crop as rental, and in addition to render a certain +number of days’ work, personally and with their teams, on the land of the +person from whom they held their lease. The _coloni_ comprised both +landless residents on the estates and small landholders from neighboring +villages. They were encouraged to occupy vacant domain land and bring it +under cultivation. Over plough land thus cultivated they obtained the +right of occupation for life, but orchard land became an hereditary +possession, while in both cases the occupant was required to pay rental in +kind to the state. Hadrian also tried to further the development of +peasant landholders by permitting the _coloni_ to occupy any lands not +tilled by the middlemen, and giving them rights of possession over all +types of land. However, the forced services still remained and these +constituted the chief grievance of the _coloni_. And here the government +was on the horns of a dilemma, for if the middlemen were restrained from +undue exactions often large areas remained untilled, and if the _coloni_ +were oppressed they absconded and left their holdings without tenants. + +It was in the course of the third century that the failure to create an +adequate class of independent small farmers caused the state to fall back +upon the development of large private estates as the only way of keeping +the land under cultivation and maintaining the public revenues. As a +result of this change of policy the middlemen were transformed from +tenants into proprietors, and, like the landholders of Egypt, they were +forced to assume the lease of vacant public land adjacent to their +estates. But to make it possible for the proprietors to fulfill this +obligation the state had to give them control over the labor needed to +till the soil. Hence the _coloni_ were forbidden to leave the estates +where they had once established themselves as tenants. In Africa the +estate became the _idia_ or _origo_ corresponding to the village in Egypt. +In the municipal territories the landholders of the towns played the rôle +of the middlemen on the imperial domains. + +*Italy.* In Italy, unlike Africa, conditions upon the private, rather than +the imperial, domains determined the rise of the colonate. At the close of +the Republic the land of Italy was occupied by the _latifundia_ and +peasant holdings, the former of which were by far the most important +factor in agricultural life. It will be recalled that the _latifundia_ +were great plantations and ranches whose development had been facilitated +by an abundant supply of cheap slave labor. However, even in the first +century B. C. these plantations were partly tilled by free peasants, +either as tenants or day laborers, and under the principate there was a +gradual displacement of slaves by free _coloni_. The causes for this +transformation lay in the cutting off of the main supply of slaves through +the suppression of the slave-trading pirates and the cessation of +aggressive foreign wars, the decrease in the number of slaves through +manumissions, the growth of humanitarian tendencies which checked their +ruthless exploitation, and the realization that the employment of free +labor was in the long run more profitable than that of slaves, +particularly when the latter were becoming increasingly expensive to +procure. The _coloni_ worked the estates of the landowners for a certain +proportion of the harvest. As elsewhere, in Italy it was fiscal necessity +which converted the free _coloni_ into serfs. With the spread of waste +lands, due partly to a decline of the population, the state intervened on +behalf of the landlords as it had in the provinces and attached the +peasants to the domain where they had once been voluntary tenants. +Elsewhere throughout the empire, although the process cannot be traced in +detail, a similar transformation took place. + +Perhaps the ultimate responsibility for the development of the colonate +may rest upon the attempt of the imperial government to incorporate within +the empire vast territories in a comparatively low state of civilization, +and upon the fiscal system whereby it was designed that the expenses +imposed by this policy should be met. In the West the administration +strove to develop a strong class of prosperous peasants as state tenants; +in the East its object was to maintain this class which was already in +existence. But the financial needs of the state caused such a heavy burden +to be laid upon the agricultural population that the ideal of a prosperous +free peasantry proved impossible of realization. The ravages of war and +plague in the second and third centuries also fell heavily upon the +peasants. As a last resource to check the decline of agriculture the +government placed the small farmer at the disposal of the rich landlord +and made him a serf. The results were oppression, poverty, lack of +initiative, a decline in the birth rate, flight and at the end an increase +of uncultivated, unproductive land. The transplanting of conquered +barbarians within the empire swelled the class of the _coloni_ but proved +only a partial palliative to the general shrinkage of the agricultural +elements. But the converse to the development of the colonate was the +creation of a powerful class of landholders who were the owners of large +domains exempt from the control of municipal authorities. + + + + + CHAPTER XX + + + RELIGION AND SOCIETY + + + + I. SOCIETY UNDER THE PRINCIPATE + + +*Imperial Rome.* Roman society under the Principate exhibits in general +the same characteristics as during the last century of the Republic. Rome +itself was a thoroughly cosmopolitan city, where the concentration of +wealth and political power attracted the ambitious, the adventurous and +the curious from all lands. Whole quarters were occupied by various +nationalities, most prominent among whom were the Greeks, the Syrians, and +the Jews, speaking their own languages and plying their native trades. +With the freeborn foreign population mingled the thousands of slaves and +freedmen of every race and tongue. During the first and second century the +population of Rome must have been in the neighborhood of one million, but +in the third century it began to decline as a result of pestilence and the +general bankruptcy of the empire. Inevitably in such a city there were the +sharpest contrasts between riches and poverty, and the luxurious palaces +of the wealthy were matched by the squalid tenements of the proletariat. +In outward appearance Rome underwent a transformation which made her +worthy to be capital of so vast an empire. This was largely due to the +great number of public buildings erected by the various emperors and to +the lavish employment of marble in public and private architecture from +the time of Augustus. The temples, basilicas, fora, aqueducts, public +baths, theatres, palaces, triumphal arches, statues, and parks combined to +arouse the enthusiastic admiration of travelers and the pride of its +inhabitants. But, although after the great fire of 64 A. D. many +improvements were made in the plan of the city, restrictions placed upon +the height of buildings, and fireproof construction required for the lower +stories, still the streets remained narrow and dingy, the lofty tenements +were of flimsy construction, in perpetual danger of collapse, and +devastating conflagrations occurred periodically. + +The task of feeding the city plebs and providing for their entertainment +was a ruinous legacy left by the Republic to the principate. Although the +number of recipients of free corn was not increased after Augustus, the +public spectacles became ever more numerous and more magnificent. Under +Tiberius eighty-seven days of the year were regularly occupied by these +entertainments but by the time of Marcus Aurelius there were one hundred +and thirty-five such holidays. In addition came extraordinary festivals to +celebrate special occasions, like the one hundred and twenty-three day +carnival given by Trajan at his second Dacian triumph in 106 A. D. The +spectacles were of three main types; the chariot races in the circus, the +gladiatorial combats and animal baiting in the amphitheatre, and the +dramatic and other performances in the theatre. The expense of these +celebrations fell upon the senatorial order and the princeps. Indeed the +most important function of the consulship, praetorship and, until its +disappearance in the third century, the aedileship, came to be the +celebration of the regular festivals. The sums provided for such purposes +by the state were entirely inadequate and so the cost had to be met +largely from the magistrates’ private resources. The extraordinary +spectacles were all given at the expense of the princeps who also at times +granted subventions to favored senators from the imperial purse. The cost +of the public shows placed as heavy a drain upon the fortunes of the +senatorial order as did the _summa honoraria_ upon the holders of +municipal offices. + +A new feature of Roman society under the principate was the growth of the +imperial court. In spite of the wishes of Augustus and some of his +successors to live on a footing of equality with the rest of the nobility, +it was inevitable that the exceptional political power of the princeps +should give a corresponding importance to his household organization. +Definite offices developed within the imperial household not only for the +conduct of public business but also for the control of slaves and freedmen +in the domestic service of the princeps. The chief household officials +were the chamberlain _a cubiculo_ and the chief usher (_ab admissione_). +Because of their intimate personal association with the princeps their +influence over him was very great, and as a rule they did not hesitate to +use their position to enrich themselves at the expense of those who sought +the imperial favor. From among the senators and equestrians the princeps +chose a number of intimate associates and advisors who were called his +“friends.” When forming part of his cortege away from Rome they were known +as his companions (_comites Augusti_). In connection with the imperial +audiences a certain degree of ceremonial developed, with fixed forms of +salutation which differentiated the rank and station of those attending +these functions. In the society of the capital the personal tastes of the +princeps set the fashion of the day. + +*Clients.* Characteristic of the times was the new form of clientage which +was a voluntary association of master and paid retainer. Under the +republic eminent men had throngs of adherents to greet them at their +morning reception and accompany them to the forum. It had now become +obligatory for practically every man of wealth to maintain such a retinue, +which should be at his beck and call at all hours of the day and be +prepared to serve him in various ways. In return the patron helped to +support his clients with fees, food, and gifts of clothing, and rendered +them other favors. The clients were recruited partly from freedmen, partly +from citizens of low birth, and partly from persons of the better class +who had fallen upon evil days. In general the lot of these pensioners does +not seem to have been a very happy one—even the slaves of their patrons +despised them—and their large numbers are to be attributed to the superior +attractions of city over country life, and to the stigma which in Rome +rested upon industrial employment. + +*Slaves and freedmen.* In the early principate slave-holding continued on +as large a scale as in the late republic. The palaces of the wealthy in +Rome could count slaves by hundreds; on the larger plantations they were +numbered by thousands. Trained slaves were also employed in great numbers +in various trades and industries. Their treatment varied according to +their employment and the character of their owners, but there was a steady +progress towards greater humanitarianism, largely due to the influence of +philosophic doctrines. In the age of the Antonines this produced +legislation which limited the power of the master over his slave. As time +went on the number of slaves steadily diminished, in part because of the +cessation of continual foreign wars after the time of Augustus, in part +because of the great increase of manumissions. Not only were large numbers +set free at the death of their owners as a final act of generosity, but +also many found it profitable to liberate their slaves and provide them +with capital to engage in business for themselves. Many slaves also had +good opportunities for accumulating a small store of money (_peculium_) +with which they could purchase their freedom. + +The result of these wholesale manumissions was a tremendous increase in +the freedmen class. Foreseeing the effect that this would have upon the +Roman citizen body, Augustus endeavored to restrict the right of +emancipation. By the _lex Fufia Caninia_ (2 B. C.) testamentary +manumissions were limited to a fixed proportion of the total number of +slaves held by the deceased, and not more than one hundred allowed in any +case. The _lex Aelia Sentia_ (4 A. D.) placed restrictions upon the +master’s right of manumission during his lifetime, and the Junian law of +about the same time prevented slaves liberated without certain formalities +from receiving Roman citizenship although granting them the status of +Latins. Even freedmen who became Romans lacked the right of voting or of +holding office in Rome or the municipalities, unless they received from +the princeps the right to wear the gold ring which gave them the +privileges of freeborn citizens. In spite of these laws the number of the +freedmen grew apace, and there is no doubt that in the course of the +principate the racial characteristics of the population of Rome and of the +whole peninsula of Italy underwent a complete transformation as a result +of the infusion of this new element, combined with the emigration of +Italians to the provinces. + +The importance of the rôle played by the freedmen in Roman society was in +proportion to their numbers. From them were recruited the lower ranks of +the civil service, they filled every trade and profession, the commerce of +the empire was largely in their hands, they became the managers of estates +and of business undertakings of all sorts. The eager pursuit of money at +all costs was their common characteristic, and “freedman’s wealth” was a +proverbial expression for riches quickly acquired. The more successful of +their class became landholders in Italy and aped the life and manners of +the nobility. Their lack of good taste, so common to the _nouveaux riches_ +of all ages, afforded a good target for the jibes of satirists and is +caricatured in the novel of Petronius. We have already seen the influence +of the few among them who by the emperors’ favor attained positions of +political importance. Despise the freedmen though they might, the Romans +found them indispensable for the conduct of public and private business. + +*Commerce and industry.* The restoration of peace within the empire, the +suppression of piracy, the extension of the Roman military highways +throughout all the provinces, the establishment of a single currency valid +for the whole empire, and the low duties levied at the provincial customs +frontiers combined to produce an hitherto unexampled development of +commercial enterprise. Traders from all parts of the provinces thronged +the ports of Italy, and one merchant of Hierapolis in Phrygia has left a +record of his seventy-two voyages there. But Roman commerce was not +confined within the Roman borders, it also flourished with outside +peoples, particularly those of the East. From the ports of Egypt on the +Red Sea large merchant fleets sailed for southern Arabia and India, while +a brisk caravan trade through the Parthian and Bactrian kingdoms brought +the silks of China to the Roman markets. Even the occasional presence of +Roman merchants in China is vouched for by Chinese records. Among all the +races of the empire the most active in these mercantile ventures were the +Syrians, whose presence may be traced not only in the commercial centers +of the East, but also in the harbors of Italy and throughout all the +western provinces. + +The increased opportunities for trading stimulated the development of +manufacturing, for not only could raw materials be more easily procured +but towns favorably situated for the manufacture of particular types of +goods could find a wider market for their products. However, industrial +organization never attained a high degree of development. In the +production of certain wares, such as articles of bronze, silver, glass, +and, especially, pottery and bricks, the factory system seems to have been +employed, with a division of labor among specialized artisans. In general, +however, this was not the case and each manufactured article was the +product of one man’s labor. In Italy, and probably throughout the western +provinces, the bulk of the work of this sort was done by slaves and +freedmen. + +At the same time the art of agriculture had been developed to a very high +degree, and Columella, an agricultural writer of the time of Nero, shows a +good knowledge of the principles of fertilization and rotation of crops. + +However, this material prosperity, which attained its height early in the +second century of our era, declined from reasons which have already been +described until the whole empire reached a state of economic bankruptcy in +the course of the third century. The progressive bankruptcy of the +government is shown by the steady deterioration of the coinage. Under Nero +the denarius, the standard silver coin, was first debased. This debasement +continued until under Septimius Severus it became one half copper. +Caracalla issued a new silver coin, the Antoninianus, one and a half times +the weight of the denarius of the day. Both these coins rapidly +deteriorated in quality until they became mere copper coins with a wash of +silver. Aurelian made the first attempt to correct this evil by issuing +only the Antoninianus and giving this a standard value. + +To pass a moral judgment upon society under the principate is a difficult +task. The society depicted in the satires of Juvenal and in Martial, in +the court gossip of Suetonius, or in the polemics of the Christian writers +seems hopelessly corrupt and vicious. But their picture is not complete. +The letters of Pliny reveal an entirely different world with a high +standard of human conduct, whose ideals are expressed in the philosophic +doctrines of Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. And the funerary inscriptions +from the municipalities, where life was more wholesome and simple than in +the large cities, pay a sincere tribute to virtue in all its forms. The +luxurious extravagance of imperial Rome has been equalled and surpassed in +more recent times, and, apart from the vices of slavery and the arena, +modern society has little wherewith to reproach that of the principate. + + + + II. THE INTELLECTUAL WORLD + + +*Literature.* The principate had two literatures; one Greek, the other +Roman. But the forms of literary production were the same in each, and the +Roman authors took rank with those of Greece in their respective fields. +For the Romans could boast that they had adapted the Latin tongue to the +literary types of the older culture world, while preserving in their work +a spirit genuinely Roman. + +*The Augustan age.* The feeling of relief produced by the cessation of the +civil wars, and the hopes engendered by the policy of Augustus inspired a +group of writers whose genius made the age of Augustus the culminating +point in the development of Roman poetry, like the age of Cicero in Roman +prose. Foremost among the poets of the new era was Virgil (70–19 B. C.), +the son of a small landholder of Mantua, whose _Aeneid_, a national epic, +the glorification alike of Rome and of the Julian house, placed him with +Homer in the front rank of epic poets for all time. His greatest +contemporary was Horace (65–8 B. C.), the son of a freedman from South +Italy. It was Horace who first wrote Latin lyrics in the complicated +meters of Greece, and whose genial satire and insight into human nature +have combined with his remarkable happiness of phrase to make him the +delight of cultivated society both in antiquity and modern times. The +leading elegiac poets were Propertius, Tibullus and Ovid (43 B. C.–17 +A. D.). In his _Fasti_ and _Metamorphoses_ the latter recounted with +masterly narrative skill the legends of Greek and Roman mythology. His +elegies reveal the spirit of the pleasure-seeking society of new Rome and +show the ineffectiveness of the attempt of Augustus to bring about a moral +regeneration of the Roman people. This, probably, was the true ground for +his banishment from Rome. Livy (59 B. C.–17 A. D.) was the one prose +writer of note in the Augustan age. His history of Rome is a great work of +art, an _Aeneid_ in prose, which celebrated the past greatness of Rome and +the virtues whereby this had been attained—those virtues which Augustus +aimed to revive. + +*The age of Nero.* From Augustus to Nero there are no names of note in +Roman literature, but under the latter came a slight reawakening of +literary productivity. Seneca (4 B. C.–65 A. D.), a Spaniard from Corduba, +Nero’s tutor, minister and victim, is best known as the exponent of the +practical Stoic religion and the only Roman tragedian whose works have +survived. His nephew Lucan (39–65 A. D.) portrayed in his epic, the +_Pharsalia_, the struggle of the republicans against Julius Caesar. His +work shows a reawakening of a vain republican idealism and is the +counterpart to the Stoic opposition in the senate. Petronius (d. 66 +A. D.), the arbiter of the refinements of luxury at Nero’s court, +displayed his originality by giving, in the form of a novel, a skilful and +lively picture of the society of the freedmen in the Greek municipalities +of South Italy. + +*The Flavian era.* Under the Flavians, Pliny the Elder (23–79 A. D.), a +native of Cisalpine Gaul, compiled his _Natural History_, which he aimed +to make an encyclopaedia of information on the whole world of nature. It +is a work of monumental industry but displays a lack of critical acumen +and scientific training. At about the same time there taught in Rome the +Spaniard Quintilian (d. 95 A. D.), who wrote on the theory and practice of +rhetoric, expressing in charming prose the Ciceronian ideal of life and +education. His countryman Martial (d. 102 A. D.) gave in satiric epigrams +glimpses of the meaner aspects of contemporary life. + +*Tacitus and his contemporaries.* The freer atmosphere of the government +of Nerva and Trajan allowed the senatorial aristocracy to voice feelings +carefully suppressed under the terror of Domitian. Their spokesman was +Tacitus (55–116 A. D.), a man of true genius, who ranks next to Thucydides +as the representative of artistic historical writing in ancient times. His +_Treatise on the Orators_, his _Life of Agricola_, and his descriptive +account of the German peoples (_Germania_) were preludes to two great +historical works, the _Annals_ and the _Histories_, which together covered +the period from 14–96 A. D. His attitude is strongly influenced by the +persecutions of senators under Domitian, and is the expression of his +personal animosity and that of the descendants of the older republican +nobility towards the principate in general. A friend of Tacitus, the +younger Pliny (62–113 A. D.), imitated Cicero in collecting and publishing +his letters. This correspondence is valuable as an illustration of the +life and literary diletantism of educated circles of the day, as also for +the light it throws upon the administrative policies of Trajan. An +embittered critic of the age was the satirist Juvenal (d. about 130 +A. D.), from Aquinum in Italy, who wrote from a stoical standpoint but +with little learning and narrow vision. Somewhat later the first literary +history of Rome was written by Suetonius (75–150 A. D.), who is better +known as the author of the _Lives of the Caesars_ (from Julius to +Domitian), a series of gossipy narratives which set the style for future +historical writing in Rome. + +With Hadrian begins the period of archaism in Roman literature, that is, +an artificial return to the Latin of Cato, Ennius and Plautus, an +unmistakable symptom of intellectual sterility. + +*Provincial literature.* The progress of Romanization in the provinces is +clearly marked by the participation of provincials in the literary life of +Rome. From the Cisalpine, from Narbonese Gaul, and from Spain, men with +literary instincts and ability had been drawn to the capital as the sole +place where their talents would find recognition. But gradually some of +the provinces developed a Latin culture of their own. The first evidences +of this change came from the age of the Antonines, when a Latin literature +made its appearance in the province of Africa. Its earliest representative +was the sophist Apuleius, the author of the romance entitled _The Golden +Ass_. + +*Christian literature.* It was in Africa also that a Latin Christian +literature first arose, and it was the African Christian writers who made +Latin the language of the church in Italy and the West. Of these Christian +apologists the earliest and most influential was Tertullian of Carthage, +whose literary activity falls in the time of the Severi. Cyprian and +Arnobius continued his task in the third century. In Minucius Felix, a +contemporary of Tertullian, the Christian community at Rome found an able +defender of the faith. + +*Jurisprudence.* In all other sciences the Romans sat at the feet of the +Greeks, but in that of jurisprudence they displayed both independence and +originality. The growth of Roman jurisprudence was not hampered but +furthered by the establishment of the principate, for the development of a +uniform administrative system for the whole empire called for the +corresponding development of a uniform system of law. The study of law was +stimulated by the practice of Augustus and his successors who gave to +prominent jurists the right of publicly giving opinions (_jus publice +respondendi_) by his authority on the legal merits of cases under trial. A +further encouragement was given by Hadrian’s organization of his judicial +council. The great service of the jurists of the principate was the +introduction into Roman law of the principles of equity founded on a +philosophic conception of natural law and the systematic organization and +interpretation of the body of the civil law. Roman jurisprudence reached +its height between the accession of Hadrian and the death of Severus +Alexander. The chief legal writers of this period were Julian in the time +of Hadrian, Gaius in the age of the Antonines, his contemporary Scaevola, +the three celebrated jurists of the time of the Severi—Papinian, Paul and +Ulpian, all pretorian prefects,—and lastly Modestine, who closes the long +line of classic juris-consults. + +*Greek literature.* If we except the brief period of the Augustan age, the +Greek literature of the principate stands both in quantity and quality +above the Latin. Even Augustus had recognized Greek as the language of +government in the eastern half of the empire, and with the gradual +abandonment of his policy of preserving the domination of the Italians +over the provincials Greeks stood upon the same footing as the Latin +speaking provincials in the eyes of the imperial government. In Rome the +Greek author received the same recognition as his Roman _confrère_. Greek +historians, geographers, scientists, rhetoricians and philosophers wrote +not only for Greeks, but for the educated circles of the whole empire. And +it was in Greek that the princeps Marcus Aurelius chose to write his +Meditations. Nor should it be forgotten that Greek was the language of the +early Christian writers, beginning with the Apostle Paul. By the opening +of the third century the champions of the new faith had begun to rank +among the leading authors of the day in the East as well as in the West. + +*Plutarch (c. 50–120 A. D.) and Lucian (c. 125–200 A. D.)**.* The best +known names in the Greek literature of the principate are Plutarch and +Lucian. Plutarch’s _Parallel Lives_ of famous Greeks and Romans possess a +perpetual freshness and charm. Lucian was essentially a writer of prose +satires, a journalist who was “the last great master of Attic eloquence +and Attic wit.” In the realm of science, Ptolemy the astronomer, and Galen +the student of medicine, both active in the second century, profoundly +influenced their own and subsequent times. + +*Philosophy.* As we have seen, the doctrines of Stoicism continued to +appeal to the highest instincts of Roman character. Besides Seneca and +Marcus Aurelius this creed found a worthy exponent in the ex-slave +Epictetus, who taught between 90 and 120 A. D. at Nicopolis in Epirus. +With Plotinus (204–270 A. D.), Greek philosophy became definitely +religious in character, resting upon the basis of revelation and belief, +not upon that of reason. + +*Art.* Roman art found its chief inspiration in, and remained in close +contact with, Roman public life. The artists of the principate may well +have been Greeks, but they wrought for Romans and had to satisfy Roman +standards of taste. Realism and careful attention to details may be said +to be the two great characteristics of Roman art. This is true both of +Roman sculpture, which excelled in statues, portrait busts, and the +bas-reliefs depicting historical events with which public monuments were +richly decorated, and of the repoussé and relief work which adorned table +ware and other articles of silver, bronze and pottery. The Roman fondness +for costly decorations is well illustrated by the elaborateness of the +frescoes and the mosaics of the villas of Pompeii, and other sites where +excavations have revealed the interiors of Roman public and private +buildings. The erection of the many temples, basilicas, baths, aqueducts, +bridges, amphitheatres and other structures in Rome, Italy and other +provinces supplied a great stimulus to Roman architecture and engineering. +It was in the use of the arch and the vault, particularly the vault of +concrete, that the Roman architects excelled, and their highest +achievements were great vaulted structures like the Pantheon and the Baths +of Caracalla. The most striking testimony to the grandeur of Rome comes +from the remains of Roman architecture in the provinces—from such imposing +ruins as the Porta Nigra of Trèves, the theatre at Orange, the Pont du +Gard near Nîmes, the bridge over the Tagus at Alcantara and the +amphitheatres of Nîmes in France and El-Djemm in Tunisia. But, like the +literature, the Roman art of the principate in time experienced a loss of +creative power. It reached its height under the Flavians and Trajan and +then a steady deterioration set in. + +*Causes of intellectual decline.* The third century A. D. witnessed a +general collapse of ancient civilization, no less striking in its cultural +than in its political and economic aspects. This cultural decline was the +result of political causes which had been gradually undermining the +foundations of a vigorous intellectual life. The culture of Greece +culminated in its scientific achievements of the third century B. C. At +that time in comparison with the Greeks the neighboring, peoples were at +best semi-barbarians; in the eastern Mediterranean the Greeks were the +dominant race, still animated by a strong love of political freedom. But +the Roman conquest with its ruthless exploitation of the provinces ruined +the Greek world economically and broke the morale of the Greek peoples, +forcing them to seek their salvation in fawning servility to Rome. The +consequence was that as the Greeks came under the dominion of Rome their +creative impulses withered, their intellectual progress ceased and their +eyes were turned backward upon their past achievements. And the Italians +themselves were on too low an intellectual level to develop a culture of +their own. They had not progressed beyond the adoption of certain aspects +of Greek culture before the century of civil wars between 133 and 30 B. C. +resulted in the establishment of a type of government which gradually +crushed out the spirit of initiative in the Latin speaking world. The +material prosperity and peace during the first two centuries of the +principate made possible the diffusion of a uniform type of culture +throughout the empire as a whole, but after the age of Augustus this is +characterized both in the East and in the West by its imitation of the +past and its lack of creative power. The third century A. D. with its long +period of civil war, foreign invasions, and economic chaos, dealt a fatal +blow to the material basis of ancient civilization. The collapse of +Graeco-Roman culture was rapid and complete, resembling the breakdown of +the civilization of the Aegean Bronze age toward the close of the second +millennium before the Christian era. Culturally, the fourth century A. D. +belongs to the Middle Ages. + + + + III. THE IMPERIAL CULT AND THE ORIENTAL RELIGIONS IN ROMAN PAGANISM + + +*The religious transformation of the Roman world.* The religious +transformation of the Roman world during the principate was fully as +important for future ages as its political transformation. This religious +development consisted in the diffusion throughout the empire of a group of +religions which originated in the countries bordering the eastern shores +of the Mediterranean and hence are generally known as Oriental cults. And +among these oriental religions are included both Judaism and Christianity. + +*The state cults.* However, the worship of the divinities of Graeco-Roman +theology by no means died out during the first three centuries of the +Christian era. It continued to flourish in the state cult of Rome, and the +municipal cults of the Italian and provincial towns. With the romanization +of the semi-barbarous provinces Graeco-Roman deities displaced or +assimilated to themselves the gods of the native populations. Druidism, +the national religion of Gaul and Britain, was suppressed chiefly because +it fostered a spirit of resistance to Roman rule. But the most widespread +and vigorous of the state cults was the worship of the princeps. + +*The imperial cult.* We have already discussed the establishment of the +imperial cult by Augustus, as a visible expression of the loyalty of the +provincials and their acknowledgment of the authority of Rome and the +princeps. We have also seen how this cult was perpetuated by the +provincial councils organized for that purpose. After the death of +Augustus the imperial cult in the provinces gradually came to include the +worship of both the ruling Augustus and the _Divi_, or deceased emperors, +who had received deification at the hands of the Senate. This practise was +established in all the eastern provinces after the time of Claudius, and +in the West under the Flavians. In Rome where the cult of the ruling +princeps was not practised, Domitian converted the temple of Augustus into +a temple of the _Divi_ or the Caesars. + +*The pagan Oriental cults.* The pagan Oriental cults whose penetration of +the European provinces is so marked a feature in the religious life of the +principate were the cults of the peoples of western Asia and Egypt which +had become Hellenized and adapted for world expansion after Alexander’s +conquest of the Persian empire. From this time onward they spread +throughout the Greek culture world but it was not until the establishment +of the world empire of Rome with its facilities for, and stimulus to, +intercourse between all peoples within the Roman frontiers that they were +able to obtain a foothold in western Europe. Their penetration of Italy +began with the official reception of the cult of the Great Mother of +Pessinus at Rome in 205 B. C., but the Roman world as a whole held aloof +from them until the close of the republic. However, during the first two +centuries of the principate they gradually made their way over the western +parts of the empire. + +The expansion of the Oriental cults followed the lines of the much +frequented trade routes along which they were carried by travelers, +merchants and colonies of oriental traders. The army cantonments were also +centers for their diffusion, not only through the agency of troops +recruited in the East but also through detachments which had seen service +there in the course of the numerous wars on the eastern frontiers. +Likewise the oriental slaves were active propagandists of their native +faiths. + +The explanation of the ready reception of these cults among all classes of +society is that they guaranteed their adherents a satisfaction which the +official religions were unable to offer. The state and municipal cults +were mainly political in character, and with the disappearance of +independent political life they lost their hold upon men who began to seek +a refuge from the miseries of the present world in the world of the spirit +and the promise of a future life. This want the Oriental cults were able +to meet with the doctrines of a personal religion far different from the +formal worship of the Graeco-Roman deities. + +Certain characteristics of doctrine and ritual were common to the majority +of the Oriental cults. They had an elaborate ritual which appealed both to +the senses and to the emotions of the worshippers. By witnessing certain +symbolic ceremonies the believer was roused to a state of spiritual +ecstasy in which he felt himself in communion with the deity, while by the +performance of sacramental rites he felt himself cleansed from the +defilements of his earthly life and fitted for a purer spiritual +existence. A professional priesthood had charge of the worship, ministered +to the needs of individuals, and conducted missionary work. To an age of +declining intellectual vigor, when men gave over the attempt to solve by +scientific methods the riddle of the universe, they spoke with the +authority of revelation, giving a comforting theological interpretation of +life. And they appealed to the conscience by imposing a rigid rule of +conduct, the observance of which would fit the believer for a happier +existence in a future life. + +The most important of these oriental divinities were the Great Mother of +Pessinus, otherwise known as Cybele, worshipped in company with the male +deity Attis; the Egyptian pair Isis and Serapis; Atayatis or the Syrian +goddess, the chief female divinity of North Syria; a number of Syrian gods +(Ba’als) named from the site of their Syrian shrines; and finally Mithra, +a deity whose cult had long formed a part of the national Iranian +religion. Towards all these cults the Roman state displayed wide +toleration, only interfering with them when their orgiastic rites came +into conflict with Roman conceptions of morality. But in spite of this +toleration it required a long time before the conservative prejudices of +the upper classes of Roman society were sufficiently undermined to permit +of their participation in these foreign rites. For one hundred years after +the introduction of the worship of the Magna Mater Romans were prohibited +from enrolling themselves in the ranks of her priesthood. A determined but +unsuccessful attempt was made by the Senate during the last century of the +republic to drive from Rome the cult of Isis, the second of these +religions to find a home in Italy, and in 42 B. C. the triumvirs erected a +temple to this goddess. Augustus, however, banished her worship beyond the +_pomerium_. But this restriction was not enforced by his successors, and +by 69 A. D. the cult of the Egyptian goddess was firmly established in the +capital. The various Syrian deities were of less significance in the +religious life of the West, although as we have seen Elagabalus set up the +worship of one of them, the Sun god of Emesa, as an official cult at Rome. + +The Oriental cult which in importance overshadowed all the rest was +Mithraism, one of the latest to cross from Asia into Europe. In +Zoroastrian theology Mithra appears as the spirit who is the chief agent +of the supreme god of light Ormuzd in his struggle against Ahriman, the +god of darkness. He is at the same time a beneficent force in the natural +world and in the moral world the champion of righteousness against the +powers of evil. Under Babylonian and Greek influences Mithra was +identified with the Sun-god, and appears in Rome with the title the +Unconquered Sun-god Mithra (_deus invictus sol Mithra_). Towards the close +of the first century A. D. Mithraism began to make its influence felt in +Rome and the western provinces, and from that time it spread with great +rapidity. Mithra, as the god of battles, was a patron deity of the +soldiers, who became his zealous missionaries in the frontier camps. His +cult was also regarded with particular favor by the emperors, whose +authority it supported by the doctrine that the ruler is the chosen of +Ormuzd and an embodiment of the divine spirit. It is not surprising then +that Aurelian, whose coins bore the legend _dominus et deus natus_ (born +god and lord), made the worship of the Unconquered Sun-god the chief cult +of the state. + +*Philosophy.* Attention has already been called to the value of Stoicism +in supplying its adherents with a highly moral code of conduct. Other +philosophical systems, notably Epicureanism, likewise inculcated +particular rules of life. But the philosophical doctrines which were best +able to hold their own with the new religions were those of Neoplatonism +and Neopythagoreanism, which came into vogue in the course of the second +century, and exhibited a combination of mysticism and idealism well suited +to the spirit of the age. + +*Astrology and magic.* Throughout the principate all classes of society +were deeply imbued with a superstitious fatalism which caused them to +place implicit belief in the efficacy of astrology and magic. Chaldean and +Egyptian astrologers enjoyed a great reputation, and were consulted on all +important questions. They were frequently banished from Rome by the +emperors who feared that their predictions might give encouragement to +their enemies. However, these very emperors kept astrologers in their own +service, and the decrees of banishment never remained long in force. The +almost universal belief in miracles and oracles caused the appearance of a +large number of imposters who throve on the credulity of their clients. +One of the most celebrated of these was the Alexander who founded a new +oracle of Aesculapius at Abonoteichus in Paphlagonia, the fame of which +spread throughout the whole empire and even beyond its borders. In his +exposé of the methods employed by this false prophet, the satirist Lucian +gives a vivid picture of the depraved superstition of his time. + +At the close of the principate the pagan world presented a great confusion +of religious beliefs and doctrines. However, the various pagan cults were +tolerant one of another, for the followers of one god were ready to +acknowledge the divinity of the gods worshipped by their neighbors. On the +contrary, the adherents of Judaism and Christianity refused to recognize +the pagan gods, and hence stood in irreconcilable opposition to the whole +pagan world. + + + + IV. CHRISTIANITY AND ITS RELATION TO THE ROMAN STATE + + +*The Jews of the Roman empire.* Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Near +East had thrown open to the Jews the whole Graeco-Macedonian world, and +Jewish settlements rapidly appeared in all its important commercial +centers. The Jewish colonies were encouraged by the Hellenistic monarchs +who granted them immunity from military service, protection in the +exercise of their religion, and a privileged judicial status in the cities +where they were established. In course of time the number of Jews in these +_diaspora_ became much greater than in Judaea itself. Although the Jews +resident outside of Syria had adopted the Greek language, and were +influenced in many ways by their contact with Hellenistic culture, they +still formed part of the religious community presided over by the High +Priest at Jerusalem, and in addition to the annual contribution of two +drachmas to the temple of Jehovah, every Jew was expected to visit +Jerusalem and offer up sacrifice in the temple at least once in the course +of his life. Moreover, they were active in proselytizing and made many +converts among the Greeks and other peoples with whom they came into +contact. However, their connection with Judaea was purely religious and +not political in character. + +The privileged status which the Jews had enjoyed in the Hellenistic states +was recognized by the Romans and was specifically confirmed by Augustus, +although this policy caused considerable dissatisfaction among their Greek +fellow townsmen. Furthermore, in deference to the peculiarity of their +religion, the Jews were not required to participate in the imperial cult. +However, the imperial government made no attempt to foster settlements of +the Jews in the western provinces, and during the early principate the +only considerable Jewish colony west of the Adriatic was that in Rome. +With the exception of Caligula, who tried to force the imperial cult upon +the Jews, the successors of Augustus did not interfere with the Jewish +religion, except to forbid its propaganda. The expulsions of the Jews from +Rome under Tiberius and Claudius were not religious persecutions but +police measures taken for the maintenance of good order within the city. + +*Christianity and Judaism.* The Christian religion had its origin in +Judaea as a result of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who was +crucified by the Roman authorities in the principate of Tiberius, after +having been condemned for blasphemy by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high +court for the enforcement of the law of Moses. From Judaea Christianity +spread to the Jewish _diaspora_ through the missionary activity of the +disciples and other followers of Jesus, particularly the Apostle Paul. +Although the Christian propaganda was not confined to these Jewish +communities, it was among them that the first Christian congregations +arose, and this, with the Jewish origin of the new faith, caused the +Christians to be regarded by the Roman government as a sect of the Jews. +In 49 A. D. Claudius banished the Jews from Rome because of disorders +among them between the Christians and the adherents of the older faith. +Nero’s persecution of the Christians in 64 A. D. was, as we have seen, not +undertaken on religious grounds, and was perhaps due to Jewish +instigation. On the whole, the Christians benefited by the attitude of +Rome towards their sect, for it gave them the benefit of the immunities +which the adherents of Judaism enjoyed. + +Although the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. brought about the +predominance of the non-Jewish element in the Christian ranks, until the +end of the rule of the Flavians the Roman official world made no +distinction between Jew and Christian. Domitian apparently exacted the +_didrachma_ from both alike. Towards the close of his reign, in 95 A. D., +this princeps executed or banished a number of Romans of senatorial rank +on charges of atheism or conversion to Judaism. Among the victims were +some who professed Christianity. At the same time the Christian +communities of Asia Minor seem to have suffered a rather serious +persecution on the part of the state. However, this may have been due to +disturbances between the Christian and the non-Christian elements in the +Greek cities, and there is no definite proof that Domitian made the +suppression of Christianity part of the public policy. + +*Christianity and the Roman state.