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In 90 almost all of the Italian allies of Rome rebelled in what the Romans called the Social War (allies = Socii, related to the English “associates”). The allied cities in the Italian peninsula had sought for some time Roman citizenship and therefore more of a say in the external policy of the Roman Republic - most local affairs were self-governing and not as much of an issue as when the alliance would go to war and what the share of the proceeds would be. Rome undercut the military rebellion by extending citizenship to all of Italy south of the Po River and then spent two years defeating the cities still in arms. Sulla came to prominence as an officer in this war. Roman citizenship and the right to vote was limited, as always in the ancient world, by the requirement of physical presence on voting day. After 88 candidates regularly paid the expenses (or part of them) for their supporters to come to Rome to vote. |
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In 90 almost all of the Italian allies of Rome rebelled in what the Romans called the Social War (allies = Socii, related to the English ?associates?). The allied cities in the Italian peninsula had sought for some time Roman citizenship and therefore more of a say in the external policy of the Roman Republic - most local affairs were self-governing and not as much of an issue as when the alliance would go to war and what the share of the proceeds would be. Rome undercut the military rebellion by extending citizenship to all of Italy south of the Po River and then spent two years defeating the cities still in arms. Sulla came to prominence as an officer in this war. Roman citizenship and the right to vote was limited, as always in the ancient world, by the requirement of physical presence on voting day. After 88 candidates regularly paid the expenses (or part of them) for their supporters to come to Rome to vote. |
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:[Samnite wars 327 - 290 BC]? |
The city of Rome is located on the Tiber River very near the west coast of Italy. It was at the northernmost border of the territory in which the Latin language was spoken and at the southern edge of Etruria, the territory in which the Etruscan language was spoken.
The dictators were an exception to annuality and collegiality, and the censors to annuality. In times of emergency (always military) a single dictator was elected for a term of 6 months to have sole command of the state. On a regular but not annual basis 2 censors were elected every five years but for a term of 18 months.
The Legion was the backbone of Roman power.
Lucretia's husband Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus and Lucius Junius Brutus? were elected as the first two consuls, the chief officers of the new Republic. The Brutus who assasinated Julius Caesar was a descendent of the first Brutus.
The early consuls took over the roles of the king with the exception of his high priesthood in the worship of Jupiter Optimus Maximus at the huge temple on the Capitoline Hill. For that duty the Romans elected a Rex sacrorum or "king of holy things." Until the end of the Republic the accusation that a powerful man wanted to make himself king remained a career-shaking charge. Julius Caesar's assasins claimed after they acted that they were preserving Rome from the reestablishment of an explicit monarchy.
The relationship between the plebeians and the patricians was sometimes so strained that the plebeians seceeded from the city - literally left the city with their families and movable possessions and set up camp on a hill outside the walls. These secessions happened in 494, 450, and around 287 B.C. Their refusal to cooperate any longer with the patricians led to social changes on each occasion. In 494, only about 15 years after the establishment of the Republic, the plebeians for the first time elected two leaders, to whom they gave the title Tribunes. The plebs took an oath that they would hold their leaders 'sacrosanct' or inviolate during their terms, and that the united plebs would kill anyone who harmed a tribune. The second secession led to further legal definition of their rights and duties and increased the number of tribunes to 10. The final secession gave the vote of the Concilium Plebis or "Council of the Plebeians" the force of law - we call this a "plebiscite".
see Roman Empire
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