EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

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48. THE PEOPLES OF ITALY

NEIGHBORS OF THE ROMANS

Long before the Romans built their city by the Tiber every part of Italy
had become the home of wandering peoples, attracted by the mild climate
and rich soil of this favored land. Two of these peoples were neighbors of
the Romans--Etruscans on the north and Greeks on the south.

THE ETRUSCANS

The ancestors of the historic Etruscans were probably Aegean sea-rovers
who settled in the Italian peninsula before the beginning of the eighth
century B.C. The immigrants mingled with the natives and by conquest and
colonization founded a strong power in the country to which they gave
their name--Etruria. At one time the Etruscans appear to have ruled over
Campania and also in the Po Valley as far as the Alps. Their colonies
occupied the shores of Sardinia and Corsica. Their fleets swept the
Tyrrhenian Sea. The Etruscans for several centuries were the leading
nation in Italy.

[Illustration: A GRAECO-ETRUSCAN CHARIOT (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York)

The chariot was discovered in 1903 A.D. in an Etruscan cemetery near Rome.
It dates from perhaps 600 B.C. Almost every part of the vehicle is covered
with thin plates of bronze, elaborately decorated. The wheels are only two
feet in diameter. Since the chariot is too small and delicate for use in
warfare, we may believe it to have been intended for ceremonial purposes
only.]

ETRUSCAN CIVILIZATION

These Etruscans, like the Hittites of Asia Minor, [3] are a mysterious
race. No one as yet has been able to read their language, which is quite
unlike any Indo-European tongue. The words, however, are written in an
alphabet borrowed from Greek settlers in Italy. Many other civilizing arts
besides the alphabet came to the Etruscans from abroad. Babylonia gave to
them the principle of the round arch and the practice of divination. [4]
Etruscan graves contain Egyptian seals adorned with hieroglyphics and
beautiful vases bearing designs from Greek mythology. The Etruscans were
skillful workers in iron, bronze, and gold. They built their cities with
massive walls, arched gates, paved streets, and underground drains. In the
course of time a great part of this Etruscan civilization was absorbed in
that of Rome.

[Illustration: AN ETRUSCAN ARCH
The Italian city of Volterra still preserves in the Porta dell' Arco an
interesting relic of Etruscan times. The archway, one of the original
gates of the ancient town, is about twenty feet in height and twelve feet
in width. On the keystone and imposts are three curious heads, probably
representing the guardian deities of the place.]

[Illustration: CHARACTERS OF THE ETRUSCAN ALPHABET
About eight thousand Etruscan inscriptions are known, almost all being
short epitaphs on gravestones. In 1892 A.D. an Etruscan manuscript which
had been used to pack an Egyptian mummy, was published, but the language
could not be deciphered.]

THE GREEKS

As teachers of the Romans the Etruscans were followed by the Greeks. About
the middle of the eighth century B.C. Hellenic colonies began to occupy
the coasts of Sicily and southern Italy. The earliest Greek settlement was
Cumae, near the bay of Naples. [5] It was a city as old as Rome itself,
and a center from which Greek culture, including the Greek alphabet,
spread to Latium. A glance at the map [6] shows that the chief Greek
Colonies were all on or near the Sea, from Campania to the gulf of
Tarentum. North of the "heel" of Italy extends an almost harborless coast,
where nothing tempted the Greeks to settle. North of Campania, again, they
found the good harbors already occupied by the Etruscans. The Greeks, in
consequence, were never able to make Italy a completely Hellenic land.
Room was left for the native Italian peoples, under the leadership of
Rome, to build up their own power in the peninsula.

THE ITALIAN HIGHLANDERS

The Italians were an Indo-European people who spoke a language closely
related, on the one side, to Greek and, on the other side, to the Celtic
tongues of western Europe. They entered Italy through the Alpine passes,
long before the dawn of history, and gradually pushed southward until they
occupied the interior of the peninsula. At the beginning of historic times
they had separated into two main branches. The eastern and central parts
of Italy formed the home of the highlanders, grouped in various tribes.
Among them were the Umbrians in the northeast, the Sabines in the upper
valley of the Tiber, and the Samnites in the south. Still other Italian
peoples occupied the peninsula as far as Magna Graecia.