* After Domitian, Christians were no +longer liable to the _didrachma_, and therefore lost their claim to the +privileges and exemptions of the Jews. A conflict with the secular power +was rendered inevitable by the very nature of Christianity, which was +non-Roman, non-national, and monotheistic, refusing recognition to the +cults of the state, and denying the divinity of the ruler. The Romans +regarded the imperial cult from the political standpoint and considered +the refusal to recognize the divinity of the princeps as an act of +treason. On the other hand, Christians looked upon the question as a +matter of conscience and morality and regarded the worship of the princeps +as an act of idolatry. They could pray for him, but not to him. These two +points of view were impossible of reconciliation. Furthermore, since the +worship of the state gods formed such an integral part of the public life +of each community, it was inevitable that those who refused to participate +in this worship should be looked upon as atheists and public enemies. On +another ground also the Christians were liable to punishment under the +_lex maiestatis_, namely, as forming unauthorized religious associations. +These constituted the crimes for which the Christians were actually +punished from the close of the first to the middle of the third century of +our era. + +*Popular accusations against the Christians.* However, throughout this +period the state did not take the initiative against Christians as such, +but only dealt with those individuals against whom specific charges were +laid by private initiative or the action of local magistrates. These +popular accusations charged the Christians with forming illegal +associations, with seeking the destruction of mankind (as _odiatores +humani generis_), and with perpetrating all sorts of monstrous crimes in +their religious rites. Such accusations were partly due to the belief of +the early Christian church in the immediate coming of the kingdom of +Christ, to their consequent scorn of wealth and public honors, and to the +secrecy which surrounded the exercise of their religion. + +*The imperial policy from Trajan to Maximus.* The attitude of the Roman +government towards the Christians in the early second century is clearly +seen from the correspondence between Trajan and Pliny the younger, the +governor of Bithynia in 112 A. D. This correspondence fails to reveal any +specific law prohibiting Christianity, but shows that the admission of the +name of Christian, accompanied by the refusal to worship the gods of the +state and the princeps, constituted sufficient grounds for punishment. +Thus a great deal of discretion was left to the provincial governor, who +was directed to pay no attention to anonymous accusations but who was +expected to repress Christianity whenever its spread caused conflicts with +the non-Christian element under his authority. A rescript of Hadrian to +Minucius Fundanus, proconsul of Asia, ordained that Christians should +receive the benefit of a regular trial, and that they should not be +condemned for the name, but for some definite crime, _e. g._, for treason. +An exception to the general policy of the emperors in the second century +was the persecution of the Christian community at Lyons authorized by +Marcus Aurelius. With the state straining every nerve in its struggle with +the barbarians, he regarded the Christians as defaulters to the cause of +the empire, and as unreasonable, ecstatic transgressors of the law. The +attitude of Septimius Severus towards the Christians was in harmony with +the procedure of Trajan and Hadrian. In 202 A. D. he ordered the governor +of Syria to forbid Jewish proselytizing and Christian propaganda, but +forbade that Christians should be sought out with the object of +persecution. Severus Alexander showed himself well-disposed towards +Christianity and the brief persecution of Maximinus the Thracian was +merely a spasmodic expression of hatred against those protected by his +predecessor. + +*The persecutions of the third century.* By the middle of the third +century the Christian church was in a flourishing condition. It numbered +among its adherents men in all walks of life, its leaders were men of +culture and ability, and abandoning the attitude of the early church +towards the Kingdom of Heaven, the Christians were taking an active part +in the society in which they lived. The number of the Christians was so +great as to disquiet the government, since in view of their attitude +towards the cults of the state they were still traitors in the eyes of the +law. And so in their struggle against the forces which threatened the +dissolution of the empire, certain of its rulers sought to stamp out +Christianity as a means of restoring religious and political harmony and +loyalty among their subjects. The Christians were regarded as enemies +within the gates and the calamities of the time were attributed to the +anger of the gods towards these unbelievers. In 250 A. D. Decius reversed +the principle enunciated by Septimius Severus and ordained that Christians +were to be sought out and brought to trial. This was accomplished by +ordering all the citizens of the empire by municipalities to perform +public acts of worship to the gods of the state. Those who refused were +punished. The persecution of Decius was terminated by his death in 251, +but his policy was renewed by Valerian in 257 A. D. In that year Valerian +required the Christians to offer sacrifice publicly, forbade their +reunions and closed their cemeteries. In 258 he ordered the immediate +trial of bishops, priests and other officers of the churches, and set +penalties for the various grades of the clergy who persisted in their +beliefs. But Valerian’s persecution also was brief and ended with his +defeat and capture by the Persians in 258 A. D. Naturally, in so large a +body as the Christians now were not all were animated by the zeal and +sincerity of the early brethren, and under threat of punishment many, at +least openly, abjured their faith. However, many others cheerfully +suffered martyrdom and by their example furthered the Christian cause. +Truly, “the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church.” The +persecutions tried the church sorely, but it emerged triumphant from the +ordeal. + +*Organization of the Christian church.* The early Christians formed a +number of small, independent communities, united by ties of common +interest, of belief, and of continual intercourse. Although the majority +of their members were drawn, from the humbler walks of life, they were by +no means confined to the proletariat. In their organization these +communities were all of the same general type, resembling the Roman +religious _collegia_, but local variations were common. Each church +community was directed by a committee, whose members were called at times +elders (presbyters), at times overseers (bishops). These were assisted by +deacons, who, like themselves, were elected by the congregation to which +they belonged. Among the presbyters or bishops one may have acted as +president. The functions of the bishops were primarily administrative, +including the care of the funds of the association, the care of the poor, +the friendless, and traveling brethren, and of discipline among the +members of the community. The deacons were the subordinates of the +bishops, and assisted in the religious services and the general +administration of the community. + +But before the close of the principate this loose organization had been +completely changed as a result of separatist tendencies among the +Christians themselves and the increasing official oppression to which they +were exposed. The opposition to these forces resulted in a strict +formulation of evangelic doctrine and a firmer organization of the church +communities. This organization came to be centralized in the hands of the +bishops, now the representatives of the communities. The episcopate was no +longer collegiate, but monarchical, and claimed authority by virtue of +apostolic succession. Apparently the president of the committee of bishops +or presbyters had become the sole bishop, and the presbyters had become +priests subject to his authority, although at times presiding over +separate congregations. The bishops were now regularly nominated by the +clergy, approved by the congregation, and finally inducted into office by +the ceremony of ordination. Besides their administrative powers, the +bishops had the guardianship of the traditions and doctrines of the +church. The clergy were now salaried officers, sharply distinguished from +the laity, who gradually ceased to participate actively in the government +and regulation of worship of their respective communities, and these +communities had developed into corporations organized on a juristic basis, +promising redemption to their members and withholding it from deserters. + +*The primacy of Rome.* In the third century, a movement took place for the +organization of the separate churches in larger unions, and in this way +the provincial synods arose. In these the metropolitan bishops, that is, +those from the provincial administrative centers, assumed the leadership. +Among the churches of the empire as a whole two rival tendencies made +themselves manifest. The one was to accord equal authority to all the +bishops, the other to recognize the supremacy of the bishop of Rome. The +claim for the primacy of the Roman see was based upon the imperial +political status of Rome, and the special history of the Roman church. It +was strongly pressed by certain bishops of the second century who laid +emphasis upon the claim of the Roman bishopric to have been established by +the Apostle Peter. + + + + + + PART IV + + + THE AUTOCRACY OR LATE EMPIRE: 285–565 A. D. + + + + + CHAPTER XXI + + + FROM DIOCLETIAN TO THEODOSIUS THE GREAT; THE INTEGRITY OF THE EMPIRE + MAINTAINED; 285–395 A. D. + + + + I. DIOCLETIAN: 285–305 A. D. + + +*The epoch-making character of Diocletian’s reign.* Upon Diocletian +devolved the task of bringing order out of chaos, of rebuilding the +shattered fabric of the Roman empire, of reëstablishing the civil +administration and taking effective measures to secure an enduring peace. +Like many of the emperors of the third century, Diocletian was an Illyrian +of humble origin who by sheer ability and force of character had won his +way up from the ranks to the imperial throne. In attacking the problem of +imperial restoration he displayed restless energy and versatility, a +thorough-going radicalism which knew little respect for traditions, and a +supreme confidence in his ability to restore the economic welfare of the +empire by legislative means. In his administrative reforms he gave +expression to the tendencies which had been at work in the later +principate and with him begins the period of undisguised autocracy, in +which the emperor, supported by the army and the bureaucracy, is the sole +source of authority in the state. Like Augustus, Diocletian was the +founder of a new régime; one in which the absolutist ideal of Julius +Caesar finally attained realization. + +*Maximian co-emperor, 286 A. D.* One of the first acts of Diocletian was +to coöpt as his associate in the _imperium_, with the rank of Caesar, a +Pannonian officer named Valerius Maximianus. In 286 Maximian received the +title of Augustus and equal authority with Diocletian. However, the latter +always dominated his younger colleague, and really determined the imperial +policy. In conformity with the undisguised absolutism of his rule, +Diocletian assumed the divine title of Jovius, and that of Herculius was +bestowed upon Maximian. Diocletian’s choice of a co-emperor was determined +largely by the conviction that the burden of empire was too heavy to be +borne by one man. He therefore entrusted the defense of the western +provinces to Maximian, while he devoted his attention to the Danubian and +eastern frontiers. Maximian’s first task was to quell a serious revolt of +the Gallic peasants, called Bagaudae, occasioned by the exactions of the +state and the landholders. After crushing this outbreak (285 A. D.), he +successfully defended the Rhine frontier against the attacks of Franks, +Alamanni and Burgundians (286–88 A. D.). However, in the meantime a +usurper had arisen in Carausius, an officer entrusted with the defense of +the Gallic coast against the North Sea pirates, who made himself master of +Britain and proclaimed himself Augustus (286 A. D.). Maximian was unable +to subdue him, and the two emperors were forced against their will to +acknowledge him as their colleague. + +*Regulation of the succession.* Diocletian saw in the absence of a strict +regulation of the succession a fertile cause of civil strife. To do away +with this, and to discourage the rise of usurpers, as well as to relieve +the Augusti of a part of their military and administrative burdens, he +determined to appoint two Caesars as the assistants and destined +successors of Maximian and himself. His choice fell upon Gaius Galerius +and Flavius Valerius Constantius, both Illyrian officers of tried military +capacity. They received the title of Caesar on 1 March, 293 A. D. To +cement the tie between the Caesars and the Augusti, Diocletian adopted +Galerius and gave him his daughter in marriage, while Maximian bound +Constantius to himself in the same way. It was the plan of Diocletian that +the Augusti should voluntarily abdicate after a definite period, and be +succeeded by the Caesars, who in turn should then nominate and adopt their +successors. + +*The division of the empire.* To each of the four rulers there was +assigned a part of the empire as his particular administrative sphere. +Diocletian took Thrace, Egypt and the Asiatic provinces, fixing his +headquarters at Nicomedia. Maximian received Italy, Raetia, Spain and +Africa, and took up his residence at Milan. To Galerius were allotted the +Danubian provinces and the remainder of the Balkan peninsula, with Sirmium +as his residence; while Constantius, to whose lot fell the provinces of +Gaul, established himself at Trèves. However, this arrangement was not a +fourfold division of the empire, for the Caesars were subject to the +authority of the Augusti, and imperial edicts were issued in the name of +all four rulers. Additional unity was given to the government by the +personal ascendancy which Diocletian continued to maintain over his +associates. One result of this arrangement was that Rome ceased to be the +permanent imperial residence and capital of the empire, Milan and later +Ravenna being preferred as the seat of government for the West. This +change was largely the result of the exclusion of the Senate from all +active participation in the government, and the fact that Rome retained +traditions of republican and senatorial rule incompatible with the spirit +of the new order. Yet, in spite of its loss of prestige, the Eternal City +continued to hold a privileged status, and its citizens were fed and +amused at the expense of the empire. + +*The restoration of the frontiers.* The division of the military authority +among four able commanders enabled the government to deal energetically +with all frontier wars or internal revolts. In 296 Constantius recovered +Britain from Allectus, who three years previously had overthrown Carausius +and proclaimed himself Augustus. In 297 Maximian was forced to appear in +person in Africa to suppress a revolt of the Quinquegentiani. Meanwhile, +Diocletian crushed a usurper named Achilles in Egypt and repulsed the +invading Blemyes. Galerius, under the orders of Diocletian, after +repelling attacks of the Iazyges (294 A. D.) and Carpi (296 A. D.), was +called upon to meet a Persian invasion of Armenia and Mesopotamia. He was +at first severely defeated, but, after being reinforced, won a decisive +victory over Narses, the Persian king, and recovered Armenia. Diocletian +himself won back Mesopotamia and the Persians were forced to acknowledge +the Roman suzerainty over Armenia, while the Roman frontier in Mesopotamia +was advanced to the upper Tigris. In all parts of the empire the border +defenses were repaired and strengthened. + +*Army reforms; provincial organization.* The military reforms of +Diocletian aimed to correct the weakness revealed in the previous system +by the wars of the third century. He created a powerful mobile force—the +_comitatenses_; while organizing the permanent garrison along the frontier +in the form of a border militia—the _limitanei_. At the same time, the +military and civil authority in the provinces was sharply divided to +prevent a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of any one +official. And the same motive is to be traced in the subdivision of the +province, the number of which was raised to 101. These were grouped in +thirteen dioceses, administered by _vicarii_ (vicars), who were +subordinate to the praetorian prefects. + +*The edict of prices, 301 A. D.* Diocletian also made a thorough revision +of the system of taxation, and tried, but without success, to establish a +satisfactory monetary standard. A more conspicuous failure, however, was +his attempt to stabilize economic conditions by government regulation. By +the Edict of Prices issued in 301, he fixed a uniform price for each +commodity and every form of labor or professional service throughout the +empire. The penalty of death was provided for all who demanded or offered +more than the legal price. The law proved impossible to enforce. It took +no account of the variations of supply and demand in the various parts of +the empire, of the difference between wholesale and retail trade, or in +the quality of articles of the same kind. In spite of the severe penalty +prescribed, the provisions of the law were so generally disregarded that +the government abandoned the attempt to carry them into effect. + +*Persecution of the Christians, 302 A. D.* Equally unsuccessful were his +measures for the suppression of Christianity. For nearly half a century +following Valerian’s persecution the Christians had enjoyed immunity from +repressive legislation. They had continued to increase rapidly in numbers +and it has been estimated that at this time perhaps two-fifths of the +population of the empire were adherents of the Christian faith. The reason +for the revival of persecution by Diocletian is uncertain, although it may +possibly have been at the instigation of Galerius, who displayed the +greatest zeal in carrying it into effect. In 302 Diocletian issued three +edicts, ordering the confiscation of church property, the dismissal of +Christians from civil offices, the abrogation of their judicial rights, +the enslavement of Christians of plebeian status, the arrest and +imprisonment of the heads of the church, and heavy penalties for those who +refused to offer sacrifice to the state gods, while granting liberty to +all who did so. In 304, a fourth edict ordered all citizens without +exception to make public sacrifice and libation to the gods. The degree to +which these edicts were enforced varied in the different parts of the +empire. The most energetic persecutors were Maximian and Galerius, while +in Gaul Constantius made little or no effort to molest the Christians. The +persecution lasted with interruptions till 313 A. D. Many leading +Christians met a martyr’s death, but the church emerged from the ordeal +more strongly organized and aggressive than before. Its victory made it a +political force of supreme importance. + +*Abdication, 305 A. D.* On 1 May, 305 A. D., Diocletian and Maximian, +after a joint rule of twenty years, formally abdicated their authority and +retired into private life. Diocletian withdrew to his palace near Salona +in Dalmatia, and Maximian, much against his will, to an estate in Lucania. +Galerius and Constantius succeeded them as Augusti. + + + + II. CONSTANTINE I, THE GREAT: 306–337 A. D. + + +*Constantine Caesar, 306 A. D.* Diocletian’s plan for securing an orderly +succession of rulers for the empire had neglected to take into account +individual ambitions and the strength of dynastic loyalty among the +soldiers. Its failure was forecast in the appointment of the new Caesars. +Galerius, who was the more influential of the new Augusti, disregarded the +claims of Constantine, the son of Constantius, and nominated two of his +own favorites, Severus and Maximinus Daia. In this Constantius acquiesced +but when he died in Britain in 306 A. D., his army acclaimed Constantine +as his successor. Galerius was forced to acknowledge him as Caesar. + +*The revolt of Maxentius, 306 A. D.* In the same year Maxentius, the son +of Maximian, took advantage of the opposition aroused in Rome by the +attempt of Galerius to make the city subject to taxation, and caused +himself to be proclaimed Caesar. He was supported by his father, who +emerged from his enforced retirement, and defeated and brought about the +death of Severus, whom Galerius had made Augustus, and sent to subdue him. +Maxentius then took the title of Augustus for himself. The same rank was +accorded to Constantine by Maximian, who made an alliance with him and +gave him his daughter, Fausta, in marriage. Upon the failure of an attempt +by Galerius to overthrow Maxentius, an appeal was made to Diocletian to +return to power and put an end to the rivalries of his successors (307 +A. D.). He refused to do so, but induced Maximian, who had quarrelled with +his son, to withdraw a second time from public life. Licinius, who had +been made Caesar by Galerius in place of Severus, became an Augustus, +while Daia and Constantine each received the title of Son of Augustus +(_filius Augusti_), a distinction which Constantine, from the beginning, +and Daia, soon afterwards, ignored. Thus, by 310 A. D., there were five +Augusti (including Maxentius), in the empire and no Caesars. It was not +long before the ambitions of the rival emperors led to a renewal of civil +war. + +*The rival Augusti, 310–312 A. D.* In 310 Maximian tried to win over the +army of Constantine, but his attempt failed and cost him his life. The +following year Galerius died, after having, in concert with Constantine +and Licinius, issued an edict which put an end to the persecution of the +Christians and granted them the right to practice their religion; an +admission that the state had failed in its plan to stamp out the religion +of Christ. The empire was then divided as follows: Constantine held +Britain, Gaul and Raetia, Maxentius Spain, Italy and Africa, Licinius the +Illyrian and Balkan provinces, and Maximinus Daia the lands to the east of +the Aegean, including Egypt. The attempt of Maxentius to add Raetia to his +dominions brought him into conflict with Constantine. Constantine allied +himself with Licinius, and Maxentius found a supporter in Maximinus. +Without delay Constantine invaded Italy, and routed the troops of +Maxentius at Verona. He then pressed on to Rome and won a final victory +not far from the Milvian bridge (312 A. D.). Maxentius perished in the +rout. It was in this campaign, as a result of a vision, that Constantine +adopted as his standard the _labarum_, a cross combined with the Christian +monogram formed of the first two letters of the Greek word _Christos_ +(Christ). + +*Constantine and Licinius, 313–324 A. D.* In 313 Constantine and Licinius +met at Milan, where they issued a joint edict of toleration, which placed +Christianity upon an equal footing with the pagan cults of the state. +Although this edict enunciated the principle of religious toleration for +the empire, it was issued with a view to win the political support of the +Christians and pointed unmistakably to Christianity as the future state +religion. Shortly after the publication of the Edict of Milan, Maximinus +Daia crossed the Bosphorus and invaded the territory of Licinius. He was +defeated by the latter, who followed up his advantage and occupied Asia +Minor. Upon the death of Maximinus, which followed within a short time, +Licinius fell heir to the remaining eastern provinces. These now received +the religious toleration previously extended to the rest of the empire. + +However, the concord between the surviving Augusti was soon broken by the +ambitions of Constantine, who felt aggrieved since Licinius controlled a +larger share of the empire than himself. A brief war ensued, which was +terminated by an agreement whereby Licinius ceded to Constantine the +dioceses of Moesia and Pannonia (314 A. D.). In 317 they jointly nominated +as Caesars and their successors, Crispus and Constantine, the younger sons +of Constantine, and Licinianus, the son of Licinius. However, although +they continued to act in harmony for some years longer, it was evident +that they still regarded one another with jealous suspicion. This came +clearly to light in the difference of their policies towards the +Christians. The more Constantine courted their support by granting them +special privileges, the more Licinius tended to regard them with disfavor +and restrict their religious liberty. Finally, in 322 A. D., when +repelling a Gothic inroad, Constantine led his forces into the territory +of Licinius, who treated the trespass as an act of war. Constantine won a +signal victory at Adrianople and his son Crispus destroyed the fleet of +Licinius at the Hellespont. These disasters induced Licinius to withdraw +to Asia Minor. There he was completely defeated by Constantine near +Chrysopolis (18 September, 324 A. D.). Licinius surrendered upon assurance +of his life, but the following year he was executed on a charge of +treason. Constantine was now sole emperor. + +*Constantine sole emperor, 324–337 A. D.* Constantine’s administrative +policy followed in the steps of Diocletian, whose organization he +elaborated and perfected in many respects. The praetorian prefecture was +deprived of its military authority, which was conferred upon the +newly-created military offices of master of the horse and the foot +(_magister equitum_ and _peditum_). This completed the separation between +the military and civil offices. Diocletian’s field force was strengthened +by the creation of new mobile units, and his efficient army enabled +Constantine to defend the empire against all barbarian attacks. Upon waste +lands within the frontiers he settled Sarmatians and Vandals, while he +greatly increased the barbarian element in the army as a whole, but +particularly among the officers of higher rank. + +*Constantinople, 330 A. D.* Of special importance for the future history +of the empire was the founding of a new capital, called Constantinople, on +the site of ancient Byzantium. After four years’ preparation, the new city +was formally dedicated on 11 May, 330 A. D. The choice of the site of the +new capital of the empire was determined by its strategic importance. It +was conveniently situated with respect to the eastern and Danubian +frontiers, and well adapted as a link between the European and Asiatic +parts of the empire. The aim of the emperor was to make Constantinople a +new Rome, and he gave it the organization and the institutions of Rome on +the Tiber. A new Senate was established there; likewise the public +festivals and free bread for the populace. For the latter purpose the +grain of Egypt was diverted from Rome to Constantinople. + +*Constantine and the succession.* Like Diocletian, Constantine realized +the necessity of having more than a single ruler for the empire, but he +determined to choose his associates from the members of his own household. +Accordingly, following Crispus and Constantine, his younger sons, +Constantius and Constans, were given the title of Caesar, while +Licinianus, the son of Licinius, was gotten rid of in 326. In the same +year Crispus was also put to death. The cause of his fall is uncertain. It +involved the death of his stepmother, Fausta, the mother of Constantine’s +other sons. Ultimately, the three surviving Caesars were set over +approximately equal portions of the empire. In 335 Constantine the younger +governed Britain, Gaul and Illyricum; Constans ruled Italy, Africa and +Pannonia; and Constantius was in control of Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt. +In that year Constantine appointed as a fourth Caesar his nephew, +Delmatius, to whom he intended to entrust the government of Thrace, +Macedonia and Achaea. At the same time, Annabalianus, a brother of +Delmatius, was designated as the future ruler of Pontus and Armenia, with +the title of King of Kings. + +*Constantine’s Christianity.* Constantine died in May, 337 A. D. shortly +after having been baptized into the Christian church. Although his mother, +Helena, was a Christian, it seems improbable that Constantine himself was +from the first an adherent of that faith. On the whole, one may say that +his attitude towards Christianity was determined largely by political +rather than religious convictions. However, his mother’s influence and his +father’s toleration of Christianity doubtless predisposed him to consider +the Christians with favor. He soon sought the support of the Christians on +political grounds, and his successes over his rivals seem to have +confirmed him in this policy. Finally, he appears to have seen in +Christianity the religion best suited to a universal faith for the empire. +However, Constantine himself did not raise Christianity to that position, +although he prepared the way to this end. Although he forbade the +performance of private sacrifices and magical rites, in other respects he +adhered faithfully to his policy of religious toleration. He took the +title of _pontifex maximus_, maintained the imperial cult, and until 330 +issued coins with the image of the Sun-god, with whom the emperor was +often identified. His designation of Sunday as a general holiday in 321 +was in full accord with this policy of toleration, for although this was +the day celebrated by the Christians as “the Lord’s day,” as the “day of +the Sun” it could be celebrated by pagans also. Nevertheless, he exhibited +an ever-increasing personal leaning towards Christianity, and granted +special privileges to the Christian clergy. He caused his sons to be +brought up as Christians, and really established a special relation +between the emperor and the church. For his services to the cause of +Christianity he well merited the title of “the Great,” bestowed upon him +by Christian historians. + + + + III. THE DYNASTY OF CONSTANTINE: 337–363 A. D. + + +*Constantine II, Constans and Constantius, 337–340 A. D.* Constantine’s +plans for the succession were thwarted by the troops at Constantinople, +who, instigated, as was said, by Constantius, refused to acknowledge any +other rulers than the sons of Constantine and put to death the rest of his +relatives, with the exception of his two youthful nephews, Gallus and +Julian. Constantius and his two brothers then declared themselves Augusti +and divided the empire. Constantine II received Spain, Gaul and Britain, +Constantius Thrace, Egypt and the Orient, while the youngest, Constans, +took the central dioceses, Africa, Italy and Illyricum. However, this +arrangement endured only for a brief time. The peace was broken by +Constantine, who encroached upon the territory of Constans, and affected +to play the rôle of the senior Augustus. However, he was defeated and +killed at Aquileia by the troops of Constans, who annexed his dominions. + +*Constantius and Constans, 340–350 A. D.* The joint rule of Constantius +and Constans lasted for ten years. The latter showed himself an energetic +sovereign and maintained peace in the western part of the empire. At +length, however, his harshness and personal vices cost him the loyalty of +his own officers, who caused him to be deposed in favor of Magnentius, an +officer of Frankish origin (350 A. D.). And while Magnentius secured +recognition in Italy and the West, the army in Illyricum raised its +commander, Vetranio, to the purple. + +*Constantius sole emperor, 350–360 A. D.* From 338 A. D. Constantius had +been engaged in an almost perpetual but indecisive struggle with Sapor II, +king of Persia, over the possession of Mesopotamia and Armenia. It was not +until late in 350 that he was able to leave the eastern frontier to +attempt to reëstablish the authority of his house in the West. He soon +came to an agreement with Vetranio, who seems to have accepted the title +of Augustus solely to save Illyricum from Magnentius. Vetranio passed into +honorable retirement, but when Constantius refused to recognize Magnentius +as Augustus the latter marched eastwards to enforce his claims. He was +defeated in a desperate battle at Mursa in Pannonia (351 A. D.), where the +victory was won by the mailed horsemen of Constantius, who from this time +onwards formed the most effective arm in the Roman service. In the next +year Constantius recovered Italy, and in 353 invaded Gaul, whereupon +Magnentius took his own life. + +*Gallus, Caesar, 351–4 A. D.* Constantius had no son, and so to strengthen +his position, he made his cousin, Gallus, Caesar and placed him in charge +of the Orient when he set out to meet Magnentius in 351 A. D. But Gallus +soon showed himself unworthy of his office. His mistreatment of the +representatives of the emperor sent to investigate his conduct caused him +to be suspected of treasonable ambitions, and he was recalled and put to +death in 354 A. D. + +*Julian, Caesar, 335 A. D.* However, Constantius still found himself in +need of an associate in the _imperium_. In addition to the danger of +invasion on both northern and eastern frontiers, came the revolt of +Silvanus at Cologne in 355, which, although quickly suppressed, was a +reminder that every successful general was potentially a candidate for the +throne. Accordingly, at the advice of the empress Eudoxia, he called from +the enforced seclusion of a scholar’s life Julian, the younger brother of +Gallus, whom he made Caesar and dispatched to Gaul (355 A. D.). Since the +fall of Magnentius the Gallic provinces had been exposed to the +devastating incursions of Franks and Alemanni, and the first task of the +young Caesar was to deal with these barbarians. In a battle near +Strassburg in 357 he broke the power of the Alemanni, and drove them over +the Rhine. The Franks were forced to acknowledge Roman overlordship, but +the Salian branch of that people were allowed to settle to the south of +the Rhine (358 A. D.). In addition to displaying unexpected capacities as +a general, Julian showed himself a forceful and upright administrator, +whose chief aim was to revive the prosperity of his sorely-tried +provincials. + +*Julian, Augustus, 360 A. D.* In 359 A. D. a fresh invasion of Mesopotamia +by Sapor II called Constantius to the East. The seriousness of the +situation there caused him to demand considerable reinforcements from the +army in Gaul. This was resented both by the soldiers themselves and by +Julian, who saw in the order a prelude to his own undoing, for he knew the +suspicious nature of his cousin, and was aware that his own successes and +the restraint he imposed upon the rapacity of his officials had aroused +the enmity of those who had the emperor’s confidence. However, after a +vain protest, he yielded; but the troops took matters into their own +hands, mutinied and hailed Julian as Augustus. His ambitions, which had +been awakened by the taste of power, and the precariousness of his present +situation led him to accept the title (360 A. D.). He then sought to +obtain from Constantius recognition of his position and the cession of the +western provinces. The latter rejected his demand, although he did not +deem it advisable to leave the East unprotected at that moment and attempt +to reassert his authority. Julian then took the offensive to enforce his +claims, and, upon the retirement of the Persian army, Constantius hastened +to meet him. But on the march he fell ill and died in Cilicia, having +designated Julian as his successor. + +*The pagan reaction.* The importance of Julian’s reign lies in his attempt +to make paganism once more the dominant religion of the empire. His own +early saturation with the fascinating literature of Hellenism and the +mystical strain in his character made Julian an easy convert to +Neo-platonism. He had become a pagan in secret before he had been called +to the Caesarship, and after the death of Constantius openly proclaimed +his apostacy. While he adhered in general to the principle of religious +toleration and did not institute any systematic persecution of the +Christians, he prohibited them from interpreting classical literature in +the schools, forced them to surrender many pagan shrines which they had +occupied, deprived the clergy of their immunities, endeavored to sow +dissension in their ranks by supporting unorthodox bishops, and stimulated +a literary warfare against them in which he himself took a prominent part. +Following the example of Maximinus Daia, Julian attempted to combat +Christianity with its own weapons, and tried to establish a universal +pagan church with a clergy and liturgy on the Christian model. He also +sought to infuse paganism with the morality and missionary zeal of +Christianity. But his efforts were in vain; the pagan cults had lost their +appeal for the masses, and the only converts were those who sought to win +the imperial favor by abandoning the Christian faith. + +*Persian war and death, 363 A. D.* In his administration of the empire +Julian pursued the same policy as in Gaul. He checked the greed of +government officials, abolished oppressive offices, and in every way tried +to restrain extravagances and lighten the burdens of his subjects. The war +with Persia which had begun under Constantius had not been concluded and +Julian was fired by the ambition to imitate the career of Alexander the +Great and overthrow the Persian kingdom. After long preparations he began +his attack early in 363 A. D. He succeeded in reaching Ctesiphon where he +defeated a Persian army. But his attempt to penetrate further into the +enemy’s country failed for want of supplies, and he was forced to begin a +retreat. On the march up the Tigris valley he was mortally wounded in a +skirmish (26 June, 363 A. D.), and with his death ended the rule of the +dynasty of Constantine the Great. + +*Jovian, 363–4 A. D.* The army chose as his successor Jovian, the +commander of the imperial guard. To rescue his forces, Jovian made peace +with Sapor, surrendering the Roman territory east of the Tigris, with part +of Mesopotamia, and abandoning the Roman claim to suzerainty over Armenia. +Julian’s enactments against the Christians were abrogated and religious +toleration proclaimed. After a brief reign of eight months, Jovian died at +Antioch in 364 A. D. + + + + IV. THE HOUSE OF VALENTINIAN AND THEODOSIUS THE GREAT: 364–395 A. D. + + +*Valentinian I and Valens, Augusti, 364 A. D.* At the death of Jovian the +choice of the military and civil officials fell upon Flavius +Valentinianus, an officer of Pannonian origin. He nominated as his +co-ruler his brother, Valens, whom he set over the East, reserving the +West for himself. + +Valentinian’s reign was an unceasing struggle to protect the western +provinces against barbarian invaders. The emperor personally directed the +defense of the Rhine and Danubian frontiers against the incursions of the +Alemanni, Quadi and Sarmatians, while his able general Theodosius cleared +Britain of Picts, Scots and Saxons, and suppressed a dangerous revolt of +the Moors in Africa. In 375 Valentinian died at Brigetio in the course of +a war with the Sarmatians. Although imperious and prone to violent +outbursts of temper, he had shown himself tireless in his efforts to +protect the empire from foreign foes and his subjects from official +oppression. In this latter aim, however, he was frequently thwarted by the +intrigues of his own officers. + +*Gratian and Valentinian II.* As early as 367 Valentinian had appointed as +a third Augustus his eldest son, Gratian, then only seven years old. The +latter now succeeded to the government of the West, although the army also +acclaimed as emperor his four-year-old brother, Valentinian II. + +*The Gothic invasion, 376 A. D.* Meanwhile Valens, who exercised the +imperial power in the East, had been involved in protracted struggles with +the Goths along the lower Danube and with the Persians, whose attempt to +convert Armenia into a Persian province constituted a threat too dangerous +to be ignored. Peace had been established with the Goths in 369, but in +376 new and unexpected developments brought them again into conflict with +the Romans. + +The cause lay in the westward movement of the Huns, a nomadic race of +Mongolian origin, whose appearance in the regions to the north of the +Black Sea marks the beginning of the period of the great migrations. In +375 A. D. they overwhelmed the Greuthungi, or East Goths, and assailed the +Thervingi, or West Goths. Unable to defend themselves, the latter in 376 +sought permission to settle on Roman territory to the south of the Danube. +Valens acceded to their request upon the condition of their giving up +their weapons. The reception and settlement of the Goths was entrusted to +Roman officers who neglected to enforce the surrender of their arms, while +they enriched themselves by extorting high prices from the immigrants for +the necessities of life. Thereupon, threatened by starvation, the Goths +rebelled, defeated the Romans, and began to plunder the country (377 +A. D.). The news of this peril summoned Valens from the East, but Gratian +was hindered from coming to the rescue by an incursion of the Alemanni +into Gaul. However, as soon as he had defeated the invaders he hastened to +the assistance of his uncle. Without awaiting his arrival, Valens rashly +attacked the Goths at Hadrianople. His army was cut to pieces, he himself +slain, and Goths overran the whole Balkan peninsula (378 A. D.). + +*Theodosius I, the Great, 378 A. D.* To meet this crisis, Gratian +appointed as Augustus, Theodosius, the son of the Theodosius who had +distinguished himself as a general under Valentinian I, but who had fallen +a victim to official intrigues at the latter’s death. The new emperor +undertook with vigor the task of clearing Thrace and the adjoining +provinces of the plundering hordes of Goths. By 382 he had forced them to +sue for peace and had settled them on waste lands to the south of the +Danube. There they remained as an independent people under their native +rulers, bound, however, to supply contingents to the Roman armies in +return for fixed subsidies. They thus became imperial _foederati_. + +*The revolt of Arbogast and Eugenius, 392 A. D.* In 391 Theodosius reduced +the Goths to submission when a revolt of the troops in Britain raised +Magnus Maximus to the purple. Gratian had shown himself a feeble +administrator and had alienated the sympathies of the bulk of his troops +by his partiality towards the Germans in his service. Maximus at once +crossed into Gaul and was confronted by Gratian at Paris. But the latter +was deserted by his army, and was captured and put to death. The authority +of Maximus was now firmly established in Britain, Gaul and Spain. He +demanded and received recognition from Theodosius, who was prevented from +avenging Gratian’s death by threatening conditions in the East. The third +Augustus, the young Valentinian II, acquired for the time an independent +sphere of authority in Italy. However, in 387 A. D. Maximus suddenly +crossed the Alps and forced him to take refuge with Theodosius. Having +come to terms with Persia, Theodosius refused to sanction the action of +Maximus and marched against him. The troops of Maximus were defeated, and +he himself captured and executed at Aquileia (388 A. D.). Gaul and the +West were speedily recovered for Theodosius by his general, Arbogast. + +*Theodosius and Ambrose.* While Theodosius was at Milan in 390 occurred +his famous conflict with Bishop Ambrose. In a riot at Thessalonica the +commander of the garrison had been killed by the mob, and Theodosius, in +his anger, had turned loose the soldiery upon the citizens, of whom seven +thousand are said to have been butchered. Scarcely had Theodosius issued +the order when he was seized with regret, and endeavored to countermand +it; but it was too late. Upon the news of the massacre, Ambrose excluded +the emperor from his church and refused to admit him to communion until he +had publicly done penance for his sin. For eight months Theodosius refused +to yield, but Ambrose remained obdurate, and the emperor finally humbled +himself and publicly acknowledged his guilt. The question at issue was not +the supremacy of secular or religious authority, but whether the emperor +was subject to the same moral laws as other men. Nevertheless, it required +a high degree of courage for the bishop to assert the right of the church +to pass judgment in such a matter upon the head of the state. + +*The revolt of Arbogast and Eugenius, 392 A. D.* In 391 Theodosius +returned to the East, leaving Valentinian as emperor in the West with his +residence at Vienna in Gaul. But the powerful Arbogast, whom Theodosius +had placed in command of the western troops, refused to act under the +orders of the young Augustus, and finally compassed his death (392 A. D.). +However, he did not dare, in view of his Frankish origin, to assume the +purple himself, and so induced a prominent Roman official named Eugenius +to accept the title of Augustus. The authority of Eugenius was +acknowledged in Italy and all the West, but Theodosius refused him +recognition and prepared to crush the usurper. In the autumn of 394 A. D., +at the river Frigidus, near Aquileia, Theodosius won a complete victory +over Arbogast and Eugenius. The former committed suicide and the latter +was put to death. + +Early in the next year Theodosius died, leaving the empire to his two +sons, Arcadius and Honorius, upon both of whom he had previously conferred +the rank of Augustus. The success of Theodosius in coping with the Gothic +peril and in suppressing the usurpers Maximus and Eugenius, combined with +his vigorous championship of orthodox Christianity, won for him the title +of the “Great.” With the accession of Arcadius and Honorius and the +permanent division of the empire into an eastern and a western half, there +begins a new epoch of Roman history. + + [Illustration: The Roman Empire in 395 A. D.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXII + + + THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION OF THE LATE EMPIRE + + + + I. THE AUTOCRAT AND HIS COURT + + +*Powers and titles of the emperor.