The Historians' History of the World 05 [The Roman Republic]

THE EARLY DAYS OF THE REPUBLIC (510-451 B.C.)

510. Rise of the Republic. 509. Consuls for the first year are L. Junius Brutus and L. Tarquinius Collatinus. Collatinus, being a descendant of Tarquin, is compelled by a decree of the senate to give up his office. He is replaced by P. Valerius Publicola. According to Polybius, L. Junius Brutus and Marcus Horatius were consuls for the first year. The first dictator is Titus Lartius. Unsuccessful attempts to restore the Tarquinians. Execution of Brutus’ son. Commercial treaty between Rome and Carthage. 508. The Romans are defeated by the Etruscan king Porsenna of Clusium, are forced to disarm and surrender certain lands. Alliance of thirty Latin cities under the dictatorship of Octavius with the object of restoring the Tarquinians to the sovereignty of Rome. Death of Valerius Publicola. 497. The Latins declare war against Rome. Aulus Postumius is appointed dictator at Rome. Tradition credits the Romans with a great victory over the Latins at Lake Regillus. The Latin cities make peace with Rome, and agree to banish Tarquinius. 494. The plebeians secede to the Sacred Hill, and compel the patricians to make important concessions, among which is the abrogation of oppressive debts. Establishment of the tribunate and the plebeian ædileship. 493. The eternal alliance between Rome and the Latin league is renewed under the consulate of Spurius Cassius on the basis of equality. Rome gradually regains hegemony over the Latins. The tribunate is the cause of anarchy, and leads to further disputes between the patricians and plebeians. Attempts to abolish the tribunate. 491. Marcius Coriolanus. During a famine he suggests granting, at the expense of the state, grain to the plebeians, on condition that they relinquish their claim to the tribunate. He is summoned before the tribal assembly but fails to appear, and according to Livy is banished, goes over to the Volscians, and leads their troops against Rome; at the rebuke of Veturia his mother, and the entreaties of his wife Volumnia, he abandons the war against his native city. 487. The consul Aquilius defeats the Hernici who invade Roman territory. 486. Spurius Cassius Viscellinus consul for the third time. He again defeats the Hernici, after which they join the Latin league. He introduces the first agrarian law, and proposes that a portion of the public lands be divided between the needy plebeians and Latins; the remainder to be leased for the benefit of the state. He is attacked by the patricians and wealthy plebeians on account of this measure, and the poorer plebeians, being opposed to the granting of lands to the Latins, abandon him. At the expiration of his consulship he is condemned and executed. 479. Withdrawal of the Fabian gens. 477. The Etruscans destroy the Fabian gens at the Cremera. Genucius, the people’s tribune, assassinated for inquiring into the acts of two consuls. 472. Publilius Volero effects law that the tribal assembly henceforth shall elect plebeian magistrates. 468. Conquest of Antium from the Volscians; a Roman colony is sent thither. 463. Rome and all Italy visited by a terrible plague. Volscians and Æquians ravage the country up to the walls of Rome. The safety of the city secured by the Latin Hernicans, not by the Romans. 462. C. Terentilius Harsa introduces a bill to secure the plebeians a better footing in the state, and to reduce the laws to a written code. The patricians violently oppose the measure. 460. A band of Sabines and exiled Romans under Herdonius seize the Capitol; civil strife is renewed. 457. To meet the desire of the plebeians, the number of the tribunes of the people is raised from five to ten. 456. Aventine Hill is divided into building lots and distributed among the poorer citizens. The dictatorship of L. Quinctius Cincinnatus. 454. Three ambassadors appointed to visit Greece and secure copies of the Solonian laws to be used as the groundwork of a new code of laws. 452. The ambassadors return. Rome free from domestic strife.