THE LATINS

The western Italians were known as Latins. They dwelt in Latium, the "flat
land" extending south of the Tiber between the Apennines and the
Tyrrhenian Sea. Residence in the lowlands, where they bordered on the
Etruscans, helped to make the Latins a civilized people. Their village
communities grew into larger settlements, until the whole of Latium became
filled with a number of independent city-states. The ties of kinship and
the necessity of defense against Etruscan and Sabine foes bound them
together. At a very early period they had united in the Latin League,
under the headship of Alba Longa. Another city in this league was Rome.

49. THE ROMANS

FOUNDING OF ROME

Rome sprang from a settlement of Latin shepherds, farmers, and traders on
the Palatine Mount. [7] This was the central eminence in a group of low
hills south of the Tiber, about fifteen miles by water from the river's
mouth. Opposite the Palatine community there arose on the Quirinal Hill
another settlement, which seems to have been an outpost of the Sabines.
After much hard fighting the rival hill towns united on equal terms into
one state. The low marshy land between the Palatine and Quirinal became
the Forum, or common market place, and the steep rock, known as the
Capitoline, formed the common citadel. [8]

[Illustration: Map, VICINITY OF ROME.]

UNION OF THE SEVEN HILLS

The union of the Palatine and Quirinal settlements greatly increased the
area and population of the Roman city. In course of time settlements were
made on the neighboring hills and these, too, cast in their lot with Rome.
Then a fortification, the so-called "Wall of Servius," was built to bring
them all within the boundaries of the enlarged community. Rome came into
existence as the City of the Seven Hills.

MYTHS OF EARLY ROME

Long after the foundation of Rome, when that city had grown rich and
powerful, her poets and historians delighted to relate the many myths
which clustered about the earlier stages of her career. According to these
myths Rome began as a colony of Alba Longa, the capital of Latium. The
founder of this city was Ascanius, son of the Trojan prince Aeneas, who
had escaped from Troy on its capture by the Greeks and after long
wanderings had reached the coast of Italy. Many generations afterwards,
when Numitor sat on the throne of Alba Longa, his younger brother,
Amulius, plotted against him and drove him into exile. He had Numitor's
son put to death, and forced the daughter, Rhea Silvia, to take the vows
of a Vestal Virgin. [9]

[Illustration: AN EARLY ROMAN COIN
Shows the twins, Romulus and Remus as infants suckled by a wolf.]

ROMULUS AND REMUS

But Rhea Silvia, beloved by Mars, the god of war, gave birth to twin boys
of more than human size and beauty. The wicked Amulius ordered the
children to be set adrift in a basket on the Tiber. Heaven, however,
guarded these offspring of a god; the river cast them ashore near Mount
Palatine, and a she-wolf came and nursed them. There they were discovered
by a shepherd, who reared them in his own household. When the twins,
Romulus and Remus, reached manhood, they killed Amulius and restored their
grandfather to his kingdom. With other young men from Alba Longa, they
then set forth to build a new city on the Palatine, where they had been
rescued. As they scanned the sky to learn the will of the gods, six
vultures, birds of Jupiter, appeared to Remus; but twelve were seen by
Romulus. So Romulus marked out the boundary of the city on the Palatine,
and Remus, who in derision leaped over the half-finished wall, he slew in
anger. Romulus thus became the sole founder of Rome and its first king.

SUCCESSORS OF ROMULUS

Romulus was followed by a Sabine, Numa Pompilius, who taught the Romans
the arts of peace and the worship of the gods. Another king destroyed Alba
Longa and brought the inhabitants to Rome. The last of Rome's seven kings
was an Etruscan named Tarquin the Proud. His tyranny finally provoked an
uprising, and Rome became a republic.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MYTHS

These famous tales have become a part of the world's literature and still
possess value to the student. They show us what the Romans themselves
believed about the foundation and early fortunes of their city. Sometimes
they refer to what seem to be facts, such as the first settlement on the
Palatine, the union with the Sabines on the Quirinal, the conquest of Alba
Longa, and Etruscan rule at Rome. The myths also contain so many
references to customs and beliefs that they are a great help in
understanding the social life and religion of the early Romans.