* The government of the late Roman +empire was an autocracy, in which the emperor was the active head of the +administration and at the same time the source of all legislative, +judicial and military authority. For the exercise of this authority the +support of the army and the bureaucracy was essential. All the sovereign +rights of the Roman people were regarded as having been transferred to the +imperial power. The emperor was no longer the First of the Roman +citizens—the _primus inter pares_—but all within the empire were in equal +degree his subjects. This view of the exalted status of the emperor was +expressed in the assumption of the divine titles Jovius and Herculius by +Diocletian and Maximian. Their Christian successors, although for the +greater part of the fourth century they accepted deification from their +pagan subjects, found a new basis for their absolutism in the conception +of the emperor as the elect of God, who ruled by divine guidance. Thus the +emperor could speak of the _imperium_ which had been conferred upon him by +the heavenly majesty. The adjectives “sacred” and “divine” were applied +not only to the emperor’s person but also to everything that in any way +belonged to him, and the “imperial divinity” was an expression in common +use. + +As the sole author of the laws, the emperor was also their final +interpreter; and since he acted under divine guidance those who questioned +his decisions, and those who neglected or transgressed his ordinances, +were both alike guilty of sacrilege. The emperor was held to be freed from +the laws in the sense that he was not responsible for his legislative and +administrative acts, yet he was bound by the laws in that he had to adhere +to the general principles and forms of the established law of the state, +and had to abide by his own edicts, for the imperial authority rested upon +the authority of the laws. + +The titles of the emperor bore witness to his autocratic power. From the +principate he had inherited those of Imperator, the significance of which +was revealed in its Greek rendering of Autocrator, and Augustus, which was +as well suited to the new as to the old position of the emperor. More +striking, however, was the use of _dominus_ or _dominus noster_, a title +which, as we have seen, was but rarely used during the principate, but +which was officially prescribed by Diocletian. The term princeps, although +it has long lost its original significance, still continued to be employed +in official documents, at times in conjunction with _dominus_. + +*Imperial regalia.* The imperial regalia likewise expressed the emperor’s +autocratic power. With Diocletian the military garb of the principate was +discarded for a robe of silk interwoven with gold and Constantine I +introduced the use of the diadem, a narrow band ornamented with jewels, +which formed part of the insignia of the Persian monarchs, and was +symbolic of absolutism in the ancient world. + +*The succession.* We have seen how the scheme devised by Diocletian for +regulating the succession to the throne broke down after his retirement. +His successors refused to abdicate their imperial authority and only +surrendered it with life itself. In the appointment of new emperors two +principles found recognition—election and coöptation. The system of +election was a legacy from the principate, and recourse was regularly had +to it when the imperial throne was vacant. The elected emperor was usually +the choice of the leading military and civil officials, approved by the +army. In Constantinople, from the fifth century at least, the nomination +was made by these officers in conjunction with the reorganized senate, and +the new emperor was proclaimed before the people assembled in the +Hippodrome. The emperors thus appointed claimed to have been elected by +the officials, the Senate, and the army with the sanction of the people. +However, as the history of the time shows, the right of election might be +exercised at any time, and a victorious usurper became a legal ruler. Thus +the autocracy, as has been aptly remarked, was tempered by a legal right +of revolution. As this method of election guaranteed a high average of +ability among emperors, so the custom of coöptation gave opportunity to +admit the claim of dynastic succession. An Augustus could appoint as his +colleague the one whom he wished to succeed him on the throne. However, it +is to be noted that a son who was thus elevated to the purple became +emperor by virtue of his father’s will and not by the right of birth. + +*The imperial court.* Under Diocletian the organization and ceremonial of +the imperial palace were thoroughly remodelled. The servants of the +household—ushers, chamberlains, grooms and the like—were now formed into +corps on a military basis, with a definite regulation of insignia, pay, +term of service and promotion. In harmony with the general spirit of the +autocracy, the court ceremonial was designed to widen the gulf between the +ruler and his subjects and to protect his person by rendering it +inaccessible. Surrounded by all the pomp and pageantry of an oriental +potentate, the Roman emperor was removed from contact with all but his +immediate _entourage_. The effect of this seclusion was to enhance the +power of the few who were permitted to come into touch with him, in +particular the officials of the imperial household. The personal servants +of the emperor were placed on the same level as the public administrative +officers, and the most important of them, the grand chamberlain, before +the close of the fourth century had become one of the great ministers of +state, with a seat in the imperial cabinet. In conformity with the +assumption of the title _dominus_ and of the diadem, was the requirement +of prostration from all who were admitted to an audience with the emperor. +In addition to its civilian employees, the palace had its special armed +guard. These household troops were the scholarians, organized by +Constantine I when he disbanded the praetorian guards who had upheld the +cause of Maxentius. + + + + II. THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION + + +*General characteristics.* The chief characteristics of the military +organization of the late empire were the complete separation of civil and +military authority except in the person of the emperor, the sharp +distinction between the mobile forces and the frontier garrisons, and the +ever-increasing predominance of the barbarian element, not merely in the +rank and file of the soldiers, but also among the officers of highest +rank. + +*The limitanei.* The troops composing the frontier garrisons were called +_limitanei_, or borderers; also, when stationed along a river frontier, +_riparienses_. They were the successors of the garrison army of the +principate and were distributed among small fortified posts (_castella_). +To each of these garrisons there was assigned for purposes of cultivation +a tract of land free from municipal authority. These lands were exempt +from taxation, and, although they were not alienable, the right to occupy +them passed from father to son with the obligation to military service. +Thus the _limitanei_ were practically a border militia. Their numbers were +materially increased by Diocletian but reduced again by Constantine I who +transferred their best units to the field army. The _limitanei_ ranked +below the field troops; their physical standards were lower, and their +rewards at the end of their term of service inferior. + +*The palatini and comitatenses.* To remedy the greatest weakness in the +army of the principate, namely, its lack of mobility, Diocletian formed a +permanent field force to accompany the emperor on his campaigns, for it +was his intention that the emperors should personally lead their armies. +Since the field troops thus formed the _comitatus_, or escort, of the +emperor they received the name of _comitatenses_. Later certain units of +the _comitatenses_ were called _palatini_, or palace troops, a purely +honorary distinction. The _palatini_ and _comitatenses_ were stationed at +strategic points well within the frontiers. + +*Numbers.* In both the garrison and field armies the old legion was broken +up into smaller detachments, to each of which the name legion was given. +They still continued to be recruited from Romans, but were regarded as +inferior in caliber to the _auxilia_, the light infantry corps which were +largely drawn from barbarian volunteers. A great number of new cavalry +units were formed, so that the proportion of cavalry to infantry was +largely increased. At the opening of the fifth century the troops +stationed in Spain, in the Danubian provinces, in the Orient and in Egypt +had a nominal strength of 554,500 of which 360,000 were _limitanei_ and +194,500 field troops. However, it is extremely doubtful if the separate +detachments were maintained at their full numbers. The scholarians, +organized as an imperial bodyguard by Constantine I, numbered 3500. They +were divided into seven companies called _scholae_, from the fact that a +particular _schola_, or waiting hall in the palace, was assigned to each. + +*Recruitment.* In the late empire the ranks of the Roman army stood open +to all free men who possessed the requisite physical qualifications. +Slaves were also enrolled from the fifth century onwards but their +admission to military service brought them freedom. Recruits were either +volunteers or conscripts. The universal liability to service existed until +the time of Valentinian I, although in practice it was limited to the +municipal plebs and the agricultural classes. Valentinian placed the +obligation to furnish a specified number of recruits upon the landholders +of certain provinces, and levied a corresponding monetary tax upon the +other provinces. He also made it obligatory for the sons of soldiers to +present themselves for service. Many barbarian peoples, settled within the +empire, were likewise under an obligation to furnish a yearly number of +recruits, who, however, were regarded as volunteers. Still voluntary +recruitment was the rule under the late empire even more than under the +principate, and the majority of the volunteers for military service were +of barbarian origin. Corps of all sorts were named after barbarian +peoples, and while barbarian officers received Roman citizenship, the rank +and file remained aliens. + +*Discipline.* The chief reason for the victories of the Roman armies of +the early principate over their barbarian foes lay in their superior +discipline and organization. And the burden of maintaining this discipline +had rested upon the junior officers or centurions who came from the +senatorial order of the Roman municipalities. By the end of the third +century the centuriate had disappeared for lack of volunteers of this +class and with its disappearance began a decline in discipline and +training. The construction of the fortified camp was no longer required, +the soldier’s heavy pack was discarded, and before the close of the fourth +century the burdensome defensive armor was also given up. In equipment and +tactics the Roman troops of the late empire were on a level with their +barbarian opponents. Just as the Roman empire was unable to assimilate the +barbarian settlers within its frontiers, so the Roman army proved unable +to absorb the barbarian elements within its ranks. + +*Foederati.* The decline in efficiency of the Roman troops and the +confessed inability of the state to deal with its military obligations led +to the taking into the Roman pay of warlike peoples along the Roman +frontiers. Such peoples were called federated allies (_foederati_), and +guaranteed to protect the territory of the empire in return for a +stipulated remuneration in money or supplies. Such were the terms upon +which the Goths were granted lands south of the Danube by Theodosius the +Great. But in this case, as in others, it is hard to distinguish between +subsidies paid to _foederati_ and the payments made by many emperors to +purchase immunity from invasion by dangerous neighbors. A danger inherent +in the system was that the _foederati_ might at any moment turn their arms +against their employers. Retaining as they did their political autonomy +and serving under their own chiefs, the _foederati_ were not regarded as +forming a part of the imperial forces. + +*The duces and the magistri militum.* We have already referred to the +complete separation of military and civil authority. This was carried out +as far as the border troops were concerned by Diocletian. He divided the +frontiers into military districts which corresponded to the provinces and +placed the garrisons in each under an officer with the title of _dux_. The +_duces_ of highest rank were regularly known as _comites_ (counts). Under +Diocletian the praetorian prefects remained the highest military officers, +and were in command of the field army. As we have seen, Constantine I +deprived the praetorian prefecture of its military functions and appointed +two new commanders-in-chief—the master of the foot (_magister peditum_) +and the master of the horse (_magister equitum_). Under the successors of +Constantine these offices were increased in number and the distinction +between infantry and cavalry commands was abandoned. Consequently, the +titles of master of the horse and master of the foot were altered to those +of masters of horse and foot, masters of each service, or masters of the +soldiers. In the East by the close of the fourth century there were two +masters of the soldiers at Constantinople, each commanding half of the +palatini in the vicinity of the capital, and three others commanding the +_comitatenses_ in the Orient, Thrace and Illyricum, respectively. In the +West there were two masterships at the court, and a master of the horse in +the diocese of Gaul. + +But while in the East the several masters of the soldiers enjoyed +independent commands, in the West by 395 A. D. there had developed a +concentration of the supreme military power in the hands of one master, +who united in his person the two masterships at the court. The master in +Gaul, with the _duces_ and _comites_ in the provinces were under his +orders. This subordination was emphasized by the fact that the heads of +the office staff (_principes_) of the _comites_ and _duces_ were appointed +by the master at the court. On the other hand, in the East, these +_principes_ were appointed by a civil official, the master of the offices, +who was also charged with the inspection of the frontier defences, and +from the opening of the fifth century exercised judicial authority over +the _duces_. The latter, however, remained the military subordinates of +the masters of the soldiers. Thus the concentration of military power in +the West in the hands of a single commander-in-chief prepared the way for +the rise of the king-makers of the fifth century, while the division of +the higher command in the East prevented a single general from completely +dominating the political situation. + +*Judicial status of the soldiers.* Characteristic of the times was the +removal of soldiers from the jurisdiction of the civil authority. In the +fourth century they could only be prosecuted on criminal charges in the +courts of their military commanders, and in the fifth century they were +granted this privilege in civil cases also. + + + + III. THE PERFECTION OF THE BUREAUCRACY + + +*The administrative divisions of the empire.* The administrative machinery +of the late empire was simply an outgrowth from, and a more complete form +of, the bureaucracy which had developed under the principate. All the +officers of the state were now servants of the emperor, appointed by him +and dismissed at his pleasure. At the basis of the administrative +organization lay the division of the empire into prefectures, dioceses and +provinces. By the close of the fourth century there were one hundred and +twenty provinces, grouped into fourteen dioceses, which made up the four +prefectures of Gaul, Italy, Illyricum and the Orient.(17) This division of +the empire into four prefectures was carried out under Constans and +Constantius. Until the death of Constantine I, the pretorian prefecture +had remained an office associated with the person of the emperor, and from +the time of Diocletian the number of praetorian prefects had corresponded +to the number of Augusti, each emperor appointing one for his own part of +the empire. This practice was followed by the sons of Constantine. But +after Constans had overthrown Constantine II he left the latter’s +territory under the administration of a special prefect, thus establishing +the prefecture of Gaul. He afterwards appointed another prefect for +Illyricum, which was separated from the jurisdiction of the prefect of +Italy. When Constantius became sole emperor in 351, he retained the three +prefectures of Constans, and his own previous dominions constituted the +fourth, that of the Orient. In 379, Gratian, the emperor in the West, +transferred the Illyrian prefecture from his sphere to that of Theodosius, +his colleague in the East. + +*The praetorian prefects and their subordinates.* Each province had a +civil governor, variously known as proconsul, consular, _corrector_ or +_praeses_, according to the relative importance of his governorship. The +provincial governors, with a few exceptions, were subject to the vicars, +who were in charge of the several dioceses, and who, in turn, were under +the administrative control of the four praetorian prefects, the heads of +the prefectures. The prefects and their subordinates were in charge of the +raising of taxes paid in kind and of the administration of justice for the +provincials. Italy was now divided into several provinces and Italian soil +was no longer exempt from taxation. With the exception of the population +of Rome, the inhabitants of Italy were upon the same footing as those of +the other provinces, with whom they shared the name of provincials. + +*The central administrative bureaus.* The remaining branches of the civil +administration were directed by a group of ministers resident at the +court, with subordinates in the various administrative departments. These +ministers were the master of the offices, the quaestor, the count of the +sacred largesses and the count of the private purse. The master of the +offices united in his hands the control of the secretarial bureaus of the +palace, the oversight over the public post, the direction of the +_agentes-in-rebus_, who constituted the imperial secret service, the +command of the scholarians, the supervision of several branches of the +palace administration, and jurisdiction over practically all of the +personal servants of the emperor. As we have seen, in the East he also +exercised certain authority over the _duces_. The quaestor (to be +distinguished from the holders of the urban quaestorships) was a minister +of justice, part of whose duties consisted in the preparation of imperial +legislation. The count of the sacred largesses was the successor to the +_rationalis_, who had been in charge of the imperial fiscus under the +principate. He was charged with the collection and disbursement of the +public revenues which were paid in money, and his title was derived from +the fact that the funds under his control were used for the imperial +donations or largesses. He likewise had the supervision of the imperial +factories engaged in the manufacture of silks, and other textiles. The +count of the private purse was the head of the department of the _res +privata_ and in charge of the revenues from the imperial domains. These +ministers with certain other administrative officials of the court and the +chief officers of the imperial household, such as the grand chamberlain, +were known as the palace dignitaries (_dignitates palatinae_). + +Rome and Constantinople were exempt from the authority of the praetorian +prefects, and were each administered by a city prefect. Two consuls were +nominated annually, one at Rome and one at Constantinople, and gave their +names to the official year, but their duties were limited to furnishing +certain entertainments for the populace of the capitals. This was also the +sole function of the praetorship and quaestorship, which were now filled +by imperial appointment upon the recommendation of the city prefects. + +*The imperial council of state.* The system of graded subordination, which +placed the lower officials in each department under the orders of those +having wider powers, brought about the ultimate concentration of the civil +and military administration in the hands of about twenty officers who were +directly in touch with the emperor and responsible to him alone. From +these were drawn the members of the council of state or imperial +consistory (so-called from the obligation to remain standing in the +presence of the emperor). Permanent members of this council were the four +ministers of the court mentioned above, who were known as the counts of +the consistory, and also the grand chamberlain. + +*The officia.* The officials who were at the head of administrative +departments, civil or military, had at their disposal an _officium_ or +bureau, the members of which were known as _officiales_. These subaltern +employees of the state were free men, no longer slaves or freedmen like +their predecessors of the principate. As in the case of the palace +servants their numbers, terms of service (_militia_), promotion and +discharge were fixed by imperial edicts, and they were not placed at the +mercy of the functionary whose office staff they formed. Indeed, owing to +the permanent character of the organization of the _officia_, the burden +of the routine administration fell upon their members, and not upon their +temporary director, for whose acts they were made to share the +responsibility. This was particularly true of the bureau chief +(_princeps_), who was regularly appointed from the _agentes-in-rebus_ as a +spy upon the actions of his superior. Like the soldiers, the civil service +employees enjoyed exemption from the ordinary courts of justice and the +privilege of defending themselves in the courts of the chief of that +branch of the administration to which they were attached. + +*Official corruption.* The attitude of the emperor towards his chief +servants was marked by mistrust and suspicion. The policy which led to the +attempt to weaken the more powerful offices by the separation of civil and +military authority and by the subdivision of the administrative districts +was adhered to in the provisions for direct communication between the +emperor and the subordinates of the great ministers, and the highly +developed system of state espionage whereby the ruler kept watch upon the +actions of his officers. However, in spite of the efforts of the majority +of the emperors to secure an honest and efficient administration, the +actual result of the development of this elaborate bureaucratic system was +the erection of an almost impassable barrier between the emperor and his +subjects. Neither did their complaints reach his ears, nor were his +ordinances for their relief effective, because the officials coöperated +with one another to conceal their misdemeanors and to enrich themselves at +the expense of the civilian population. So thoroughly had the spirit of +“graft” and intrigue penetrated all ranks of the civil and military +service that to gratify their personal ambitions they were even willing to +compromise the safety of the empire itself. The burden imposed upon the +tax payers by the vast military and civil establishment was immensely +aggravated by the extortions practised by representatives of both +services, whose rapacity knew no bounds. + + + + IV. THE NOBILITY AND THE SENATE + + +*The senatorial order.* The conflict between the principate and the Senate +resulted, as we have seen, in the exclusion of members of the senatorial +order from all offices of state. But it was unthinkable that the great +landed proprietors should be permanently shut out of the public service, +and with the loss of any claim to authority by the Senate as a body there +was no longer any objection to their entering the service of the emperor. +Consequently, the essential distinction between the senatorial and +equestrian orders vanished and a new senatorial order arose into which was +merged a large equestrian element. + +*The clarissimate.* The distinguishing mark of this new senatorial order +was the right to the title _clarissimus_, which might be acquired by +inheritance, by imperial grant, or by the attainment of an office which +conferred the clarissimate upon its holder, either during his term of +service or upon his retirement. Practically all of the higher officials in +the imperial service were _clarissimi_ and there was consequently a great +increase in the number of senators in the course of the fourth century. +The place of the equestrian order was in part filled by the +perfectissimate, an inferior order of rank conferred upon lower imperial +officials and municipal senators. + +*The higher orders of rank.* The development of an oriental court life +with its elaborate ceremonial demanding a fixed order of precedence among +those present at imperial audiences, and the increase in the number and +importance of the public officials, which necessitated a classification of +the various official posts from the point of view of rank, led to the +establishment of new and more exclusive rank classes within the circle of +the _clarissimi_. There were in the ascending order the _spectabiles_, or +Respectables, and the _illustres_, or Illustrious. The illustriate was +conferred solely upon the great ministers of state. Under Justinian, in +the sixth century, there was established the still higher order of the +_gloriosi_ (the Glorious). The official positions, to which these titles +of rank were attached, were called dignities (_dignitates_), and the great +demand for admission to these rank classes, which entitled their members +to valuable privileges, caused the conferment of many honorary dignities, +i. e., titles of official posts with their appropriate rank but without +the duties of office. + +*The patricians and counts.* The other titles of nobility were those of +patrician and count. The former, created by Constantine I in imitation of +the older patrician order, was granted solely to the highest dignitaries, +although it was not attached to any definite official post. It was +Constantine also who revived the _comitiva_, which had been used +irregularly of the chief associates of the princeps until the death of +Severus Alexander, and put it to a new use. The term count became a title +of honor definitely attached to certain offices, but also capable of being +conferred as a favor or a reward of merit. Like the other titles of rank +the patriciate and the _comitiva_ brought with them not only precedence +but also valuable immunities. + +Nothing illustrates more clearly the importance of official positions than +the division of the people of the empire as a whole into two classes—the +_honestiores_ (more honorable) and the _humiliores_ (more humble or +plebeians). The former class, which included the imperial senators, the +soldiers and the veterans, were exempt from execution except with the +emperor’s consent, from penal servitude, and, with some limitations, from +torture in the course of judicial investigations. + +*The Senate.* The Senate at Rome was not abolished but continued to +function both as a municipal council and as the mouthpiece of the +senatorial order. After the founding of Constantinople a similar Senate +was established there for the eastern part of the empire. At first all +_clarissimi_ had a right to participate in the meetings of the Senate, and +their sons were expected to fill the quaestorship. However, after the +middle of the fifth century only those having the rank of _illustris_ were +admitted to the senate chamber, and the active Senate became a gathering +of the highest officials and ex-officials of the state. In addition to +their functions as municipal councils, the Senates made recommendations +for the quaestorship and praetorship, discussed with the imperial +officials the taxes which affected the senatorial order and even +participated to a certain extent in drafting imperial legislation. + +*The senators and the municipalities.* The most important privilege +enjoyed by the senators was their exemption from the control of the +officials of the municipalities within whose territories their estates +were situated. As we shall see, this was one of the chief reasons for the +extension of their power in the provinces. + + + + V. THE SYSTEM OF TAXATION AND THE RUIN OF THE MUNICIPALITIES + + +*The system of taxation.* The debasement of the Roman coinage in the +course of the third century resulted in a thorough disorganization of the +public finances, for the taxes and disbursements fixed in terms of money +had no longer their previous value. Diocletian completely reorganized the +financial system by introducing a general scheme of taxation and +remuneration in produce in place of coin, and by establishing a new method +of assessment. This latter consisted in the division of the land, cattle +and agricultural labor into units of equal tax value. The unit of taxation +for land was the _iugum_, which differed in size for arable land, +vineyards and orchards, as well as for soils of varying fertility. A fixed +number of cattle likewise constituted a _iugum_, assessed at the same +value as a _iugum_ of land. The unit of labor, regarded as the equivalent +of the _iugum_ was the _caput_, which was defined as one man or two women +engaged in agricultural occupations. Thus the workers were taxed in +addition to the land they tilled. + +*The indiction.* The amount of the land tax to be raised each year was +announced in an annual proclamation called an indiction (_indictio_), and +a revaluation of the tax units was made periodically. The term indiction +was also used of the period between two reassessments, which occurred at +first every five, but after 312 A. D. every fifteen, years. The indictions +thus furnished the basis for a new system of chronology. From the taxes +raised in kind the soldiers and those in the civil service received their +pay in the form of an allowance (_annona_), which might under certain +conditions be commuted for its monetary equivalent. + +*Special taxes.* In addition to the land tax raised in the form of produce +on the basis of the _iuga_ and _capita_, there were certain other taxes +payable in money. The chief of these were: the _chrysargyrum_, a tax +levied on all trades; the _aurum coronarium_, a nominally voluntary but +really compulsory contribution paid by the municipal senators every five +years to enable the emperor to distribute largesses to his officials and +troops; the _aurum oblaticium_, a similar payment made by the senatorial +order of the empire; and the _collatio glebalis_ or _follis senatoria_, a +special tax imposed upon senators by Constantine I. + +*Munera.* Besides the taxes, the government laid upon its subjects the +burden of performing certain public services without compensation. The +most burdensome of these charges (_munera_) were the upkeep of the public +post, and the furnishing of quarters (_hospitium_) and rendering other +services in connection with the movement of troops, officials and +supplies. So heavy was the burden of the post that it denuded of draught +animals the districts it traversed and had to be abandoned in the sixth +century. It was in connection with the exaction of these charges, the +collection of the revenue in kind, and in the administration of justice +that the imperial officials found opportunity to practice extortions which +weighed more heavily upon the taxpayers than the taxes themselves. + +*The curiales.* The class which suffered most directly from the +established fiscal system was that of the _curiales_, as the members of +the municipal senatorial orders were now called. In the course of the +third century the status of _curialis_ had become hereditary, and was an +obligation upon all who possessed a definite property qualification, fixed +at twenty-five _iugera_ of land in the fourth century. Since the local +senates had become agents of the _fiscus_ in collecting the revenues from +their municipal territories, the _curiales_, through the municipal +officers or committees of the local council, had to apportion the quotas +of the municipal burden among the landholders, to collect them, and be +responsible for the payment of the total amount to the public officers. +They were also responsible for the maintenance of the public post and the +performance of other services resting upon the municipalities. Inevitably +the _curiales_ sought to protect themselves by shifting the burden of +taxation as much as possible upon the lower classes in the municipal +territory who regarded them as oppressors. “Every _curialis_ is a tyrant” +(_quot curiales, tot tyranni_), says a fourth century writer. + +The exactions of the imperial officers proved more than the _curiales_ +could meet, and they sought to withdraw from their order and its +obligations. But the government required responsible landholders and so +they were forbidden to dispose of their properties or to leave their place +of residence without special permission. And when they tried to find +exemption by entering the imperial senatorial order, the military or civil +service, or the clergy, these avenues of escape were likewise closed. Only +those who had filled all the municipal offices might become _clarissimi_ +and immune from the curial obligations, and only clergy of the rank of +bishops were excused, while the lower orders had to supply a substitute or +surrender two-thirds of their property before they could leave the +_curia_. Valentinian I attempted to aid the _curiales_ by appointing +officials known as _defensores __civitatium_ or _plebis_—“defenders of the +cities” or “of the plebs”—whose duty it was to check unjust exactions and +protect the common people against officials and judges. These _defensores_ +were at first persons of influence, chosen by the municipalities and +approved by the emperor. They were empowered to try certain cases +themselves, and had the right to address themselves directly to the +emperor without reference to the provincial governor. However, the +_defensores_ accomplished little, and in the fifth century their office +had become an additional obligatory service resting upon the _curiales_. +By 429 A. D. hardly a _curialis_ with adequate property qualifications +could be found in any city, and by the sixth century the class of +municipal landholders had practically disappeared. + +*The hereditary corporations.* We have seen how, in the course of the +third century, the professional corporations were burdened with the duty +of performing certain public services in the interest of the communities +to which they belonged. The first step taken by the state to insure the +performance of these services was to make this duty a charge which rested +permanently upon the property of the members of the corporations +(_corporati_), no matter into whose possession it passed. But men as well +as money were needed for the performance of these charges, and +consequently, in order to prevent a decline in the numbers of the +_corporati_, the state made membership in these associations an hereditary +obligation. This was really an extension of the principle that a man was +bound to perform certain services in the community in which he was +enrolled (his _origo_). Finally, the emperors exercised the right of +conscription, and attached to the various corporations which were in need +of recruits persons who were engaged in less needed occupations. + +The burden of their charges led the _corporati_, like the _curiales_, to +seek refuge in some other profession. They tried to secure enrollment in +the army, among the _officiales_, or to become _coloni_ of the emperor or +senatorial landholders. But all these havens of refuge were closed by +imperial edicts, and when discovered the truant _corporatus_ was dragged +back to his association. Only those who attained the highest office within +their corporation were legally freed from their obligations. + +Although the corporations probably retained their former organization and +officers, their active heads were now called _patroni_, and these directed +the public services of their colleges. In Rome and Constantinople the +colleges were under the supervision of the city prefects, in the +municipalities under that of the local magistrates and provincial +governors. The professional colleges are the only ones which survived +during the late empire. The religious and funerary associations vanished +with the spread of Christianity and the general impoverishment of the +lower classes. + +*The coloni.* Among the agricultural classes the forces which had +developed in the course of the principate were still at work. In the +fourth century the attachment of the tenant farmers and peasant laborers +to the soil was extended to the whole empire. The status of the _coloni_ +became hereditary, like that of the _corporati_. Their condition was half +way between that of freedmen and that of slaves, for while they were bound +to the estate upon which they resided and passed with it from one owner to +another, they were not absolutely under the power of the owner and could +not be disposed of by him apart from the land. They had also other rights +which slaves lacked, yet as time went on their condition tended to +approximate more and more closely to servitude. “Slaves of the soil,” they +were called in the sixth century. As this status of serfdom was hitherto +unknown in Roman law, a great many imperial enactments had to be issued +defining the rights and duties of the _coloni_. + +*The growth of private domains.* The development of vast private estates +at the expense of the public and imperial domains was another prominent +characteristic of the times. This was the result of the failure of the +state to check the spread of waste lands, in spite of its attempt to +develop the system of hereditary leaseholds to small farmers. To maintain +the level of production the government opened the way for the great +proprietors to take over all deserted lands under various forms of +heritable lease or in freehold tenure. The system of attaching waste lands +to those of the neighboring landholders and making the latter responsible +for their cultivation was an added cause of the growth of large estates. +The result of this development was that the state tenants became _coloni_ +of the great landlords, and the latter were responsible for the taxes and +other obligations of their _coloni_ to the state. The weight of these +obligations rested as before upon the _coloni_, and led to their continued +flight and a further increase in waste land. Like the _curiales_ and +_corporati_, the _coloni_ tried to exchange their status by entering the +public service or attaining admission to some other social class. But, in +like manner also, they found themselves excluded from all other +occupations and classes. Only the fugitive _colonus_ who had managed to +remain undetected for thirty years (in the case of women twenty years) +could escape being handed back to the land which he had deserted. + +*The power of the landed nobility.* The immunities of the senatorial order +and the power of the high officials tended to give an almost feudal +character to the position of the great landed proprietors. These had +inherited the judicial powers of the procurators on the imperial estates +and transferred this authority to their own domains. Over their slaves and +_coloni_ they exercised the powers of police and jurisdiction. As they +were not subject to the municipal authorities, and, during the greater +part of the fourth century, were also exempt from the jurisdiction of the +provincial governors they assumed a very independent position, and did not +hesitate to defy the municipal magistrates and even the minor agents of +the imperial government. Their power made their protection extremely +valuable, and led to a new type of patronage. Individuals and village +communities, desirous of escaping from the exactions to which they were +subject in their municipal districts, placed themselves under the +patronage of some senatorial landholder and became his tenants. And he did +not hesitate to afford them an illegal protection against the local +authorities. Complaints by the latter to higher officials secured little +redress for they were themselves proprietors and sided with those of their +own class. The power of the state was thus nullified by its chief servants +and the landed aristocracy became the heirs of the empire. + +*Resumé.* The transformation which society underwent during the empire may +be aptly described as the transition from a régime of individual +initiative to a régime of status, that is, from one in which the position +of an individual in society was mainly determined by his own volition to +one in which this was fixed by the accident of his birth. The population +of the empire was divided into a number of sharply defined castes, each of +which was compelled to play a definite rôle in the life of the state. The +sons of senators, soldiers, _curiales_, _corporati_, and _coloni_ had to +follow in their fathers’ walks of life, and each sought to escape from the +tasks to which he was born. In the eyes of the government _collegiati_, +_curiales_, and _coloni_ existed solely to pay taxes for the support of +the bureaucracy and the army. The consequence was the attempted flight of +the population to the army, civil service, the church or the wilderness. +Private industry languished, commerce declined, the fields lay untilled; a +general feeling of hopelessness paralyzed all initiative. And when the +barbarians began to occupy the provinces they encountered no national +resistance; rather were they looked upon as deliverers from the burdensome +yoke of Rome. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII + + +THE GERMANIC OCCUPATION OF ITALY AND THE WESTERN PROVINCES: 395–493 A. D. + + + + I. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERIOD + + +*The partition of the empire.* With the death of Theodosius the Great the +empire passed to his sons, Arcadius a youth of eighteen, whom he had left +in Constantinople, and Honorius a boy of eleven, whom he had designated as +the Augustus for the West. However, in the East the government was really +in the hands of Rufinus, the pretorian prefect of Illyricum, while an even +greater influence was exercised in the West by Stilicho, the Vandal master +of the soldiers, whom Theodosius had selected as regent for the young +Honorius. The rivalry of these two ambitious men, and the attempt of +Stilicho to secure for Honorius the restoration of eastern Illyricum, +which had been attached by Gratian to the sphere of the eastern emperor, +were the immediate causes of the complete and formal division of the +empire into an eastern and a western half, a condition which had been +foreshadowed by the division of the imperial power throughout the greater +part of the fourth century. + +The fiction of imperial unity was still preserved by the nomination of one +consul in Rome and one in Constantinople, by the association of the +statues of both Augusti in each part of the empire, and by the issuance of +imperial enactments under their joint names. Nevertheless, there was a +complete separation of administrative authority, the edicts issued by one +emperor required the sanction of the other before attaining validity +within his territory, and upon the death of one Augustus the actual +government of the whole empire did not pass into the hands of the +survivor. The empire had really split into two independent states. + +*The Germanic invasions.* In addition to the partition of the empire, the +period between 395 and 493 is marked by the complete breakdown of the +Roman resistance to barbarian invasions, and the penetration and +occupation of the western provinces and Italy itself by peoples of +Germanic stock. The position of Roman and barbarian is reversed; the +latter become the rulers, the former their subjects, and the power passes +from the Roman officials to the Germanic kings. Finally, a barbarian +soldier seats himself upon the throne of the western emperor, and a +Germanic kingdom is established in Italy. + +*The military dictators.* During this period of disintegration, the real +power in the western empire was in the hands of a series of military +dictators, who with the office of master of the soldiers secured the +position of commander-in-chief of the imperial armies. Beside them the +emperors exercised only nominal authority. But as these dictators were +either barbarians themselves, or depended upon barbarian troops for their +support, they were continually intrigued against and opposed by the Roman +or civilian element, headed by the civil officers of the court. Yet the +fall of one “kingmaker” was always followed by the rise of another, for by +their aid alone could the Romans offer any effective resistance to the +flood of barbarian invasion. + +*The empire maintained in the East.* But while the western empire was thus +absorbed by the Germanic invaders, the empire in the East was able to +offer a successful resistance both to foreign invasions and the ambitions +of its own barbarian generals. This is in part accounted for by the +greater solidarity and vigor of the Hellenic civilization of the eastern +provinces, and the military strength of the population, particularly in +Asia Minor, and in part by the success of the bureaucracy in holding the +generals in check, a task which was facilitated by the division of the +supreme military authority among several masters of the soldiers. The +strength of the eastern empire caused the West to look to it for support +and the western emperors upon several occasions were nominated, and at +other times given the sanction of legitimacy, by those in the East. + + + + II. THE VISIGOTHIC MIGRATIONS + + +*The revolt of Alaric, 395 A. D.* Seizing the opportunity created by the +death of Theodosius and the absence of the army of the East which he had +led into Italy, Alaric, a prince of the Visigothic _foederati_, began to +ravage Thrace and Macedonia with a band of his own people, aided by other +tribes from across the Danube. He was opposed by Stilicho who was leading +back the troops of the eastern emperor and intended to occupy eastern +Illyricum. However, the latter was ordered by Arcadius to send the army of +the East to Constantinople and complied. This gave Alaric free access to +southern Greece which he systematically plundered. However, Stilicho again +intervened. He transported an army by sea to the Peloponnesus, and +maneuvered Alaric into a precarious situation, but came to terms with him, +possibly because of a revolt which had broken out in Africa. Stilicho was +declared an enemy by Arcadius, while Alaric, after devastating Epirus, +settled there with his Goths, and extorted the title of _magister militum_ +from the eastern court. + +*The death of Stilicho, 408 A. D.* In 401 A. D., when Stilicho was +occupied with an inroad of Vandals and Alans into Raetia, Alaric invaded +Italy. However, Stilicho forced him to withdraw, and foiled a second +attempt at invasion in 403 A. D. But Alaric did not long remain inactive. +He now held the title of master of the soldiers from Honorius and had +agreed to help Stilicho to accomplish his designs upon Illyricum. But when +the western empire was embarrassed by new invasions and the appearance of +a usurper in Gaul, he made his way into Noricum and demanded an indemnity +and employment for his troops. By the advice of Stilicho his demands, +which included a payment of 4000 pounds of gold, were complied with. +Shortly afterwards, Stilicho fell a victim to a plot hatched by the court +officials who were jealous of his influence (408 A. D.). + +*The Visigoths in Italy.* The death of Stilicho removed the only capable +defender of Italy and, when Honorius refused to carry out the agreement +with Alaric, the latter crossed the Alps. Honorius shut himself up in +Ravenna, and the Goths marched on Rome, which ransomed itself at a heavy +price. As Honorius still refused to make him master of the soldiers and to +give him lands and supplies for his men, Alaric returned to Rome and set +up a new emperor, named Attalus. Yet Honorius, supported by troops from +the eastern empire, remained obdurate, and a disagreement between Alaric +and Attalus led to the latter’s deposition. Rome was then occupied by the +Goths who plundered it for three days (410 A. D.). Alaric’s next move was +to march to south Italy with the intention of crossing to Sicily and +Africa. But his flotilla was destroyed by a storm, and while retracing his +steps northwards he suddenly took sick and died. + +*The Goths in Gaul and Spain.