The plebeians were now (about 475) as numerous as the patricians, if
not more so. Their organization had become perfected, and many of their
leaders were persistent in their efforts to better the condition
of their followers. Their especial aim was to raise their civil and
political rights to an equality with those of the patricians. The
struggle finally culminated in the murder of one of the Tribunes, Gnarus
Genucius, for attempting to veto some of the acts of the Consuls.
VALERO PUBLILIUS, a Tribune, now (471) proposed and carried,
notwithstanding violent opposition by the patricians, a measure to the
effect that the Tribunes should hereafter be chosen in the _Comitia
Tributa_, instead of the _Comitia Centuriata_. Thus the plebeians
gained a very important step. This bill is called the PUBLILIAN LAW
(_Plebiscitum Publilium_). (Footnote: All bills passed in the Comitia
Tributa were called Plebiscita, and until 286 were not necessarily
binding upon the people at large; but this bill seems to have been
recognized as a law.)
For the next twenty years the struggle continued unabated. The plebeians
demanded a WRITTEN CODE OF LAWS.
We find among all early peoples that the laws are at first the unwritten
ones of custom and precedent. The laws at Rome, thus far, had been
interpreted according to the wishes and traditions of the patricians
only. A change was demanded. This was obtained by the TERENTILIAN
ROGATION, a proposal made in 461 by Gaius Terentilius Harsa, a Tribune,
to the effect that the laws thereafter be written. The patrician
families, led by one Kaeso Quinctius, made bitter opposition. Kaeso
himself, son of the famous Cincinnatus, was impeached by the Tribune and
fled from the city.
Finally it was arranged that the Comitia Centuriata should select from
the people at large ten men, called the DECEMVIRATE, to hold office for
one year, to direct the government and supersede all other magistrates,
and especially to draw up a code of laws to be submitted to the people
for approval. A commission of three patricians was sent to Athens to
examine the laws of that city, which was now (454) at the height of
its prosperity. Two years were spent by this commission, and upon their
return in 452 the above mentioned Decemvirate was appointed.
The laws drawn up by this board were approved, engraved on ten tables of
copper, and placed in the Forum in front of the Senate-House. Two more
tables were added the next year. These TWELVE TABLES were the only Roman
code.
The DECEMVIRI should have resigned as soon as these laws were approved,
but they neglected to do so, and began to act in a cruel and tyrannical
manner. The people, growing uneasy under their injustice, finally
rebelled when one of the Decemviri, Appius Claudius, passed a sentence
that brought an innocent maiden, Virginia, into his power. Her father,
Virginius, saved his daughter's honor by stabbing her to the heart, and
fleeing to the camp called upon the soldiers to put down such wicked
government.
A second time the army deserted its leaders, and seceded to the SACRED
MOUNT, where they nominated their own Tribunes. Then, marching into the
city, they compelled the Decemviri to resign.
The TWELVE TABLES have not been preserved, except in fragments, and we
know but little of their exact contents. The position of the debtor
was apparently made more endurable. The absolute control of the _pater
familias_ over his family was abolished. The close connection heretofore
existing between the clients and patrons was gradually relaxed, the
former became less dependent upon the latter, and finally were absorbed
into the body of the plebeians. _Gentes_ among the plebeians now began
to be recognized; previously only the patricians had been divided into
_gentes_.
Thus we see, socially, the two orders were approaching nearer and
nearer.
In 449 Valerius and Horatius were elected Consuls, and were instrumental
in passing the so called VALERIO-HORATIAN laws, the substance of which
was as follows:--
I. Every Roman citizen could appeal to the Comitia Centuriata against
the sentence of any magistrate.
II. All the decisions of the Comitia Tributa (_plebiscita_), if
sanctioned by the Senate and Comitia Centuriata, were made binding
upon patricians and plebeians alike. This assembly now became of equal
importance with the other two.
III. The persons of the Tribunes, Aediles, and other plebeian officers,
were to be considered sacred.
IV. The Tribunes could take part in the debates of the Senate, and veto
any of its decisions.
Two years later (447), the election of the Quaestors, who must still be
patricians, was intrusted to the Comitia Tributa. Heretofore they had
been appointed by the Consuls.
In 445 the Tribune Canuleius proposed a bill which was passed,
and called the CANULEIAN LAW, giving to the plebeians the right of
intermarriage (_connubium_) with the patricians, and enacting that all
issue of such marriages should have the rank of the father.
Canuleius also proposed another bill which he did not carry; viz. that
the consulship be open to the plebeians. A compromise, however, was
made, and it was agreed to suspend for a time the office of Consul, and
to elect annually six MILITARY TRIBUNES in the Comitia Centuriata, the
office being open to all citizens. The people voted every year whether
they should have consuls or military tribunes, and this custom continued
for nearly a half-century. The patricians, however, were so influential,
that for a long time no plebeian was elected.
As an offset to these gains of the plebeians, the patricians in 435
obtained two new officers, called CENSORS, elected from their own ranks
every five years (_lustrum_) to hold office for eighteen months.
The duties of the Censors were:--
I. To see that the citizens of every class were properly registered.
II. To punish immorality in the Senate by the removal of any members who
were guilty of offences against public morals.
III. To have the general supervision of the finances and public works of
the state. This office became in after years the most coveted at Rome.
A few years later, in 421, the plebeians made another step forward by
obtaining the right of electing one of their number as Quaestor. There
were now four Quaestors.
Thus the patricians, in spite of the most obstinate resistance,
sustained loss after loss. Even the rich plebeians, who had hitherto
often found it for their interest to side with the patricians, joined
the farmers or lower classes.
Finally, in 367, the Tribunes Licinius and Sextius proposed and passed
the following bills, called the LICINIAN ROGATIONS.
I. To abolish the six military tribunes, and elect annually, as
formerly, two Consuls, choosing one or both of them from the plebeians.
II. To forbid any citizen's holding more than 500 _jugera_ (300 acres)
of the public lands, or feeding thereon more than 100 oxen or 500 sheep.
III. To compel all landlords to employ on their fields a certain number
of free laborers, proportionate to the number of their slaves.
IV. To allow all interest hitherto paid on borrowed money to be deducted
from the principal, and the rest to be paid in three yearly instalments.
These rogations were a great gain for the poorer classes. It gave them
an opportunity for labor which had previously been performed mostly
by slaves. They were less burdened by debts, and had some prospect of
becoming solvent. But most of all, since the office of Consul was open
to them, they felt that their interests were now more likely to be
protected. The temple of CONCORDIA in the Forum was dedicated by
Camillus as a mark of gratitude for the better times that these
rogations promised.
The plebeians, however, did not stop until all the offices, except
that of _Interrex_, were thrown open to them. First they gained that of
Dictator, then those of Censor and of Praetor, and finally, in 286, by
the law of HORTENSIUS, the plebiscita became binding upon all the people
without the sanction of the Senate and Comitia Centuriata. After 200 the
sacred offices of PONTIFEX and AUGUR also could be filled by plebeians.
Thus the strife that had lasted for two centuries was virtually ended;
and although the Roman patricians still held aloof from the commons, yet
their rights as citizens were no greater than those of the plebeians.
To recapitulate:--
Full citizenship comprised four rights, viz.: that of trading and
holding property (COMMERCIUM); that of voting (SUFFRAGIUM); that of
intermarriage (CONNUBIUM); and that of holding office (HONORES).
The first of these rights the plebeians always enjoyed; the second they
obtained in the establishment of the COMITIA TRIBUTA; the third by the
CANULEIAN BILL; the fourth by the LICINIAN and subsequent bills.