50. EARLY ROMAN SOCIETY

THE ROMANS AN AGRICULTURAL PEOPLE

Agriculture was the chief occupation of the Roman people. "When our
forefathers," said an ancient writer, "would praise a worthy man, they
praised him as a good farmer and a good landlord; and they believed that
an praise could go no further." [10] Roman farmers raised large crops of
grain--the staple product of ancient Italy. Cattle-breeding, also, must
have been an important pursuit, since in early times prices were estimated
in oxen and sheep. [11]

[Illustration: A ROMAN FARMER'S CALENDAR
A marble cube, two feet high, of about 31-29 B.C.
The month of May,
XXXI days,
The nones fall on the 7th day.
The day has 19-1/2 hours.
The night has 9-1/2 hours
The sun is in the sign of Taurus
The month is under the protection of Apollo.
The corn is weeded
The sheep are shorn
The wool is washed
Young steers are put under the yoke.
The vetch of the meadows is cut.
The lustration of the crops is made.
Sacrifices to Mercury and Flora.]

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

In such a community of peasants no great inequalities of wealth existed.
Few citizens were very rich; few were very poor. The members of each
household made their own clothing from flax or wool, and fashioned out of
wood and clay what utensils were needed for their simple life. For a long
time the Romans had no coined money whatever. When copper came into use as
currency, it passed from hand to hand in shapeless lumps that required
frequent weighing. It was not until the fourth century that a regular
coinage began. [12] This use of copper as money indicates that gold and
silver were rare among the Romans, and luxury almost unknown.

MORAL CHARACTER OF THE EARLY ROMANS

Hard-working, god-fearing peasants are likely to lead clean and sober
lives. This was certainly true of the early Romans. They were a manly
breed, abstemious in food and drink, iron-willed, vigorous, and strong.
Deep down in the Roman's heart was the proud conviction that Rome should
rule over all her neighbors. For this he freely shed his blood; for this
he bore hardship, however severe, without complaint. Before everything
else, he was a dutiful citizen and a true patriot. Such were the sturdy
men who on their farms in Latium formed the backbone of the Roman state.
Their character has set its mark on history for all time.

THE ROMAN FAMILY

The family formed the unit of Roman society. Its most marked feature was
the unlimited authority of the father. In his house he reigned an absolute
king. His wife had no legal rights: he could sell her into slavery or
divorce her at will. Nevertheless, no ancient people honored women more
highly than the Romans. A Roman wife was the mistress of the home, as her
husband was its master. Though her education was not carried far, we often
find the Roman matron taking a lively interest in affairs of state, and
aiding her husband both in politics and business. It was the women, as
well as the men, who helped to make Rome great among the nations. Over his
unmarried daughters and his sons, the Roman father ruled as supreme as
over his wife. He brought up his children to be sober, silent, modest in
their bearing, and, above all, obedient. Their misdeeds he might punish
with penalties as severe as banishment, slavery, or death. As head of the
family he could claim all their earnings; everything they had was his. The
father's great authority ceased only with his death. Then his sons, in
turn, became lords over their families.

[Illustration: CINERARY URNS IN TERRA COTTA (Vatican Museum, Rome)
These receptacles for the ashes of the dead were found in an old cemetery
at Alba Longa They show two forms of the primitive Roman hut.]

51. ROMAN RELIGION

WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS

The Romans, like the ancient Greeks and the modern Chinese, paid special
veneration to the souls of the dead. These were known by the flattering
name of _manes_, the "pure" or "good ones." The Romans always regarded the
_manes_ as members of the household to which they had belonged on earth.
The living and the dead were thus bound together by the closest ties. The
idea of the family triumphed even over the grave.

THE HOUSEHOLD DEITIES

The ancient Roman house had only one large room, the _atrium_, where all
members of the family lived together. It was entered by a single door,
which was sacred to the god Janus. On the hearth, opposite the doorway,
the housewife prepared the meals. The fire that ever blazed upon it gave
warmth and nourishment to the inmates. Here dwelt Vesta, the spirit of the
kindling flame. The cupboard where the food was kept came under the charge
of the Penates, who blessed the family store. The house as a whole had its
protecting spirits, called Lares.

WORSHIP OF THE HOUSEHOLD DEITIES

The daily worship of these deities took place at the family meal. The
table would be placed at the side of the hearth, and when the father and
his family sat down to it, a little food would be thrown into the flames
and a portion of wine poured out, as an offering to the gods. The images
of the Lares and Penates would also be fetched from the shrine and placed
on the table in token of their presence at the meal. This religion of the
family lasted with little change throughout the entire period of Roman
history.

[Illustration: A VESTAL VIRGIN
Portrait from a statue discovered in the ruins of the temple of Vesta in
the Roman Forum.]