* Alaric’s successor was his brother-in-law, +Ataulf, who led the Visigoths into Gaul (412 A. D.), where he at first +allied himself with a usurper, Jovinus, but soon deserted him to take +service with the Romans. However, when Honorius failed to furnish him +supplies, he seized Narbonne and other towns in southern Gaul and married +the emperor’s sister, Placidia, whom the Goths had carried off captive +from Rome. He again attempted to come to terms with the Romans, but +failed, and Constantius, the Roman master of the soldiers, who had +succeeded to the position and influence of Stilicho, forced him to abandon +Gaul. Ataulf and the Goths crossed the Pyrenees into Spain, where he died +in 415 A. D. His successor Wallia, being hard pressed by famine and +failing in an attempt to invade Africa, came to terms with the Romans. He +surrendered Placidia and in the name of the emperor attacked the Vandals +and Alans who had occupied parts of Spain. Alarmed by his success +Constantius recalled the Goths to Gaul, where they were settled in +southern Aquitania (418 A. D.). + +*The Visigothic kingdom in Gaul.* The status of the Goths in Gaul was that +of _foederati_, bound to render military aid to Rome, but governed by +their own kings. The latter, however, had no authority over the Roman +population among whom the Goths were settled. This condition was +unsatisfactory to the Gothic rulers who sought to establish an independent +Gothic kingdom. Theodoric I, the successor of Wallia, forced the Romans to +acknowledge his complete sovereignty over Aquitania, but failed in his +attempt to conquer Narbonese Gaul. However, he joined forces with the +Romans against Attila the Hun and was largely responsible for checking the +latter at the battle of the Mauriac plain (451 A. D.) in which he lost his +life. For a time the Goths remained on friendly terms with the imperial +authority but under Euric, who became king in 466 A. D., the anti-Roman +faction was in the ascendant and they embarked upon a policy of expansion. +In 475 Euric, after a protracted struggle, gained possession of the +district of Auvergne, and the Roman emperor acknowledged his sovereignty +over the country between the Atlantic and the Rhone, the Loire and the +Pyrenees, besides some territory in Spain. Two years later the district +between the Rhone and the Alps, south of the Durance, was added to the +Visigothic kingdom. + + + + III. THE VANDALS + + +*The invasions of 406 A. D.* In 405 A. D. an invading horde of Vandals and +Alans, who had descended upon Italy, was utterly defeated by Stilicho. But +in the following year fresh swarms of the same peoples, united with the +Suevi, crossed the Rhine near Mainz and plundered Gaul as far as the +Pyrenees. For a short time they were held in check by the usurper +Constantine, who held sway in Gaul and Spain. However, when he was +involved in a struggle with a rival, Gerontius, they found an opportunity +to make their way into Spain (409 A. D.). + +*The occupation of Spain.* The united peoples speedily made themselves +masters of the whole Iberian peninsula. But in spite of their successes +over the Roman troops, the lack of supplies forced them to come to terms +with the empire. In 411 they became Roman _foederati_ and were granted +lands for settlement. Under this agreement the Asdingian Vandals and the +Suevi occupied the northwest of Spain, the Alans the center, and the +Silingian Vandals the south. However, the Roman government had only made +peace with the Vandals and their allies under pressure, and seized the +first opportunity to rid themselves of these unwelcome guests. In 416 +Constantius authorized the Visigoths under Wallia to attack them in the +name of the emperor. Wallia was so successful that he utterly annihilated +the Silingian Vandals, and so weakened the Alans that they united +themselves with the Asdingian Vandals, who escaped destruction only +through the recall of the Visigoths to Gaul. However, the Vandals quickly +recovered from their defeats, waged successful war upon the Suevi, who had +reached an agreement with the Romans, and occupied the whole of southern +Spain. + +*The Vandal kingdom in Africa.* In 429 A. D. the Vandals under the +leadership of their king Gaiseric crossed into Africa, attracted by the +richness of its soil and its strategic importance as one of the granaries +of the Roman world. Their invasion was facilitated by the existence of a +state of war between Count Bonifacius, the military governor of Africa, +and the western emperor. The number of the invaders was estimated at +80,000, of whom probably 15,000 or 20,000 were fighting men. + +In spite of the reconciliation between Bonifacius and the imperial +government and their united opposition, Gaiseric was able to overrun the +open country although he failed to capture the chief cities. In 435 A. D. +peace was concluded and the Vandals were allowed to settle in Numidia, +once more as _foederati_ of the empire. However, in 439 A. D. Gaiseric +broke the peace and treacherously seized Carthage. This step was followed +by the organization of a fleet which harried the coasts of Sicily. In 442 +the western emperor acknowledged the independence of the Vandal kingdom. +Peace continued until 455, when the assassination of the emperor +Valentinian III gave Gaiseric the pretext for a descent upon Italy and the +seizure of Rome which was systematically plundered of its remaining +treasures, although its buildings and monuments were not wantonly +destroyed. Among the captives was Eudoxia, widow of the late emperor, and +her daughters, who were valuable hostages in the hands of Gaiseric. + +The lack of coöperation between the eastern and western empires against +the Vandals enabled them to extend their power still further. Their fleets +controlled the whole of the Mediterranean and ravaged both its western and +its eastern coasts. A powerful expedition fitted out by the eastern +emperor Leo I in 468 for the invasion of Africa ended in utter failure, +and in 476 his successor Zeno was compelled to come to terms and +acknowledge the authority of the Vandals over the territory under their +control. At the death of Gaiseric in 477 A. D. the Vandal kingdom included +all Roman Africa, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, and the +fortress of Lilybaeum in Sicily. + + + + IV. THE BURGUNDIANS, FRANKS, AND SAXONS + + +*The Burgundian invasion of Gaul.* The invasion of Gaul by the Vandals and +Alans in 406 A. D. was followed by an inroad of the Burgundians, Ripuarian +Franks and Alemanni. The two latter peoples established themselves on the +left bank of the Rhine, while the Burgundians penetrated further south. In +433 the Burgundians were at war with the empire and were defeated by +Aetius, the Roman master of the soldiers in Gaul. Subsequently they were +settled in the Savoy. Thence, about 457, they began to expand until they +occupied the whole valley of the Rhone as far south as the Durance. + +Yet on the whole they remained loyal _foederati_ of the empire. They +fought under Aetius against Attila in 451, and their kings bore the Roman +title of _magister militum_ until the reign of Gundobad (473–516), who was +given the rank of patrician by the emperor Olybrius. + +*The Salian Franks.* The Salian Franks, as those who had once dwelt on the +shores of the North Sea were called in contrast to the Ripuarians, whose +home was on the banks of the Rhine, crossed the lower Rhine before the +middle of the fourth century and occupied Toxandria, the region between +the Meuse and the Scheldt. They were defeated by Julian who, however, left +them in possession of this district as Roman _foederati_. The disturbances +of the early fifth century enabled the Salian Franks to assert their +independence of Roman suzerainty, and to extend their territory as far +south as the Somme. Still, they fought as Roman allies against the Huns in +451 A. D., and their king Childeric, who began to rule shortly afterwards, +remained a faithful _foederatus_ of Rome until his death in 481 A. D. + +In 486 A. D. Clovis, the successor of Childeric, overthrew the Gallo-Roman +state to the south of the Somme and extended his kingdom to meet the +Visigoths on the Loire. Thus the whole of Gaul passed under the rule of +Germanic peoples. + +*The Saxons in Britain.* After the decisive defeat of the Picts and Scots +by Theodosius, the father of Theodosius the Great, in 368 and 369 A. D., +the Romans were able to maintain the defence of Britain until the close of +the fourth century. But in 402 Stilicho was obliged to recall part of the +garrison of the island for the protection of Italy, and in 406 +Constantine, who had laid claim to the imperial crown in Britain, took +with him the remaining Roman troops in his attempt to obtain recognition +on the continent. The ensuing struggles with the barbarians in Gaul +prevented the Romans from sending officials or troops across the channel, +and the Britons had to depend upon their own resources for their defense. + +The task proved beyond their strength and it is probable that by the +middle of the fifth century the Germanic tribes of Saxons, Angles and +Jutes were firmly established in the eastern part of Britain. Because of +the uncivilized character of these peoples, of the fact that Roman culture +was not very deeply rooted among the native population, and of the +desperate resistance offered by the latter to the invaders, the subsequent +struggle for the possession of the island resulted in the obliteration of +the Latin language and the disappearance of that material civilization +which had developed under four centuries of Roman rule. + + + + V. THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE + + +*Honorius, 395–432 A. D.* After the murder of Stilicho in 408 A. D., +Honorius was faced with the problem of restoring his authority in Gaul, +where for a time he had been forced to acknowledge the rule of a rival +emperor Constantine who had donned the purple in Britain in 406 A. D. +Constantius, a Roman noble who had succeeded Stilicho as master of the +soldiers, was despatched to Gaul in 411 and soon overthrew the usurper. +Two years later another rival, Jovinus, was crushed with the help of the +Visigoths. + +Constantius, the leader of the anti-barbarian faction of the court, was +now the mainstay of the power of Honorius and used his influence to +further his own ambitions. After the surrender of the princess Placidia by +the Visigoths he induced the emperor to grant him her hand in marriage +(417 A. D.). In 421 A. D. Honorius appointed him co-emperor, but he was +not recognized as an Augustus at Constantinople and died in the same year. +His death was followed by a quarrel between the emperor and his sister, as +a result of which Placidia and her son took refuge under the protection of +the eastern emperor, Theodosius II. + +*Valentinian III, 425–455 A. D.* Honorius died in 423 A. D., leaving no +children, and Castinus, the new master of the soldiers, secured the +nomination of John, a high officer of the court, as his successor. +However, Theodosius refused him recognition and his authority was defied +by Bonifacius, an influential officer who had established himself in +Africa. Valentinian, the five-year-old son of Placidia and Constantius, +was escorted to Italy by forces of the eastern empire and John was +deposed. His chief supporter Aetius, who had brought an army of Huns to +his aid, was induced to dismiss his troops and accept a command in Gaul +with the rank of count. Placidia, who had returned to Italy with +Valentinian, became regent with the title of Augusta. + +*Aetius.* During the reign of Valentinian III interest centers about the +career of Aetius, “last of the Romans.” In 429, after getting rid of his +enemy Felix, who had succeeded to the position of Castinus, Aetius himself +became master of the soldiers and the real ruler of the empire. However, +the Augusta Placidia endeavored to compass his downfall by an appeal to +Bonifacius, who after his revolt of 427 A. D. had fought in the imperial +cause against the Vandals. In 432 Bonifacius returned to Italy and was +appointed master of the soldiers in place of Aetius. The latter appealed +to arms, was defeated near Ariminum, and forced to flee for refuge to his +friends the Huns. But as Bonifacius died not long after his victory, +Aetius, with the backing of the Huns, was able to force the emperor to +reappoint him master of the soldiers in 433 A. D. From that time until his +death in 454 he directed the imperial policy in the West. He received +embassies from foreign peoples and the latter made treaties with him and +not with the emperor. + +*Attila’s invasion of Gaul, 451 A. D.* The chief efforts of Aetius were +directed towards the preservation of central and southeastern Gaul for the +empire. In this he was successful, holding in check the Franks on the +north, the Burgundians on the east, and the Goths in the southwest. But +though Gaul was saved, Africa was lost to the Vandals, Britain to the +Saxons and the greater part of Spain to the Suevi. The success of Aetius +in Gaul was principally due to his ability to draw into his service large +numbers of Hunnish troops, owing to the influence he had acquired with the +leaders of that people while a hostage among them. At this time the Huns +occupied the region of modern Hungary, Rumania, and South Russia. They +comprised a number of separate tribes, which in 444 A. D. were united +under the strong hand of King Attila, who also extended his sway over +neighboring Germanic and Scythian peoples. + +At first Attila remained on friendly terms with Aetius but his ambitions +and his interference in the affairs of Gaul led to friction and to his +demand for the hand of Honoria, sister of Valentinian III, with half of +the western empire as her dowry. When the emperor refused to comply Attila +led a great army across the Rhine into Gaul and laid siege to Orleans. +Their common danger brought together the Romans and the Germanic peoples +of Gaul, and Aetius was able to face the Huns with an army strengthened by +the presence of the kings of the Visigoths and the Franks. Repulsed at +Orleans, Attila withdrew to the Mauric plains where, in the vicinity of +Troyes, a memorable battle was fought between the Huns and the forces of +Aetius. Although the result was indecisive, Attila would not risk another +engagement and recrossed the Rhine. The next year he invaded Italy, but +the presence of famine and disease among his own forces and the arrival of +troops from the Eastern Empire induced him to listen to the appeal of a +Roman embassy, led by the Roman bishop Leo, and to withdraw from the +peninsula without occupying Rome. Upon his death in 453 A. D. his empire +fell to pieces and the power of the Huns began to decline. + +*Maximus and Avitus, 455–6 A. D.* The death of Attila was soon followed by +that of Aetius, who was murdered by Valentinian at the instigation of his +chamberlain Heraclius (454 A. D.). This rash act deprived him of the best +support of his authority and in the next year Valentinian himself fell a +victim to the vengeance of followers of Aetius. With him ended the dynasty +of Theodosius in the West. The new emperor, a senator named Petronius +Maximus, compelled Valentinian’s widow, Eudoxia, to marry him, but when +the Vandal Gaiseric appeared in Italy in answer to her call he offered no +resistance and perished in flight. Maximus was succeeded by Avitus, a +Gallic follower of Aetius, whom he had made master of the soldiers. But +after ruling little more than a year Avitus was deposed by his own master +of the soldiers, Ricimer (456 A. D.). + +*Ricimer.* Ricimer, a German of Suevic and Gothic ancestry, who succeeded +to the power of Aetius, was the virtual ruler of the western empire from +456 until his death in 472. Backed by his mercenary troops he made and +unmade emperors at his pleasure, and never permitted his nominees to be +more than his puppets. Majorian, who was appointed emperor in 457 A. D., +was overthrown by Ricimer in 461, and was followed by Severus. After the +death of Severus in 465 no emperor was appointed in the West for two +years. The imperial power was nominally concentrated in the hands of the +eastern emperor, Leo, while Ricimer was in actual control of the +government in Italy. In 467, Leo sent as emperor to Rome, Anthemius, a +prominent dignitary of the eastern court, whose daughter was married to +Ricimer in order to secure the coöperation of the latter in a joint attack +of the two empires upon the Vandal kingdom in Africa. However, in 472 +Ricimer broke with Anthemius who had endeavored with the support of the +Roman Senate to free himself from the influence of the powerful barbarian. +Anthemius was besieged in Rome, and put to death following the capture of +the city. Thereupon Ricimer raised to the purple Olybrius, a son-in-law of +Valentinian III. But both the new emperor and his patron died in the +course of the same year (472 A. D.). + +*The last years of the western empire.* In 473 A. D. Gundobad, the nephew +of Ricimer, caused Glycerius to be proclaimed emperor. However, his +appointment was not recognized by Leo, who nominated Julius Nepos. The +next year Nepos invaded Italy and overthrew his rival, only to meet a like +fate at the hands of Orestes, whom he had made master of the soldiers (475 +A. D.). Orestes did not assume the imperial title himself, but bestowed it +upon his son Romulus, known as Augustulus. But Orestes was unable to +maintain his position for long. The Germanic mercenaries in Italy—Herculi, +Sciri, and others—led by Odovacar, demanded for themselves lands in Italy +such as their kinsmen had been granted as _foederati_ in the provinces. +When their demands were refused they mutinied and slew Orestes. Romulus +was forced to abdicate, and Odovacar assumed the title of king (476 +A. D.). The soldiers were settled on Italian soil and the barbarians +acquired full control of the western empire. + +*The kingship of Odovacar, 476–493 A. D.* With the deposition of Romulus +Augustulus, the commander-in-chief of the barbarian soldiery, long the +virtual ruler in the western empire, was recognized as legally exercising +this power. The imperial authority was united in the person of the eastern +emperor who sanctioned the rule of Odovacar by granting him the title of +patrician, which had been held already by Aetius, Ricimer and Orestes. The +barbarian king was at the same time the imperial regent in Italy. + +But it was only in Italy that Odovacar obtained recognition. The last +remnants of Roman authority vanished in Gaul and Spain, while Raetia and +Noricum were abandoned to the Alamanni, Thuringi and Rugii. + +*The Ostrogothic conquest of Italy, 488–493 A. D.* In 488 A. D. the +position of Odovacar in Italy was challenged by Theodoric, king of the +Ostrogoths. This people after having long been subject to the Huns, +recovered their freedom at the death of Attila, and settled in Pannonia as +_foederati_ of the eastern empire. Theodoric, who became sole ruler of the +Ostrogoths in 481 A. D., had proved himself a troublesome ally of the +emperor Zeno who mistrusted his ambitions. Accordingly when Theodoric +demanded an imperial commission to attack Odovacar in Italy, Zeno readily +granted him the desired authority in order to remove him to a greater +distance from Constantinople. In 488 Theodoric set out with his followers +to invade Italy. Odovacar was defeated in two battles and, in 490 A. D., +blockaded in Ravenna. After a long siege he agreed to surrender upon +condition that he and Theodoric should rule jointly over Italy. Shortly +afterwards he and most of his followers were treacherously assassinated by +the Ostrogoths (493 A. D.). Theodoric now ruled Italy as king of the +Ostrogoths and an official of the Roman empire, probably retaining the +title of master of the soldiers which he had held in the East. + + + + VI. THE SURVIVAL OF THE EMPIRE IN THE EAST + + +*Arcadius, 395–408 A. D.* The year of the death of Theodosius the Great +saw the Asiatic provinces of the empire overrun by the Huns who ravaged +Syria and Asia Minor, while the Visigoths under Alaric devastated the +Balkan peninsula. The absence of the eastern troops in Italy prevented the +government from offering any effective opposition to either foe. And when +Stilicho came to the rescue from Italy and was holding the Visigoths in +check, his rival the praetorian prefect Rufinus, who directed the policy +of the young Arcadius, induced the emperor to order Stilicho to withdraw +and sent the troops of the East to Constantinople. This order resulted in +the death of Rufinus, who was killed by the returning soldiery at the +orders of their commander, the Goth Gaïnas. + +The influential position of Rufinus at the court fell to the +grand-chamberlain Eutropius, who had been an enemy of the late prefect. He +had induced Arcadius to marry Eudoxia, daughter of a Frankish chief, +instead of the daughter of Rufinus, as the latter had desired. The fall of +Eutropius was brought about by Gaïnas, now a master of the soldiers, who +sought to play the rôle of Stilicho in the East. He was supported by the +empress Eudoxia, who chafed under the domination of the chamberlain. In +399 on the occasion of a revolt of the Gothic troops in Phrygia, Gaïnas +held aloof and the failure of the nominee of Eutropius to crush the +movement gave him the opportunity to bring about the latter’s dismissal +and eventually his death. + +But Gaïnas did not long retain his power. He quarrelled with the empress, +and the Arianism of himself and his followers roused the animosity of the +population of the capital. A massacre of the Goths in Constantinople +followed and with the aid of a loyal Goth Fravitta, Gaïnas was driven +north of the Danube where he was slain by the Huns (400 A. D.). The +influence of Eudoxia was now paramount. However, she found a critic in the +eloquent bishop of Constantinople, John Chrysostom, who inveighed against +the extravagance and dissipation of the society of the court, and directed +his censures towards the empress in particular. Ultimately, Eudoxia was +able to have him deposed from his see in 404 A. D., a few months before +his death. Four years later Arcadius himself died, leaving the empire to +his eight-year-old son Theodosius II. + +*Theodosius II, 408–450 A. D.* At the opening of the reign of Theodosius +II the government was in the hands of the praetorian prefect Anthemius, +who had shown himself an able administrator during the last years of +Arcadius. However, in 414, the emperor’s elder sister, Pulcheria, was made +regent with the title of Augusta. She was a strong personality and for +many years completely dominated the emperor who was lacking in +independence of character and energy. In 421 Pulcheria selected as a wife +for Theodosius, Athenais, the daughter of an Athenian sophist, who took +the name of Eudocia upon accepting Christianity. After a lapse of some +years differences arose between the empress and her sister-in-law which +led to the latter’s withdrawal from the court (after 431 A. D.). But, +about 440, Eudocia lost her influence over the emperor; she was compelled +to retire from Constantinople and reside in Jerusalem, where she lived +until her death in 460. The reins of power then passed to the grand +chamberlain Chrysapius, whose corrupt administration rivalled that of his +predecessor Eutropius. + +During the reign of Theodosius II the peace of the eastern empire was +broken by a war with Persia and by inroads of the Huns. The Persian war +which began in 421 as a result of persecutions of the Christians in Persia +was brought to a victorious conclusion in the next year. A second war, the +result of a Persian invasion in 441, ended with a Persian defeat in 442. +But with the Huns the Romans were not so fortunate. In 434, king Rua, the +ruler of the Huns in the plains of Hungary, had extorted from the empire +the payment of an annual tribute to secure immunity from invasion. At the +accession of Attila and his brother in 433, this tribute was raised to 700 +pounds of gold and the Romans were forbidden to give shelter to fugitives +from the power of the Huns. But the payment of tribute failed to win a +permanent respite, for Attila was bent on draining the wealth of the +empire and reducing it to a condition of helplessness. In 441–43 the Huns +swarmed over the Balkan provinces and defeated the imperial armies. An +indemnity of 6000 pounds of gold was exacted and the annual payment +increased to 2100 pounds. Another disastrous raid occurred in 447. The +empire could offer no resistance, and so Chrysapius plotted the +assassination of Attila, but the plot was detected. Attila claimed to +regard himself as the overlord of Theodosius. + +In 438 there was published the Theodosian code, a collection of imperial +edicts which constituted the administrative law of the empire, and which +was accepted in the West as well as in the East. Theodosius died in 450, +without having made any arrangements for a successor. + +*Marcian, 450–57 A. D.* The officials left the choice of a new emperor to +the Augusta Pulcheria. She selected Marcian, a tried officer, to whom she +gave her hand in formal marriage. Marcian proved himself an able and +conscientious ruler. He refused to continue the indemnity to Attila, and +was able to adhere to this policy owing to the latter’s invasion of the +West and subsequent death. It was he who permitted the Ostrogoths to +settle as _foederati_ in Pannonia (454 A. D.). + +*Leo I, 457–474 A. D.* At the death of Marcian in 457 the imperial +authority was conferred upon Leo, an officer of Dacian origin. His +appointment was due to the Alan Aspar, one of the masters of the soldiers, +whose power in the East rivalled that of Ricimer in the West. But Leo did +not intend to be the puppet of the powerful general, whose loyalty he +eventually came to suspect. Accordingly as a counterpoise to the Gothic +mercenaries and _foederati_, the mainstay of Aspar’s power, he drew into +his service the Isaurians, the warlike mountaineers of southern Anatolia, +who had defied the empire under Arcadius and Theodosius. The emperor’s +eldest daughter was given in marriage to Zeno, an Isaurian, who was made +master of the soldiers in the Orient. However, in 470 Aspar was still +strong enough to force Leo to bestow the hand of his second daughter upon +his son Leontius and to appoint the latter Caesar. But in the following +year when Zeno returned to Constantinople the Alan and his eldest sons +were treacherously assassinated in the palace. + +*Leo II, 473–4 A. D.* In 473 Leo took as his colleague and destined +successor his grandson, also called Leo, the son of Zeno. The death of the +elder Leo occurred early in 474, and the younger soon crowned his father +Zeno as co-emperor. When Leo II died before the close of the same year, +Zeno became sole ruler. + +*Zeno, 474–491 A. D.* The reign of Zeno was an almost uninterrupted +struggle against usurpers and revolting Gothic _foederati_. In 474 +occurred an outbreak of the latter led by their king Theodoric the son of +Triarius, called Strabo or “the Squinter,” who ruled over the Goths +settled in Thrace as a master of the soldiers of the empire. Before this +revolt was over, the unpopularity of the Isaurians induced Basiliscus, the +brother-in-law of Leo I, to plot to seize the throne for himself. He was +supported by his sister, the ex-empress Verina, and Illus, the chief +Isaurian officer in Zeno’s service. The conspirators seized Constantinople +and proclaimed Basiliscus emperor (475 A. D.). But his heretical religious +views aroused strong opposition, and he was deserted by both Verina and +Illus. Zeno re-entered the capital and Basiliscus was executed. + +During the revolt Zeno had been supported by Theoderic the Amal, a Gothic +prince who was a rival of Theoderic son of Triarius. The emperor therefore +tried to crush the latter with the help of the former, but the two +Theoderics came to an agreement and acted in concert against Zeno (478 +A. D.). In 479 peace was made with Strabo, but hostilities continued with +the Amal. At this time another insurrection broke out in Constantinople, +under the leadership of Marcian, a son-in-law of Leo I, as a protest +against the predominance of the Isaurians, in particular Illus. However, +this revolt was easily put down. + +Theoderic son of Triarius was killed in 481, and in 483 Zeno made peace +with Theoderic the Amal, creating him patrician and master of the +soldiers, and granting him lands in Dacia and lower Moesia. These +concessions were made in consequence of the antagonism which had developed +between the emperor and his all-powerful minister Illus. This friction +culminated in 484 A. D. when Illus, who was master of the soldiers in the +Orient, induced the dowager empress Verina to crown a general, named +Leontius, as emperor. But outside of Isauria the movement found little +support and after a long siege in an Isaurian fortress the leaders of the +revolt were taken and put to death (488 A. D.). In the meantime Theoderic +the Amal had asked and received an imperial warrant for the conquest of +Italy, and with the departure of the Goths the eastern empire was +delivered from the danger of Germanic domination. Zeno died in April, 491 +A. D. + +*Anastasius, 491–518 A. D.* The choice of a successor was left to the +empress Ariadne, who selected as emperor and her husband an experienced +officer of the court, Anastasius. The first act of Anastasius was to +remove the Isaurian officials and troops from Constantinople. This led to +an Isaurian rebellion in southern Asia Minor which was not stamped out +until 498. In the struggle the power of the Isaurians was broken, their +strongholds were captured, part of their population transported to Thrace, +and they ceased to be a menace to the peace of the empire. + +In the place of the Goths new enemies appeared on the Danubian border in +the Slavic Getae and the Bulgars who overran the depopulated provinces of +the northern Balkan peninsula. So extended were their ravages and so +utterly did the imperial troops fail to hold them in check that Anastasius +was obliged to build a wall across the peninsula, upon which the city of +Constantinople stands, for the protection of the capital itself. +Anastasius had also to cope with a serious Persian war which began with an +invasion of Roman Armenia and Mesopotamia by King Kawad in 502 A. D. After +four years of border warfare, in which the Persians gained initial success +but the fortune of the Roman arms was restored by the master of the +offices Celer, peace was reëstablished on the basis of the _status quo +ante_. + +The civil administration of Anastasius is noteworthy for the abolition of +the tax called the _chrysargyrum_ (498 A. D.), and his relief of the +_curiales_ from the responsibility for the collection of the municipal +taxes. A testimony of the increasing influences of Christian morality was +the abolition of certain pagan festivals and of combats between gladiators +and wild beasts in the circus. + +But in spite of the justness and efficiency of his administration the +reign of Anastasius was marked by several popular upheavals in +Constantinople, and in other cities of the empire as well. The cause lay +in his sympathy for the monophysite doctrine which was vigorously opposed +by the orthodox Christians. In 512 the appointment of a monophysite bishop +at Constantinople provoked a serious rebellion which almost cost +Anastasius his throne. + +Although the emperor was able to quiet the city rabble by a display of +cool courage the prevailing religious discord encouraged Vitalian, the +commander of the Bulgarian _foederati_ in the Thracian army, to raise the +standard of revolt (514 A. D.). He defeated all forces sent against him +and endangered the safety of the capital. However, he was induced to +withdraw by a ransom of 5000 pounds of gold and the office of master of +the soldiers in Thrace. But the truce was only temporary, and in 515 he +again advanced on Constantinople. This time his forces met with a crushing +defeat on land and sea, and the rebellion came to an end. Three years +later Anastasius died. + + [Illustration: The Roman Empire and the Germanic Kingdoms in 526 + A. D.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV + + + THE AGE OF JUSTINIAN: 518–565 A. D. + + + + I. THE GERMANIC KINGDOMS IN THE WEST TO 533 A. D. + + +*The Germans and the Romans.* The passing of Italy and the western +provinces under the sway of Germanic kings was accomplished, as we have +seen, by the settlement of large numbers of barbarians in the conquered +territories. This necessitated a division of the soil and a definition of +the status of the Romans with respect to the invaders, who were everywhere +less numerous than the native population. These questions were settled in +different ways in the several kingdoms. + +*Under the Visigoths.* In the Visigothic kingdom in Gaul the Goths and the +Romans lived side by side as separate peoples, each enjoying its own laws, +and the Romans were not regarded as subjects having no rights against +their conquerors. However, intermarriage between the two races was +forbidden. The law which applied to the Romans was published by King +Alaric in 506 A. D., and is known as the _Lex Romana Visigothorum_, or the +Breviary of Alaric; his predecessor Euric had caused the compilation of a +code of the Gothic customary law in imitation of the imperial Theodosian +code. + +The settlement of the Goths on the land took the form of _hospitium_ or +quartering. By this arrangement the Roman landholders gave up to the Goths +two thirds of their property, both the land itself and the cattle, +_coloni_ and slaves which were on it. The shares which the Goths received +were not subject to taxation. + +For the purposes of administration the Roman provincial and municipal +divisions were retained (_provinciae_ and _civitates_), the former being +placed under _duces_ and the latter under _comites civitatum_. The Goths +settled within these districts formed their national associations of tens, +hundreds, and thousands, under native Gothic officers. But the adoption of +a more settled form of life deeply affected the Gothic tribal +institutions. The Gothic national assembly could no longer be easily +called together and came to exist in the form of the army alone. In the +division of the land the more influential warriors and friends of the king +received the larger shares and this helped the rise of a landed nobility. +The government was concentrated at the capital, Toulouse, where central +ministries were established modelled on those of the Roman court. This led +to a considerable strengthening of the royal power. The language of +government remained Gothic for the Goths and Latin for the Romans, but the +leading Goths appear to have been familiar with both tongues. + +*Under the Vandals.* In the Vandal kingdom of Africa the position of the +Romans was much less favorable. They were treated as conquered subjects, +and, as under the Goths, intermarriage between them and the conquering +race was prohibited. In the province of Zeugitana (old Africa), where the +Vandal settlement occurred, the Roman landowners were completely +dispossessed and their estates turned over to new proprietors. The +_coloni_ and other tenants, however, remained on the soil, and the Vandal +landlords entrusted the management of their properties to Roman stewards. +Elsewhere the Romans were undisturbed in their possessions. + +The Roman administrative territorial divisions were retained, but the +regions settled by the Vandals stood outside of these and had a separate +organization. Here the Vandals preserved their tribal divisions of +hundreds and thousands. The administration of justice for the Vandals was +in the hands of their own officials and according to their customary laws; +for the Romans it rested with their previous authorities in accordance +with Roman law but under the supervision of the Vandal king. + +The Vandal kingdom was a strongly centralized monarchy. This led to the +development of a nobility based on employment in the imperial service. The +African climate and the sudden acquirement of wealth which enabled them to +enjoy all the luxurious extravagance of Roman life in the upper classes of +society soon produced an enervating effect upon the northern conquerors. +On the other hand, although they were completely lacking in political +rights, the Roman agricultural population of Africa felt the rule of the +Vandals to be less oppressive than that of the Roman bureaucracy. + +*Under the Ostrogoths.* In Italy, Odovacar had maintained the Roman +administrative system in its entirety and Theoderic continued his policy. +He made no attempt to found a new state but regarded himself as one of the +rulers of the Roman empire. In 497 he asked and received from Anastasius +the symbols of imperial power which Odovacar had sent to Constantinople +upon the deposition of Romulus Augustulus in 476. From this time the +Gothic king may be regarded as a colleague of the eastern emperor. Not +merely did he retain the Roman administrative organization but all his +civil officials were Romans. He published an edict which constituted a +code of law applicable to Goths and Romans alike. So thoroughly Roman was +Theoderic’s administration that even the army was open to Romans, who are +found among his prominent generals. + +The Ostrogoths received assignments of land in Italy but it seems probable +that there was no confiscation of private property, one third of the state +lands being allotted for this purpose. Ravenna was the royal residence and +center of government, but the Roman Senate exercised a great deal of +influence and until the later years of his reign cordially supported the +authority of Theoderic. + +*The Burgundians and the Franks.* The Burgundians in the Rhone valley +effected their settlement like the Visigoths according to the system of +_hospitium_. In general their relations with the Roman population were +peaceful, intermarriage between the two peoples was sanctioned, and the +Burgundian kings showed themselves appreciative of Roman culture. +Gundobad, who reigned from 473 to 516, issued both a code of Burgundian +laws and the Burgundian Roman Law (_Lex Romana Burgundionum_) which +applied to his Roman subjects and also to the Burgundians in their +disputes with Romans. The Franks in the course of their advance to the +Seine had annihilated the Roman population of northern Gaul. However, in +the region between the Seine and the Loire they left the Romans in +undisturbed possession of their property, the Frankish kings making no +distinction between their Frank and Roman subjects. + +*The religious question.* In addition to racial differences, there was +also a religious line of demarcation between the Goths, Vandals and +Burgundians on the one hand, and the Roman population on the other. The +Goths and neighboring Germanic peoples had been converted to Christianity +in the latter half of the fourth century, largely through the missionary +activities of Ulfila, who translated the Bible into Gothic. However, they +had been won to the Arian and not the Nicaean creed, and consequently were +regarded as heretics by the orthodox Romans, who never became reconciled +to rulers of another confession than themselves. This hostility led +frequently to government intervention and persecution. But in this respect +the policy of the several Germanic kingdoms varied under different rulers. + +In general the Visigoths pursued a policy of toleration, leaving the +orthodox clergy undisturbed except when the latter were guilty of +disloyalty in giving support to outside enemies. At the time of their +settlement in Zeugitana the Vandals confiscated the property of the +orthodox church in that province and turned it over to their own Arian +clergy. Elsewhere in Africa the Catholics remained unmolested during the +reign of Gaiseric but were persecuted by his successors. In the +Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy Theoderic, although an Arian, gave complete +freedom to the orthodox church throughout the greater part of his rule. +However, his policy changed when the eastern emperor, Justin, began to +persecute the Arians within his dominions in 523 A. D. The ban upon +Arianism found support among the Romans in Italy, particularly among the +orthodox clergy and the senators. This caused Theoderic to suspect that +the emperor’s action had been stimulated by a faction in the Roman Senate, +and led to the execution of Boethius and other notables on the charge of +treason. Realizing the effect that the imperial proscription of Arianism +would produce upon the relations of his Roman and Gothic subjects, +Theoderic sent a delegation, headed by the bishop of Rome, to +Constantinople to secure the annulment of the anti-Arian decree. When he +failed to attain this, he resolved upon a general persecution of the +Catholics which was forestalled, however, by his death in 526 A. D. + +The Burgundians were also Arians, and this prevented their winning the +loyal support of the orthodox clergy, who, however, recognized the +authority of the Burgundian kings. Although Sigismund, the son of +Gundobad, who came to the throne in 516, was converted to orthodoxy, it +was too late to heal this religious breach before the fall of the +Burgundian power. + +Unlike their neighbors, the Visigoths and Burgundians, the Franks were +pagans when they established themselves upon Roman territory and remained +so until toward the close of the fifth century. In 496 the Frankish king +Clovis was converted to Christianity, and to the orthodox, not the Arian, +belief, a fact of supreme importance in his relations with the other +Germanic peoples in Gaul. + +*The expansion of the Franks.* The foreign policy of Theoderic was +directed towards strengthening his position in Italy by establishing +friendly relations with the western Germanic kingdoms and maintaining +peace and a balance of power among them. To this end he contracted a +series of family alliances with the rulers of these states. In 492 he +himself wedded a sister of Clovis the Frank, and gave his own sister in +marriage to the Vandal king Thrasamund. One of his daughters became the +wife of Sigismund, king of the Burgundians, and another was married to +Alaric II, who succeeded Euric as king of the Visigoths. + +However, Theoderic’s scheme was rudely disturbed by the ambitions of +Clovis. In 496 the latter conquered the Alamanni. He next forced the +Burgundians to acknowledge his overlordship, and with these as his allies +in 507 he attacked the Visigothic kingdom. The conquests of Euric in Gaul +and Spain had overtaxed the strength of the Visigothic people and weakened +their hold upon the territory they occupied. Furthermore, their Roman +subjects gave active aid to the orthodox Clovis. In a battle near Poitiers +the Visigoths were defeated and their king, Alaric II, slain. Theoderic +had been hindered from intervening previously by the outbreak of +hostilities between himself and the emperor Anastasius, who gave his +sanction to the action of Clovis and sent him the insignia of the +consulship. Now, however, the Ostrogothic king came to the aid of the +Visigoths. He repulsed the Franks and Burgundians before Arles (508 +A. D.). and recovered Narbonese Gaul. However, the greater part of +Aquitania remained in the hands of the Franks. Theoderic established his +grandson Amalaric as king of the Visigoths and exercised a regency in his +name (510 A. D.). Clovis died in 511 and the expansion of the Franks +ceased for a time. However, the death of Theoderic in 526 was the signal +for fresh disturbances. The Visigothic king Amalaric at once asserted his +independence in southern Gaul and in Spain. But not long afterwards, in +531, he fell in battle against the Franks, who seized the remaining +Visigothic possessions in Gaul except Septimania—the coast district +between the Pyrenees and the Rhone. Three years later they overthrew the +kingdom of the Burgundians and so brought under their sway the whole of +Gaul outside of Septimania and Provence. + +In 533 A. D. the situation in the west was as follows. Gaul was mainly in +the hands of the Franks, Spain was under the Visigoths, the Vandals were +still established in Africa, and the Ostrogoths in Italy. Both of the +latter kingdoms, however, were showing signs of internal weakness. In +addition to the hostility between the Germanic conquerors and the subject +Roman population, factional strife had broken out over the succession to +the throne. Evidence of the declining power of the Vandals in particular +was the success of the Moorish tribes in winning their independence. By +525 both Mauretania and Numidia had been abandoned to them, and the tribes +of Tripolis had shaken off the Vandal yoke. In 530 the Moors of southern +Byzacene inflicted a severe defeat on the Vandals, which led to the +deposition of the ruling king. The weakness of these states seemed to +offer a favorable opportunity for the reëstablishment of the imperial +authority in the West. + + + + II. THE RESTORATION OF THE IMPERIAL POWER IN THE WEST: 553–554 A. D. + + +*Justin I, 518–527 A. D.* Anastasius died in 518 and was succeeded by +Justin, an Illyrian of humble origin who had risen to the important post +of commander of the imperial body guard (_comes excubitorum_). Unlike his +predecessor Justin was an adherent of the orthodox faith, and at the +opening of his reign an exceedingly influential position was held by the +general Vitalian, who had been the champion of orthodoxy against +Anastasius. He became master of the soldiers at Constantinople and in 520 +was honored with the consulship. But his power and unscrupulous ambitions +constituted a real menace to the emperor and induced the latter to procure +his murder. Justin ruled for nine years. He was an experienced soldier, +but illiterate, and personally unequal to the task of imperial government. +The guiding spirit of his administration was his nephew Justinian, who was +largely responsible for Vitalian’s removal. In fact the reign of Justin +served as a brief introduction to the long rule of Justinian himself, whom +his uncle crowned as his colleague in 527 A. D., and who became sole +emperor at the latter’s death in the same year. + +*Justinian’s imperial policy.* Justinian was by birth a Latin peasant from +near Scupi (modern Uskub) in Upper Moesia, but through his uncle he had +been able to enjoy all the educational advantages offered by the schools +of Constantinople. In public life he showed himself a laborious and +careful administrator, of an extremely autocratic, and yet at the same +time somewhat vacillating, character. He was a devout Christian, zealous +for the propagation of the orthodox faith, with a strong liking for, and +considerable learning in, questions of dogmatic theology. He regarded +religious and secular affairs as equally subject to the imperial will, and +in each sphere he exercised absolute authority. In him the ideal of +autocracy found its most perfect embodiment. + +The goal of Justinian’s imperial policy was the recovery of the lands of +the western empire from their Germanic rulers and the reëstablishment of +imperial unity in the person of the eastern emperor. The attainment of +unity of belief throughout the Christian world he regarded as no less +important than that of political unity: one empire, one church, was his +motto. + +*Reconciliation with the western Church: 519 A. D.