I. Main points of this lecture

1. Roman myths can be read as a paradigm for Roman society, and they were used that way in antiquity.
   A. Rome was originally one of a number of Latin states on the west coast of Italy, its success may have stemmed from its willingness to accept outsiders.
   B. The Roman king list reflects the mixture of peoples
   
2. The concept of the Res publica: the totalitarian state justifies social and economic inequality by making greater demands on the wealthy
   A. The demands of the totalitarian state are ameliorated by the divisions of the voting population into tribes as well as classes. This development becomes more significant as the Roman state grows in size.
   
3. The structures of the Roman state expamd by accretion. Old strucures are rarely eliminated, rather they cease to be significant as new structures gain strength.
   
4. Rome conquered Italy by devising a system that enabled it to maximize manpower resources from conquered states
   
5. Rome defeated Carthage because it was able to control enormous resources.
   A. Roman warfare was extremly bloody, generals were attached to a doctrine of decisive battle
   B. Belligerence was not just a Roman phenomenon, resort to armed conflict was characteristic of states in the third century BC

   II. The use of models by Roman historians: myth as paradigm

   A. Romulus and Remus
   B. Aeneas and the Trojans
   C. What the development of these stories can tell us
   
   1. Romulus and Remus as a paradigm for social conflict
      i. connection with drama?
      ii. Civil war
      
   2. Aeneas and the outer world
      i. The cult at Lanuvium
      ii. Negotiation with the Greek world
      iii. A paradigm for the rise of Rome

   III. Comparing Different bodies of evidence: archaeology and early Rome
   

   A map of the western Mediterranean illustrating natural resources

   A. Latium.
   B. Etruria.
   

   The statue is believed to have been executed in the 4th century B.C.; it was discovered in 1835 and it is considered to be representative for the technical level of the Etruscan bronze work, which was held in high esteem by their contemporaries

   C. Campania and the Greeks.
   

   A Greek horseman, for more on Greek colonization click here

   D. Samnium
   

   A map of the Samnite parts of Italy

   E. Phoenician influence.
   F.

   The Roman King List

   king	dates
   Romulus	753-710
   Numa Pompilius	710-670
   Tullus Hostilius	670-625
   Ancus Marcius	625-600
   Tarquinius Priscus	600-570
   Servius Tullius	570-530
   Tarquinius Superbus	530-509

   G. What the king list tells us
   

   1. Insiders and outsiders
   2. an open society?

   IV. Interpreting the evidence: Roman Society

   

   
   
   

   A map of the city of Rome.

   1. The Mausoleum of Augustus	2. The Mausoleum of Hadrian.	3. The stadium of Domitian.	4. Theater of Pompey
   5. Theater of Marcellus.	6. Circus Maximus.	7.The Baths of Caracalla.	8. The Colosseum
   9. The Roman Forum (Republican)	10. imperial forums

   A. The concept of the Res publica.
   B. The idea of the citizen
   
   1. rights (iura) and duties.
      i. soldier
      ii. taxpayer
      iii. voter
      C. The "totalitarian" city
      1. the classification of citizens according to responsibility and capacity.
      2. predominance of service and of power in the hands of the rich
      D. Patricians and Plebians
      E. Orders (ordines): distinction in terms of service to the state- eg. Senators, Equestrians, Scribes etc.
      F. Classes (five of them): distinctions in terms of wealth and potential for military service.
      

   V. The Institutions of State

   A. Development by the addition of new institutions
   
   1. Imperium: absolute power, initially that of the king, later given to some magistrates, though its force could be restricted by statute and its various aspects defined individually (eg. coercitio, the power to make people do what you want; or the power to put people to death etc.).
   2. Tribes and centuries (see Voting Assemblies below). There were 35 tribes, 4 urban and 31 rural. These tribes were divided up by geographical location, and each Roman citizen was in a tribe. There were 198 centuries organized in terms of wealth that, in theory, reflect the organization of the army.
   3. 
      

      The elective magistracies.

      magistrate	duties
      Censors	(two, elected every five years for an 18 month term). They have imperium. They draw up the list of Roman Citizens and let out contracts for public business (tax collection, military supplies and the like).
      Consuls	two elected every year--though there were variations in the early Republic when boards of ten military tribunes with consular authority were elected instead. The consuls are the chief magistrates of the state. They have imperium, and will ordinarily govern provinces after their year in office.
      Praetors	Praetors (number varies, one in the beginning, probably ten by the late Republic). They assist the consuls and, later, are responsible for the administration of the law courts. They have imperium, and often govern provinces after their year in office (sometimes while in office).
      Aediles	(two, elected each year). They were responsible for the upkeep of the city, the low level administration of justice and for holding some games. They do not have imperium.
      Tribunes of the Plebs	(ten, elected each year). They were, initially, created to protect the interests of the plebs from the magistrates. Their most important power was that of intercessio, the power to prevent public business from going forward, or to prevent a magistrate from taking action (eg. veto power). They did not have imperium.
      Quaestors	(number varied from two in the early Republic [first attested in 447 BC] to eighteen). They were financial officers who were to assist magistrates in the administration of state funds. They did not have imperium.
      vigintisexviri	(26 minor magistrates, later vigintiviri, 20 minor magistrates), they looked after courts, roads, the mint, subject cities and executions. They did not have imperium.
      Dictator	In times of extreme public emergency (or to hold elections when the appropriate magistrates were out of town) a dictator was selected by a consul to hold the supreme imperium until the end of the emergency , though never for more than six months (until the first century BC). His power was essentially that of the king--superior to that of every other magistrate.

   4. Voting Assemblies (these evolve through time, the description here fits the Middle and Late Republic).
      i. comitia centuriata (voting by 193 centuries divided according to wealth into five classes: 98 in the first class; 20 in the second; 20 in the third; 20 in the fourth; 30 in the third; 5 centuries of the "unarmed classes"). Elects magistrates with imperium, the chief law making assembly before 218; tries capital cases in the early period
      ii. comitia tributa (concilium plebis--same as comitia tributa with patricians excluded)(voting by the thirty-five tribes). Elects magistrates without imperium, later the chief law making assembly, tries cases punishable by fine in the early period.
      iii. Romans voted by collectives (individual votes were counted in tribes or centuries, but magistrates were elected and laws passed by votes of whole centuries or tribes).
      iv. there were no "election days" in the modern sense. Assemblies had to be convened by magistrates to vote on a specific question.
      v. the secret ballot for voting on laws was not introduced until 137 BC, for elections until 117 BC
      
   5. The two assemblies
      A. Defuse political strife
      
   6. The expansion of the franchise

   VI. Conquest

   1. domi and militiae: domi (at home) refers to the area within the boundary of the city, the pomerium; militiae (on campaign=beyond the pomerium). These terms are an important indication of the Roman attitude towards the rest of the world.
      
   2. Chrononology
   3. Time Line
   4. Italy
      Latium
      Campania
      Etruria and Samnium
      The Po valley
      Apulia
      
   5. The Punic Wars
      

      A view of Carthage today, looking over the Carthaginian harbour

      Control of the western Mediterranean
      The island ring: Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica
      Spain
      

   6. The eastern wars
      Illyria: the approaches to Italy
      Macedon
      The Aetolians and the Seleucids
      
   7. The Spanish wars