Rome was now mistress of all Italy south of the Arnus and Aesis. This
country was divided into two parts.
I. The AGER ROMANUS, including about one quarter of the whole, bounded
on the north by CAERE, on the south by FORMIAE, and on the east by the
APENNINES.
II. The DEPENDENT COMMUNITIES.
The _Ager Romanus_ was subdivided, for voting and financial purposes,
into thirty-three, afterwards thirty-five districts (tribes), four of
which were in Rome. The elections were all held at Rome.
These districts were made up,--
a. Of ROME.
b. Of the ROMAN COLONIES, mostly maritime, now numbering seven, but
finally increased to thirty-five.
c. Of the MUNICIPIA (towns bound to service).
d. Of the PRAEFECTURAE (towns governed by a praefect, who was sent from
Rome and appointed by the Praetor).
The DEPENDENT COMMUNITIES were made up,--
a. Of the LATIN (military) COLONIES, now numbering twenty-two,
afterwards increased to thirty-five.
b. Of the ALLIES of Rome (_Socii_), whose cities and adjoining territory
composed more than one half of the country controlled by Rome.
These allies were allowed local government, were not obliged to pay
tribute, but were called upon to furnish their proportion of troops for
the Roman army.
The inhabitants of this country were divided into five classes, viz.--
a. Those who possessed both PUBLIC and PRIVATE RIGHTS as citizens, i. e.
FULL RIGHTS. (Footnote: Public rights consisted of the _jus suffragii_
(right of voting at Rome); _jus honorum_ (right of holding office),
and _jus provocationis_ (right of appeal). Private rights were _jus
connubii_ (right of intermarriage); and _jus commercii_ (right of
trading and holding property). Full rights were acquired either by
birth or gift. A child born of parents, both of whom enjoyed the
_jus connubii_, was a Roman citizen with full rights. Foreigners were
sometimes presented with citizenship (_civitas_))
b. Those who were subjects and did not possess full rights.
c. Those who were ALLIES (_Socii_).
d. Those who were SLAVES, who possessed no rights.
e. Those who were RESIDENT FOREIGNERS, who possessed the right of
trading.
To class _a_ belonged the citizens of Rome, of the Roman colonies, and
of some of the Municipia.
To class _b_ belonged the citizens of most of the Municipia, who
possessed only private rights, the citizens of all the _Praefecturae_,
and the citizens of all the Latin colonies.
ROADS.
Even at this early date, the necessity of easy communication with the
capital seems to have been well understood. Roads were pushed in every
direction,--broad, level ways, over which armies might be marched
or intelligence quickly carried. They were chains which bound her
possessions indissolubly together. Some of them remain today a monument
of Roman thoroughness, enterprise, and sagacity,--the wonder and
admiration of modern road-builders. By these means did Rome fasten
together the constantly increasing fabric of her empire, so that not
even the successes of Hannibal caused more than a momentary shaking of
fidelity, for which ample punishment was both speedy and certain.
NOTED MEN.
The three most noted men of the period embraced in the two preceding
chapters were Appius Claudius, the Censor and patrician; and Manius
Curius Dentatus and Gaius Fabricius, plebeians.
We have seen that all plebeians who were land-owners belonged to one of
the tribes, and could vote in the _Comitia Tributa_; this, however, shut
out the plebeians of the city who owned no land, and also the freedmen,
who were generally educated and professional men, such as doctors,
teachers, etc.
APPIUS CLAUDIUS as Censor, in 312, deprived the landowners of the
exclusive privilege of voting in the _Comitia Tributa_, and gave to
property owners of any sort the right to vote. Eight years later this
law was modified, so that it applied to the four city tribes alone, and
the thirty-one rural tribes had for their basis landed property only.
During the censorship of Appius, Rome had its first regular water supply
by the Appian aqueduct. The first military road, the VIA APPIA, was
built under his supervision. This road ran at first from Rome as far
as Capua. It was constructed so well that many parts of it are today in
good condition. The road was afterward extended to Brundisium, through
Venusia and Tarentum.
MANIUS CURIUS DENTATUS was a peasant, a contemporary of Appius, and
his opponent in many ways. He was a strong friend of the plebeians. He
obtained for the soldiers large assignments of the _Ager Publicus_. He
drained the low and swampy country near Reate by a canal. He was
the conqueror of Pyrrhus. A man of sterling qualities, frugal and
unostentatious, after his public life he retired to his farm and spent
the remainder of his days in seclusion as a simple peasant.
GAIUS FABRICIUS, like Dentatus, was from the peasants. He was a
Hernican. As a soldier he was successful. As a statesman he was
incorruptible, and of great use to his country. Previous to the battle
of Asculum, Pyrrhus attempted to bribe him by large sums of money, and,
failing in this, thought to frighten him by hiding an elephant behind
a curtain; the curtain was suddenly removed, but Fabricius, though
immediately under the elephant's trunk, stood unmoved.
In this generation we find Roman character at its best. Wealth had not
flowed into the state in such large quantities as to corrupt it. The
great mass of the people were peasants, small land-owners, of frugal
habits and moral qualities. But comparatively few owned large estates as
yet, or possessed large tracts of the _Ager Publicus_. A century later,
when most of the available land in the peninsula was held by the wealthy
and farmed by slaves, we find a great change.
The fall of TARENTUM marks an important era in Roman history. Large
treasures were obtained from this and other Greek cities in Southern
Italy. Luxury became more fashionable; morals began to degenerate. Greed
for wealth obtained by plunder began to get possession of the Romans.
From now on the moral tone of the people continued to degenerate in
proportion as their empire increased.