* The way was paved for +the reconquest of the Roman West by a reconciliation with the Roman bishop +Hormisdas, as a result of which orthodoxy was once more formally received +at Constantinople and a persecution of the monophysites and other heretics +inaugurated in the eastern empire (519 A. D.). Although this union with +Rome was brought about while the influence of Vitalian was predominant, it +had the cordial support of Justinian, who recognized that the good will of +the clergy and the Roman population of the western provinces would in this +way be won for the eastern emperor. Such proved to be the case, and the +subsequent wars for the recovery of the West assumed the aspect of +crusades for the deliverance of the followers of the orthodox church from +Arian domination. + +*Outbreak of the Vandal war, 533 A. D.* The deposition of Hilderic, who +had been on friendly terms with the eastern empire, and the accession of +Gelimer who reverted to an anti-Roman policy, afforded Justinian a pretext +for intervention in the Vandal kingdom. In conformity with his policy of +treating the Germanic kings as vassal princes of the empire, he demanded +the reinstatement of Hilderic, and when this was refused, he prepared to +invade Africa. An expeditionary force of ten thousand foot and five +thousand horse, accompanied by a powerful fleet, was placed under the +command of the able general Belisarius and despatched from Constantinople +in 533 A. D. An alliance concluded with the Ostrogoths forestalled the +possibility of their coming to the aid of the Vandals. + +*The military condition of the empire.* The imperial armies of the sixth +century were entirely composed of mercenary troops. While the voluntary +enlistment of barbarians had been a regular method of recruitment from the +time of Diocletian, such troops were at first enrolled directly in the +imperial service. But by the opening of the sixth century it had become +customary for private individuals, as a rule officers of repute, to enlist +troops in their personal service. Such troops were known as _bucellarii_, +from the word _bucella_, signifying soldiers’ bread. These _bucellarii_ +were usually taken into the service of the state along with their leaders, +and were then maintained at the public expense. It was with mercenaries of +this type that the ranks of Justinian’s armies were largely filled. For +the most part they were veteran troops and good fighters, but with all the +weaknesses of their class. They were greedy of plunder, impatient of +discipline, and both officers and men displayed a conspicuous lack of +loyalty. The most effective troops were the _cataphracti_, mailed horsemen +armed with bow, lance and sword. Beside them the infantry played only a +subordinate rôle. The fact that the government was obliged to rely upon +_condottieri_ for its own maintenance reveals the internal decay of the +whole imperial system, and the smallness of the forces which it could put +into the field shows the weakness of its resources compared with the aims +of Justinian and explains the protracted character of the wars of the +period. In fact, the emperor was on the point of abandoning the invasion +of Africa for financial reasons, when the prophecy of an eastern bishop +induced him to persevere. + +*The reconquest of Africa, 533–4 A. D.* The landing of Belisarius in +Africa (September, 533) completely surprised the Vandals. Gailimer was +defeated in battle and Belisarius occupied Carthage. A second defeat +before the close of the year sealed the fate of the Vandal kingdom. Early +in 534 Gailimer surrendered and all resistance came to an end. The Vandal +insular possessions—Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands—fell to the +Romans without further opposition. + +*Revolts of the Moors.* However, the Moors, who had managed to assert +their independence against the Vandals, were not disposed to pass under +the Roman yoke without a struggle. A revolt which broke out in 535 was not +finally crushed until 539; and another, which was complicated by a mutiny +of the imperial troops, raged between 546 and 548. In the end, the Roman +authority was reëstablished over all the African provinces except +Mauretania Caesariensis and Tingitana. The previous system of civil +administration was revived and elaborate measures taken to secure the +defence of the frontiers. However, the ravages of the Moors and the war of +restoration had played sad havoc with economic conditions in Africa, and +in spite of government assistance, its former prosperity was never +revived. Still, Africa had been recovered for the empire and was destined +to remain a part of it until the Saracen invasion nearly a century and a +half later. + +*The recovery of Italy, first phase, 535–540 A. D.* The overthrow of the +Vandal kingdom had scarcely been accomplished when events in Italy gave +Justinian the desired pretext for the invasion of the peninsula. Upon the +death of King Athalaric, Theoderic’s grandson and successor, in 534, his +mother, the regent Amalasuntha, had married Theodahad, whom she made her +consort. Shortly afterwards, however, he caused her to be imprisoned and, +when she appealed to Justinian for aid, put her to death. As the avenger +of his former ally, Justinian made war upon the Gothic king. The +possession of Africa gave the Romans an excellent base of operations +against Italy. In 535 Belisarius invaded Sicily with 7500 men and speedily +reduced the whole island, while another Roman army marched on Dalmatia. +From Sicily Belisarius crossed into South Italy, where he found little +resistance. The inactivity of Theodahad produced a revolt among his own +people. He was deposed, and Witiges became king in his place. The new king +was able to purchase the neutrality of the Franks, who were in alliance +with Justinian, by ceding to them the Ostrogothic possessions in South +Gaul. However, Belisarius continued his advance and occupied Rome +(December, 536 A. D.). There he was besieged for a year (March, 537 to +March, 538) by the Goths, who were in the end forced to abandon the +blockade and fall back upon North Italy. At the same time, the eunuch +Narses arrived in Italy at the head of a new Roman army. But since his +presence was largely due to Justinian’s mistrust of Belisarius, he failed +to coöperate with the latter and accomplished nothing before his recall in +539. The last episode of the campaign was the siege of Ravenna (539–540 +A. D.), which was defended by the Gothic king. With its fall and his +capture in 540, the resistance of the Goths came to an end. Italy was +declared a Roman province, the civil administration was reëstablished, and +Belisarius was recalled to assume the command against Persia. + +*Second phase, 541–554 A. D.* But the withdrawal of Belisarius and his +best troops led to a revolt of the Goths under the leadership of the brave +and energetic Totila (or Baduila) in 541. Within the next three years he +drove the Roman garrisons from the greater part of Italy, including Rome. +Belisarius was despatched against him, but was given inadequate support +and accomplished nothing except the recovery of Rome, which he held until +he was recalled at his own request in 548. The drain of a fresh Persian +war upon the resources of the empire forced Justinian to the temporary +abandonment of Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Italy, apart from Ravenna and +a few other fortresses. At last in 552 he was able to resume the struggle +and entrusted the conduct of the war to Narses, whose ability as a +commander was superior to that of Belisarius himself. The army of Narses +numbered over 30,000, and consisted chiefly of barbarian auxiliaries, in +particular Lombards, who had been settled as _foederati_ in Noricum since +547. Narses marched upon Italy by way of Illyricum and reached the Roman +base at Ravenna. Thence he advanced towards Rome and met and defeated the +Goths in a decisive engagement in Umbria (552 A. D.). Totila fell in the +battle. A second victory in Campania in the following spring forced the +surviving Goths to come to terms. They were allowed to leave Italy and +seek a new home beyond the Roman borders. A fresh enemy then appeared in +the Franks, who had been nominal allies of the Goths but had rendered them +little assistance. A horde of Alamanni and Franks swept down upon Italy +and penetrated deep into the peninsula. But Narses annihilated one of +their divisions at Capua (554 A. D.), and the remainder were decimated by +disease and forced to withdraw. The Roman sway was firmly established over +Italy as far as the Alps; but Raetia, Noricum and the Danubian provinces +remained lost to the empire. + +The long and bitter wars of restoration had wrought frightful damage to +the material welfare of Italy, and the heavy financial burdens imposed by +the Roman administrative system aroused bitter protests. The measures of +relief attempted proved insufficient, the middle class disappeared, the +richer landed proprietors left the peninsula, and, as in Africa, the +former prosperity was never recalled. + +*The attempted recovery of Spain, 554 A. D.* Following the conclusion of +hostilities in Italy, Justinian seized the opportunity which presented +itself for intervention in Spain. He sent an army to the support of the +rebel Agila against Athanagild, the king of the Visigoths (554 A. D.). The +Roman forces occupied Corduba, Carthagena and other coast towns, but on +the death of Athanagild, Agila succeeded to his throne and headed the +Visigothic opposition to the Romans, who were unable to advance further. +However, they retained what they had already conquered. + +*Extent of the Roman conquests.* Justinian’s policy had resulted in the +overthrow of the Vandal and Ostrogothic kingdoms, and in the recovery for +the empire of Africa, Italy, the Mediterranean islands, and a strip of the +Spanish coast. More, the empire was too weak to accomplish. + + + + III. JUSTINIAN’S FRONTIER PROBLEMS AND INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION + + +*Barbarian invasions of the Balkan peninsula.* The strain which the policy +of expansion in the West imposed upon the strength of the empire is +clearly seen in the failure to defend the Danubian frontier and the +ineffective conduct of the Persian wars. Time after time hordes of Bulgars +and Slavs poured into the Balkans. Especially destructive were the inroads +of 540 and 559. In the former the invaders penetrated as far as the +Isthmus of Corinth; in the latter they threatened the capital itself, but +were driven off by the aged Belisarius. + +*The Persian wars.* In 527, the Persian king Kawad declared war upon the +empire. The struggle was indecisive, and, at the death of Kawad in 532, +Justinian, who wished to be free at any price to pursue his western +policy, was able to conclude peace with his successor, Chosroes I, upon +condition of paying an annual indemnity. But the successes of Justinian in +the West aroused the jealousy and ambitions of Chosroes in 539. The +Persians overran Syria and captured Antioch, carrying off its population +into captivity (540). However, they failed to take Edessa (544). In +Mesopotamia an armistice was concluded in 545, although war continued +between the Arab dependents of both states, and in the district of Lazica +(ancient Colchis), a Roman protectorate which transferred its allegiance +to Persia. Finally, a fifty years’ peace was concluded in 562 A. D. The +Roman suzerainty over Lazica was acknowledged by the Persians, but the +Romans obligated themselves to pay the Persians a heavy annual subsidy, in +return for which the Persians undertook the defence of the Caucasus. In +this way the Persians became technically Roman _foederati_; however, as in +the case of the Visigoths in the fourth century, this was equivalent to a +confession that the Romans were unable to subdue their enemy, who looked +upon the subsidy as tribute. + + [Illustration: The Roman Empire in 565 A. D.] + +*The empress Theodora.* In 523 Justinian married Theodora, a former +professional pantomime actress from the purlieus of the Hippodrome, after +he had induced his uncle to cancel the law which forbade the marriage of +senators and actresses. And when Justinian became emperor in 527, Theodora +was crowned with him as Augusta. From that time until her death in 553 she +was in a very real sense joint ruler with her husband. Whatever the +character of her previous career, her private life as empress was beyond +reproach. She was fond of power, jealous of the influence of others with +the emperor, and unforgiving towards those who thwarted her purposes; both +Belisarius and John of Cappadocia, the powerful praetorian prefect, were +driven from the emperor’s service by her enmity. On the other hand, she +was a woman of dauntless courage, and possessed of remarkable foresight in +political affairs. + +*The **“**Nika**”** riot, 532 A. D.* The courage of the empress was +conspicuously displayed on the occasion of the great riot of the factions +of the Hippodrome—the Greens and the Blues—in 532 A. D. These factions had +been organized in Constantinople in imitation of the circus factions of +Rome, but had acquired a different character and a greater importance in +the new capital. The two factions divided between them the entire urban +population, and had their regularly appointed leaders, who enjoyed a +recognized place in the administrative organization of the city. These +parties may be regarded as the last survival of the Hellenic popular +assembly of the city-state, and owing to the extreme centralization of the +administration at Constantinople, they were able to exercise considerable +pressure upon the government. + +The emperor and the court regularly supported one or other of the parties. +Anastasius had favored the Greens, but Justinian was a partizan of the +Blues. The rivalry of the factions was intense, and culminated, in the +early years of Justinian’s reign, in open warfare, which gave the lower +elements the opportunity for the perpetration of crimes of all sorts. The +punishment of notorious criminals of both factions in 532 led to their +uniting in a revolt which nearly cost the emperor his throne. At first the +mob demanded the release of their partizans, and the dismissal of John, +the praetorian prefect, whose financial policy was extremely oppressive, +of Trebonian, the able but unscrupulous quaestor, and of the prefect of +the city. Later, emboldened by their success, they crowned as emperor +Hypatius, a nephew of Anastasius. The situation became extremely critical, +for, with the exception of the palace, the whole city fell into the hands +of the rebels, whose battle cry was “Nika” or “Conquer.” Justinian and his +councillors had already resolved upon flight, when Theodora, by a spirited +speech in which she declared that she would die before abandoning the +capital, reanimated their hearts and induced them to alter their decision. +By a judicious use of bribes they induced the Blues to desert the Greens, +and the imperial troops exacted a bloody vengeance from the rebellious +populace. For the future the population of the capital was politically a +negligible quantity. + +*The codification of the Roman law.* One of the greatest monuments to the +reign of Justinian is the _corpus iuris civilis_, a codification of the +Roman law by a commission of expert jurists, headed by Trebonian. The +object of this codification was the collection in a convenient form of all +the sources of law then in force, and the settlement of controversies in +the interpretative juristic literature. The compilation was divided into +three parts; the _Code of Justinian_, the _Digest_ or _Pandects_, and the +_Institutes_. The _Code_ was a collection of all imperial constitutions of +general validity; it was first published in 529, but a revised edition was +issued in 534. The _Digest_, which was issued in 533, consisted of +abstracts from the writings of the most famous Roman jurists +systematically arranged so as to present the whole civil law in so far as +it was not contained in the _Code_. The _Institutes_ was a brief manual +designed as a text-book for the use of students of the law. From the time +of their promulgation these compilations constituted the sole law of the +empire and alone carried validity in the courts and formed the only +material for instruction in the law schools of recognized status—those at +Rome, Constantinople and Berytus. Provision was made for the publication +of future legislation in a fourth compilation—the _Novels_ or _New +Constitutions_. + +*St. Sophia.* Justinian’s administration was characterized by great +building activity. He was zealous in the construction of frontier +defences, the rebuilding of ruined cities, the founding of new ones, and +the erection of religious edifices. Among the latter the most famous was +the great church of the Holy Wisdom (St. Sophia), which took the place of +an older building destroyed in the Nika riot. Transformed into a +Mohammedan mosque, it remains to the present day as the greatest +architectural monument of the eastern Roman empire. The execution of +grandiose works of this sort augmented the heavy expenditures necessitated +by Justinian’s foreign policy, and required the continual wringing of +fresh contributions from the already overburdened taxpayers. In raising +the revenues needed to meet the demands upon the fiscus, the emperor found +the prefect John an invaluable agent. + +*Justinian’s religious policy.* Throughout the whole of his reign +Justinian strove with unflagging zeal to secure a united Christian church +within the empire. To this end he did not hesitate to make use of the +autocratic power which he claimed in religious as well as secular affairs +and which was formally admitted by the synod of 536, which declared that +“Nothing whatsoever may occur in the church contrary to the wishes and +orders of the emperor.” His own views Justinian set forth in extensive +writings on dogmatic questions. The reconciliation with Rome in 519, so +necessary for the recovery of the West, had alienated the Monophysites, +who were predominant in Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia, especially among the +lower classes of society. For the rest of his reign Justinian strove +indefatigably to heal this breach, a policy in which he was largely +influenced by Theodora, who was personally sympathetic with the +Monophysites and saw the danger to the empire in the continued hostility +of the eastern peoples. An ecumenical council summoned by him at +Constantinople in 553 accepted a formula of belief upon which he hoped +both orthodox and monophysites could unite. The Pope Vergilius was forced +to submit to Justinian’s will, but the clergy of Italy and Africa regarded +the new doctrine as heretical, and some openly condemned it. Nor was the +desired end attained, for the Monophysites still refused to be +conciliated. A final edict, issued in 565, went still further in its +recognition of the tenets of this sect, but the emperor’s death +forestalled its enforcement and saved the orthodox clergy from the +alternative of submission or persecution. + +A far harsher treatment was meted out to the Arians, who were treated as +hereticals and punished as criminals. A rebellion of the Samaritans, +occasioned by their persecution, was stamped out in blood. A determined +effort was made to eradicate the last remains of the old Hellenic faith +which still claimed many adherents of note. In 529 the endowment of +Plato’s Academy was confiscated and the teaching of philosophy forbidden +at Athens. The persecution of heretics and unbelievers was accompanied by +a vigorous missionary movement which carried the Christian gospel to the +peoples of southern Russia, the Caucasus, Arabia, the Soudan and the oases +of the Sahara. + +*The **condition** of the empire at the death of Justinian.* Justinian +died on 14 November, 565 A. D. He left the empire completely exhausted by +the conquest of the western provinces. The national antagonism between +Greeks and Romans which was coming more and more clearly to light was not +effectively bridged by a formal church union, and a mistaken religious +policy had fostered the growth of national ambitions among the native +populations of Syria and Egypt and led to further disunion with the +empire. Under Justinian the annual consulship, for a thousand years +identified with the life of the Roman state, was abolished (540 A. D.). In +the government of the provinces Justinian took the initial steps towards +abandoning the principle of the division of civil and military authority, +which was so marked a feature of Diocletian’s organization, and thus +prepared the way for the later form of the _themes_, or military +districts, in which the military commanders were at the head of the civil +government as well. It was in his reign also that the culture of the +silkworm was introduced into the empire by Persian monks, who had lived in +China, learned the jealously guarded secrets of this art, and brought some +eggs of the silkworm out of the country concealed in hollow canes. The +manufacture of silk goods had long been a flourishing industry in certain +cities of the Greek East and was made an imperial monopoly by Justinian. +The introduction of the silkworm rendered this trade to a large degree +independent of the importation of raw silk from the Orient. + +As Justinian was the last emperor whose native tongue was Latin, so he was +the last who maintained that language as the language of government at +Constantinople and upheld the traditions of the Roman imperial policy. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV + + + RELIGIOUS AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE IN THE LATE EMPIRE + + + + I. THE END OF PAGANISM + + +*The paganism of the late empire.* In spite of the tremendous impulse +given to the spread of Christianity by Constantine’s policy of toleration +and by its adoption as the religion of the imperial house, the extinction +of paganism was by no means rapid. While the chief pagan religions during +the fourth century were the Oriental cults and the Orphic mysteries of +Eleusis, which strongly resembled them in character, the worship of the +Graeco-Roman Olympic divinities still attracted numerous followers. But, +although paganism persisted in many and divers forms, these, by a process +of religious syncretism, had come to find their place in a common +theological system. This development had its basis in the common +characteristics of the Oriental cults, each of which inculcated the belief +in a supreme deity, and received its stimulus through the conscious +opposition of all forms of paganism to Christianity, which they had come +to recognize as their common, implacable foe. The chief characteristic of +later paganism was its tendency to monotheism—a belief in one abstract +divinity of whom the various gods were but so many separate +manifestations. The development of a harmonious system of pagan theology +was greatly aided by Neoplatonic philosophy, which may be regarded as the +ultimate expression of ancient paganism. Neoplatonism was essentially a +pantheism, in which all forms of life were regarded as emanations of the +divine mind. But Neoplatonism was more than a philosophical system; it was +a religion, and, like the Oriental cults, preached a doctrine of salvation +for the souls of men. Such was the paganism by which the Christians of the +late empire were confronted, and which, because of its many points of +resemblance to their own beliefs and practices, they admitted to be a +dangerous rival. At the same time, this similarity made the task of +conversion less difficult. + +*Causes of the persistence of paganism.* There were several reasons for +the persistence of paganism. The Oriental and Orphic cults exercised a +powerful hold over their votaries, and made an appeal very similar to that +of Christianity. Stoicism, with its high ideal of conduct, remained a +strong tradition among the upper classes of society; and Neoplatonism had +a special attraction for men of intelligence and culture. Roman +patriotism, too, fostered loyalty to the gods under whose aegis Rome had +grown great, and until the close of the fourth century the Roman Senate +was an indefatigable champion of the ancient faith. But more potent than +all these causes was the fact that, apart from some works of a theological +character, the whole literature of the day was pagan in origin and in +spirit. This was the only material available for instruction in the +schools, and formed the basis of the rhetorical studies which constituted +the higher education of the time. Thus, throughout the whole period of +their intellectual training, the minds of the young were subjected to +pagan influences. + +*The persecution of paganism.* Constantine the Great adhered strictly to +his policy of religious toleration and, although an active supporter of +Christianity, took no measures against the pagan cults except to forbid +the private sacrifices and practice of certain types of magical rites. He +held the title of pontifex maximus and consequently was at the head of the +official pagan worship. With his sons, Constantius and Constans, the +Christian persecution of the pagan began. In 341 they prohibited public +performance of pagan sacrifices, and they permitted the confiscation of +temples and their conversion into Christian places of worship. With the +accession of Julian this persecution came to an end, and there was in the +main a return to the policy of religious toleration, although Christians +were prohibited from interpreting classical literature in the schools. The +attempt of Julian to create a universal pagan church proved abortive and +his scheme did not survive his death. His successors, Jovian, Valentinian +I and Valens, adhered to the policy of Constantine the Great. + +Gratian was the first emperor to refuse the title of pontifex maximus, and +to deprive paganism of its status as an official religion of Rome. In 382 +he withdrew the state support of the priesthoods of Rome, and removed from +the Senate house the altar and statue of Victory, which Julian had +restored after its temporary removal by Constantius. This altar was for +many of the senators the symbol of the life of the state itself, and their +spokesman Symmachus made an eloquent plea for its restoration. However, +owing to the influence of Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, the emperor +remained obdurate, and a second appeal to Valentinian II was equally in +vain. Although the brief reign of Eugenius produced a pagan revival in +Rome, the cause of paganism was lost forever in the imperial city. In the +fifth century the Senate of Rome was thoroughly Christian. + +Theodosius the Great was even more energetic than his colleague Gratian in +the suppression of paganism. In 380 he issued an edict requiring all his +subjects to embrace Christianity. In 391 he ordered the destruction of the +great temple of Serapis at Alexandria, an event which sounded the death +knell of the pagan cause in the East. The following year Theodosius +absolutely forbade the practice of heathen worship under the penalties for +treason and sacrilege. Theodosius II continued the vigorous persecution of +the heathen. Adherence to pagan beliefs constituted a crime, and in the +Theodosian Code of 438 the laws against pagans find their place among the +laws regulating civic life. It was during the reign of Theodosius II, in +415, that the pagan philosopher and mathematician, Hypatia, fell a victim +to the fanaticism of the Christian mob of Alexandria. + +Still, many persons of prominence continued to be secret devotees of pagan +beliefs, and pagan philosophy was openly taught at Athens until the +closing of the schools by Justinian. The acceptance of Christianity was +more rapid in the cities than in the rural districts. This gave rise to +the use of the term pagan (from the Latin _paganus_, “rural”) to designate +non-Christian; a usage which became official about 370. And it was among +the rural population that pagan beliefs and practices persisted longest. +However, between the fifth and the ninth centuries paganism practically +disappeared within the lands of the empire. + +The long association with paganism and the rapid incorporation of large +numbers of new converts into the ranks of the church were not without +influence upon the character of Christianity itself. The ancient belief in +magic contributed largely to the spread of the belief in miracles, and the +development of the cult of the saints was stimulated by the pagan +conception of inferior divinities, demigods, and daemons, while many pagan +festivals were Christianized and made festivals of the church. + + + + II. THE CHURCH IN THE CHRISTIAN EMPIRE + + +*The emperor and the church.* The religious policy of Constantine the +Great had the effect of making Christianity a religion of state and +incorporating the Christian church in the state organism. Thereby the +clergy gained the support of the imperial authority in spreading the +belief of the church and in enforcing its ordinances throughout the +empire. Yet this support was won at the price of the recognition of the +autocratic power of the emperor over the church as well as in the +political sphere. Subsequently, however, this recognition was only +accorded to orthodox emperors; that is those who supported the traditional +doctrine of the church as sanctioned in its general councils. + +Constantine made use of his supremacy over the church to enforce unity +within its ranks. However, he did not champion any particular creed but +limited his interference to carrying into effect the decisions of the +church councils or synods which he summoned to pass judgment upon +questions which threatened the unity of the church and the peace of the +state. + +These councils were a development from the provincial synods, which had +previously met to decide church matters of local importance. Procedure in +the councils was modelled upon that of the Roman Senate; the meetings were +conducted by imperial legates, their decisions were issued in the form of +imperial edicts, and it was to the emperor that appeals from these decrees +were made. The first of the great councils was the Synod of Arles, a +council of the bishops of the western church, summoned by Constantine in +314 to settle the Donatist schism in the church in Africa. This was +followed in 325 by the first universal or ecumenical council of the whole +Christian church which met at Nicaea to decide upon the orthodoxy of the +teachings of Arius of Alexandria. + +Constantine’s successors followed his example of summoning church councils +to settle sectarian controversies, though, unlike him, many of them sought +to force upon the church the doctrines of their particular sect. As the +general councils accentuated rather than allayed antagonisms, the eastern +emperor Zeno substituted a referendum of the bishops by provinces. But +this precedent was not followed. Justinian was the emperor who asserted +most effectively his authority over the church. He issued edicts upon +purely theological questions and upon matters of church discipline without +reference to church councils, and he received from the populace of +Constantinople the salutation of “High Priest and King.”(18) The decision +of the council of 553 provoked an attack upon the sacerdotal power of the +emperor by Facundus, bishop of Hermiana in Africa, who declared that not +the emperor but the priests should rule the church. Nevertheless, this +opposition had no immediate effect, and Justinian remained the successful +embodiment of “Caesaro-papism.” + +*The growth of the papacy.* The late empire witnessed a rapid extension of +the authority of the bishopric of Rome, which had even previously laid +claim to the primacy among the episcopal sees. In the West the title +“pope” (from the Greek _pappas_, “father”) became the exclusive +prerogative of the bishop of Rome. The papacy was the sole western +patriarchate, or bishopric, with jurisdiction over the metropolitan and +provincial bishops, and was the sole representative of the western church +in its dealings with the bishops of the East. At the council of Serdica +(343 A. D.) it was decided that bishops deposed as a result of the Arian +controversy might refer their cases to the Pope Julius for final decision, +and, in the course of the fifth century, eastern bishops frequently +appealed to the decision of the pope on questions of orthodoxy. However, +the eastern church never fully admitted the religious jurisdiction of the +papacy. The ideal of the papacy became the organization of the church on +the model of the empire, with the pope as its religious head. + +The claims of the papacy were pushed with vigor by Innocent I (402–417 +A. D.) and Leo I (440–461 A. D.). The latter laid particular stress upon +the primacy of Peter among the Apostles and taught that this had descended +to his apostolic successors. It was Leo also who induced the western +emperor Valentinian III in 455 to order the whole western church to obey +the bishop of Rome as the heir to the primacy of Peter. The Pope Gelasius +(492–496 A. D.) asserted the power of the priests to be superior to the +imperial authority, but the establishment of the Ostrogothic kingdom in +Italy and the reconquest of the peninsula by the eastern emperor weakened +the independence of the Roman bishopric. Justinian was able to compel the +popes to submit to his authority in religious matters. + +*The patriarchate of Constantinople.* A rival to the papacy developed in +the patriarchate of Constantinople, which at the Council of Constantinople +in 381 was recognized as taking precedence over the other eastern +bishoprics and ranking next to that of Rome, “because Constantinople is +New Rome.” However, the primacy of the bishop of Constantinople in the +eastern church was challenged by the older patriarchates of Ephesus, +Antioch and Alexandria, all of which had been apostolic foundations, while +the claims of Constantinople to that honor were more than dubious. Between +381 and 451 the bishops of Alexandria successfully disputed the doctrinal +authority of the see of Constantinople, but at the council of Chalcedon +(451 A. D.) Pulcheria and Marcian reasserted the primacy of the patriarch +of the capital. At this time also the bishopric of Jerusalem was +recognized as a patriarchate. The patriarch of Constantinople was now +placed on an equality with the pope, a recognition against which the Pope +Leo protested in vain. However, the patriarchs of Constantinople never +acquired the power and independence of the popes. Situated as they were in +the shadow of the imperial palace, and owing their ecclesiastical +authority to the support of the throne, they rarely ventured to oppose the +will of the emperor. Under Justinian the patriarch held the position of a +“minister of state in the department of religion.” + +*The temporal power of the clergy.* When Christianity became a religion of +state it was inevitable that the Christian clergy should occupy a +privileged position. This recognition was accorded them by Constantine the +Great when he exempted them from personal services (_munera_) in 313 and +taxation in 319 A. D. Those who entered the ranks of the clergy were +expected to abandon all worldly pursuits, and an imperial edict of 452 +excluded them from all gainful occupations. In addition to their +ecclesiastical authority in matters of belief and church discipline, the +bishops also acquired considerable power in secular affairs. In the days +of persecution the Christians had regularly submitted legal differences +among themselves to the arbitration of their bishops, rather than resort +to the tribunals of state. Constantine the Great gave legal sanction to +this episcopal arbitration in civil cases; Arcadius, however, restricted +its use to cases in which the litigants voluntarily submitted to the +bishop’s judgment. The bishops enjoyed no direct criminal jurisdiction, +although since the right of sanctuary was accorded to the churches, they +were frequently able to intercede with effect for those who sought asylum +with them. In the enforcement of moral and humanitarian legislation the +state called for the coöperation of the bishops. + +The influential position of the bishops as the religious heads of the +municipalities led to their being accorded a definite place in the +municipal administration. In protecting the impoverished taxpayers against +the imperial officers they were more effective than the “_defensores +plebis_.” And in the days of the barbarian invasions, when the +representatives of the imperial authority were driven from the provinces, +the bishops became the leaders of the Roman population in their contact +with the barbarian conquerors. + + + + III. SECTARIAN STRIFE + + +*Sectarianism.* The history of the church from Constantine to Justinian is +largely the history of sectarian strife, which had its origin in doctrinal +controversies. While the western church in general abstained from acute +theological discussions and adhered strictly to the orthodox or +established creed, devoting its energies to the development of church +organization, the church of the East, imbued with the Greek philosophic +spirit, busied itself with attempts to solve the mysteries of the +Christian faith and was a fruitful source of heterodoxy. Strife between +the adherents of the various sects was waged with extreme bitterness and +frequently culminated in riots and bloodshed. Toleration was unknown and +heretics, like pagans, were classed as criminals and excluded from +communion with the orthodox church. Of the many sects which arose in the +fourth and fifth centuries, two were of outstanding importance. These were +the Arians and the monophysites. + +*Arianism.* Arianism had its rise in an attempt to express with +philosophical precision the relation of the three members of the Holy +Trinity; God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. About 318 A. D., Arius, +a presbyter of Alexandria, taught that God was from eternity but that the +Son and the Spirit were his creations. Over the teaching of Arius, a +controversy arose which threatened the unity of the church. Accordingly, +Constantine intervened and summoned the ecumenical council of Nicaea to +decide upon the orthodoxy of Arius. The council accepted the formula of +Athanasius that the Son was of the same substance (_homo-ousion_) as the +Father, which was the doctrine of the West. Arius was exiled. + +The struggle, however, was by no means over, for the Nicene creed found +many opponents among the eastern bishops who did not wish to exclude the +Arians from the church. The leader of this party was Eusebius of Caesarea. +In 335 they brought about the deposition of Athanasius, who had been +bishop of Alexandria since 328. After the death of Constantine, Athanasius +was permitted to return to his see, only to be expelled again in 339 by +Constantius, who was under the influence of Eusebius. He took refuge in +the West, where the Pope Julius gave him his support. At a general council +of the church held at Serdica (Sofia) in 343 there was a sharp division +between East and West, but the supporters of Athanasius were in the +majority, and he and the other orthodox eastern bishops were reinstated in +their sees (345 A. D.). + +When Constantius became sole ruler of the empire (353 A. D.) the enemies +of Athanasius once more gained the upper hand. The emperor forced a +general council convoked at Milan in 353 to condemn and depose Athanasius, +while the Pope Liberius, who supported him, was exiled to Macedonia. A new +council held at Sirmium in 357 tried to secure religious peace by +forbidding the use of the word “substance” in defining the relation of the +Father and the Son, and sanctioned only the term _homoios_ (like). The +adherents of this creed were called Homoeans. Although they were not +Arians, their solution was rejected by the conservatives in both East and +West. In 359 a double council was held, the western bishops meeting at +Ariminum, the eastern at Seleucia. The result was the acceptance of the +Sirmian creed, although the western council had to be almost starved +before it yielded. Under Julian and Jovian the Arians enjoyed full +toleration, and while Valentinian I pursued a similar policy, Valens went +further and gave Arianism his support. + +In the meantime, however, the labors of the three great +Cappadocians,—Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of +Nyssa—had already done much to reconcile the eastern bishops to the +Nicaean confession and, with the accession of Theodosius I, the fate of +Arianism was sealed. A council of the eastern church met at Constantinople +in 381 and accepted the Nicene creed. The Arian bishops were deposed and +assemblies of the heretics forbidden by imperial edicts. Among the +subjects of the empire Arianism rapidly died out, although it existed for +a century and a half as the faith of several Germanic peoples. + +*The monophysite controversy.* While the point at issue in the dogmatic +controversies of the fourth century was the relation of God to the Son and +the Holy Spirit, the burning question of the fifth and sixth centuries was +the nature of Christ. And, like the former, the latter dispute arose in +the East, having its origin in the divergent views of the theological +schools of Antioch and Alexandria. The former laid stress upon the two +natures in Christ—the divine and the human; the latter emphasized his +divinity to the exclusion of his humanity, and hence its adherents +received the name of monophysites. The Antiochene position was the +orthodox or traditional view of the church, and was held universally in +the West, where the duality of Christ was accepted without any attempt to +determine the relationship of his divine and human qualities. Beneath the +doctrinal controversy lay the rivalry between the patriarchates of +Alexandria and Constantinople, and the awakening national antagonism of +the native Egyptian and Syrian peoples towards the Greeks. The conflict +began in 429 with an attack of Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, upon the +teachings of Nestorius, the patriarch of Constantinople. Cyril, taking the +view that the nature of Christ was human made fully divine, justified the +use of the word _Theotokos_ (Mother of God), which was coming to be +applied generally to the Virgin Mary. Nestorius criticized its use, and +argued in favor of the term Mother of Christ. In the controversy which +ensued, Cyril won the support of the bishop of Rome, who desired to weaken +the authority of the see of Constantinople, and Nestorius was condemned at +the council of Ephesus in 431. + +The next phase of the struggle opened in 448, when Dioscorus, the occupant +of the Alexandrine see, assailed Flavian, the patriarch of the capital, +for having deposed Eutyches, a monophysite abbot of Constantinople. At the +so-called “Robber Council” of Ephesus (449 A. D.) Dioscorus succeeded in +having Flavian deprived of his see. But the pope, Leo I. pronounced in +favor of the doctrine of the duality of Christ, and in 451 the new emperor +Marcian called an ecumenical council at Chalcedon which definitely +reasserted the primacy of the see of Constantinople in the East, approved +the use of _Theotokos_, and declared that Christ is of two natures. The +attempt to enforce the decisions of this council provoked disturbances in +Egypt, Palestine and the more easterly countries. In Palestine it required +the use of armed force to suppress a usurping monophysite bishop. In Egypt +the enforcement led to a split between the orthodox Greek and the +monophysite Coptic churches. + +As the opposition to the decree of Chalcedon still disturbed the peace of +the church, the emperor Zeno in 482, at the instigation of the patriarchs +Acacius of Constantinople and Peter of Alexandria, sought to settle the +dispute by exercise of the imperial authority. He issued a letter to the +church of Egypt called the _Henoticon_, which, while acknowledging the +councils of Nicaea and Constantinople, condemned that of Chalcedon, and +declared that “Christ is one and not two.” This doctrine was at once +condemned by the Pope Silvanus. The rupture with Rome lasted until 519, +when a reconciliation was effected at the price of complete submission by +the East and the rehabilitation of the council of Chalcedon. This in turn +antagonized the monophysites of Syria and Egypt and caused Justinian to +embark upon his hopeless task of reëstablishing complete religious unity +within the empire by holding the western and winning back the eastern +church. + +Justinian hoped to reconcile the monophysites by an interpretation of the +discussions of the council of Chalcedon which would be acceptable to them. +This led him, in 544, to condemn the so-called Three Chapters, which were +the doctrines of the opponents of the monophysites. And although this step +implied a condemnation of the council of Chalcedon itself, and was +consequently opposed in the West, he forced the fifth ecumenical council +of Constantinople in 553 to sanction it. However, neither this concession +nor the still greater one of the edict of 565 availed to win back the +extreme monophysites of Egypt and Syria, where opposition to the religious +jurisdiction of Constantinople had taken a national form, and the +religious disunion in the East continued until these lands were lost to +the empire. + + + + IV. MONASTICISM + + +*The origin of monasticism.* Monasticism (from the Greek _monos_, +“single”), which became so marked a feature of the religious life of the +Middle Ages, had its origin in the ascetic tendencies of the early +Christian church, which harmonized with the eastern religious and +philosophic ideal of a life of pure contemplation. The chief +characteristics of early Christian asceticism were celibacy, fasting, +prayer, surrender of worldly goods, and the adoption of a hermit’s life. +This renouncement of a worldly life was practised by large numbers of both +men and women, especially in Egypt. It was there that organized monastic +life began early in the fourth century under the influence of St. Anthony +in northern and Pachomius in southern Egypt. + +*Anthony and Pachomius in Egypt.* Anthony was the founder of a monastic +colony, which was a direct development from the eremitical life. He laid +down no rule for the guidance of the lives of the monks, but permitted the +maximum of individual freedom. It was Pachomius who first established a +truly cenobitical monastery, in which the monks lived a common life under +the direction of a single head, the abbot, according to a prescribed rule +with fixed religious exercises and daily labor. The organization of +convents for women accompanied the foundation of the monasteries. However, +the Antonian type of monkhood continued to be the more popular in Egypt, +where monasticism flourished throughout the fourth, but began to decline +in the fifth, century. + +*Eastern monasticism.* From Egypt the movement spread to Palestine, but in +Syria and Mesopotamia there was an independent development from the local +eremitical ideals. Characteristic of Syrian asceticism were the pillar +hermits who passed their lives upon the top of lofty pillars. The founder +of the Greek monasticism was Basil (c. 360 A. D.), who copied Pachomius in +organizing a fully cenobitical life. He discouraged excessive asceticism +and emphasized the value of useful toil. The eastern monks were noted for +their fanaticism and they took a very prominent part in the religious +disorders of the time. The abuses of the early, unregulated monastic life +led to the formulation of monastic rules and the subjection of the monks +to the authority of the bishops. + +*Monasticism in the west: Benedict.