The real governing power in Rome was the Roman people,--_populus
Romanus_,--that is to say, the body of free inhabitants of the
thirty-three tribes or parishes north and south of the Tiber, which
constituted the Roman territory proper, together with a considerable
number of persons in other parts of Italy who, either from being
colonists of Roman descent or from having had Roman citizenship
conferred on them, had the privilege of going to Rome and voting at the
Comitia, or Assembly. The possessors of the suffrage thus formed a
comparatively small body of men, such as might be assembled with ease in
any public square or park, and these by their votes decided on the
affairs of the commonwealth, controlling thus the destinies of the whole
population of Italy, estimated at this time at above five million.
In addition to the _populus Romanus_ there were two other classes,--the
Italians and the Latins. The Italians, or _socii_, were the inhabitants
of the allied and dependent Italian states that had submitted to Rome.
These communities were almost all permitted to retain their own laws,
judges, municipal arrangements, etc.; but they did not possess the Roman
franchise, and hence had no share in the political affairs of the
republic. The Latins were those who belonged to cities having the “Latin
franchise,” as it was called, from its having first been given to the
cities of Latium when conquered. This did not give full Roman
citizenship, but made it easier to obtain it.