JANUS AND VESTA

The early Roman state was only an enlarged family, and hence the religion
of the state was modeled after that of the family. Some of the divinities,
such as Janus and Vesta, were taken over with little change from the
domestic worship. The entrance to the Forum formed a shrine of Janus, [13]
which Numa himself was said to have built. The door, or gateway, stood
open in time of war, but shut when Rome was at peace. At the south end of
the Forum stood the round temple of Vesta, containing the sacred hearth of
the city. Here Vesta was served by six virgins of free birth, whose duty
it was to keep the fire always blazing on the altar. If by accident the
fire went out, it must be relighted from a "pure flame," either by
striking a spark with flint or by rubbing together two dry sticks. Such
methods of kindling fire were those familiar to the prehistoric Romans.

[Illustration: SUOVETAURILIA (Louvre, Paris)
The relief pictures an ancient Italian sacrifice of a bull, a ram and a
boar offered to Mars to secure purification from sin. Note the sacred
laurel trees, the two altars, and the officiating magistrate whose head is
covered with the toga. He is sprinkling incense from a box held by an
attendant. Another attendant carries a ewer with the libation. In the rear
is the sacrificer with his ax.]

JUPITER AND MARS

The Romans worshiped various gods connected with their lives as shepherds,
farmers, and warriors. The chief divinity was Jupiter, who ruled the
heavens and sent rain and sunshine to nourish the crops. The war god Mars
reflected the military character of the Romans. His sacred animal was the
fierce, cruel wolf, his symbols were spears and shields; his altar was the
Campus Martius (Field of Mars) outside the city walls, where the army
assembled in battle array. March, the first month of the old Roman year,
was named in his honor. Some other gods were borrowed from the Greeks,
together with many of the beautiful Greek myths.

DIVINATION

The Romans took many precautions, before beginning any enterprise, to find
out what was the will of the gods and how their favor might first be
gained. They did not have oracles, but they paid much attention to omens
of all sorts. A sudden flash of lightning, an eclipse of the sun, a
blazing comet, or an earthquake shock was an omen which awakened
superstitious fear. It indicated the disapproval of the gods. From the
Etruscans the Romans learned to divine the future by examining the
entrails of animal victims. They also borrowed from their northern
neighbors the practice of looking for signs in the number, flight, and
action of birds. To consult such signs was called "taking the auspices."
[14]

[Illustration: AN ETRUSCAN AUGUR
Wall painting from a tomb at Tarquinii in Etruria.]

[Illustration: COOP WITH SACRED CHICKENS
The relief represents the chickens in the act of feeding. The most
favorable omen was secured when the fowls greedily picked up more of the
corn than they could swallow at one time. Their refusal to eat at all was
an omen of disaster.]

PRIESTHOODS

Roman priests, who conducted the state religion, did not form a separate
class, as in some Oriental countries. They were chosen, like other
magistrates, from the general body of citizens. A board, or "college," of
six priests had charge of the public auspices. Another board, that of the
pontiffs, regulated the calendar, kept the public annals, and regulated
weights and measures. They were experts in all matters of religious
ceremonial and hence were very important officials. [15]

IMPORTANCE OF THE STATE RELIGION

This old Roman faith was something very different from what we understand
by religion. It had little direct influence on morality. It did not
promise rewards or threaten punishments in a future world. Roman religion
busied itself with the everyday life of man. Just as the household was
bound together by the tie of common worship, so all the citizens were
united in a common reverence for the deities which guarded the state. The
religion of Rome made and held together a nation.

52. THE ROMAN CITY-STATE

EARLY ROMAN GOVERNMENT

We find in early Rome, as in Homeric Greece, [16] a city-state with its
king, council, and assembly. The king was the father of his people, having
over them the same absolute authority that the house-father held within
the family. The king was assisted by a council of elders, or Senate (Latin
_senes_, "old men"). Its members were chosen by the king and held office
for life. The most influential heads of families belonged to the Senate.
The common people at first took little part in the government, for it was
only on rare occasions that the king summoned them to deliberate with him
in an assembly.

THE REPUBLICAN CONSULS

Toward the close of the sixth century, as we have already learned, [17]
the ancient monarchy disappeared from Rome. In place of the lifelong king
two magistrates, named consuls, were elected every year. Each consul had
to share his honor and authority with a colleague who enjoyed the same
power as himself. Unless both agreed, there could be no action. Like the
Spartan kings, [18] the consuls served as checks, the one on the other.
Neither could safely use his position to aim at unlawful rule.