* Monasticism was introduced in the +West by Athanasius, who came from Egypt to Rome in 339. From Italy it +spread to the rest of western Europe. The great organizer of western +monasticism was Benedict, who lived in the early sixth century, and +founded the monastery at Monte Cassino about 520 A. D. His monastic rule +definitely abandoned the eremitical ideal in favor of the cenobitical. In +addition to worship and work, the Benedictine rule made reading a monastic +duty. This stimulated the collection of libraries in the monasteries and +made the monks the guardians of literary culture throughout the Middle +Ages. + +As yet no distinct monastic orders had developed, but each monastery was +autonomous under the direction of its own abbot. + + + + V. LITERATURE AND ART + + +*General characteristics.* The period between the accession of Diocletian +and the death of Justinian saw the gradual disappearance of the ancient +Graeco-Roman culture. In spite of Diocletian’s reëstablishment of the +empire, there was a steady lowering of the general cultural level. This +was due chiefly to the progressive barbarization of the empire and to the +decline of paganism which lay at the roots of ancient civilization. The +one creative force of the time was Christianity, but, save in the fields +of religion and ethics, it did little to stem the ebbing tide of old world +culture. + +*Literature.* The dying out of this culture is clearly to be seen in the +history of the Greek and Roman literatures of the period, each of which +shows the same general traits. In the fourth century, under the impulse of +the restoration of Diocletian, there is a brief revival of productivity in +pagan literature. But this is characterized by archaism and lack of +creative power. The imitation of the past produces not only an +artificiality of style, but also of language, so that literature loses +touch with contemporary life and the language of the literary world is +that of previous centuries, no longer that of the people. Rhetorical +studies are the sole form of higher education, and are in part responsible +for the archaism and artificiality of contemporary literature, owing to +the emphasis which they laid upon literary form to the neglect of +substance. In the fifth century, following the complete triumph of +Christianity, pagan literature comes to an end. + +The recognition of Christianity as an imperial religion by Constantine, +its subsequent victorious assault upon paganism, and the intensity of +sectarian strife gave to Christian literature a freshness and vigor +lacking in the works of pagan writers, and produced a wealth of +apologetic, dogmatic and theological writings. But the Christian authors +followed the accepted categories of the pagan literature, and while +producing polemic writings, works of translation and of religious +exegesis, they entered the fields of history, biography, oratory and +epistolography. Thus arose a profane, as well as a sacred, Christian +literature. And since Christian writers were themselves men of education +and appealed to educated circles, their works are dominated by the current +rhetorical standards of literary taste. Yet in some aspects, in particular +in sacred poetry and popular religious biography, they break away from +classical traditions and develop new literary types. + +But after the first half of the fifth century originality and productivity +in Christian literature also are on the wane. This is in part due to the +effects of the struggle of the empire with barbarian peoples; in part to +the suppression of freedom of religious thought by the orthodox church. +Even after the extinction of paganism the classical literatures of Greece +and Rome afforded the only material for a non-religious education. And +since they no longer constituted a menace to Christianity, the church +became reconciled to their use for purposes of instruction, and it was to +the church, and especially to the monasteries, that the pagan literature +owes its preservation throughout the Dark Ages. + +A symptom of the general intellectual decline of the later empire is the +dying out of Greek in the western empire. While up to the middle of the +third Christian century the world of letters had been bi-lingual, from +that time onwards, largely as a result of the political conditions which +led to a separation of the eastern and western parts of the empire, the +knowledge of Greek began to disappear in the West until in the late empire +it was the exception for a Latin-speaking man of letters to be versed in +the Greek tongue. + +*Pagan Latin literature.* A wide gulf separated the pagan Latin literature +of the fourth century from that of the early principate. Poetry had +degenerated to learned tricks, historical writing had taken the form of +epitomies, while published speeches and letters were but empty exhibitions +of rhetorical skill. The influence of rhetorical studies made itself felt +in legal phraseology, which now lost its former clarity, directness and +simplicity. Still there are a few outstanding literary figures who deserve +mention because they are so expressive of the tendencies of the time or +because they have been able to attain a higher level. + +*Ausonius and Symmachus (c. 345–405 A. D.).* The career of Ausonius, a +professor of grammar and rhetoric at Bordeaux, whose life covers the +fourth century, shows how highly rhetorical instruction was valued. His +ability procured him imperial recognition, and he became the tutor of +Gratian, from whom he received the honor of the consulate in 379. His +poetical works are chiefly clever verbal plays, but one, the _Mosella_, +which describes a voyage down the river Moselle, is noteworthy for its +description of contemporary life and its appreciation of the beauty of +nature. Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, city prefect, and the leader of the +pagan party in Rome under Gratian and Valentinian II, is a typical +representative of the educated society of the time which strove to keep +alive a knowledge of classical literature. He left a collection of +orations and letters, poor in thought, but rich in empty phrase. + +*Ammianus Marcellinus, fl. 350–400 A. D.* A man of far different stamp was +Ammianus Marcellinus, by birth a Greek of Antioch, and an officer of high +rank in the imperial army. Taking Tacitus as his model, he wrote in Latin +a history which continued the former’s work for the period from 96 to 378 +A. D. Of this only the part covering the years 353 to 378 has survived. +His history is characterized by sound judgment and objectivity, but is +marred by the introduction of frequent digressions extraneous to the +subject in hand and by a strained rhetorical style. However, it remains +the one considerable pagan work in Latin prose from the late empire. + +*Claudius Claudianus and Rutilius Namatianus (both fl. 400 A. D.).* The +“last eminent man of letters who was a professed pagan” in the western +empire was Claudius Claudianus. Claudian was by birth an Egyptian Greek +who took up his residence in Rome about 395 A. D. and attached himself to +the military dictator, Stilicho. He chose to write in Latin, and composed +hexameter epics which celebrated the military exploits of his patron. He +also wrote mythological epics and elegiacs. Claudian found his inspiration +in Ovid and reawakened the charm of Augustan poetry. A contemporary of +Claudian, and, like him a pagan, was Rutilius Namatianus, who was a native +of southern Gaul but a resident of Rome where he attained the highest +senatorial offices. His literary fame rests upon the elegiac poem in which +he described his journey from Rome to Gaul in 416 A. D., and revealed the +hold which the imperial city still continued to exercise upon men’s minds. + +*Christian Latin literature: Lactantius (d. about 325 A. D.).* It is among +the writers of Christian literature that the few great Latin authors of +the time are to be found. At the beginning of the fourth century stood +Lactantius, an African, who became a teacher of rhetoric in Nicomedia, +where he was converted to Christianity. His chief work was the _Divinae +Institutiones_, an introduction to Christian doctrine, which was an +attempt to create a philosophical Christianity. His purity of style has +caused him to be called the “Christian Cicero.” + +*Ambrose, (d. 397 A. D.).* Ambrose, the powerful bishop of Milan, who +exercised such great influence with Gratian and Theodosius the Great, also +displayed great literary activity. In general, his writings are +developments of his sermons, and display no very great learning. Their +power depended upon the strength of his personality. More important from a +literary standpoint are the hymns which he composed for use in church +services to combat in popular form the Arian doctrines. In his verses +Ambrose adhered to the classic metrical forms, but in the course of the +next two centuries these were abandoned for the use of the rhymed verse, +which itself was a development of the current rhetorical prose. + +*Jerome, 335–420 A. D.* The most learned of the Latin Christian writers of +antiquity was Jerome (Hieronymus), a native of northern Bosnia, whose +retired, studious life was in striking contrast to the public, official +career of Ambrose. A Greek and Hebrew scholar, in addition to his dogmatic +writings he made a Latin translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew +(the basis of the later _Vulgate_), and another of the Greek _Church +History_ of Eusebius. + +*Augustine, 354–430 A. D.* The long line of notable literary figures of +the African church is closed by Augustine, the bishop of Hippo who died +during the siege of his city by the Vandals in 430 A. D. In his early life +a pagan, he found inspiration and guidance in the philosophy of Plato and +Aristotle. But while Jerome was still dominated by Greek religious +thought, Augustine was the first Latin Christian writer to emancipate +himself from this dependence and display originality of form and ideas in +his works. Of these the two most significant are the _Confessions_ and _On +the City of God_. The _Confessions_ reveal the story of his inner life, +the struggle of good and evil in his own soul. The work _On the City of +God_ was inspired by the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410 and the accusation +of the pagans that this was a punishment for the abandonment of the +ancient deities. In answer to this charge Augustine develops a +philosophical interpretation of history as the conflict of good and evil +forces, in which the Heavenly City is destined to triumph over that of +this world. His work prepared the way for the conception of the Roman +Catholic Church as the city of God. + +*Boethius (d. 524 A. D.) and Cassiodorus (c. 480–575 A. D.).* Between the +death of Augustine and the death of Justinian the West produced no +ecclesiastical literary figure worthy of note. However, under the +Ostrogothic régime in Italy, profane literature is represented by two +outstanding personalities—Boethius and Cassiodorus. The patrician Boethius +while in prison awaiting his death sentence from Theoderic composed his +work _On the Consolation of Philosophy_, a treatise embued with the finest +spirit of Greek intellectual life. Cassiodorus, who held the posts of +quaestor and master of the offices under Theoderic, has left valuable +historical material in his _Variae_, a collection of official letters +drawn up by him in the course of his administrative duties. His chief +literary work was a history of the Goths, of which unfortunately only a +few excerpts have remained. In his later years Cassiodorus retired to a +monastery which he founded and organized according to the Benedictine +rule. There he performed an inestimable service in fostering the +preservation of secular as well as ecclesiastical knowledge among the +brethren, thus giving to the Benedictine monks the impulse to intellectual +work for which they were so distinguished in medieval times. + +*Greek Christian literature; Religious prose.* It was in the fourth +century that Greek Christian prose literature reached its height. Among +its leading representatives were Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria who +fought the Arian heresy; Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, the founder of +church history; Gregory of Nazianzus, church orator and poet; and Basil, +bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, the organizer of Greek monasticism. +Above them all in personality and literary ability stood John Chrysostom +(the Golden-mouth), patriarch of Constantinople under Arcadius. With the +fifth century came a decline in theological prose; men resorted to +excerpts and collections. But at this time began the development of the +popular monastic narratives and lives of the saints which served as the +novels and romances of the time. + +*Religious poetry.* It was subsequent to the fourth century also that +Christian religious poetry attained its bloom. Here a break was made with +classical tradition in the adoption of accentual in place of quantitative +verse. This was in harmony with the disappearance of distinctions of +syllabic quantity from popular speech. The use of rhythm in verse was +introduced by Gregory of Nazianzus, but the chief and most productive +representative of the new poetry was Romanus, a converted Syrian Jew whose +activity falls in the reign of Justinian. + +*Greek profane literature.* Contemporary profane Greek literature exhibits +less originality and interest. Historical writing was continued in strict +imitation of classical models by both Christian and pagan writers. Of +exceptional historical value are the works of Procopius, the historian of +the wars of Justinian, who like Ammianus Marcellinus shared in an official +capacity in the events which he described. A more popular form of +historical writing was the compilation of chronicles of world history, +collections of excerpts put together for the most part by men who failed +to understand their sources. The profane verse of the time is represented +by narrative poems, such as the _Dionysiaca_ and the metrical version of +the Gospel of St. John composed by Nonnus in Egypt (c. 400 A. D.), and by +a rich epigrammatic literature. + +In the eastern empire literary productivity continued, although on the +decline, slightly longer than in the West, but by the middle of the sixth +century there also it had come to an end. + +*Art.* The art of the late empire exhibits the same general +characteristics as the literature. Not only was there a general lack of +originality and creative capacity, but even the power of imitating the +masterpieces of earlier times was conspicuously lacking. The Arch of +Constantine erected in 312 A. D. affords a good illustration of the +situation. Its decoration mainly consists of sculptures appropriated from +monuments of the first and second century, beside which the new work is +crude and unskilful. A comparison of the imperial portraits on the coins +of the fourth century with those of the principate up to the dynasty of +the Severi reveals the same decline in taste and artistic ability. + +In the realm of art as in literature Christianity supplied a new creative +impulse, which made itself felt in the adaptation of pagan artistic forms +to Christian purposes. The earliest traces of Christian art are to be +found in the mural paintings of the underground burial vaults and chapels +of the Roman catacombs, and in the sculptured reliefs which adorned the +sarcophagi of the wealthy. These were popular branches of contemporary art +and the influence of Christianity consisted in the artistic representation +of biblical subjects and the employment of Christian symbolical motives. +These forms of Christian art decayed with the general cultural decline +that followed the third century. + +The most important and original contribution of Christianity to the art of +the late empire was in the development of church architecture. To meet the +needs of the Christian church service, which included the opportunity to +address large audiences, there arose the Christian basilica, which took +its name from the earlier profane structures erected to serve as places +for the conduct of public business, but which differed considerably from +them in its construction. In general the basilica was a long rectangular +building, divided by rows of columns into a central hall or nave and two +side halls or aisles. The walls of the nave rose above the roof of the +aisles, and allowed space for windows. The roof was flat or gabled, and, +like the wall spaces, covered with paintings or mosaics. The rear of the +structure was a semicircular apse which held the seats of the bishop and +the lower clergy. To the original plan there came to be added the +transept, a hall at right angles to the main structure between it and the +apse. This gave the basilica its later customary crosslike form. + +While the basilica became the almost universal form of church architecture +in Italy and the West, in the East preference was shown for round or +polygonal structures with a central dome, an outgrowth of the Roman +rotunda, which was first put to Christian uses in tombs and grave chapels. +A rich variety of types, combining the central dome with other +architectural features arose in the cities of Asia and Egypt. The +masterpiece of this style was the church of St. Sophia erected by +Justinian in Constantinople in 537 A. D. Another notable example from the +same period is the church of San Vitale at Ravenna. + +In the mosaics which adorn these and other structures of the time are to +be seen the traces of a Christian Hellenistic school of painting which +gave pictorial expression to the whole biblical narrative. These mosaics +and the miniature paintings employed in the illuminated manuscripts +survived as prominent features of Byzantine art. + + + + + + EPILOGUE + + +*The Lombard and Slavic invasions.* In 568 A. D., three years after the +death of Justinian, the Lombards descended upon Italy from Pannonia and +wrested from the empire the Po valley and part of central Italy. The +Romans were confined to Ravenna, Rome, and the southern part of the +peninsula. Towards the close of the sixth century (after 581 A. D.) +occurred the migrations of the Bulgars and Slavs across the Danube which +resulted in the Slavic occupation of Illyricum and the interposition of a +barbarous, heathen people between the eastern empire and western Europe. +Early in the seventh century the Roman possessions in Spain were lost to +the Goths. + +*The papacy and the Holy Roman Empire.* The weakness of the imperial +authority in the West led to the strengthening of the papacy and its +acquisition of political power in Italy. It was the papacy also which kept +alive in western Europe the ideal of a universal imperial church, for the +whole of western Christendom came to acknowledge the supremacy of the +Roman see. Nor was the conception of a reëstablished western empire lost +to view; and it was destined to find realization in the Holy Roman empire +of Charlemagne and his successors. Of great importance for the future +development of European civilization was the fact that the western part of +the Roman empire had passed under the control of peoples either already +Christianized or soon to become so, and that the church, chiefly through +the monasteries, was thus enabled to become the guardian of the remnants +of ancient culture. + +*The Byzantine empire.* The loss of the western provinces and Illyricum +transferred the center of gravity in the empire from the Latin to the +Greek element and accelerated the transformation of the eastern Roman +empire into an essentially Greek state—the Byzantine empire. The Byzantine +empire inherited from the Roman its organization and the name _Romaioi_ +(Romans) for its citizens, but before the close of the sixth century Greek +had supplanted Latin as the language of government. This transformation +further accentuated the religious differences between East and West, which +led ultimately to the separation of the Greek and Roman Catholic Churches. + +*The Mohammedan invasion.* Before the middle of the seventh century Egypt +and Syria were occupied by the Saracens, whose conquest was facilitated by +the animosity of the monophysite native populations towards the rule of an +orthodox emperor. However, the loss of these territories gave fresh +solidarity to the empire in the East by restricting its authority to the +religiously and linguistically homogeneous, and thoroughly loyal, +population of Asia Minor and the eastern Balkan peninsula. This solidarity +enabled the Byzantine empire to fulfill its historic mission of forming +the eastern bulwark of Christian Europe against the Turk throughout the +Middle Ages. + + + + + + + CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE + + +NOTE. Owing to the uncertainty of the chronological record of early Roman +history it must be admitted that little reliance can be placed upon the +accuracy of most of the traditional dates prior to 281 B. C. For this +period I have followed, in the main, Diodorus. + +B. C. ? Paleolithic Age. + ? Neolithic Age. Ligurian settlement in Italy. + 2500–2000 Beginning of the Age of Bronze. Palafitte + Lake Villages. Terramare villages. + 1000 Beginning of the Iron Age. + IX–VIII cent. Etruscan settlement in Etruria. + 814 Founding of Carthage. + VIII cent. Greek colonization of Sicily and South Italy + begins. + VII–VI cent. Etruscan expansion in the Po Valley, Campania + and Latium. + 508 Overthrow of Etruscan supremacy at Rome. End + of the early monarchy. The first consuls + appointed. Dedication of the Capitoline + temple. Commercial treaty with Carthage. + 486 Alliance of Rome and the Latins. + 466 Four tribunes of the plebs appointed. + 444–2 The Decemvirate. Codification of the Law. + 437 Lex Canuleia. + 436 Office of military tribune with consular + powers established. + 435 Censorship established. + 392 Capture of Veii. + 387 Battle of the Allia. Sack of Rome by the + Gauls. + 362 The praetorship established. + 339 Lex Publilia. + 338–6 The Latin War. + 334 Alliance of Rome and the Campanians. + 325–304 Samnite War. + 318 The Caudine Forks. + 309–7 War with the Etruscans. + 310 Appius Claudius Censor. + 300 Lex Ogulnia. + 298–290 War with Samnites, Etruscans and Gauls. + 295 Battle of Sentinum. + 290 Subjugation of Samnium. + 287 Secession of the Plebs. Lex Hortensia. + 285 Occupation of the Ager Gallicus. Defeat of + Gauls and Etruscans at Lake Vadimo. + 281–272 War with Tarentum and Pyrrhus. + 280 Battle of Heraclea. + 279 Battle of Ausculum. Alliance of Rome and + Carthage. + 278 Pyrrhus invades Sicily. + 275 Battle of Beneventum. + 264–241 First Punic War. + 263 Alliance of Rome and Syracuse. + 260 Naval Victory at Mylae. + 256–5 Roman invasion of Africa. + 250 Roman naval disaster at Drepana. + 242 Battle of the Aegates Is. Office of _praetor + peregrinus_ established. + 241 Sicily ceded to Rome. + 241–238 Revolt of the Carthaginian mercenaries. + Sardinia and Corsica ceded to Rome. + 237 Hamilcar in Spain. + 232 Colonization of the _ager Gallicus_. + 229–8 First Illyrian War. + 229 Hasdrubal succeeds Hamilcar in Spain. + 227 Provinces of Sicily, and Sardinia and Corsica + organized. + 226 Roman treaty with Hasdrubal. + 225 Gauls defeated at Telamon. + 224–22 Conquest of Boii and Insubres. + 221 Hannibal Carthaginian commander in Spain. + 220 ? Reform of the Centuriate Assembly. + 220–19 Second Illyrian War. + 219 Siege of Saguntum. + 218–201 Second Punic War. + 218 Hannibal’s passage of the Pyrenees and the + Alps. Roman invasion of Spain. + 217 Battle of Trasimene Lake. Q. Fabius dictator. + 216 Cannae. Revolt of Capua. + 215 Alliance of Hannibal and Philip V of Macedon. + First Macedonian War. + 214 Revolt of Syracuse. + 212 Syracuse recovered. Roman Alliance with the + Aetolians. + 211 Capua reconquered. Roman disasters in Spain. + 210 P. Cornelius Scipio Roman commander in Spain. + 207 Battle of the Metaurus. + 205 Peace between Philip of Macedon and Rome. + 204 Scipio invades Africa. + 202 Zama. + 200–196 Second Macedonian War. + 201 Annexation of Carthaginian Spain. Provinces + of Hither and Farther Spain organized. + 197 Battle of Cynoscephalae. + 196 Flamininus proclaims the “freedom of the + Hellenes.” + 192–189 War with Antiochus the Great and the + Aetolians. + 191 Antiochus defeated at Thermopylae. + 190 Battle of Magnesia. + 186 Dissolution of the Bacchanalian societies. + 184 Cato the Elder censor. + 181 _Lex Villia annalis._ + 171–167 Third Macedonian War. + 168 Battle of Pydna. + 166 Achaean political prisoners held in Italy. + 149–146 Third Punic War. + 149 _Lex Calpurnia._ + 149–148 Fourth Macedonian War. + 148 Macedonia a Roman province. + 147–139 War with Viriathus in Spain. + 146 Revolt of the Achaeans. Sack of Corinth. + Dissolution of the Achaean Confederacy. + Destruction of Carthage. Africa a Roman + province. + 143–133 Numantine War. + 136–132 Slave War in Sicily. + 133 Kingdom of Pergamon willed to Rome. Tribunate + of Tiberius Gracchus. + 129 Province of Asia organized. + 123–122 C. Gracchus tribune. + 121 Province of Narbonese Gaul organized. + 113 Siege of Cirta. + 111–105 Jugurthine War. + 105 Romans defeated by Cimbri and Teutones at + Arausio. + 104–100 Successive consulships of Marius. Slave war + in Sicily. + 104 _Lex Domitia._ + 102 Teutones defeated at Aquae Sextiae. + 101 Cimbri defeated at Vercellae. + 100 Affair of Saturninus and Glaucia. + 91 Tribunate of Livius Drusus. + 90–88 Italian or Marsic War. + 90 _Lex Julia._ + 89 _Lex Plautia Papiria. Lex Pompeia._ + 89–85 First Mithradatic War. + 88 Massacre of Italians in Asia. Mithradates + invades Greece. + 87 Marian revolt at Rome. + 87–6 Siege of Athens and Peiraeus. + 86 Seventh consulship of Marius. Chaeronea and + Orchomenus. + 83 Sulla’s return to Italy. + 82–79 Sulla dictator. + 77–71 Pompey’s command in Spain. + 75 Bithynia a Roman province. + 74–63 Second Mithradatic War. + 74–66 Command of Lucullus in the East. + 73–71 Revolt of the gladiators. + 70 First consulate of Pompey and Crassus. Trial + of Verres. + 67 _Lex Gabinia._ + 66 _Lex Manilia._ + 63 Cicero consul. The conspiracy of Cataline. + Annexation of Syria. Death of Mithradates. + 60 Coalition of Pompey, Caesar and Crassus. + 59 Caesar consul. _Lex Vatinia._ + 58 Cicero exiled. + 58–56 Subjugation of Gaul. + 57 Cicero recalled. Pompey _curator annonae_. + 56 Conference at Luca. + 55 Second consulate of Pompey and Crassus. + 55–54 Caesar’s invasions of Britain. + 53 Death of Crassus at Carrhae. + 52–1 Revolt of Vercingetorix. + 52 Pompey sole consul. + 49–46 War between Caesar and the Senatorial + faction. + 48 Pharsalus. Death of Pompey. + 48–7 Alexandrine War. + 47 War with Pharnaces. + 46 Thapsus. + 45 Munda. _Lex Julia municipalis._ + 44 Assassination of Julius Caesar (15 Mar.). + 44–3 War at Mutina. + 43 Octavian consul. Antony, Lepidus and Octavian + triumvirs. + 42 Battles of Philippi. + 41 War at Perusia. + 40 Treaty of Brundisium. + 39 Treaty of Misenum. + 37 Treaty of Tarentum. The second term of the + Triumvirate begins. + 36 Defeat of Sextus Pompey. Lepidus deposed. + Parthian War. + 31 Battle of Actium. + 30 Death of Antony and Cleopatra. Annexation of + Egypt. + 27 Octavian princeps and Augustus. + 27 B. C.–14 A. D. AUGUSTUS. + 25 Annexation of Galatia. + 23 Augustus assumes the _tribunicia potestas_. + 20 Agreement with Parthia. + 18 _Lex Julia de maritandis ordinibus._ + 16 Conquest of Noricum. + 15 Subjugation of the Raeti and Vindelici. + 14–9 Conquest of Pannonia. + 12 Augustus pontifex maximus. _Ara Romae et + Augusti_ at Lugdunum. Invasion of Germany. + Death of M. Agrippa. + 9 Death of Drusus. + 6 Subjugation of the Alpine peoples completed. +A. D. 6–9 Revolt of Pannonia. + 9 Revolt of Arminius. _Lex Papia Poppaea._ + 14–37 TIBERIUS. + 14–17 Campaigns of Germanicus. + 19 Death of Germanicus. + 26 Tiberius retires to Capri. + 31 Fall of Seianus. + 37–41 CAIUS CALIGULA. + 40 Annexation of Mauretania. + 41–54 CLAUDIUS. + 43 Invasion and annexation of southern Britain. + 48 Aedui receive the _ius honorum_. + 54–68 NERO. + 58–63 Parthian War. + 59–60 Rebellion of Boudicca. + 64 Great Fire in Rome. + 65 Conspiracy of Piso. Death of Seneca. + 66–67 Nero in Greece. + 66 Rebellion of the Jews. + 68 Rebellion of Vindex. + 68 June–69 Jan. GALBA. + 69 Jan.–March OTHO. + 69 April–Dec. VITELLIUS. + 69 Dec.–79 VESPASIANUS. + 69 Revolt of Civilis and the Batavi. + 70 Destruction of Jerusalem. End of the Jewish + Rebellion. + 79–81 TITUS. + 79 Eruption of Vesuvius. Destruction of Pompeii + and Herculaneum. + 81–96 DOMITIANUS. + 83 Battle of Mons Graupius. War with the Chatti. + 84 Domitian perpetual censor. + 85–89 Dacian Wars. + 88–89 Revolt of Saturninus. + 96–98 NERVA. + 98–117 TRAJAN. + 101–102 First Dacian War. + 105–106 Second Dacian War. Annexation of Dacia. + 106 Annexation of Arabia Petrea. + 114–117 Parthian War. + 114 Occupation of Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia. + 115 Jewish Rebellion in Cyrene. + 116 Annexation of Assyria and Lower Mesopotamia. + Revolt in Mesopotamia. + 117–138 HADRIANUS. + 117 Abandonment of Assyria and Mesopotamia. + Armenia a client kingdom. + 121–126 Hadrian’s first tour of the provinces. + 129–134 Second tour of the provinces. + 132–134 Revolt of the Jews in the East. + 138–161 ANTONINUS PIUS. + 161–180 MARCUS AURELIUS. + 161–169 LUCIUS VERUS. + 161–166 Parthian War. + 166 Great plague spreads throughout the empire. + 167–75 War with Marcomanni, Quadi and Iazyges. + 175 Revolt of Avidius Cassius. + 177–192 COMMODUS. + 177–180 War with Quadi and Marcomanni. + 180 Death of Marcus Aurelius, Commodus sole + emperor. + 193 Jan.–Mar. PERTINAX. + 193 Mar.–June DIDIUS JULIANUS. + 193 Revolts of Septimius Severus, Pescennius + Niger, Clodius Albinus. + 193–211 SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS. + 194 Defeat of Pescennius Niger. + 195–6 Invasion of Parthia. + 197 Defeat of Albinus at Lugdunum. + 197–99 Parthian War renewed. Conquest of Upper + Mesopotamia. + 208 Caledonians invade Britain. + 211–217 CARACALLA and + 211–212 GETA. + 212 _Constitutio Antoniniana._ + 214 Parthian War. + 217–218 MACRINUS. + 218–222 ELAGABALUS. + 222–235 SEVERUS ALEXANDER. + 227 Establishment of the Persian Sassanid + Kingdom. + 230–233 War with Persia. + 234 War on the Rhine frontier. + 235–238 MAXIMINUS. + 238 GORDIANUS I and GORDIANUS II. BALBINUS and + PUPIENUS. + 238–244 GORDIANUS III. + 243–249 PHILIPPUS ARABS. + 247–249 PHILIPPUS JUNIOR. + 249–251 DECIUS. + 249 Persecution of the Christians. + 251–253 GALLUS and VOLUSIANUS. + 253 AEMILLIANUS. + 253–258 VALERIANUS and + 253–268 GALLIENUS. + 257 Persecution of the Christians renewed. + 258 Valerian defeated and captured by the + Persians. Postumus establishes an _imperium + Galliarum_. + 259 Valerian dies in captivity. Gallienus sole + emperor. + 267 Sack of Athens by the Goths. + 268–270 CLAUDIUS GOTHICUS. + 270 QUINTILLUS. + 270–275 AURELIANUS. + 271 Revolt of Palmyra. + 272 Reconquest of Palmyra and the East. + 274 Recovery of Gaul and Britain. + 275–276 TACITUS. + 276 FLORIANUS. + 276–282 PROBUS. + 282–283 CARUS. + 283–285 CARINUS. + 284–305 DIOCLETIANUS and + 286–305 MAXIMIANUS. + 286 Revolt of Carausius in Britain. + 293 Galerius and Constantine Caesars. + 296 Recovery of Britain. + 297 Persian invasion. + 301 Edict of Prices. + 302–304 Edicts against the Christians. + 305 Abdication of Diocletian and Maximian. + Galerius and Constantius. Severus and Daia + Caesars. + 306 GALERIUS and SEVERUS. Constantinus Caesar. + Revolt of Maxentius. + 307 GALERIUS, LICINIUS, CONSTANTINUS, DAIA and + MAXENTIUS. + 311 Edict of Toleration. + 312 Battle of Saxa Rubra. + 313 Edict of Milan. Fall of Daia. + 324 Battle of Chrysopolis. + 324–337 CONSTANTINUS sole Augustus. + 325 Council of Nicaea. + 330 Constantinople the imperial residence. + 337–340 CONSTANTINUS II. + 337–350 CONSTANS. + 337–361 CONSTANTIUS. + 342 Council of Serdica. + 350 Revolt of Magnentius. + 351 Gallus Caesar. Battle of Mursa. + 354 Death of Gallus. + 355 Julian Caesar. + 357 Julian’s victory over the Alemanni at + Strassburg. + 359 War with Persia. + 360–363 JULIANUS. + 363 Invasion of Persia. Death of Julian. + 363–364 JOVIANUS. + 364–375 VALENTINIANUS I. + 364–378 VALENS. + 367–383 GRATIANUS. + 375–392 VALENTINIANUS II. + 376 Visigoths cross the Danube. + 378 Battle of Hadrianople. + 378–395 THEODOSIUS I. + 380–82 Settlement of Visigoths as _foederati_ in + Moesia. + 381 Council of Constantinople. + 382 Altar of Victory removed from the Senate. + 383 Revolt of Maximus in Britain. Death of + Gratian. + 383–408 ARCADIUS. + 388 Maximus defeated and killed. + 390 Massacre at Thessalonica. + 391 Edicts against Paganism. Destruction of the + Serapaeum. + 392 Revolt of Arbogast. Murder of Valentinian II. + Eugenius proclaimed Augustus. + 394 Battle of Frigidus. Death of Arbogast and + Eugenius. + 394–423 HONORIUS. + 395 Death of Theodosius I. Division of the + Empire. ARCADIUS emperor in the East, + HONORIUS in the West, Revolt of Alaric and + the Visigoths. + 396 Alaric defeated by Stilicho in Greece. + 406 Barbarian invasion of Gaul. Roman garrison + leaves Britain. + 408 Murder of Stilicho. Alaric invades Italy. + 408–450 THEODOSIUS II eastern emperor. + 409 Vandals, Alans and Sueves invade Spain. + 410 Visigoths capture Rome. Death of Alaric. + 412 Visigoths enter Gaul. + 415 Visigoths cross into Spain. + 418 Visigoths settled in Aquitania. + 423–455 VALENTINIANUS III western emperor, + 427 Aetius _magister militum_. + 429 Vandal invasion of Africa. + 438 The Theodosian Code. + 439 Vandals seize Carthage. + 450 MARCIANUS eastern emperor. + 451 Battle of the Mauriac Plains. Council of + Chalcedon. + 453 Death of Attila. + 454 Aetius assassinated. Ostrogoths settled in + Pannonia. + 455 MAXIMUS western emperor. Vandals sack Rome. + 455–456 AVITUS western emperor. Ricimer _magister + militum_. + 457–474 LEO I eastern emperor. + 457–461 MARJORIANUS western emperor. + 461–465 SEVERUS western emperor. + 465–467 No emperor in the West. + 467–472 ANTHEMIUS western emperor. + 472 OLYBRIUS western emperor. Death of Ricimer. + 473–474 GLYCERUS western emperor. LEO II eastern + emperor. + 474–475 (480) NEPOS western emperor. + 474–491 ZENO eastern emperor. + 475–476 ROMULUS AUGUSTULUS western emperor. + 476 Odovacar king in Italy. + 477 Death of Gaiseric. + 486 Clovis conquers Syagrius and the Romans in + Gaul. + 488 Theoderic and the Ostrogoths invade Italy. + 491–518 ANASTASIUS eastern emperor. + 493 Defeat and death of Odovacar. + 506 _Lex Romana Visigothorum._ + 507 Clovis defeats the Visigoths. + 518–527 JUSTINUS I eastern emperor. + 526 Death of Theoderic. + 527–565 JUSTINIANUS eastern emperor. + 532 The “Nika” riot. + 533–534 Reconquest of Africa. + 534 Franks overthrow the Burgundian kingdom. + 529–534 Publication of the _Corpus Iuris Civilis_. + 535–554 Wars for the recovery of Italy. + 554 Re-occupation of the coast of Spain. + 565 Death of Justinian. + + + + + + BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + +The titles given below are intended to form a group of selected references +for the guidance of students who may desire a more detailed treatment of +the various problems of Roman history than has been given in the text. For +the sources, as well as for a more detailed bibliography, readers may +consult B. Niese, _Grundriss der römischen Geschichte_, 4th ed., 1910, and +G. W. Botsford, _A Syllabus of Roman History_, 1915. + + INTRODUCTION + +Leuze, O., _Die römische Jahrzählung_; Lewis, Sir G. C., _The Credibility +of Early Roman History_; Niese, B., _Römische Geschichte_, pp. 10–17, and +_passim_; Schanz, M., _Geschichte der römischen Litteratur_; Kornemann, +E., _Der Priestercodex in der Regia_; Wachsmuth, C., _Einleitung in das +Studium der alten Geschichte_. + + CHAPTER I + +Duruy, V., _Histoire des Romains_, i, pp. i–xxxiv; Encyclopedia +Brittanica, 11th ed., art. _Italy_; Kiepert, H., _Manual of Ancient +Geography_, ch. ix; Nissen, H., _Italische Landeskunde_, vol. i. + + CHAPTER II + +The view given in the text follows Jones, H. S., _Companion to Roman +History_ (a brief synopsis); Grenier, A., _Bologne villanovienne et +étrusque_; Modestov, B., _Introduction à l’histoire romain_; and Peet, T. +E., _The Stone and Bronze Ages in Italy and Sicily_. For different +reconstructions, see De Sanctis, G., _Storia dei Romani_, i, chs. ii–iii; +Pais, E., _Storia Critica di Roma_, 2nd ed., i, ch. viii; Ridgeway, W., +_Who were the Romans?_ _Proc. British Academy_, 1907. + + CHAPTER III + +I. The Races of Italy. See the references for chapter ii, and De Sanctis, +_Storia_, ii, ch. iii; Niese, _Geschichte_, p. 23 ff.; Pais, _Storia +Critica_, i, ch. viii; Kretchmer, P., in Gercke und Norden’s _Einleitung +in die Altertumswissenschaft_, i, p. 172, for the problem of the Italian +dialects. + +II. The Etruscans. Dennis, G., _Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria_; Korte +und Skutsch, art. _Etrusker_, Pauly-Wissowa, vi. pp. 730–806; Martha, J., +_L’art étrusque_; Modestov, _Introduction_, pt. 2; Niese, _Geschichte_ pp. +26 ff. + +III. The Greeks. Beloch, J., _Griechische Geschichte_, i, 2nd ed., pp. 229 +ff., Bury, J. B., _History of Greece_, ch. ii; De Sanctis, _Storia_, i, +ch. ix; Freeman, E., _History of Sicily_. + + CHAPTER IV + +I. The Latins. Beloch, J., _Der Italische Bund_; Frank, T., _Economic +His__tory of Rome_, ch. i; Kornemann, E., _Polis und Urbs_, _Beiträge zur +alten Geschichte_, 1905; Rosenberg, A., _Der Staat der alten Italiker_; +_Zur Geschichte des Latines Bundes_, _Hermes_, 1919. + +II. Origins of Rome. Carter, J. B., _Roma Quadrata and the Septimontium_, +_Amer. Jour. of Arch._, 1908; id., _Evolution of the City of Rome_, _Proc. +Amer. Phil. Soc._, 1909; Frank, _Economic History_, ch. ii; _Notes on the +Servian Wall_, _Am. Jour. Arch._, 1918; Jones, _Companion_, pp. 31 ff.; +Kornemann, see I; Meyer, E., _Der Ursprung des Tribunats und die Gemeinde +der vier Tribus_, _Hermes_ xxx; Platner, S. B., _Topography and Monuments +of Ancient Rome_, 2nd ed. + +III and IV. Early Monarchy and Early Roman Society. Botsford, G. W., _The +Roman Assemblies_, chs. i, ii and ix; De Sanctis, _Storia_, i, chs. vi, +vii, viii, x; Niese, _Geschichte_, pp. 18–23, 32 ff.; Pais, _Storia +Critica_, i, 2; Pelham, H., _Outlines of Roman History_, bk. i, chs. i and +ii. + + CHAPTER V + +Beloch, _Der Italische Bund_; Cavaignac, E., _Histoire de l’Antiquité_ ii. +pp. 378–88, 475–88, iii, pp. 61–92, 173–85; De Sanctis, _Storia_, ii, chs. +xv, xvi, xviii–xxii; Frank, _Roman Imperialism_, chs. i–iv; Heitland, W. +T., _The Roman Republic_, i. pp. 75–78, 101–113, 135–74; Meyer, +_Geschichte des Altertums_, v, pp. 132 ff.; Niese, _Geschichte_, pp. +44–55, 64–80; Pais, _Storia Critica_, vols. ii–iii; Pelham, _Outlines_, +pp. 68–107; Reid, J. S., _The Municipalities of the Roman Empire_, chs. +iii–iv; Rosenberg, A., _Zur Geschichte des Latines Bundes_; _Die +Entstehung des so-gennanten Foedus Cassianum und des latinischen Rechts, +Hermes_, 1920. + + CHAPTER VI + +Botsford, _Roman Assemblies_, chs. iii–xiii; Cavaignac, _Histoire_, ii, +pp. 478–83; De Sanctis, _Storia_, ii, chs. xii, xiv, xvii; Frank, +_Economic History_, chs. iii–iv; Heitland, _Roman Republic_, ii, chs. +viii–xiv, xvi, xx; Kahrstedt, U., _Zwei Beiträge Zur älteren röm. +Geschichte_, _Rh. Museum_, 1918; Mommsen, Th., _Staatsrecht_ (see +Indices); Niese, _Geschichte_, pp. 81–84; Pais, _Storia Critica_, as for +Chap. V. + + CHAPTER VII + +I. Early Roman Religion: Bailey, C., _The Religion of Ancient Rome_; +Carter, J. B., _The Religion of Numa_; _The Religious Life of Ancient +Rome_, ch. i; Fowler, W. Warde, _The Roman Festivals_; _The Religious +Experience of the Roman People_, Lectures, i–xii; Mommsen, _History of +Rome_, i, chap. xii; Wissowa, G., _Religion und Kultus der Römer_, pp. +15–54. + +II. Early Roman Society: Heitland, W., _Roman Republic_, i, chs. vi and +xii; Fowler, W. Warde, _Rome_, ch. iii; Launspach, C. W. L., _State and +Family in Early Rome_, ch. xi. + + CHAPTER VIII + +Cavaignac, _Histoire_, vol. iii, bk. iii, chs. i, iv–vi; De Sanctis, +_Storia_, iii, 1–2; Frank, _Roman Imperialism_, chs. vi–vii; Ferguson, W. +S., _Greek Imperialism_, chs. v–vii; Gsell, S., _Histoire ancienne de +l’Afrique du nord_, vols. i, ii, iii; Heitland, _Roman Republic_, vol. i, +chs. xxi–xxvi; Mommsen, _History_, bk. iii, chs. i–vi; Niese, +_Geschichte_, pp. 96–126. + + CHAPTER IX + +Cavaignac, _Histoire_, vol. iii, bk. iii, chs. vii–viii; Colin, G., _Rome +et la Grèce_; Frank, _Roman Imperialism_, chs. viii, ix, x; Heitland, +_Roman Republic_, vol. ii, chs. xxvii–xxxii; Mommsen, _History_, bk. iii, +chs. vii–x; Niese, _Geschichte_, pp. 126–48. + + CHAPTER X + +Cavaignac, _Histoire_, vol. iii, bk. iv, ch. i; Colin, _Rome et la Grèce_; +Frank, _Roman Imperialism_, chs. x–xi; Heitland, _Roman Republic_, vol. +ii, chap, xxxiii; Mommsen, _History_, bk. iv, ch. i; Niese, _Geschichte_, +pp. 155–66. + + CHAPTER XI + +For the Administration: Arnold, W. T., _The Roman System of Provincial +Administration_, 3rd ed., chs. ii–iii, vi, pt. 1; Botsford, _Roman +Assemblies_, chs. xiii–xv; Cavaignac, _Histoire_, vol. iii, bk. iii, ch. +ix; Frank, _Roman Imperialism_, chs. vi, xii; Heitland, _Roman Republic_, +vol. ii, ch. xxxiv; Mommsen, _Staatsrecht_, and _History_, bk. iii, ch. +xi; Greenidge, _Public Life_, chs. vi and viii; Marquardt, J. R., +_Staatsverwaltung_, bk. i; Niese, _Geschichte_, pp. 148–53; Rostowzew, +_Studien zur Geschichte des römischen Kolonats_, ch. iii. + +For the Social and Economic Development: in addition to the works cited +above, see Ferrero, G., _Greatness and Decline of Rome_, vol. i, ch. ii; +Frank, _Economic History_, chs. vi–vii; Meyer, E., _Die Wirtschaftliche +Entwickelung des Altertums_, _Kleine schriften_, 79 ff.; _Die Sklaverei im +Altertum_, id., 169 ff.; Mommsen, _History_, bk. iii, ch. xii. + +For Literature, Art and Religion: Fowler, _Religious Experience_, Lecture +xiii; Leo, F., _Römische Litteratur_, in Hinneberg’s _Kultur der +Gegenwart_; Mackail, J. W., _Roman Literature_, bk. i, chs. i–iii; +Mommsen, _History_, bk. iii, chs. xiii–xiv; Norden, E., _Römische +Litteratur_, in Gercke und Norden’s _Einleitung_; Schanz, M., _Geschichte +der römischen Litteratur_, vol. 1, pt. 1; Wissowa, _Religion und Kultur_, +pp. 54–65. + + CHAPTER XII + +Cavaignac, _Histoire_, bk. iv, chs. ii, iv; Drumann-Groebe, _Geschichte +Roms in seiner Uebergange von der republicanischen zur monarchischen +Verfassung_, vol. ii, art. L. Cornelius Sulla; Ferrero, _Greatness and +Decline_, bk. i, chs. iii, iv, v; Frank, _Roman Imperialism_, chs. xii–xv; +Greenidge, _A History of Rome from 133 B. C.–69 A. D._ vol. i, to 104 +B. C., Heitland, _Republic_, vol. ii, ch. xxxv–xlvii; Mommsen, _History_, +bk. iv, chs. i–ix; Niese, _Geschichte_, pp. 166–205; Oman, Ch., _Seven +Roman Statesmen_, chs. i–v, the Gracchi, Marius and Sulla. + + CHAPTER XIII + +Boak, A. E. R., _The Extraordinary Commands from 80–48 B. C._, _Amer. +Hist. Rev._, xxiv, 1918; Botsford, _Assemblies_, as above; Cowles, F. H., +_Gaius Verres_; Drumann-Groebe, _Geschichte Roms_, articles on L. +Lucullus, Cn. Pompeius Magnus, M. Crassus Triumvir, C. Julius Caesar, M. +Tullius Cicero; Ferrero, _Greatness and Decline_, chs. vi–xvi; Frank, +_Roman Imperialism_, chs. xvi; Heitland, _Roman Republic_, vol. iii, chs. +48–52; Mommsen, _History_, bk. v, chs. i–vi; Niese, _Geschichte_, pp. +205–27; Oman, _Seven Roman Statesmen_, chs. vi, viii, Pompey and Crassus. + + CHAPTER XIV + +Botsford, _Assemblies_, as above; Drumann-Groebe, as above; Ferrero, +_Greatness and Decline_, vol. 1, chs. xvii–xviii, vol. ii; Frank, _Roman +Imperialism_, ch. xvii; Fowler, W., _Julius Caesar_; Heitland, _Roman +Republic_, vol. iii, chs. liii–lviii; Meyer, Ed., _Caesar’s Monarchie und +das Principat des Pompeius_; Mommsen, _History_, bk. v, chs. vii–xi; +Niese, _Geschichte_, pp. 227–257; Oman, _Seven Roman Statesmen_, chs. vii, +ix, Cato and Caesar; Strachan-Davidson, _Cicero_. + + CHAPTER XV + +Political History: Botsford, _Roman Assemblies_, as above; Drumann-Groebe, +as above, and the art. on Octavianus; Gardthausen, V., _Augustus und Seine +Zeit_, i, chs. i–v; Ferrero, _Greatness and Decline_, vols. iii and iv; +Heitland, _Republic_, chs. lix–lx; Niese, _Geschichte_, pp. 257–276; +Strachan-Davidson, _Cicero_. + +Social and Economic Conditions: Boissier, G., _Cicero and His Friends_; +Frank, _Economic History_, chs. ix–xvi; Fowler, _Social Life at Rome in +the Age of Cicero_; Louis P., _Le Travail dans le monde romain_, pt. ii. + +Religion, Literature and Art: Duff, J. W., _A Literary History of Rome_, +pp. 269–431; Fowler, _Religious Experience_, chs. xiv–xvii; _Roman Ideas +of Deity in the last century before the Christian Era_; Leo, _Römische +Litteratur_; Mackail, _Latin Literature_, bk. i, chs. iv–vii; Mommsen, +_History_, bk. v, ch. xii; Norden, _Röm. Litteratur_; Schanz, _Geschichte +d. röm. Litteratur_, i, 2; Wissowa, _Religion und Kultur_, pp. 54–65. For +Art and Architecture see the various topics discussed in Cagnat, R., and +Chapot, V., _Manuel d’archéologie romain_, i; Platner, _Topography and +Monuments_; Stuart Jones, _Companion to Roman History_. + + CHAPTER XVI + +Arnold, W. T., _Studies in Roman Imperialism_, chs. i–ii; v. Domazewski, +_Geschichte der römischen Kaiser_, i, pp. 1–250; Ferrero, _Greatness and +Decline_, vol. v; Gardthausen, _Augustus und seine Zeit_; Greenidge, +_Public Life_, ch. x; Hirschfeld, O., _Die Organization der drei Gallien +durch Augustus_, _Beitr. zur alten Gesch._, 1907; McFayden, D., _The +Princeps and the Senatorial Provinces_, _Class. Phil._, XVI; Meyer, Ed., +_Kaiser Augustus_, in _Kleine Schriften_, pp. 441 ff.; Niese, +_Geschichte_, pp. 276–304; Pelham, _Essays on Roman History_, iv and v; +Schiller, H., _Geschichte der röm. Kaiserzeit_, bk. ii, ch. i, §§ 25–31; +Stuart Jones, H., _The Roman Empire_, ch. i; Van Nostrand, J. J., _The +Reorganization of Spain by Augustus_. + + CHAPTER XVII + +Von Domazewski, _Römische Kaiser_, i, pp. 251–305; ii, pp. 1–158; Niese, +_Geschichte_, pp. 304–331; Pelham, _Essays_, iii, _The Early Roman +Emperors_; Schiller, _Römische Kaiserzeit_, ii, ch. i, §§ 32–44; ch. ii, +§§ 53–56; Stuart Jones, _Roman Empire_, chs. ii–iv. More special: for +Caligula, H. Willrich, _Beiträge zur alten Geschichte_, 1903, pp. 85 ff., +288 ff., 395 ff.; for Nero, Henderson, B., _The Life and Principate of the +Emperor Nero_; for the period 68–69, Hardy, G. S., _Studies in Roman +History_, 2nd ser., _The Four Emperors’ Year_; Henderson, _Civil War and +Rebellion in the Roman Empire_. + + CHAPTER XVIII + +Von Domazewski, _Römische Kaiser_, ii, pp. 168–318; Gibbon, E., _Decline +and Fall of the Roman Empire_, ed. Bury, i, chs. i–xii; Niese, +_Geschichte_, pp. 331–376; Schiller, _Römische Kaiserzeit_, vol. i, ch. +ii, §§ 57–59; chs. iii–iv; Stuart Jones, chs. v–ix. More special: +Gregorovius, F., _The Emperor Hadrian_; Platnauer, M., _The Life and Reign +of Septimius Severus_; J. Stuart Hay, _The Amazing Emperor Heliogabalus_. + + CHAPTER XIX + +The Imperial Administration: In addition to the general historical works +cited for the preceding chapters, see Boissier, G., _L’opposition sous les +Caesars_; Bussell, F. W., _The Roman Empire, Essays on Constitutional +History_, i, chs. i–iii; Greenidge, _Public Life_, ch. x; Hirschfeld, O., +_Die kaiserliche Verwaltungsbeamten bis auf Diocletian_ (indispensable); +Keyes, C. W., _The Rise of the Equites in the Third Century of the Roman +Empire_; McFayden, D., _History of the Title Imperator under the Roman +Empire; The Princeps and the Senatorial Provinces_; Mattlingly, H., +_Imperial Civil Service of Rome_; Mommsen, _Staatsrecht_, ii, 2, _Der +Principat_; Schulz, O., _Das Wesen des römischen Kaisertums im dritten +Jahrhundert_. On the spirit of Roman imperialism: Bryce, _The Ancient +Roman Empire and the British Empire in India_; Cromer, _Ancient and Modern +Imperialism_; Lucas, E. P., _Greater Rome and Greater Britain_. + +The Army: Cagnat, _L’Armée romain d’Afrique_, 2nd ed.; _L’Armée +d’Occupation de l’Egypte sous la Domination romaine_; Chapot, V., _La +Frontière de l’Euphrate_; Cheesman, G. L., _The Auxilia of the Roman +Imperial Army_; Von Domazewski, _Die Rangordnung des römischen Heeres_, +_Bonner Jahrbücher_, 117; Hardy, _Studies in Roman History_, 2nd ser., i, +_The Army and Frontier Relations of the German Provinces_; Pelham, +_Essays_, viii, _The Roman Frontier System_; ix, _The Roman Frontier in +Southern Germany_; Stuart Jones, _Companion to Roman History_. + +The Provinces: Arnold, _The Roman System of Provincial Administration_, +chs. iv, vi, pt. 2, vii; Bouchier, _The Roman Province of Syria_; Carette, +E., _Les Assemblées provinciales de la Gaule romaine_; Chapot, V., _La +province romaine proconsulaire d’Asie_; Guiraud, P., _Les Assemblées +provinciales dans l’empire romain_; Halgan, C., _L’Administration des +provinces sénatoriales sous l’empire romain_; Hardy, _Studies in Roman +History_, 1st ser., xiii, _Provincial Concilia from Augustus to +Diocletian_; Haverfield, F. J., _The Romanization of Roman Britain_, 3rd +ed.; Jullian, C., _Histoire de la Gaule_, vols. iv, v; Mommsen, _The +Provinces of the Roman Empire_; Milne, J. G., _A History of Egypt under_ +_Roman Rule_: Wilcken, U., for Egypt, in Mitteis und Wilcken, _Grundzüge +und Chrestomatie der Papyruskunde_, i, 1. + +The Municipalities: Dill, S., _Roman Society from Nero to Marcus +Aurelius_, bk. ii, chs. ii, iii; Liebenam, _Städteverwaltung im römischen +Reiche_; Hardy, _Roman Laws and Charters_; Reid, J. S., _Municipalities of +the Roman Empire_, chs. vii–xv; Waltzing, J. P., _Les Corporations +professionelles chez les Romains_. + +Colonate: Pelham, _Essays_, xiii, _The Imperial Domains and the Colonate_; +Rostowsew, _Studien zur Geschichte des römischen Kolonats_; art. +_colonus_, in _Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften_; Wilcken, see +Provinces, above. + + CHAPTER XX + +Social Conditions: Dill, S., _Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius_; +Frank, _Economic History_, chs. xi–xvi; Friedländer, L., _Roman Life and +Manners under the Early Empire_, vols. i–ii; Louis, P., _Le Travail dans +le monde romain_; Waltzing, _Les Corporations professionelles_. + +The Imperial Cult and Paganism: Burlier, E., _Le Culte imperial_; Cumont, +F., _Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism_; Dill, _Roman Society_; +Ferguson, W. S., _Legalized Absolutism en route from Greece to Rome_, +_Amer. Hist. Rev._, 1912; Friedländer, _Roman Life and Manners_, vol. iii; +Geffcken, J., _Der Ausgang des griechisch-römischen Heidentums_, 1920; +Glover, T. R., _Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire_; Heinen, +H., _Zur Begründung des römischen Kaiserkults_, _Beiträge zur alten +Geschichte_, 1910; Kornemann, E., _Zur Geschichte der antiken +Herrscherkulte_, _id._, 1900; Reitzenstein, R., _Die hellenisteschen +Mysterienreligionen_; Wissowa, _Religion und Kultur_, pp. 66–83. + +Christianity and the Roman State: Guimet, E., _Les chrétiens et l’empire +romain_, _la Nouvelle Revue_, 1909; Hardy, _Studies in Roman History_, 1st +ser., chs. i–x; Harnack, A., _The Expansion of Christianity in the First +Three Centuries_; Flick, A. C., _The Rise of the Medieval Church_, see +contents (excellent bibliography); Juster, J., _Les Juifs dans l’empire +romain_; Manaresi, A., _L’impero romano e il cristianesimo_; Ramsay, Sir +W., _The Christian Church in the Roman Empire before 170 A. D._; Walker, +W., _A History of the Western Christian Church_, pp. 1–108. + +Literature and Art: Beloch, J., _Der Verfall der antiken Kultur_, _Hist. +Zeitschr_. 1900; Cagnat and Chapot, _Manuel d’archéologie romaine_; +Friedländer, L., _Roman Life and Manners_; Leo, _Römische Litteratur_; +Mackail, _Roman Literature_, pp. 91–259; Norden, E., _Römische +Litterature_; Schanz, _Geschichte der röm. Litteratur_, pts. ii–iii; +Strong, E., _Roman Sculpture_; Stuart Jones, _Companion to Roman History_; +Walters, H., _The Art of the Romans_. + + CHAPTER XXI + +_Cambridge Medieval History_, vol. i, chs. i–iii, vii, viii, with +exhaustive bibliography; Gibbon, _Decline and Fall_, ed. Bury, chs. +xiii–xxvii; Niese, _Geschichte_, pp. 376–402; Schiller, _Röm. Kaiserzeit_, +vol. ii; Seeck, O., _Geschichte des Untergangs der antiken Welt_; Stuart +Jones, _Roman Empire_, chs. x–xi. Special: Geffcken, J., _Kaiser Julian_. + + CHAPTER XXII + +General: Bury, J. B., _A History of the Later Roman Empire_, bk. i, ch. +iv; Bussell, _The Roman Empire_, bk. ii, chs. i–ii; Reid, J. S., _Camb. +Med. Hist._, vol. i, ch. ii; Karlowa, O., _Römische Rechtsgeschichte_, i, +pp. 822–929; Schiller, _Römische Kaiserzeit_, ii, bk. iii, ch. i; Seeck, +_Geschichte_, vol. ii, bk. iii. + +Special: Bell, N., _The Byzantine Servile State in Egypt_, _Jour. Egypt. +Arch._, iv; Boak, _Roman Magistri in the Civil and Military Service of the +Empire_, _Harvard Studies in Class. Phil._, 1915; _The Master of the +Offices in the Later Roman and Byzantine Empires_; Hirschfeld, _Die +Ranktitel der röm. Kaiserzeit_, _Sitzungsbericht der Berliner Akademie_, +1901; Liebenam, _Städteverwaltung_; Rostowzew, see chap, xix, colonate; +Waltzing, _Corporations Professionelles_; Wilcken, see chap. xix, +provinces. + + CHAPTER XXIII + +Bury, _Later Roman Empire_, i, chs. ii–vi; Bussell, _Roman Empire_, i, bk. +ii, chs. ii–iv; bk. iii, ch. i; _Cambridge Medieval History_, i, chs. +ix–xvi; Gelzer, H., _Abriss der Byzantinischen Geschichte_, i, _Die +vorjustinianische Epoche_; Gibbon, _Decline and Fall_, chs. xxix–xxxix; +Lavisse et Rombaud, _Histoire General_, i, chs. ii–iv; Niese, +_Geschichte_, pp. 402–21. + + CHAPTER XXIV + +Bury, _Later Roman Empire_, i, bk. iv, chs. i–x; Bussell, _Roman Empire_, +i. bk. iii, ch. ii; _Cambridge Medieval History_, ii, chs. i, ii, iv, vi; +Diehl, Ch., _Justinien et la civilization byzantine au 6 siècle_; Gelzer, +_Abriss_, ii, _Das Zeitalter Justinians_; Gibbon, _Decline and Fall_, chs. +xl–xliv; Holmes, W. G., _The Age of Justinian and Theodora_; Lavisse et +Rombaud, _Histoire Generale_, see chap, xxiii; Niese, _Geschichte_, pp. +422 ff. + + CHAPTER XXV + +Religion: Boissier, G., _La Fin du paganisme_; _Cambridge Medieval +History_, i, chs. iv–vi, xvii–xviii; Geffcken, see ch. xx, religion; +Flick, _Medieval Church_, chs. vii–ix, xiii–xiv; Walker, W., _Western +Church_, period iii; Wissowa, _Religion und Kultur_, pp. 84–90. See also +the historical works cited for the preceding chapters. + +Literature and Art: Dalton, O. M., _Byzantine Art and Archaeology_; Diehl, +Ch., _L’art byzantine_; Mackail, _Latin Literature_, pp. 260–286; Norden, +_Römische Litteratur_; Krumbacher, K., _Byzantinische +Litteraturgeschichte_; Schanz, _Geschichte der röm. Litteratur_, pt. iv; +_Camb. Med. Hist._, i, xxi, _Early Christian Art_. + + + + + + INDEX + + +Note: All Romans, except emperors and literary men, are to be found under +their _gens_ name: _e. g._ for Cato see Porcius. All others are indexed +under the name most commonly used in English: _e. g._ Trajan, Horace, +Alaric. + + A. = Aulus. +_ A cognitionibus_, secretary for imperial inquest, 269. +_ A cubiculo_, _see_ Chamberlain. +_ A libellis_, secretary for petitions, 269. +_ A rationibus_, + secretary of the treasury, 269, 271; + title changed, 272. +_ A studiis_, secretary of the records, 269. +_ Ab admissione_, chief usher, 294. +_ Ab epistulis_, secretary for correspondence, 269. + L. Accius, tragic poet, 121. + Achæa, senatorial province of, 216. + Achæan Confederacy, the, + opposed to Macedonia, 69; + allied with Macedonia, 75; + supports Philip V, 83, 85; + joins Rome, 91; + loyal to Rome, 93; + friction with Rome, 95; + forced to send hostages to Rome, 96; + asserts independence, 102–103; + dissolved, 103. + Acilian law (_lex Acilia de repetundis_), 129. + Acilius Glabrio, consul, defeats Antiochus at Thermopylæ, 93. + Actium, battle of, 195. + Adherbal, joint ruler of Numidia, 132–133. + Advocate of the fiscus (_advocatus fisci_), 248. + Ædileship, the, + and public games, 123, + (1) the plebeian, 50, 54; + becomes magistracy, 55; + becomes magistracy, 55; + (2) the curule, 51; + opened to plebeians, 56; + under the Principate, 294; + (3) in municipalities, 284. + Ædui, the, + allies of Rome, 132, 168; + desert Rome, 171; + admitted to Roman Senate, 231. + Ægates Islands, the, battle of, 74. + S. Ælius Pætus, consul, juristic writer, 122. + L. Ælius Seianus, + prætorian prefect, 227; + plot of, 228–229. + M. Æmilius Lepidus, + consul, 152; + proconsul, revolt of, 152. + M. Æmilius Lepidus, + master of the horse, 185; + pontifex maximus, 186; + in Second Triumvirate, 188–189; + deposed, 192. + Æmilius Papinianus, jurist, prætorian prefect, 254. + L. Æmilius Paullus, consul, at Cannæ, 82. + L. Æmilius Paullus, consul, defeats Perseus, 96. + Æneolithic Age, the, 9. + Æqui, the, 15; + wars of, with Rome, 33–34, 36; + Roman allies, 39. +_ Ærarium militare_, the, establishment of, 212, 271. +_ Ærarium Saturni_, the, + state treasury, under senatorial authority, 209; + evolution of, under the Principate, 265. + Aetius, Flavius, + master of the soldiers, defeats Burgundians, 356; + made count, 358; + career of, 358–359; + death, 360. + Ætolian Confederacy, the, + hostile to Macedonia, 69; + joins Rome against Philip V, 83; + concludes peace, 85; + supports Rome again, 90; + joins Antiochus against Rome, 92; + subjugated by Rome, 94. + Africa, Roman province of, + organized, 102; + rise of serfdom in, 289–290; + conquered by Vandals, 355–356; + reconquered by Justinian, 376–377. + Agathocles, King of Syracuse, 40, 41. +_ Agentes-in-rebus_, 340. +_ Ager Gallicus_, 39. +_ Ager publicus_, 39. +_ Ager Romanus_, 43, 44. + Agrarian laws, + of the Gracchi, 126–128; + failure of, 131; + of Saturninus, 138; + proposed —— of Rullus, 163. +_ Agri Decumates_, the, annexed, 239. + Agriculture, + Italy adapted to, 4; + changing conditions of, 115; + development of, under the Principate, 297. + Agrippa, _see_ M. Vipsanius Agrippa. + Agrippina, + granddaughter of Augustus, 224, 227; + plots for the succession, 228; + condemned to death, 229. + Agrippina, niece and wife of Claudius, + schemes of, 232; + murdered, 233. +_ Alæ_, 45. + Alamanni, the, 256, 259; + defeated by Gallienus, 260; + by Aurelian, 265; + by Julian, 326; + by Valens, 329–330; + by Narses, 378. + Alans, the, invasions of, with the Vandals, 355. + Alaric, prince of the Visigoths, + invasion of Greece, 352–353; + invasion of Italy, 353. + Alba Longa, 29. + Alban, Count, the, 26. + Albinus (Decimus Clodius ——), + saluted Imperator, 252; + death, 253. + Alexander, king of Epirus, 40. + Alexander Severus, _see_ Severus Alexander. + Alexandria, capital of Egypt, 67; + Cæsar besieged in, 177; + government of, 281. + Alimentary system (_alimenta_), the, instituted, 244. + Allia, the, battle of, 35. + Allies, the, _see_ Italian allies. + Allobroges, the, + conquered by Rome, 132; + betray Cataline’s conspiracy, 164. + Ambrones, the, 135, 136. + Ambrose, bishop of Milan, + conflict with Theodosius I, 330–331; + writings of, 399. +_ Amicitia_, status of, 90. + Ammianus Marcellinus, historical writer, 398. + Anastasius, eastern emperor, 365–367. + Ancyra, Monument of, 225. + Andriscus, Macedonian pretender, 102. + Animism, of early Roman religion, 61. + L. Annæus Seneca, + writer, 299; + counsellor of Nero, 232, 233, 235. + T. Annius Milo, tribune, 169, 172–173. + Annona, the, 222. + Anthemius, western emperor, 360. + Anthenion, leader of slave rebellion, 137. + Antinoöpolis, 281. + Antioch, + Seleucid capital, 69; + depopulated by Persians, 379. + Antiochus III, the Great, king of Syria, + attacks Egypt, 89; + war with Rome, 92–93. + Antiochus IV, Epiphanes, king of Syria, forced to evacuate Egypt, + 97. + Antonine Constitution, the, 255. + Antoninus Pius (Titus Ælius Aurelius ——), + adopted by Hadrian, 249; + principate of, 249. + C. Antonius, consul, 162, 164. + L. Antonius, brother of Mark Antony, 190–191. + M. Antonius, prætor, command against pirates in 102 B. C., 137. + M. Antonius, prætor, extraordinary command against pirates in 74 + B. C., 154. + M. Antonius (Mark Antony), + master of the horse, 176, 177; + consul, 185; + takes charge after Cæsar’s death, 185–186; + in Second Triumvirate, 188–190; + in the East and Egypt, 190, 192–194; + projects of Cleopatra and, 193–194; + war with Octavian, 194–195; + suicide of, 195. + Appius Claudius, censor, 56. + Appius Claudius, land commissioner, 127. + L. Appuleius Saturninus, + tribune, proposed legislation of, 138; + overthrown, 139. + L. Apuleius, writer, 300. + Apulia, 38–39. + Apulians, the, allies of Rome, 38. +_ Aqua Appia_, 56. + Aquæ Sextiæ, fortress, + established, 132; + Teutons annihilated at, 136. + Aquileia, Latin colony, 97. + M’. Aquillius, consul, subdues rebellious slaves, 137. + Aquitania, + administrative district of Gaul, 218; + Roman province, 227; + Visigothic kingdom in, 354. + Aquitanians, the, conquered by Cæsar, 169. + Arabia, Roman attempt to conquer, 221. + Arabs, the Nabatæans, + Roman allies, 221; + kingdom of, made Roman province, 246. + Arausio, defeat of Roman armies at, 135. + Arbogast, + general of Theodosius, 330; + revolt of, 331. + Arcadius (Flavius ——), + co-emperor, 331; + rules in East, 351, 362–363. + Archelaus, general of Mithridates, 143, 144. + Archidamus, king of Sparta, 40. + Archimedes, physicist and mathematician, at Syracuse, 82. + Architecture, + Roman, 302–303; + Christian, 402. + Arianism 391–393. + Arians, Justinian’s treatment of, 383. + Aricia, + battle at, 18; + meetings of Latin League at, 26. + Ariovistus, king of the Suevi, 168. + Armenia, + Lucullus’s invasion of, 154, 155; + occupied by Antony, 193; + Roman protectorate over, 221; + struggle between Rome and the Parthians over, 234; + conquered by Trajan, 246; + Roman authority in, re-established, 250; + won from Persians by Diocletian, 319; + Roman claim to, abandoned, 328. + Arminius, German chieftain, 220, 227–228. + Army, Roman, + primitive, 58; + phalanx organization of, 58–59; + manipular legion in, 59; + composition of, 60; + discipline of, 60; + reformed by Marius, 136; + by Augustus, 211–212; + power of in naming princeps, 235; + quartering of auxiliaries under Vespasian, 238; + of legions under Domitian, 242; + pay of, increased, 243; + reformed by Sept. Severus, 254; + attitude of, 258; + barbarization of, 272, 275; + struggle of under the Principate, 274; + cultural influence of, 276–277; + reformed by Diocletian, 319; + by Constantine I, 323; + of the late Empire, 335–339; + of the Age of Justinian, 375–376; + _ See also_ auxiliaries _and_ legion. + Arnobius, Christian writer, 301. + Art, + Roman, 302–303; + of the late Empire, 401–402. + Artabanos V, king of the Parthians, 256. + Arverni, the, conquered by Rome, 132. + Asia, Roman province of, + organized, 103–104; + revenue of, auctioned off at Rome, 128; + massacre of Romans in, 143; + Sulla’s repression of, 145; + Lucullus’s remedial measures in, 154; + serfdom in, 289. + Aspar, master of the soldiers, 364. + Assemblies, the Roman, + character of, 57; + become antiquated, 109; + dominated by urban proletariat, 110. + Assembly of the Centuries, the, + organization of, 49; + powers of, 49, 54; + compared with Assembly of the Tribes, 57; + approves alliance with the Mamertini, 72; + confers proconsular _imperium_ on Scipio, 84; + induced to declare war on Philip V, 90; + reform of, 109; + loses right to elect magistrates, 227; + confirms powers of princeps, 264. + Assembly of the _Curiæ_, the, + in regal period, 28; + in early Republic, 48; + superseded by Assembly of the Centuries, 49. + Assembly of the Tribes, the, + origin of, 53, 54; + powers increased, 55; + effect of Hortensian law on, 57; + use of, by Ti. Gracchus, 126–127; + C. Gracchus, 128; + confers command of army upon Marius, 134; + enrollment of Italians in, 142; + creates extraordinary commands, 159–160; + loses right to elect magistrates, 227. + Assyria, + made Roman province, 246; + abandoned, 247. + Astrology, fondness of Romans for, 307. + Astures, the, 217. + Ataulf, leader of the Visigoths, 353–354. + Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, 392, 400. + Athens, + friend of Rome, 90; + aids Rome against Philip V, 91; + ally of Rome, 103; + joins Mithridates, 143; + siege of, by Sulla, 144. + M. Atilius Regulus, consul, invades Africa, 73. + Atomic theory of Democritus, the, explained by Lucretius, 199. +_ Atrium_, the, in Roman houses, 118. + Attalus I, king of Pergamon, + joins Rome against Macedonia, 83; + appeals to Rome against Philip V, 89. + Attalus III, king of Pergamon, wills kingdom to Rome, 103, 127. + Attila, + king of the Huns, 359; + relations of, with eastern emperor, 363–364. + Augurs, + college of, 48; + number increased, 57; + functions of, 62; + new members chosen by Tribes, 138. + Augustales, 215, 226. + Augustine, bishop of Hippo, writings of, 399–400. + Augustus (C. Julius Caesar Octavianus, _q. v._), + position of in 27 B. C., 206; + receives _tribunicia potestas_ and other powers, 207; + restores Senate, 209–210; + puts equestrian order on definite basis, 210; + attempts moral and religious revival, 213–215; + cult of Rome and, 214; + foreign policy of, 217, 222; + conquests in the north, 217–220; + in the east, 220–222; + administration of Rome under, 222; + policy of, regarding the succession, 223–224; + death and estimate of, 225; + deified, 226. + Augustus, + title of, 206; + shared by two principes, 249. + Aurelian (Lucius Domitius Aurelianus), principate and campaigns of, + 261–262. + Aurelian law (_lex Aurelia_), the, 156. + Aurelius (princeps), _see_ Marcus Aurelius. + M. Aurelius Cotta, consul, 154–155. + Aurunci (Ausones), the, 13, 36. + Ausculum, 41. + Ausonius, poet, 397–398. +_ Auspicium_, defined, 47. + Auxiliaries (_auxilia_), + of Augustan army, 212; + denationalized, 238; + territorial recruitment of, 273; + strength of, 274; + effect of permanent fortifications on, 276; + of late Empire, 336. + Avidius Cassius, general, + Parthian victories of, 250; + revolt of, 251. + Avitus (Eparchius ——), western emperor, 360. + + Bacchanalian association, dissolved, 106, 122, 123. + Balearic Islands, the, occupied by Rome 132. + Basil, founds Greek monasticism, 395, 400, 402. + Basilica, + Roman, 124; + Christian, 402. + Basiliscus, proclaimed emperor, 365. + Bastarnæ, the, 219. + Batavi, the, 219; + revolt of, 237, 238. + Belgæ, the, 168–169. +_ Belgica (Gallia ——)_ + administrative district of Gaul, 218; + Roman province, 227. + Belisarius, campaigns of, 375, 376, 377, 379. + Benedict, monastic rule of, 395–396. + Beneventum, 41. + Bishops, + of early Christian church, 312, 313; + metropolitan, 313; + temporal power of, under late Empire, 390, 391. + Bithynia, + occupied by Mithridates VI of Pontus, 143; + surrendered, 145; + made Roman province, 153. + Bocchus, king of Mauretania, aids Jugurtha, then Rome, 134. + Bœthius, Christian writer, 400. + Boii, the, 39, 77, 81. + Bonifacius, Count, + governor of Africa, 355–356; + master of the soldiers, 358. + Bononia, Latin colony, 97. + Boudicca, queen of a British tribe, 234. + Bribery, laws against, 108. + Britain, + Cæsar’s invasions of, 170; + conquests in, under Claudius, 231; + revolt of, under Boudicca, 234; + Agricola in, 242; + Sept. Severus, 255; + the Saxons invade, 357. + Britannicus (Ti. Claudius Britannicus), son of Claudius, 232, 233. + Bronze Age, the, 9–11. + Brundisium, treaty of, 191. + Bruttians, the, 38. + Brutus, _see_ M. Junius Brutus _and_ D. Junius Brutus. +_ Bucellarii_, 376. + Bulgars, the, + invade eastern empire, 366, 379; + occupy Illyricum, 403. + Bureaucratic system, Egyptian and Roman, 268–269; 282. + Burgundians, the, + invade Gaul, 356; + treatment of Roman subjects, 371; + religion of, 372. + Burrus, Afranius, prætorian prefect, 232. + Byzantine empire, 403, 404. + Byzantium, punished by Sept. Severus, 253. + + C. = Caius (Gaius). + Q. Cæcilius Metellus Macedonicus, + prætor, defeats Andriscus, 102; + subdues central Greece, 103. + Q. Cæcilius Metellus Numidicus, consul, commands against Jugurtha, + 134. + Cæsar, _see_ C. Julius Cæsar. + Cæsar, + imperial title, 237; + title of imperial assistants, 318. + Caius Cæsar (Caligula), principate of, 229–231. + Calendar, the, Cæsar’s reform of, 180–181. + Caligula, _see_ Caius Cæsar. + Callæci, the, 217. + Callistus, freedman of Claudius, 232. + Calpurnian Law (_lex Calpurnia_), the, 114. + M. Calpurnius Bibulus, consul, 165. + C. Calpurnius Piso, senator, conspiracy of, 235. + Camp, camps, + Roman military, 60; + on frontiers, 274. + Campania, + fertility of, 5; + alliance of, with Rome, 39. + Cannæ, battle of, 81–82. + Cantabri, the, 217. + Cappadocia, + Mithridates, king of northern, 142; + greater coveted by Mithridates, 142; + surrendered, 145; + conquered by Tigranes, 153. + Capua, + founded, 18; + Roman ally, 37; + deserts to Hannibal, 81; + recovered by Rome, 82–83. + Caracalla (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus = Bassianus), + principate of, 255, 256; + Edict of, 255. + Carausius, proclaimed Augustus, 318, 319. + Carbo, _see_ Cn. Papirius Carbo. + Carinus (Marcus Aurelius ——), co-ruler, in West, 263. + Carnuntum, legionary camp, 239. + Carthage, + gains foothold in Sicily and Sardinia, 15; + attacks Sicilian Greeks, 20, 41; + allied with Rome against Pyrrhus, 41; + founding of, 70; + government of, 70–71; + commercial policy of, 71; + resources of, 71; + treaties with Rome, 70, 71; + wars with Rome, _see_ Punic Wars; + cedes Sicily to Rome, 74; + loss of sea power of, 74; + war with mercenaries, 74, 75; + cedes Sardinia and Corsica to Rome, 75; + cedes Spain and African possessions to Rome, 86; + reasons for defeat of, in Second Punic War, 86; + last struggle with Rome and destruction of, 100–102. + Carus (Marcus Aurelius ——), princeps, campaign against Persians, + 263. + Cassian Law (_lex Cassia tabellaria_), the, 108. + Cassiodorus, Christian writer, 400. + C. Cassius, + ex-prætor, 182, 185; + war with Antony and Octavian, 189–190. + Cassivellaunus, British chief, 170. + Castra Vetera, 218. + Cataphracti, in late Roman army, 376. + Cato, _see_ M. Porcius Cato. + Catullus, (Caius Valerius ——), poet, 199. + Caudine Pass, battle of the, 38. + Celtiberians, the, revolts of, 99–100. + Cenomani the, Roman allies, 78. + Censorship, the, + origin and powers of, 50, 59; + plebeians eligible to, 56; + of Appius Claudius, 56; + rendered unnecessary by Sullan reform of Senate, 149; + assumed by Claudius, 231; + by Vespasian, 240; + by Domitian, 241. + Census, + instituted in Rome, 49; + taken by censors, 50; + basis of army organization, 59; + lists of, in Second Punic War, 88; + increase of, between 136 and 125 B. C., 131; + of the empire under Augustus, 216; + of 14 A. D., 224; + of 47 A. D., 231; + of 74 A. D., 240. +_ Centenarii_, 270. + Centurions, 217; + disappearance of, 337. + Chæronea, victory of Sulla at, 144. + Chaldean astrologers, + banished from Italy, 123; + great vogue of, 307. + Chamberlain, the, of imperial court, 294, 335. + Chatti, the, 220. + Cherusci, the, 220. + Childeric, king of the Salian Franks, 357. + Chosroes, king of the Parthians, 246. + Chosroes I, king of the Persians, conflicts with Eastern Empire, + 379, 381. + Christianity, + rise of, and connection with Judaism, 309; + comes into conflict with Roman state, 310; + effect of paganism on, 387; + contribution of, to art, 402. + Christians, the, + first persecution of, 233; + lose privileges of Jews, 310; + accusations against, 310; + imperial policy toward, in second century, 310–311; + in third century, 311–312; + persecutions of, 312; + under Diocletian, 320, 322; + treatment of, by Constantine I, 324–325; + by Julian, 327–328. + Chrysopolis, battle at, 323. + Church, + the early Christian, 311; + organization of, 312–313; + movement for primacy of Rome in, 313; + Justinian’s reconciliation with western, 375; + relation of, to the emperor, 388–389; + councils of, 388–389; + growth of the Papacy, 389; + of the Patriarchate, 390; + sectarian strife in, 391–394; + architecture, 402. + Cicero, _see_ M. Tullius Cicero. + Cilicia, + pirate stronghold, 137; + made Roman province, 137; + an imperial province, 216. + Cimbri and Teutons, the, + invade Gaul and Spain, 135; + invade Italy, 136–137. + L. Cincius Alimentus, historical writer, 121. + Circus Flaminius, 129. + Cirta, siege of, 133. + Cisalpine Gaul, + settled by Gauls, 34–35; + occupied by Romans, 77–78; + lost, 80; + reconquered, 97; + organized as province, 148. + Citizenship, Roman, + granted to Italians, 141; + obtained by service in army, 211–212; + extended by Caracalla, 255; + given to barbarian officers, 337. + City Prefect, 228, 341; + judicial functions of, 267. +_ Cives optimo iure_, 46. +_ Cives sine suffragio_, 44, 45. + Civil service, the imperial, + first step in creation of, 149; + growth of, 268–272; + under Hadrian, 248; + of late Empire, 340–342. + Civil War, 174–178. + Civilis, Julius, Batavian chieftain, 237. +_ Civitates_, + in provinces, 111, 280; + in Gaul, 281. +_ Clarissimi_, 268; + under late Empire, 343. +_ Classes_, in Roman army, 59. +_ Classis_, _see_ levy. + Claudian (Claudius Claudianus), poet, 398. + Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Germanicus), principate of, 231, 232. + C. Claudius, consul, at Metaurus, 85. + Claudius Gothicus (Marcus Aurelius), principate of, 261. + Cleonymus, of Sparta, 40. + Clergy, the, power of, under late Empire, 390–391. + Clients, + early status of, 30; + in the Principate, 295. + P. Clodius, tribune, 167, 169, 172. + Cleopatra, + and Cæsar, 176, 177, 180; + and Antony, 190, 193, 195; + at Actium, 195; + death, 195. + Clovis, + king of the Salian Franks, 357; + conversion of, 372; + conquests of, 375. + Clusium, 33, 35. + Cn. = Cnæus (Gnæus). + Codification of Roman law by decemvirs under Justinian, 382. + Cohorts (_cohortes_), + (1) of regular army, 45; + (2) urban, 222; + command of, 228. + Coinage, debasement of, 298. + Colleges (_collegia_), + character and types of, 285; + regulation of, 286, 287–288; + burdens of, 292; + made hereditary, 347; + of late Empire, 347–348. + Colonate, the, _see_ serfdom. + Coloni, + free laborers, 289, 290; + obligations of, in Africa, 290; + in Italy, 291; + under the late Empire, 348–349. + Colonies, + (1) Latin, 33, 37, 44, 45; + loyal to Rome in Second Punic War, 82; + grievances of, 110; + loyal in Marsic War, 140; + in provinces, 280; + (2) Roman, 44; + established by C. Gracchus, 130; + in provinces, 280. +_ Comitatenses_, 319, 336. + Comites, + (1) associates of provincial governors, 112; + Augusti, 295; + (2) titles of officials of late Empire, _see_ Counts. + Comitia, + (1) of Rome, under Augustus, 211; + loses right to elect magistrates, 227; + loses legislative powers, 266; + (2) of municipalities, 285. + _ See also_ Assemblies. +_ Comitia centuriata_, _see_ Assembly of the Centuries. +_ Comitia curiata_, _see_ Assembly of the Curiæ. +_ Comitia tributa_, _see_ Assembly of the Tribes. + Commagene, kingdom of, annexed, 240. + Commerce, development of, under Principate, 297. +_ Commercium_, 37, 45. + Commodus (Lucius Ælius Aurelius ——), + becomes co-ruler, 251; + principate of, 251, 252. +_ Connubium_, 37, 45. +_ Conscripti_, 56. + Consistory, the imperial, 341. + Constans (Flavius Julius ——), + Cæsar, 324; + co-emperor, 325. + Constantine I, the Great (Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus), + Cæsar, 321; + co-emperor, 322; + sole emperor, 323–325; + founds Constantinople, 323–324; + —— and Christianity, 324–325; + policy of, toward the Church, 388. + Constantine II (Flavius Claudius Constantinus), + Cæsar, 323; + co-emperor, 325. + Constantinople, founding of, 323–324. + Constantius I (Caius Flavius Valerius ——), + Cæsar, 318; + emperor, 321. + Constantius II (Flavius Julius ——), + Cæsar, 324; + co-emperor, 325–326; + sole emperor, 325–327. + Constantius, master of the soldiers, made co-emperor with Honorius, + 358. +_ Constitutio Antoniniana_, _see_ Antonine Constitution. +_ Constitutiones principis_, 266. +_ Consulares iuridici_, + of Hadrian, 248; + removal by Antoninus, 249; + restored, 250. + Consulate, consulship, the, + established, 47; + powers, 47; + limited to patricians, 48; + military duties of, 60; + Senatorial control over, weakened, 129; + held successively by Marius, 134; + under the principate, 261, 294; + of late Empire, 341; + abolished, 383. +_ Contiones_, 117. + Contractors (_conductores_), 289–290. + Corfinium, 140. + Corinth, destroyed, 103. + Corn doles, 197, 294. + Corn Law, + of C. Gracchus, 128; + proposed —— of Saturninus, 138; + of Drusus, 139. + Cornelia, “mother of the Gracchi,” 126. + L. Cornelius Cinna, consul, opposes Sulla and Senatorial party, 146. + Cn. Cornelius Scipio, + ex-consul, _legatus_ in Spain, 83; + killed, 83. + L. Cornelius Scipio, brother of Africanus, consul in war with + Antiochus, 93. + P. Cornelius Scipio, + consul, sets out for Spain, 79; + defeated at Ticinus, 81; + at Trebia, 81; + killed in Spain, 83. + P. Cornelius Scipio Æmilianus, + consul, takes Numantia, 100; + destroys Carthage, 102; + patron of letters, 120, 121, 123; + aids Senate against Gracchus, 127; + death, 127, 128. + P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, + ex-aedile, given pro-consular _imperium_ in Spain, 84; + takes New Carthage, 84; + conquers Carthaginian Spain, 85; + consul, invades Africa, 85; + defeats Hannibal, surnamed Africanus, 86; + extraordinary pro-consul in Asia, 93, 126. + L. Cornelius Sulla, + quæstor under Marius, 134; + _ legatus_ in Marsic war, 141; + consul, 144; + wages war against Mithridates, 144, 145; + return to Italy and dictatorship of, 146–149; + reforms of, 148, 149; + retirement and death of, 149, 150; + character and achievements of, 150. +_ Corporati_, of late Empire, 347. + Corporations, _see_ colleges. +_ Corpus juris civilis_, 382. + Corruption, of officials in late Empire, 342. + Corsica, + geography of, 4; + inhabitants of, 15; + ceded to Rome, 75; + a province, 111. + Count, counts, (_comites_), + of late Empire, 338, 343; + of the sacred largesses, 340, 341; + of the private purse, 341; + of the consistory, 341. + Court, the imperial, + growth of, 294–295; + of late Empire, 335. + Court of extortion, the, 114; + reorganized by Acilian law, 129; + use of, in interest of financiers, 139. + Crassus, _see_ M. Licinius Crassus. + Cremona, 78; + battles at, 236, 237. + Crete, made Roman province, 159. + Crispus (Flavius Julius ——), Cæsar, 323, 324. + Crixus, leader of slaves, 155. + Ctesiphon, + captured by Trajan, 246; + by Avidius Cassius, 250; + sacked by Sept. Severus, 253; + captured by Carus, 263. + Cult, + household, 62; + of the fields, 63; + state, 63; + of Bacchus, 123; + of the Great Mother, 123; + decline of state, 198; + of the Lares and Genius Augusti, 214; + of Rome and Augustus (imperial), 214, 215, 304, 305; + oriental cults (_q. v._). + Culture, + Greek influences on Italian, 21; + on Roman, 119, 120, 198–199; + decline of Roman, 303, 304. + Curatorship, the, + in senatorial career, 209, 265; + for reorganizing finances, 286. +_ Curia_, the, + municipal council, 284, 285; + obligations of, 287. +_ Curiæ_, the, + (1) in Rome, 28; + (2) in municipalities, 284. +_ Curiales_, + of late Empire, 346–347; + relieved from collections of taxes, 366. +_ Cursus honorum_, + of senatorial order, 209; + of equestrian order, 210. + Cyme, Greek colony of, 18, 19, 21. + Cynoscephalæ, battle of, 91. + Cyprian (Thascius Cæcilius Cyprianus), Christian writer, 301. + Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, 393. + Cyzicus, siege of, 154. + + D. = Decimus. + Dacia, + made Roman province, 246; + abandoned, and new province formed, 261. + Dacians, the, 242; + war with Domitian, 243; + with Trajan, 245–246. + Deacons, of early Christian church, 312. + Decebalus, king of the Dacians, 243, 245. + Decemvirs, the, for codifying laws, 54. + Decius (Caius Messius Trajanus ——), princeps, persecution of the + Christians under, 311–312. +_ Decuma_, _see_ Taxes. +_ Decuriones_, 285; + obligations of, 287. +_ Defensores civitatium_ or _plebis_, 346–347. + Deification, + of ruler, significance of, 180; + of Julius Cæsar, 189; + of Augustus, 226. + Delos, Italian colony at, exterminated, 143. + Dictator, + appointment and powers of, 47; + plebeians eligible to office of, 56; + Cæsar permanent dictator, 178. + Didius Julianus, principate of, 252. + Dignities (_dignitates_), of late Empire, 343. + Dioceses, 320; + distribution of under late Empire, 339 _and note 1_. + Diocletian (Caius Valerius Aurelius Diocletianus), + assumes imperial title, 263; + reign of, 317, 321; + division of empire by, 318; + reforms army, 319, 320; + abdicates, 321. + Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, 20, 40, 41. + Divus Julius, 189. +_ Dominus_, title, 334. +_ Dominus et deus_, title, 242. +_ Dominus et deus natus_, title of Aurelian, 262. + Domitian (Titus Flavius Domitianus), principate of, 241, 243. + Domitian law (_lex Domitia_), the, 138; + abrogated, 148; + reënacted, 163. + Cn. Domitius Corbulo, general, + campaign of, 234; + death of, 235. + Drama, the Roman or Latin, + of third and second centuries B. C., 120–121; + of last century B. C., 199. + Drepana, naval battle at, 74. + Drusus, _see_ M. Livius Drusus. + Drusus, Nero Claudius, + step-son of Augustus, 217, 218; + death, 219; + surname Germanicus, 219. +_ Ducenarii_, 270. +_ Duces_, of late Empire, 338. + C. Duilius, consul, 73. +_ Duovirate_, the, in municipalities, 284. + Dyarchy, the, 216. + + Eburones, the, 171. + Edict, + (1) of the prætor, in Roman law, 122; + final form of, 248; + (2) of the princeps, 266. + Edict, the, + of Caracalla, 255; + of Milan, 322; + of Prices, 320. + Education, + in early Rome, 65; + after the Punic Wars, 120. + Egypt, + the Ptolemaic monarchy in, 67, 69; + loss of sea power of, 89; + friendship of, with Rome, 90; + Cæsar’s conquest of, 176, 177; + added to Roman empire, 195; + status of, 206; + bureaucratic system of, 269, 282; + late municipalization of, 281–283; + serfdom in, 288, 289. + Elagabalus (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus-Bassianus), + selected Imperator, 256; + principate of, 256, 257. + Emperor, + (1) early Roman, _see_ princeps; + (2) late Roman, powers and titles of, 333, 334; + regalia of, 334; + elections and coöptation of, 334; + court of, 335. + Empire, the Roman, + division of, under Diocletian, 318; + partition of, after Theodosius I, 351; + condition of, at death of Justinian, 384. + Q. Ennius, poet, 121, 123. + Epictetus, philosopher, 302. + Epicureanism, in Rome, 198. + Epirus, sacked by Romans, 96. + Equestrian order, the, + growth of, 117, 118; + secures right to act as judges in courts, 129; + effect on, 129; + deserts Saturninus and Glaucia, 138; + suffers from Sullan proscriptions, 147; + debarred from juries by Sulla, 148; + character of, 196; + position and characteristics of, under Augustus, 210, 211; + importance increased by Hadrian, 248; + titles of, 271; + merged with senatorial order, 342. + Equites, + (1) cavalry in Roman army, 59; + (2) in Assembly of the Centuries, 49; + (3) a propertied class, _see_ Equestrian order. +_ Ergastula_, 116. + Etruria, + Iron age in, 11; + location of, 15. + Etruscans, the, + location of, 13, 16; + name of 15; + origin of, 16; + culture of, 16–17; + in Latium and Campania, 18; + in Po valley, 18; + decline of power of, 18–19; + historical significance of, 19; + wars of, with Rome, 36, 38–39; + Roman allies, 39. + Eudocia, empress, 363. + Eudoxia, empress, 362–363, + Euganei, the, 13. + Eugenius, revolt of, 331. + Euhemerus, philosopher, 123, 180. + Eumenes II, king of Pergamon, + aids Rome against Antiochus, 93; + enemy of Perseus, 95; + suspected by Romans, 96. + Euric, king of the Visigoths, 354, 369. + Eusebius, historical writer, 400. + Eutropius, grand chamberlain, 362. + Extraordinary commands, + origin and definition of, 151; + created by Assembly, 159–160. + + Q. Fabius Maximus, dictator, strategy of, 81. + Q. Fabius Maximus, consul, defeats Gallic tribes, 132. + Q. Fabius Pictor, historical writer, 121. + Festivals, + public, 123; + Secular Games, 216; + increase of, 294. +_ Fetiales_, 43, 90. + Finances, administration of, under the principate, 271–272. + Fire, great, + of Nero, 233; + of 80 A. D., 241. +_ Fiscus_, establishment of, 271. + Flaccus, _see_ L. Valerius Flaccus. + T. Flamininus, consul, + defeats Philip V, 91; + proclaims freedom of the Hellenes, 91. + C. Flaminius, tribune, censor, + killed at Trasimene Lake, 81; + defies the Senate, 106; + and the reform of the Centuries, 109. +_ Flaviales_, college of, 242. + C. Flavius Fimbria, _legatus_, in Mithridatic war, 145. + Fleet, _see_ navy. +_ Fœderati_, of late Empire, 337–338. +_ Fœdus_, perpetual treaty, used by Romans in Italy, 45, 90. +_ Fonde di capanne_, 8. + Franks, the, 259; + invade Roman empire, 260; + Salian, allowed to settle, 326; + kingdom of, in Gaul, 356–357; + Roman subjects of, 371; + religion of, 372; + conquests of, 373; + incursion of, into Italy, 378. + Freedmen, + of Sulla, 147; + augment Roman plebs, 197; + become Augustales, 215; + rights of, restricted by Augustus, 215; + influence of, under Claudius, 232, 269; + influence of, in civil service, 269, 270, 272; + increase of, under principate, 266; + laws restricting increase of, 266; + occupations of, 266. + Frontier defense, system of, 274–276. + Fulvia, wife of Mark Antony, 190. + Cn. Fulvius, consul, killed, 84. + P. Fulvius Plautianus, prætorian prefect, 254. + + Gabii, 44. + Gabinian Law (_lex Gabinia_), the, + (1) on use of the ballot, 108; + (2) on command against pirates, 159–160. + A. Gabinius, tribune, 159. + Gailimer (Gelimer), king of the Vandals, 375, 376. + Gaïnas, master of the soldiers, 362. + Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, 355–356. + Gaius, the jurist, 301. + Gaius and Lucius Cæsar, grandsons of Augustus, 224. + Galatia, + Celts of, defeated by Romans, 94; + independence recognized, 96; + made Roman province, 231. + Galba (Servius Sulpicius ——), 235; + principate of, 236. + Galen (Claudius Galenus), student of medicine, 302. + Galerius (Caius Galerius Valerius Maximianus), + Cæsar, 318; + emperor, 321; + death, 322. +_ Gallia Cisalpina_, _see_ Cisalpine Gaul. +_ Gallia comata_, 168; + divided, 218. +_ Gallia Narbonensis_, _see_ Narbonese Gaul. + Gallienus (Publius Licinius Egnatius ——), principate and campaigns + of, 259, 261. + Gallus (Flavius Claudius Constantius ——), Cæsar, 326. + Gasatæ, the, invade Italy, 77. + Gaul, + peoples of 168; + Cæsar’s campaigns in, 168–172; + an imperial province, 206; + administration of, under Augustus, 218; + empire of Postumus in, 260; + reconquered by Aurelian, 262; + late municipalization of, 281; + kingdom of Visigoths in, 354; + Burgundian invasion of, 356; + kingdom of Salian Franks in, 357; + invaded by Attila and the Huns, 359. + Gauls, the, + invade Italy, 34; + character of, 34–35; + sack Rome, 35; + wars with Rome, 35, 39; + renew invasions of peninsula, 76–77; + empire of the, 237, 260. + Gelasius, Pope, 389. +_ Gentes_, 29–30. + Germanicus, _see_ Drusus, Nero Claudius. + Germanicus Cæsar, + son of Drusus, 224; + campaigns of, 227–228; + death, 228. + Germany, + Roman invasion of, 12 B. C., 218; + revolt of, 220; + administrative districts created in, 227; + campaigns of Germanicus in, 227; + Domitian in, 242; + lost to Rome, 260. + Geta (Publius Septimius ——), co-ruler, 255. + Getæ, the, 219; + invade eastern empire, 366. + Gladiatorial combats, preferred by Roman public, 121, 123. + Gladiators, revolt of the, 155–156. + Glycerius, proclaimed emperor, 360. + Gods, + primitive Roman, 61; + identified with Greek divinities, 122. + Goths, the, 259; + invade Roman empire, 259, 260, 261; + invasion of, in 376 A. D., 329–330; + relations between Romans and, 369, 370. + _ See also_ Visigoths, Ostrogoths. + Gracchi, the, _see_ Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, tribune, _and_ C. + Sempronius Gracchus. + Gratian (Gratianus), + co-emperor, 329, 330; + attitude toward paganism, 386. + Great Mother, cult of the, introduced in Rome, 123. + Greece, + devastated by Mithridatic war, 145; + Southern, becomes province of Achæa, 216. + Greeks, the, + location of, in the West, 15; + colonization of, 19; + lack of unity among, 20; + decline of power of, 20–21; + rôle of, 21; + southern —— join Mithridates, 143; + status of, in Rome and the empire, 301. + _ See also the individual states._ + Gregory of Nazianzus, Christian writer, 400, 401. + Guilds, _see_ colleges. + Gundobad, king of the Burgundians, 356, 371. + + Hadrian (Publius Ælius Hadrianus), + principate of, 247–249; + Hellenism of, 247; + reforms of civil service, 270; + reforms army, 273, 274; + improvement of _limes_ and frontier defense, 275. + Hamilcar Barca, + in Sicily, 74; + conquers mercenaries, 75; + in Spain, 78. + Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca, + Carthaginian commander in Spain, 79; + takes Saguntum, 79; + invades Italy, 80–81; + withdraws from Italy, 86; + defeated at Zama, 86; + at court of Antiochus, 92, 93; + exiled from Carthage, 101. + Hasdrubal, son-in-law of Hamilcar Barca, + in Spain, 78; + treaty with Rome, 79. + Hasdrubal, brother of Hannibal, + commander in Spain, 80, 83–84; + marches to Italy, 84; + killed at Metaurus, 85. + Helvetii, the, defeated by Cæsar, 168. + Helvidius Priscus, senator, 240–241. + Heraclea, 40. + Hernici, the, 15, 33. + Heruli, the, 259. + Hiempsal, joint ruler of Numidia, 132–133. + Hiero, king of Syracuse, 72–73. +_ Honestiores_, 344. + Honorius (Flavius ——), + co-emperor, 331; + rules in West, 351–356, 357. + Horace (Q. Horatius Flaccus), poet, 215, 216, 299. + Q. Hortensius, dictator, 57. + Q. Hortensius Hortalus, + consul, 157; + orator, 200. + Household, the Roman, 64. +_ Humiliores_, 344. + Huns, the, + invade Gaul and Italy, 359–360; + relations of Theodosius II with, 363–364. + + Iapygians, the, 13. + Iazyges, the, 242; + defeat Domitian, 243; + defeated by M. Aurelius, 251. + Iberians, the, 15. +_ Idia_, of Egyptian peasants, 288. + Illus, master of the soldiers, revolt of, 365. + Illyrians, the, + allies of Macedonia, 75; + pirates, 75; + first war with Rome, 75, 76; + second war with Rome, 76. + Illyricum, + an imperial province, 216; + revolt of, 219–220. +_ Imperator_, + Julius Cæsar assumes title of, 179; + title of Augustus, 206; + change in use of title, 206; + revived by Vespasian, 240; + title of late emperors, 333. +_ Imperium_, + of consuls, 47, 60, 149; + conferred by Assembly of the Curiæ, 49; + proconsular, given to private citizen, 84; + unlimited, 154; + proconsular within and without Italy, 169; + of Octavian, in 27 B. C., 206; + valid within _pomerium_, 207; + renewed successively, 208; + conferred for life, 226; + how bestowed, 264; + of late Empire, 333. + Indiction (_indictio_), 345. + Industry, under the Principate, 297. +_ Infra classem_, 59. + Insubres, the, 77, 81. + Iron Age, the, 11, 12. + Isaurians, the, 364; + rebellion of, 366. + Isis and Serapis, cult of, in Rome, 306. +_ Itali_, 6, 15, 20. +_ Italia_, _see_ Italy. + Italian allies, + status of, 45, 46; + loyal to Rome after Cannæ, 82; + grievances of, 110; + championed by C. Gracchus, 130; + by Drusus, 139; + revolt, war, and enfranchisement of, 140–142. + Italian war, _see_ Marsic War. + Italians, the, + relations with _palafitte_ and _terramare_ peoples, 11; + location and peoples, 13. +_ Italici_, name of Italians, 46. + Italy, + location of, 3; + continental, 3; + peninsula, 3–4; + coastline of, 4; + climate of, 4; + forests of, 4; + minerals of, 5; + effect of physical features, 5; + name of, 5, 15, 46; + external influences upon, 7; + peoples of, 13–21; + effect of Second Punic War on, 86–88; + reduced to level of a province, 253; + conquered by Ostrogoths, 361–362; + reconquered, 377–379; + Lombard invasion of, 403. +_ Iugum_, unit of taxation, 345. +_ Iuridici_, _see_ _consulares iuridici_. + + Janiculum, secession of plebs to, 57. + Jerome (Hieronymus), Christian writer, 399. + Jerusalem, + siege and destruction of, 239; + Roman colony on site of, 248. + Jews, the, + conflict of Caligula with, 230; + revolt of, 238; + war with Rome, 239; + rising of, in 115 A. D., 246; + in 152 A. D., 248; + status of, in Roman empire, 308–309. + John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople, 362, 400. + Jovian (Flavius Claudius Jovianus), emperor, 328. + Juba I, king of Numidia, 177, 178. + Juba II, king of Numidia, transferred to Mauretania, 221–222. + Judæa, + annexed to province of Syria, 161; + made Roman province, 221; + under imperial legate, 239. + Judiciary law, + of C. Gracchus, 129; + of Drusus, 139; + of Sulla, 149; + of Pompey and Crassus, 156. + Jugurtha, prince, later king of Numidia, intrigues and war with + Rome, 132–135. + Jugurthine War, 132–135. + Julia, daughter of Julius Cæsar, 167; + death, 172. + Julia, daughter of Augustus, 223, 224. + Julia Mæsa, grandmother of Elagabalus, 256. + Julia Mamæa, mother of Severus Alexander, 257. + Julian (Flavius Claudius Julianus), + Cæsar, 326; + campaigns of, 326–328; + emperor, 327–328; + —— and Christianity, 327–328. + Julian, (Salvius Julianus), jurist, 301. + Julian law (_lex Julia_), the, granting citizenship to the Italians, + 141. + Julian laws, of 19 and 18 B. C., 215. + Julian Municipal law (_lex Julia Municipalis_), the, 181. + C. Julius Cæsar, + early life, 162; + joins forces with Crassus, 162; + pontifex maximus, 163; + in First Triumvirate, 165; + consul, 165–167; + command in Gaul, 167–172; + strife with Pompey, 173–176; + conquers Italy and Spain, 175; + dictator, 175, 177; + in Egypt and Syria, 176–177; + in Africa, 177; + dictatorship for life, and other powers and honors, 178–179; + reforms of, 180–181; + aims at monarchy, 179–180; + assassinated, 182–183; + estimate of career of, 183–184; + oratory and writings of, 200. + C. Julius Cæsar Octavianus, + heir of Julius Cæsar, 185; + return to Rome, 186–188; + in Triumvirate of 43 B. C., 188–190; + strife with Antony, 190, 192–195; + invasion of Egypt, and triumph, 195; + restores the commonwealth, 205; + granted titles of Augustus and Imperator, 206. + (For subsequent acts, _see_ Augustus.) + Julius Nepos, western emperor, 360. + C. Julius Vindex, legate, rebellion of, 235. + Junian law (_lex Junia_), 266. + D. Junius Brutus, + conspirator against Cæsar, 183, 185, 186; + killed, 188. + M. Junius Brutus, + conspirator against Cæsar, 182–183, 185; + war with Antony and Octavian, 189–190; + exactions of, in Cyprus, 196. + Junonia, + Roman colony, 130; + abandoned, 131. + Jupiter, + Latiaris, 26; + Capitolinus, 63. + Jurisprudence, Roman, + in third and second centuries B. C., 121–122; + in last century of Republic, 201; + under the Principate, 301. + Jurists, the Roman, 301. + Jury courts, + for trial of bribery, etc., established by Sulla, 149; + composition of, reorganized 70 B. C., 156; + _ tribuni ærarii_ removed from, 181. + _ See also_ court of extortion. + Justice, administration of, under the Principate, 266–267. + Justin I (Justinus), eastern emperor, 374. + Justinian (Justinianus), eastern emperor, + character and policy of, 374–375; + reign of, 375–384; + Code of, 382. + Juvenal (Decimus Junius Juvenalis), satirist, 300. + + L. = Lucius. + Lactantius, Christian writer, 399. + Land commission, the Gracchan, 126, 127–128. + Land laws, _see_ agrarian laws. +_ Lares_ and _Genius Augusti_, cult of the, 214. +_ Latifundia_, _see_ plantation system. + Latin league, the, + origin of, 25–26; + alliance of, with Rome, 33; + dissolution of, 36–37. + Latins, the, 13, 25–26; + wars with Rome, 36. + _ See also_ Latin league _and_ Colonies, Latin. + Latium, + the Iron Age in, 11–12; + location of, 25. + Lautulæ, 36. + Law, Roman, + codification