THE DICTATOR

This divided power of the consuls might work very well in times of peace.
During dangerous wars or insurrections it was likely to prove disastrous.
A remedy was found in the temporary revival of the old kingship under a
new name. When occasion required, one of the consuls, on the advice of the
Senate, appointed a dictator. The consuls then gave up their authority and
the people put their property and lives entirely at the dictator's
disposal. During his term of office, which could not exceed six months,
the state was under martial law. Throughout Roman history there were many
occasions when a dictatorship was created to meet a sudden emergency.

PATRICIANS AND PLEBEIANS

The Roman state, during the regal age, seems to have been divided between
an aristocracy and a commons. The nobles were called patricians, [19] and
the common people were known as plebeians. [20] The patricians occupied a
privileged position, since they alone sat in the Senate and served as
priests, judges, and magistrates. In fact, they controlled society, and
the common people found themselves excluded from much of the religious,
legal, and political life of the Roman city. Under these circumstances it
was natural for the plebeians to agitate against the patrician monopoly of
government. The struggle between the two orders of society lasted about
two centuries.

THE TRIBUNES

A few years after the establishment of the republic the plebeians
compelled the patricians to allow them to have officers of their own,
called tribunes, as a means of protection. There were ten tribunes,
elected annually by the plebeians. Any tribune could veto, that is,
forbid, the act of a magistrate which seemed to bear harshly on a citizen.
To make sure that a tribune's orders would be respected, his person was
made sacred and a solemn curse was pronounced upon the man who injured him
or interrupted him in the performance of his duties. The tribune's
authority, however, extended only within the city and a mile beyond its
walls. He was quite powerless against the consul in the field.

THE TWELVE TABLES, 449 B.C.

We next find the plebeians struggling for equality before the law. Just as
in ancient Athens, [21] the early Roman laws had never been written down
or published. About half a century after the plebeians had obtained the
tribunes, they forced the patricians to give them written laws. A board of
ten men, known as decemvirs, was appointed to frame a legal code, binding
equally on both patricians and plebeians. The story goes that this
commission studied the legislation of the Greek states of southern Italy,
and even went to Athens to examine some of Solon's laws which were still
in force. The laws framed by the decemvirs were engraved on twelve bronze
tablets and set up in the Forum. A few sentences from this famous code
have come down to us in rude, unpolished Latin. They mark the beginning of
what was to be Rome's greatest gift to civilization--her legal system.

[Illustration: CURULE CHAIR AND FASCES
A consul sat on the curule chair. The _fasces_ (axes in a bundle of rods)
symbolized his power to flog and behead offenders.]

FINAL TRIUMPH OF THE PLEBEIANS

The hardest task of the plebeians was to secure the right of holding the
great offices of state. Eventually, however, they gained entrance to
Senate and became eligible to the consulship and other magistracies and to
the priesthoods. By the middle of the third century the plebeians and
patricians, equal before the law and with equal privileges, formed one
compact body of citizens in the Roman state.

ROME AS A REPUBLIC

The Roman state called itself a republic--_respublica_--"a thing of the
people." Roman citizens made the laws and elected public officers. Though
the people in their gatherings had now become supreme, their power was
really much limited by the fact that very little discussion of a proposed
measure was allowed. This formed a striking contrast to the vigorous
debating which went on in the Athenian Assembly. [22] Roman citizens could
not frame, criticize, or amend public measures; they could only vote "yes"
or "no" to proposals made to them by a magistrate.

MAGISTRATES

Rome had many magistrates. Besides the two consuls and an occasional
dictator there were the ten tribunes, the praetors, who served as judges,
and the quaestors, or keepers of the treasury. The two censors were also
very important officers. It was their business to make an enumeration or
census of the citizens and to assess property for taxation. The censors
almost always were reverend seniors who had held the consulship and
enjoyed a reputation for justice and wisdom. Their office grew steadily in
importance, especially after the censors began to exercise an oversight of
the private life of the Romans. They could expel a senator from his seat
for immorality and could deprive any citizen of his vote. The word
"censorious," meaning faultfinding, is derived from the name of these
ancient officials.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE SENATE

The authority of the magistrates was much limited by the Senate. This body
contained about three hundred members, who held their seats generally for
life. When vacancies occurred, they were filled, as a rule, by those who
had previously held one or more of the higher magistracies. There sat in
the Senate every man who, as statesman, general, or diplomatist, had
served his country well.