of, 54; + extension through edict of prætor, 122; + study of, 122; + codification planned by Julius Cæsar, 181; + introduction of equity and systematic form into, 249; + forms of legislation, 266; + writers on, 301; + development of, under the Principate, 301; + the Theodosian code, 364; + Justinian’s codification of, 382. + Laws, _see_ _Lex_. +_ Legati_, + provincial officials, 112, 278; + —— _Augusti_, 278. + Legion, legions, + manipular, 59; + men of no property admitted to, 136; + probable increase in size of, by Marius, 136; + of Augustus, 211; + number increased, 212; + quartering of, under Domitian, 242; + Wars of the Legions (_q. v._); + territorial recruitment of, 273; + number of, 274; + change in, under late Empire, 336. + Legionaries, of Augustus, 211, 212. + Leo I, Pope, 389. + Leo I, eastern emperor, 360, 364. + Leo II, eastern emperor, 364. + Lepidus, _see_ M. Æmilius Lepidus. + Leucopetra, 103. + Levy, the, + for the Roman army, 59, 60; + tribunes interfere with, 100. +_ Lex_, + _ Acilia de repetundis_, 129; + _ Ælia Sentia_, 266; + _ Aurelia_, 156; + _ Calpurnia_, 114; + _ Canuleia_, 55; + _ Cassia tabellaria_, 108; + _ Domitia_, 138; + abrogated, 148; + re-enacted, 163; + _ Fufia Caninia_, 266; + _ Gabinia_, 108; + _ Gabinia_, conferring command against pirates, 159; + _ Hortensia_, 57; + _ Julia_, granting citizenship, 141; + _ Julia municipalis_, 181; + _ leges Juliæ_, of 19 and 18 B. C., 215; + _ Junia_, 266; + _ Mænia_, 50; + _ Manilia_, 160; + _ Ogulnia_, 56, 57; + _ Oppia_, 119; + _ Papia Poppæa_, 215; + _ Plautia Papiria_, 141; + _ Pompeia_, granting citizenship, 141; + _ Publilia_, 50; + _ Titia_, 189; + _ Trebonia_, 170; + _ Vatinia_, 166; + _ Villia annalis_, 108. +_ Lex Romana Burgundionum_, 371. +_ Lex Romana Visigothorum_, 369. + Libyans, the, subjects of Carthage, 70. + Licinianus Licinius, Cæsar, 323, 324. + Licinius (Valerius Licinianus ——), + Cæsar, 321; + Augustus, 321; + co-emperor with Constantine I, 322, 323. + M. Licinius Crassus, + prætor, command against Spartacus, 155, 156; + consul, 156; + creditor of Julius Cæsar, 162; + in First Triumvirate, 165; + campaign against the Parthians, and death, 172. + L. Licinius Lucullus, + quæstor of Sulla, 145; + consul, commands against Mithridates, 154, 155. + Ligurians, the, + a neolithic people, 9; + location of, 13; + conquered by Rome, 97. + Lilybæum, 41, 74. +_ Limes_, _limites_, 274; + fortification of, 274–275. +_ Limitanei_, 276; + organized, 319; + of late Empire, 335–336. + Literature, + rise of Roman, 120–121; + of last century of the Republic, 199–201; + of the Principate, 298–302; + of the late Empire, 396–402; + Christian, 300–301, 396–397, 398–401. + M. Livius, consul, at Metaurus, 85. + Livius Andronicus, author, 120. + M. Livius Drusus, tribune, opposes C. Gracchus, 130. + M. Livius Drusus, + tribune, legislative program of, 139; + death, 140. + Livy (Titus Livius), historical writer, 299. + Lombards, the, invade Italy, 403. + Lower Germany, administrative district, 227. + Luca, conference at, 169. + Lucan (M. Annæus Lucanus), poet, 299. + Lucanians, the, 38–39. + Lucian (Lucianus), Greek writer, 302, 308. + C. Lucilius, satirist, 121. + T. Lucretius Carus, poet, 199–200. + Lucullus, _see_ L. Licinius Lucullus. + Lugdunensis (Gallia ——), + administrative district of Gaul, 218; + Roman province, 227. + Lugdunum, 218; + victory of Sept. Severus at, 253. + Lusitanians, the, Roman war with, 99–100. + Q. Lutatius Catulus, consul, campaigns against the Cimbri, 136. + Luxury, + in Rome, 118; + legislation against, 119. + + M. = Marcus. + M’. = Manius. + Macedonia (Macedon), + Antigonid kingdom, 69; + hostile to Roman influence in Greece, 76; + divided into four republics, 96; + Roman province, 102. + Macedonian Wars, + first, 83–85; + second, 90–91; + third, 95–96; + fourth, 102–103. + _ See also_ Philip V _and_ Perseus. + Macrinus (Marcus Opellius ——), principate of, 256. +_ Magister_, _see_ master. + Magistracy, the, + expansion of Roman, 50, 51; + characteristics of, 51, 52; + controlled by Senate, 105; + enhanced value of higher magistracies, 107; + order regulated, 108; + age limit set for each, 148; + interval between tenures, 148; + in senatorial career, 209; + under the principate, 266, 267; + changed character of, in municipalities, 286, 287. + Magistrates, + of early republic, 47; + order of rank, 52; + veto of, 52; + tribunes gain practical status of, 58; + committees of senators, 105. + Magnentius (Magnus ——), + proclaimed Augustus, 325; + killed, 326. + Magnesia, 93. + Mago, Carthaginian writer, 121. +_ Maior potestas_, 52. + Majorian (Flavius Julianus Majorianus), western emperor, 360. + Malaria, in Italy, 4. + Mamertini, the, 41; + defeated by Syracuse, 72; + appeal to Rome, 72. + Mancinus, consul, surrender to Numantines, 100. + Manilian law (_lex Manilia_), 160. + C. Manilius, tribune, 160. + Maniple, unit of Roman army, 59. + Manufactures, 297. + M. Marcellus, + consul, takes Syracuse, 82; + killed, 84. + M. Marcellus, ex-consul, 181. + M. Marcellus, nephew of Augustus, 223. + Marcian (Marcianus), eastern emperor, 364. + Marcomanni, the, 219, 228; + defeat Domitian, 243; + defeated by M. Aurelius, 250, 251. + Marcus Aurelius (M. Aurelius Antoninus = M. Annius Verus), + adopted by Antoninus, 249; + principate of, 249–251. + C. Marius, + consul, commands against Jugurtha, 134; + re-elected consul, 134, 136; + reforms army, 136; + annihilates Cimbri and Teutons, 136, 137; + sixth consulship of, 138, 139; + _ legatus_, in Marsic war, 141; + struggle with Sulla, 144; + death, 146. + C. Marius, the younger, + consul, 147; + suicide, 147. + Marsi, the, 15, 39; + in Italian War, 140. + Marsic War, the, 140–142. + Martial (Marcus Valerius Martialis), satirist, 299–300. + Massinissa, Numidian chief, + Roman ally, 85; + made king of Numidia, 86; + attacks of, on Carthage, 100, 101. + Massalia, Greek colony, + ally of Rome, 79; + appeals for aid, 132; + siege of, by Cæsar, 175. + Master (_magister_), title of, 270. + —— of the foot (_peditum_), 338. + —— of the horse (_equitum_), + (1) of the Republic, 47; + —— (2) of the late Empire, 338. + —— of the offices (_officiorum_), 338–339, 340. + —— of the privy purse (_rei privatæ_), 272. + —— of the soldiers (_militum_), 338, 352. + Mauretania, made Roman province, 230. + Maxentius (Marcus Aurelius ——), + Cæsar, Augustus, 321; + death, 322. + Maximian (M. Aurelius Valerius Maximianus), + co-emperor, 317; + campaigns of, 319; + abdication, 321. + Maximinus (C. Julius Verus ——), proclaimed Augustus, 258. + Maximinus Daia (Galerius Valerius ——), + Cæsar, 321; + _ filius Augusti_, 321; + emperor, 322. + Maximus (Magnus Clemens ——), + revolt of, 330; + co-emperor, 330. + Maximus (Petronius ——), western emperor, 360. + Mesopotamia, + Trajan’s conquest of, 246; + abandoned, 247; + Romans regain upper, 250; + made Roman province, 253; + Persian invasion of, 257; + Diocletian regains, 319. + Messalina, wife of Claudius, plot of, 232. + Messapians, the, 40. + Metaurus, battle of the, 85. + Metellus, _see_ Q. Cæcilius Metellus. + Micipsa, king of Numidia, 132. + Milan, becomes seat of government for West, 319. + Military service, + universal, 58; + lower limit of, 60; + length of, 60; + under Augustus, 212; + changes of Sept. Severus in, 254; + under late Empire, 336–337. + Military system, _see_ Army, Roman. + Militia, Roman, _see_ levy. + M. Minucius, master of the horse, 81. + Minucius Felix, Christian writer, 301. + Misenum, + treaty of, 191; + naval station, 212. + Mithridates VI, Eupator, King of Pontus, + war with Rome, 143; + comes to terms, 145; + alliance with Sartorius, 153; + renews war with Rome, 153–155; + attacked by Pompey, 161; + death, 161. + Mithraism, + nature of, 306–307; + in Rome, 307. + Modestine, jurist, 301. + Mœsi, the, 219. + Mœsia, provinces of, 243. + Mogontiacum, 218. + Monasticism, rise and growth of, 394–396. + Monophysite controversy, 393–394. + Monophysites, Justinian’s treatment of, 383. + Moors, the, revolts of, 376. +_ Mos maiorum_, influence of, 65–66. + Q. Mucius Scævola, + proconsul of Asia, 139; + legal writings of, 201. + L. Mummius, consul, defeats Achæans, 103. + Munda, battle of, 182. +_ Munera_, of late Empire, 345. + Municipalities (_municipia_), + Roman, 44; + Italian towns organized into, after Marsic war, 142; + Julian law regulating, 181; + under the Principate, 280, 288; + of Gaul and Egypt, 281–283; + Hellenic type, 283, 284; + Latin type, 284, 285; + decline of, 286–288; + burden of curiales in, 346. + Mutina, + Roman colony, 97; + battle at, 187. + Mutiny, of army in Illyricum and on Rhine, 227. + Mylæ, naval battle at, 73. + + Cn. Nævius, author, 120. + Naples, 20, 51. + Narbo, established, 132. + Narbonese Gaul, + made a province, 132; + extent of, 167; + a senatorial province, 216. + Narcissus, freedman of Claudius, 232. + Narses, general, campaigns of, 377–378. + Naucratis, 281. + Navy, Roman, + in first Punic War, 73, 74; + of Augustus, 212–213. + Neoplatonism, 307, 385. + Neopythagoreanism, 307. + Nepete, founded, 36. + Nero (Nero Claudius Cæsar), + parentage of, 232; + principate of, 232–235. + Nerva (Marcus Cocceius Nerva), principate of, 244, 245. + Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople, 393. + New Carthage (Carthagena), + founded, 78; + taken by Romans, 84. + Nicomedes III, king of Bithynia, wills kingdom to Rome, 153. + Niger (C. Pescinnius ——), + saluted Imperator, 252; + death, 252. + “Nika” riot, the, 381. + Nisibis, Roman colony and fortress, 253. +_ Nobilitas_, Senatorial aristocracy, 56, 196. + Nola, 18. +_ Nomen Latinum_, 45. + Nomes (_nomoi_), in Egypt, 282. + Norba, 35. + Noricum, + Roman province of, 218; + abandoned, 361. + Numantia, siege of, 100. +_ Numeri_, the, 273, 274. + Numidia, added to province of Africa, 221. + + Oath of allegiance, exacted by Octavian, 194. + Octavia, + wife of Antony, 191, 192, 193; + divorced, 194. + Octavia, daughter of Claudius, 232, 233. + Octavianus, _see_ C. Julius Cæsar Octavianus. + C. Octavius, _see_ C. Julius Cæsar Octavianus. + M. Octavius, tribune, deposed by Assembly of Tribes, 127. + Odænathus, king of Palmyra, relations with Rome, 260. + Odovacar, patrician and imperial regent, 361. + Œnotrians, the, 13, 20. +_ Officiales_, + of the Principate, 272; + of the late Empire, 341. + Officials, + equestrian, 270, 271; + provincial, 278–280; + of imperial household, 294; + of late Empire, 340–342. + L. Opimius, consul, leads attack on C. Gracchus, 130. + Oppian Law (_lex Oppia_), the, 119. +_ Oppida_, 25, 26. + Optimates, the, + struggle with the Populares, _chap._ XII, 125_f_; + under Gracchan ascendancy, 126–130; + under Marian ascendancy, 134, 136, 139, 146; + under Sullan ascendancy, 147, 150; + strengthened by overthrow of Cataline, 164; + led by Cato the younger, 169, 170; + side with Pompey against Cæsar, 173. +_ Orationes principis_, 266. + Oratory, in Rome, 121, 200. + Orchomenus, victory of Sulla, at, 144. + Orestes, master of the soldiers, 360–361. + Oriental cults, rise and progress of, 305–307. + Oscans (Opici), the, 13, 20. + Ostia, founded, 29. + Ostrogoths, the, + conquer Italy, 361–362; + Romans under régime of, 371; + reconquest of Italy from, 377–379. + Otho (Marcus Salvius ——), principate of, 236. + Ovid (P. Ovidius Naso), poet, 299. + + P. = Publius. + Pachomius, founds first monastery, 395. + Pagan, origin of term, 387. + Pagan cults, _see_ oriental cults. + Paganism, + in the late Empire, 385–386; + persecution of, 386–387. +_ Pagus_, 25. +_ Palafitta_, 9–10. + Palatini, 336. + Pallas, freedman of Claudius, 232. + Palmyra, + kingdom of, 260; + overthrown, 261–262. + Panætius of Rhodes, philosopher, in Rome, 123. + Pannonia, a Roman province, 220. + Pannonians, the, 219. + Panormus, captured by the Romans, 74. + Papacy, growth of the, 389, 403. + Papinian, _see_ Æmilius Papinianus. + Cn. Papirius Carbo, + consul, opposes Sulla, 146; + executed, 149. + Parma, Roman colony, 97. + Parthians, the, + campaign of Crassus against, 172; + Antony’s campaign against, 192, 193; + Augustus and, 221; + struggle with Rome over Armenia, 234; + Trajan’s campaign against, 246; + war with, 161–165 A. D., 250; + campaign of Sept. Severus against, 253; + Caracalla and, 256. +_ Pater patriæ_, + title of Julius Cæsar, 179; + title of Augustus, 208. +_ Patres_, _see_ Patricians. +_ Patria potestas_, 64. + Patriarchate of Constantinople, the, growth of, 390. + Patricians, the, + definition of, 29; + in regal period, 29–30; + new families of, created, 181, 213; + title under late Empire, 343. +_ Patricii_, _see_ Patricians. +_ Patrimonium_, evolution of the, 271–272. + Patrons, in early Rome, 30. +_ Patrum auctoritas_, + exercised by patrician senators, 49; + restricted for the Assembly of the Centuries, 49–50. + Paul (Julius Paulus), jurist, 301. + Peasantry, the, + decline of, in Italy, 116; + increase of, due to Gracchan laws, 131; + reduced to serfdom, 288–292. + Perfectissimate, the, 343. + Pergamon, + kingdom of, 70; + enlarged by Romans, 94; + willed to Rome, 103. + M. Perperna, leader of Marian faction, 152, 153. + Perseus, son of Philip V, and king of Macedonia, war with Rome, 95, + 96. + Persians, the, + campaign of Severus Alexander against, 257; + of Valerian, 259; + of Carus, 263; + of Diocletian, 319; + of Constantius II and Julian, 326–328; + of Valens, 329; + wars with Eastern Empire, 363, 366; + Justinian’s war with, 379, 381. + Pertinax (Publius Helvius ——), principate of, 252. + Perusia, 191. + C. Petronius, writer, 299. + Phalanx, the, in Roman army, 58–59. + Pharisees, the, 238. + Pharnaces, son of Mithridates, + makes peace with Pompey, 161; + defeated by Cæsar, 177. + Pharsalus, battle of, 176. + Philip V, king of Macedonia, + at war with Ætolians, 76; + becomes an ally of Carthage, 82; + at war with Rome, Ætolians, and Pergamon, 83; + concludes peace, 85; + alliance with Antiochus III against Egypt, 89; + second war with Rome, 90, 91; + cedes Greek possession to Rome, 91; + supports Rome against Antiochus, 93; + later hostility to Rome, 95. + Philippi, battle of, 190. + Philosophy, under the Principate, 302, 307. + Phœnicians, the, _see_ Carthaginians. + Phraates IV, king of the Parthians, 221. + Picentes, the, 15, 39, 44. +_ Pietas_, Roman conception of, 65. + Pilum, javelin, adopted in Roman army, 59. + Piræus, Athens and, besieged by Sulla, 144. + Pirates, + depredations of, 137; + Roman, 137; + command of Marcus Antonius against, in 74 B. C., 154; + command of Pompey against, 159, 160. + Piso, _see_ C. Calpurnius Piso. + Placidia, Roman princess, 354, 358. + Placentia, 78. + Plague, the, + of 166 A. D., 250; + of 252 A. D., 259. + Plantation system, the, 115, 197; + transformation of, under Principate, 291; + growth of, under late Empire, 348. + Plautus (Titus Maccius ——), dramatist, 120. + Plebeians, the, + definition of, and status in early Rome, 30; + struggle for equality with patricians, 52–58; + admitted to consulship, 55, 56; + in Senate, 56; + secession to Janiculum, 57. + Plebiscites (_plebi scita_), 55; + binding without Senate’s previous sanction, 57. + Plebs, the, + (1) _see_ Plebeians; + (2) of later Republic, 197; + under Augustus, 211, 222; + colleges of, 285, 286. + Pliny, + (1) the elder (Caius Plinius Secundus), writer, 299; + (2) the younger (C. Plinius Cæcilius Secundus), letters of, + 300. + Plotinus, philosopher, 302. + Plutarch, Greek writer, 302. + Poetry, + (1) Roman, or Latin, + of third and second centuries, B. C., 120–121; + of last century of the Republic, 199–200; + of the Principate, 298–300; + of late Empire, 397–398. + —— (2) Greek, of late Empire, 401. + —— (3) Christian, 396–397; 399–401. + Police, of Rome, the, under Augustus, 222. + Polybius, Greek historian, view of Roman constitution, 106. +_ Pomerium_, the, of Rome, 27. + Pompeian law (_lex Pompeia_), granting citizenship and Latin rights, + 141. + Pompeii, 241. + Cn. Pompeius (Pompey), + raises army for Sulla, 146; + receives honors from Sulla, and triumph, 149; + command against Sertorius, 152, 153; + consul, 70 B. C., 156; + command against pirates, 159, 160; + command against Mithridates, 160, 161; + in First Triumvirate, 165; + curator annonæ, 169; + sole consul, and height of power, 173; + strife with Cæsar, 173–176; + defeat and death, 176. + Cn. Pompeius (Pompey), son of Pompey the Great, 181–182. + S. Pompeius (Pompey), + son of Pompey the Great, 181–182; + opposition to Antony and Octavian, 187–190; + makes terms, 191; + defeated, 192. +_ Pontifex Maximus_, office of, 48. + Pontiffs, the, + number increased, 57; + new members chosen by Tribes, 138. + Pontus, + kingdom of Mithridates VI, 142; + subjugated and made a Roman province, 161. + Popilius (Lænas), Roman ambassador, 96. + Populares, the, + struggle with the Optimates, _chap._ XII, 125_f_; + under Gracchan ascendancy, 126–130; + under Marian ascendancy, 134, 136–139, 146; + led by Saturninus and Glaucia, 138–139; + led by Sulpicius Rufus, 144; + support Pompey and Crassus, 156. +_ Populus_, 25. +_ Populus Romanus_, 29. + M. Porcius Cato, the Elder, + hostility to Carthage, 101; + opposes luxury, 119; + writer of Latin prose, 121. + M. Porcius Cato, the younger, 164, 165, 169; + death, 177–179. +_ Portoria_, customs dues, 113, 279. + Posidonius, 198. + Postumus, M. Cassius Latinius, general, forms empire in Gaul, 260, + 262. + Potestas, + (1) _maior_, 52; + (2) _tribunicia_, _see_ _tribunicia potestas_. +_ Præfectus annonæ_, _see_ prefect of the grain supply. +_ Præfectus morum_, Julius Cæsar appointed, 179. +_ Præfectus urbi_, _see_ city prefect. +_ Præfectus vigilum_, _see_ prefect of the watch. + Præneste, 37. +_ Præses_, _præsides_, title of, 278. +_ Prætor __peregrinus__,_ _see_ Prætorship. + Prætorian prefect, 211, 212; + increase in power of, 254, 255, 257; + of senatorial rank, 257; + court of, 267; + title, 271; + deprived of military authority, 323; + under late Empire, 339, 340. + Prætorians, prætorian guard, + under Augustus, 212; + concentrated at Rome, 228; + nominate Claudius princeps, 23; + reconstituted, 240; + disbanded and reconstituted by Sept. Severus, 254. + Prætorship, the, + city, 51; + plebeians eligible to, 56; + prætor peregrinus, 109; + increased in number, for provinces, 109; + effect of prætorian edict on Roman law, 122; + increased in number by Sulla, 148; + by Julius Cæsar, 181; + decline of, 267, 294; + of late Empire, 341. + Prefect of Egypt, the, 278, 282. + Prefect of the grain supply, the, 222; + functions limited, 255. + Prefect of the watch, the, 222. + Prefectures, + (1) of auxiliary corps, 210, 278; + (2) the great, 222; + titles of occupants of, 271; + _ see also_ Prefects. + Priesthoods, the, + general characteristics of, 48; + opened to plebeians, 56; + enlarged by Julius Cæsar, 181; + decline of, 198; + reëstablishment of, 213. + Princeps, + Pompey considered as, 173; + definition of, 208; + powers of, increase at expense of Senate, 264–267; + friction with Senate, 267–268; + title of, in Egypt, 281. + Principate, the, + foreshadowed by Pompey’s position, 173; + establishment of, _chap._ XVI, 205_f_; + defined and explained, 208; + weakness of, 225, 226; + constitutional development of, _chap._ XIX, 264. +_ Principes_, officials of late Empire, 338, 342. + Probus (Marcus Aurelius ——), principate and campaigns of, 262–263. + Proconsulship, the, + instituted, 51; + frequent in Second Punic War, 87; + evolution of, under the Principate, 265. + Procopius, historical writer, 401. + Procuratorships, + equestrians eligible to, 210, 265; + freedmen admitted to, 270; + increased, 270; + classification, 270, 271; + replace _publicani_, 279, 280. + Proletariat, the urban, 117. + Promagistracy, the, + instituted, 51; + reorganized by Sulla, 148; + law of Pompey regulating, 174; + in senatorial career, 209. + Propertius, poet, 299. + Propraetorship, the, + use of, in second Punic War, 87; + given to Pompey, 149; + _ see also_ Promagistracy. + Proscriptions, the, + of Sulla, 147; + of Second Triumvirate, 189. + Prose, + (1) Roman or Latin, + of third and second centuries B. C., 121; + of last century of Republic, 200, 201; + of the Principate, 299–301; + of late Empire, 397, 398; + (2) Greek, + of the Principate, 302; + of late Empire, 401; + (3) Christian, of late Empire, 396–398, 400. + Provinces, the, + organization and government of, 110–114; + governors of, appointed on new basis, 148; + imperial and senatorial, 216, 278; + condition of, under the Principate, 277–285; + officials of, 278–280; + subdivision of, by Diocletian, 319; + government of, under late Empire, 340. + Provincial governors, + under the Republic, 112; + under the Principate, 278–279; + under late Empire, 340. + Ptolemais, 281. + Ptolemy IV, Philopater, king of Egypt, + supplies Rome with grain, 88; + death of, 89. + Ptolemy XIV, 176, 177. + Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemæus), astronomer, 302. +_ Publicani_, + tax-farmers, 113; + equestrians, 117, 118; + under the Principate, 279, 280. + Pulcheria, regent for Theodosius II, 363, 364. + Punic Wars, the, + first, 72–73; + second, 78–88; + effect of, on Italy, 86–88; + third, 100–102. + Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, 40–42. + + Q. = Quintus. + Quadi, the, 242; + defeated by M. Aurelius, 250, 251. +_ Quæstio rerum repetundarum_, _see_ Court of Extortion. + Quæstorship, the, + (1) Roman magistracy, 50; + plebeians eligible to, 55; + in provinces, 112; + number increased by Sulla, 148; + by Julius Cæsar, 181; + in senatorial career, 209; + of late Empire, 341; + (2) in the provinces, 278; + (3) in municipalities, 284; + (4) at court of later Emperors, 340. + P. Quinctilius Varus, defeat of, 220. +_ Quinquennales_, 284. +_ Quinquennium Neronis_, the, 232. + Quintilian (Marcus Fabius Quintillianus), writer, 299. +_ Quirites_, 29. + + Ræti, the, 217. + Rætia, + Roman province of, 218; + abandoned, 361. +_ Rationalis_, + secretary of the treasury, 272; + superseded by count of the sacred largesses, 340. + Ravenna, + naval station, 212; + Ostrogothic capital, 371; + capture of, by Belisarius, 377. + Recruitment, of legions, + territorial, 272, 273; + of army under late Empire, 336, 337. + Religion, + of early Rome, _chap._ VII, 61_f_; + importance of ritual in, 61; + foreign influences in, 63, 64; + and morality, 64; + adoption of Greek mythology by Rome, 122; + increasing skepticism in, 123; + in last century of Republic, 197, 198; + revival under Augustus, 213–215; + under the Principate, 304–313; + oriental cults, 305–307; + Judaism and Christianity, 303, 313; + of the Germanic tribes, 371, 372. +_ Res privata_, 272; + of late Empire, 341. + Rhegium, 20. + Rhodes, + island republic, 70; + appeals to Rome against Philip V, 90; + joins Rome against Antiochus, 93; + territory enlarged, 94; + punished by Rome, 96. + Ricimer, master of the soldiers, career of, 360. + Road system, + of Italy, improved under C. Gracchus, 128. + _ See also_ _Via Appia_, _etc._ + Roma, worship of, 214. + Roman confederacy in Italy, the, 42–46; + military strength of, 77. + Roman foreign policy, 42, 43; + new field for, 67; + towards the Greek states, 94; + toward Macedonia, 95; + in eastern Mediterranean, 96, 97; + from 167–133 B. C., 99. + Romans, the, + a Latin people, 27, 29; + name of, 29; + under the Visigoths, 369; + under the Vandals, 370; + under the Ostrogoths, 370, 371; + under the Burgundians and the Franks, 371. + Romanus, poet, 401. + Rome, the city of, + site, 26; + growth of, 26, 27; + Etruscan influences, 28, 29; + of the Four Regions, 26; + sacked by Gauls, 35; + Servian wall of, 35; + change in appearance of, in third and second centuries B. C., + 123, 124; + administration of, under Augustus, 232; + devastated by fire, 233; + receives title of _sacra_, 253; + similarity to provincial city, 283; + under the Principate, 293; + ceases to be capital, 319; + plundered by Alaric, 353; + by Vandals, 356; + Belisarius besieged in, 377. + Romulus Augustulus, western emperor, 361. +_ Rorarii_, light troops, 59. + Rufinus, master of the soldiers, 362. + Rutilius Namatianus, poet, 398. + P. Rutilius Rufus, ex-quæstor, trial of, 139. + + S. = Sextus. + St. Anthony, founds monastic colony, 395. + St. Sophia, building of, 383. + Sabellians, the, 15. + Sabines, the, 15, 39. +_ Sacrosanctitas_, + of tribune, 179; + granted to Octavian, 193. + Saducees, the, 238. + Saguntum, + allied with Rome, 79; + taken by Hannibal, 79; + by Romans, 83. + Salassi, the, 217. + C. Sallustius Crispus, historical writer, 200. + Salvius, leader of slave rebellion, 137. + Salvius Julianus, jurist, 248. + Salyes, the, tribe of Liguria, conquered by Rome, 132. + Samnites, the, 15; + wars of, with Rome, 37–39; + Roman allies, 39; + join Tarentum, 40; + reconquered, 41. + Sapor I, king of the Persians, 259, 260. + Sapor II, king of Persia, war with Constantius II and Julian, + 326–328. + Saracens, the, invasion of, 404. + Sardinia, + geography of, 4; + inhabitants of, 15; + ceded to Rome by Carthage, 75; + a Roman province, 111; + placed under imperial procurator, 216. + Satire, origin of name and form, 121. + Satricum, 34. + Saturninus and Glaucia, leaders of the Populares, 138. + Saxons, the, 259; + invade Britain, 357. + Scævola, see Q. Mucius Scævola. + Scholarians, the, 335, 336. + Scipio, _see_ P. Cornelius Scipio. + Scipionic circle, the, 120, 121. + Scribonia, wife of Octavian, 191. +_ Scutum_, shield, 59. + Secretaryships, the Imperial, 269–270. + Sectarianism, + of the eastern church, 391; + sectarian strife, 391–394. + Secular Games, the, 216. + Seianus (Sejanus), _see_ L. Ælius Seianus. + Seleucia, 246, 250; + sacked, 253. + Sempronia, wife of Scipio Æmilianus, 127, 128. + Ti. Sempronius, consul, + in Sicily, 79; + defeated at Trebia, 81. + C. Sempronius Gracchus, + land commissioner, 127; + tribunate and legislation of, 128–130; + overthrow, 130; + oratory of, 200. + Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, consul, killed by Hannibal, 82. + Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, tribune, 126, 127. + Senate, the Roman, + in regal period, 28; + limited to patricians, 29; + directs foreign policy, 43, 45; + represents wealthy proprietors, 45; + supports propertied elements in Italy, 45; + of early Republic, 47; + appoints promagistrates, 51; + plebeians admitted to, 56; + revised by Appius Claudius, 56; + supports Greeks against Philip V, 90; + supports Greek aristocracies, 95; + control of public policy, 105–107; + dissolves Bacchanalian associations, 106; + failure of foreign policy of, 108; + and provincial government, 110–114; + prerogatives attacked by Gracchi, 127–131; + control over consuls restricted, 129; + weakened as result of Gracchan disorders, 133; + intrigues with Jugurtha, 133; + alteration proposed by Drusus, 139; + veto revived, 144; + restoration of power of, by Sulla, 148, 149; + membership increased, 149; + and extraordinary commands, 151, 160; + passes “last decree” against Cæsar, 174; + membership and composition of, altered by Julius Cæsar, 181; + treatment of, by Cæsar, 182; + purged and restored by Augustus, 209, 210; + takes over election of magistrates, 227; + opposes Vespasian, 240, 241; + strained relations with Domitian, 243; + era of amiable relations with princeps begins, 244, 245; + restored to influence by Severus Alexander, 257; + loss of powers under Principate, résumé, 264–267; + friction with Princeps, 267, 268; + chief services, 268; + of late Empire, 344; + influence of under Theodoric, 371. + Senatorial order, the, + (1) an office-holding aristocracy, 107, 196; + under Augustus, 209–210; + expansion of, 268; + burden of public spectacles on, 294. + —— (2) new, of late Empire, 342–343; + power and exemptions of, 349. + _ See also_ Senators. + Senators, + appointed by consul, 47; + by censors, 50; + largely ex-magistrates and magistrates, 105; + deprived of right to act as judges in courts, 129; + right restored, 148; + property qualifications of, under Augustus, 209; + freedom from imperial jurisdiction, 244; + exclusion of, from military commands, etc., 267; + exemption from municipal control, 344; + taxes on, 345. +_ Senatus consultum ultimum_, + defined, 106; + passed against Cataline, 163; + against Cæsar, 174. + Seneca, _see_ L. Annæus Seneca. + Senones, the, 39, 44. + Sentinum, 39. + L. Septimius Severus, + saluted Imperator, 252; + wars with rivals, 252, 253; + principate of, 253–255; + reforms civil service, 270, 272; + fortification of frontiers by, 275, 276. + Septimontium, festival of, 26. + Serfdom, + rise of, in Egypt and Asia Minor, 288, 289; + in Africa, 289, 290; + in Italy, 291; + causes and results of, 291, 292; + under late Empire, 348, 349. + L. Sergius Catilina, 162; + conspiracy of, 163, 164. + Q. Sertorius, governor of Spain, 152–153. + Q. Servilius Cæpio, consul, recovers Tolosa, tried by Senate, 135. + C. Servilius Glaucia, + prætor, leads populares, 138; + overthrown, 139. + Q. Servilius Rullus, tribune, proposes land bill, 163. + Severus (Flavius Valerius ——), Cæsar, 321. + Severus (Libius ——), western emperor, 360. + Severus Alexander (Marcus Aurelius ——), + adopted by Elagabalus, 256; + principate of, 257, 258; + grants lands to frontier forces, 276. + Sexagenarii, 270. + Sibylline Books, the, 122. + Sicans, the, 15. + Sicels, the, 15. + Sicily, + geography of, 4; + peoples of, 15; + Roman possession, 74; + province, 111; + rebellion of slaves in, 137; + misgovernment of Verres in, 157, 158. + Signia, 34. + Silkworms, introduction of, into west, 384. + Slaves, + enrolled in Roman army, 87; + rebellion of, in Sicily, 137; + many freed by Sulla, 147; + revolt of, under Spartacus, 155, 156; + decrease of, under the Principate, 295; + admitted to army, 336. + Society, + of early Rome, _chap._ VII, 61; + of the third and second centuries B. C., 114–119; + of the last century of the Republic, 196, 197; + at beginning of Principate, 208–211; + of the Principate, _chap._ XX, 293_f_; + of the late Empire, 341–350. +_ Socii_, federate allies, 45, 90. +_ Socii Italici_, _see_ Italian allies. +_ Socii navales_, 45. + Sosigenes, astronomer, 180. + Spain, + coast of, controlled by Carthage, 72; + Carthaginian expansion, 78; + invaded by Romans, 80, 83, 84; + Romans conquer Carthaginian territory in, 85; + divided into provinces of Hither and Farther, 97; + revolts in, 98; + Latin colonies in, 98; + further wars in, 99, 100; + revolts in, 137; + Sertorian rebellion, 152, 153; + Cæsar reduces Pompeians in, 174, 181, 182; + Hither, an imperial province, 206; + Latin right extended to communities of, 240; + occupied by Vandals, 355; + Justinian’s intervention in, 378, 379. + Sparta, + appeals to Rome against Achæans, 95; + hostilities with Achæans, 103; + Roman ally, 103. + Spartacus, rebellion of, 155–156. + Spectacles, lavishness of, under the Principate, 294. + Stilicho, master of the soldiers, 351, 352–353. +_ Stipendium_, _see_ Taxes. + Stoicism, in Rome, 123, 198. + Stone Age, + the new, 8; + the old, 7. + Suetonius (C. Suetonius Tranquillius), historical writer and + biographer, 300. + Suevi, the, invade Spain with Vandals, 355. + Sugambri, the, 218. + Sulla, _see_ L. Cornelius Sulla. + Sulpician laws, the, 144, 146. + P. Sulpicius Rufus, tribune, legislation and reign of terror, 143, + 144. + S. Sulpicius Rufus, legal writer, 201. + Sun worship, introduced into Rome, 256, 262, 306, 307. + Survey of empire, 216. + Sutrium, 36. + Symmachus (Quintus Aurelius ——), writings of, 398. + Syphax, Numidian chief, 85. + Syracuse, + tyrants of, 18, 19, 20; + kingdom of, 70; + wars with Mamertini, 72; + alliance with Rome, 73; + goes over to Carthage, 82; + taken by Romans, 82. + Syria, + Seleucid kingdom of, 69; + conquered by Tigranes, 153; + made Roman province, 161; + Crassus in, 172; + an imperial province, 206. + Syrians, traders, 297. + + T. = Titus. + Tacitus (Marcus Claudius ——), princeps, 262. + Tacitus (P. Cornelius ——), + historical writer, 243; + works of, 300. + Tarentum, 20, 37; + wars with Italians, 39–40; + with Rome, 40, 41; + Roman ally, 42; + occupied by Hannibal, 82; + treaty of, between Antony and Octavian, 192. + Taxation, system of, under late Empire, 344–346. + Taxes, + (1) affecting Roman citizens, + tax of 5% on emancipated slaves, 87, 279, 280; + inheritance tax, 212, 279, 280; + tax on sales, 212, 279; + land tax of late Empire, 345; + (2) provincial, + _ decuma_, 113, 239; + _ stipendium_, 112, 279; + direct collection of, 270; + _ tributa_, 279; + _ vectigalia_, 279; + (3) special, + of Second Triumvirate, 189; + head-tax on Jews, 239; + of late Empire, 345. + Telamon, 77. +_ Tercenarii_, 270. + Terence (P. Terentius), dramatic poet, 121. + C. Terentius Varro, consul, at Cannæ, 82. + M. Terentius Varro, writer and antiquarian, 200–201. +_ Terramare_, 10–11. + Tertullian (Q. Septimius Florens Tertullianus), Christian writer, + 301. + Teutoberg Forest, Roman disaster in the, 220. + Teutons, the, _see_ Cimbri and Teutons. + Thapsus, battle of, 177. + Theodora, empress, 381, 382. + Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, + invades Italy, 361, 362; + receives imperial symbols, 370, 371; + conflict with Arianism, 372; + foreign alliances of, 372, 373. + Theodoric, king of the Visigoths, 354. + Theodoric, the Amal, conflict with Zeno, 365. + Theodosian code, the, 364. + Theodosius I, the Great, + co-emperor, 330, 331; + conflict with Ambrose, 330, 331; + sole emperor, 381; + suppression of paganism by, 387. + Theodosius II, eastern emperor, 363–364. + Theodosius, general of Valentinian I, campaign of, 328, 329. + Thrace, made Roman province, 231. + Thurii, 20, 40, 82. + Ti. = Tiberius. + Tiberius (Tiberius Claudius Nero), stepson of Augustus, + campaigns of, 217, 219, 220; + designated successor of Augustus, 223, 224; + principate of, 226, 229; + estimate of, 226, 228. + Tiberius Gemellus, grandson of Tiberius Cæsar, 229. + Tibullus (Albius ——), poet, 299. + Tibur, 37. + Ticinus, battle of the, 81. + Tigellinus Ofonius, prætorian prefect, 233. + Tigranes, king of Armenia, 153; + ally of Rome, 161. + Tigurini, the, Gallic tribe, 135, 136. + Tiridates, king of Armenia, Roman vassal, 234. + Titus (Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus), + besieges and destroys Jerusalem, 239; + principate of, 241. + Totila, leader of the Ostrogoths, 378. + Toulouse, Gothic capital at, 370. + Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Traianus), + adopted by Nerva, 244; + principate of, 245–247; + column of, 246; + attitude toward the Christians, 310, 311. + Trasimene Lake, 81. + Trebia, 81. + Trebonian, jurist, 382. + Trebonian law (_lex Trebonia_), the, 170. + C. Trebonius, tribune, 170, 183. + Treviri, the, 171; + rebellion of, 237. + Tribes, the Roman, 36, 43, 44; + voting units in _comitia tributa_, 53; + final number of, 109; + enrollment of Italians in, 141, 142. + Tribunate, the, + (1) military, with consular powers, 50, 51; + first plebeian elected to, 55; _and note_; + (2) military, in legions, 60; + in senatorial career, 209; + in equestrian career, 210; + (3) plebeian, + origin and character of, 53; + increased to ten members, 54; + effect of Hortensian law on, 57; + powers of, increased, 57, 58; + interference of, with levy, 100; + controlled by Senate, 105, 106; + Ti. Gracchus attempts reëlection to, 127; + reëlection to, legalized, 127; + of C. Gracchus, 128, 130; + weakened by reforms of Sulla, 148; + privileges restored, 156. +_ Tribuni ærarii_, + share in jury service, 156; + removed, 181. +_ Tribunicia potestas_, + granted to Julius Cæsar, 178, 179; + to Augustus, 207. +_ Tributum_, + Roman citizens, 50; + burden of, on plebeians, 53, 54; + ceases to be levied, 97; + _ capitis_, 279; + _ soli_, 279. + Triumvirate, + (1) the First, 165. + —— (2) the Second (43 B. C.), 188–192; + renewed, 192; + terminated, 194. +_ Triumviri agris iudicandis assignandis_, the Gracchan land + commission, 126. +_ Triumviri rei publicæ constituendæ_, _see_ Triumvirate, (2) the + Second. + M. Tullius Cicero, + ædile, prosecution of Verres, 156–159; + prætor, supports Manilian law, 160; + consul, 162; + thwarts Cataline’s conspiracy, 163, 164; + banished, 167; + returns, 169; + hostility to Antony, 187, 188; + death, 189; + oratory and writings of, 200. + Tusculum, 34. + Twelve Tables, Law of the, 54. + + Ulpian (Domitius Ulpianus), jurist, 301. + Umbrians, the, + location of, 13; + migration of, 11; + Roman allies, 39. + Upper Germany, administration district, 227. + Urban cohorts, the, _see_ _cohortes_. +_ Urbs_, Rome, an, 27. + + Vaballathus, king of Palmyra, 261. + Vadimonian Lake, battle at the, 39. + Valens (Flavius ——), co-emperor, 328–329. + Valentinian I (Flavius Valentinianus), emperor, 328, 329. + Valentinian II (Flavius Valentinianus), co-emperor, 329–331. + Valentinian III (Flavius Valentinianus), western emperor, 358–360. + Valerian (Publius Licinius Valerianus), + principate and campaigns of, 259; + persecution of the Christians, 312. + L. Valerius Flaccus, consul, in Mithridatic war, 144, 145, 146. + Vandals, the, + invade Gaul and Spain, 354, 355; + kingdom of, in Africa, 355, 356, 370; + relations between Romans and, 370; + conquered by Eastern Empire, 375–377. + Varro, _see_ C. Terentius Varro, _and_ M. Terentius Varro. + Vatinian law (_lex Vatinia_), the, 166. + Veii, capture of, 34. + Veneti, the, + (1) of Italy, 13, 35; + Roman allies, 77; + (2) of Gaul, 173. + Vercellæ, Marius destroys the Cimbri near, 136. + Vercingetorix, Gallic leader, 171. + C. Verres, ex-proprætor of Sicily, trial of, 156, 159. + Verus (Lucius Aurelius ——), principate of, 249, 250. + Vespasian (Titus Flavius Vespasianus), + proclaimed Imperator, 236; + principate of, 237–241; + campaign against the Jews, 239. + Vesuvius, eruption of, 241. +_ Via Æmilia_, 97; + _ Appia_, 38; + constructed, 56; + _ Cassia_, 97; + _ Domitia_, 132; + _ Flaminia_, 97; + _ see also_, Road system. + Vicars (_vicarii_), governors of dioceses, 320. +_ Vigiles_, 222. +_ Viginti-virate_, in senatorial career, 209. + Villa, change in meaning of word, 196. + Villanova, 11. + Villian Law (_lex Villia annalis_), the, 108. + Vindelici, the, 217. + Vindex, _see_ C. Julius Vindex. + Vindobona, legionary camp, 239. + Vindonissa, 218. + M. Vipsanius Agrippa, + general of Octavian, 192; + conducts survey of empire, 216; + in Spain, 217; + as successor to Augustus, 223. + Virgil (P. Virgilius Maro), poet, 190, 298. + Viriathus, Spanish chief, at war with Rome, 100. + Visigoths, the, + invasions of, under Alaric and Ataulf, 353–354; + kingdom of, in Gaul, 354, 369, 370; + treatment of Roman subjects, 369, 370; + religion of, 371, 372. + Vitalian, master of the soldiers, 374. + Vitellius (Aulus ——), principate of, 236–237. + Vologases I, king of the Parthians, war with Rome, 234. + Vologases IV, king of the Parthians, 253. + Vologases V, king of the Parthians, 256. + Volsci, the, 15; + wars with Rome, 33–34, 36. + + Wallia, leader of the Visigoths, 354, 355. + War of the Legions, + (1) First, 235–237. + —— (2) Second, 252–253. + Women, + position of, in Rome, 196, 197; + in _collegia_, 286. + + Zama, 86. + Zealots, the, in Judæa, 238. + Zeno, + master of the soldiers, 364; + eastern emperor, 361, 364, 365. + Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, 261–262. + + + + + + FOOTNOTES + + + 1 The several elements in the Roman military federation may be seen at + a glance from the following scheme: + + I. Roman citizens— + (a) with full civic rights (_optimo iure_). + (b) with private rights only (_sine suffragio_). + II. Roman allies— + (a) Latins. + (b) Federate peoples of Italy. + + 2 Another, but apparently later, Roman tradition placed the + establishment of the tribunate in 494, when two tribunes were + elected, and merely attributes an increase in their number to 466. + + 3 One explanation of the origin of this tribunate offered in antiquity + and still held in some quarters is that it was created to take the + place of the consulship as an office to which plebeians might be + admitted while they were still excluded from the regular presidency. + Against this view, besides the existence of another explanation + equally old which has been adopted above, it may be urged that + although the military tribunate first appeared in 436 B. C. it was + not until 40 years later that plebeians were elected to it. And + further, plebeians only appear in six of the fifty-one colleges of + military tribunes elected between 436 and 362. + + 4 To the Romans the Carthaginians were known as _Poeni_, _i. e._, + Phoenicians, whence comes the adjective “Punic,” used in such + phrases as the “Punic Wars.” + + 5 This alliance was renewed in 248 B. C. + + 6 See W. W. Tarn, “The Fleets of the First Punic War,” _Journal of + Hellenic Studies_, 1907, p. 51, n. 19. + + 7 Authorities differ as to the pass which Hannibal used in crossing + the Alps, arguing variously for the Little St. Bernard, Mont Genèvre + or Mont Cenis. Polybius, our best authority, seems to indicate the + Little St. Bernard. A recent discussion of the problem is Spencer + Wilkinson’s _Hannibal’s March across the Alps_, London, 1917. + + 8 See Kromeyer und Veith, _Antike Schlachtfelder_, iii. 2. + + 9 The details of this re-organization are uncertain. From our sources + it is clear that each of the first two classes had 70 centuries, one + of seniors and one of juniors from each of the 35 tribes. But we are + left in the dark with regard to the other classes. Botsford, in his + _Roman Assemblies_, would assign 70 centuries to each class; making + a total of 350, plus the 18 equestrian and 5 supernumerary + centuries, in all 373. Cavaignac, _Histoire dé l’Antiquité_, vol. + III, gives 10 centuries to each of the three lower classes, thus + keeping the old number of 193 centuries in all. + + 10 Seymour, P. A., _English Historical Review_, 1914, pp. 417 ff. + + 11 The details of this arrangement have not been preserved; for a + suggestion see Heitland, _Roman Republic_, II, pp. 447 ff. + + 12 On the much disputed date of the end of Caesar’s second term, see + Hardy, E. G., _Journal of Philology_, 1918, pp. 161 ff. + + 13 After the adoption his full name was Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus. + Although he was known as Caesar by his contemporaries, it is more + convenient to refer to him henceforth as Octavian, to distinguish + him from his adoptive father. + +_ 14 Laudandum adulescentem, ornandum, tolendum_, Cicero, _Fam._, xi, + 20, 1. + + 15 In this I follow Dio. xlix, 15, 6; li, 19, 6 and liii, 32, 5 and 6. + +_ 16 Provinces of the Roman Empire_, I, 5, trans. Dickson, Scribner’s, + 1906. + + 17 The distribution of the dioceses among the prefectures was as + follows: + + Prefecture of Gaul—dioceses of Britain, Gaul, Spain; + Prefecture of Italy—suburban diocese of the city of Rome, and + the dioceses of Italy, Africa, Illyricum; + Prefecture of Illyricum—dioceses of Eastern Illyricum, Thrace, + Macedonia; + Prefecture of the Orient—dioceses of Asia, Pontus, the Orient + and Egypt. + +_ 18 ἀρχίερευς βασιλεύς_. The title Basileus (King) was in common use in + the eastern part of the empire from the fourth century, but was not + assumed officially by the emperors till 629 A. D. + + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE + + +The following changes have been made to the text: + + page 9, “terramara” changed to “terramare” + page 21, “ascendency” changed to “ascendancy” + page 49, period added after “units” + page 54, “plebians” changed to “plebeians” + page 55, “wthout” changed to “without” + page 60, comma added after “attacks” + page 71, “militry” changed to “military” + page 85, “Cathaginians” changed to “Carthaginians” + page 89, “sieze” changed to “seize” + page 94, “forcd” changed to “forced”, “B. C.” added in heading + page 97, “Perma” changed to “Parma” + page 104, period added after “129” + page 114, comma changed to period after “plantations” + page 131, “Balaeric” changed to “Balearic” + page 134, “Arpimum” changed to “Arpinum” + page 137, “Aequilius” changed to “Aquillius” + page 138, period removed after heading “V. Saturninus and Glaucia” + page 163, period changed to comma after “Optimates”, “Pontifix” + chanted to “Pontifex” (twice) + page 167, “Narbonesis” changed to “Narbonensis” + page 169, “preconsular” changed to “proconsular” + page 176, “beseiged” changed to “besieged” + page 177, “Pharanaces” changed to “Pharnaces” + page 188, “constituandae” changed to “constituendae” + page 213, “dieties” changed to “deities” + page 215, “freedom” changed to “freedmen” + page 217, “harrassed” changed to “harassed” + page 228, “Marcomani” changed to “Marcomanni”, comma removed after + “now” + page 231, comma added after “Plautius” + page 234, “Seutonius” changed to “Suetonius” + page 237, period added after “princeps” + page 242, “dominius” changed to “dominus” + page 253, “victorius” changed to “victorious”, “beleagured” changed + to “beleaguered” + page 256, “Carcalla” changed to “Caracalla” + page 263, “advancd” changed to “advanced” + page 266, “superceded” changed to “superseded” + page 269, “cognitionibius” changed to “cognitionibus” (twice) + page 289, “argricultural” changed to “agricultural” + page 299, “elegaic” changed to “elegiac” + page 302, period added after heading “Plutarch (c. 50–120 A. D.) and + Lucian (c. 125–200 A. D.)” + page 325, period added after “(350 A. D.)”, “th” changed to “the” + page 329, “o” changed to “or” + page 330, “Aequileia” changed to “Aquileia” + page 343, “prefectissimate” changed to “perfectissimate” + page 344, period changed to comma after “coin” + page 346, “civatatium” changed to “civitatium” + page 360, “Valetinian” changed to “Valentinian” + page 366, comma changed to period after “_status quo ante_” + page 376, “Tignitana” changed to “Tingitana” + page 387, “Chistianity” changed to “Christianity” + page 389, “of” added after “embodiment” + page 392, “Theododius” changed to “Theodosius” + page 402, “represenation” changed to “representation” + page 406, “Trasemene” changed to “Trasimene”, “Flaminius” changed to + “Flamininus” + page 409, period removed after “March” and “79” + page 410, period removed after “June”, smallcaps added to “Gallus” + and “Volusianus” + page 416, italics added to “Hermes” + page 417, comma added after “Mommsen” + page 418, comma added after “1” and “_Religion und Kultur_” + page 419, italics added to “Bonner Jahrbücher” + page 424, “Selucid” changed to “Seleucid”, “M.” changed to “M’.” + page 430, “Ptolemic” changed to “Ptolemaic” + page 431, “Contantius” changed to “Constantius” + page 432, “Catigula” changed to “Caligula”, “Elogabalus” changed to + “Elagabalus” + page 435, “Majoriamus” changed to “Majorianus”, “Numentines” changed + to “Numantines” + page 437, “excuted” changed to “executed”, “Antoninus” changed to + “Antonius” + page 438, “peregrinius” changed to “peregrinus” (twice) + page 439, “Proprietorship” changed to “Propraetorship”, “231” + changed to “213” + page 441, “Achæns” changed to “Achæans” + page 442, “P” changed to “P.” + page 443, “Q.” changed to “L.” + +The capitalization of headings has been normalized on page 4, 5, 57, 129, +138, 139 (twice), 142, 182, 192, 245, 251, 252, 253, 384. The formatting +of the index has been normalized in several places. + +Variations in hyphenation (e. g. “body-guard” and “bodyguard”; +“taxgatherers” and “tax gatherers”; “re-establish” and “reëstablish”), +capitalization (“Senate” and “senate”) and the spelling of names +(“Cataline” and “Catiline”: “Gaius” and “Caius”; “Mithridates” and +“Mithradates”; “Perpena”, “Perperna” and “Perpenna”; “Theoderic” and +“Theodoric”) and some other words (e. g. “centurion” and “centurian”; +“dispatch” and “despatch”; “manœuver” and “maneuver”; “praetor(ian)” and +“pretorian”) have not been changed. Both “ae” (predominantly in the main +text) and the ligature “æ” (mostly in the index) are used. Errors in +quotations from foreign languages and names have not been corrected. + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF ROME TO 565 A. 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