Ancient History - Rome - Until the 70s

What kind of society did Rome develop from? What were the aristocracy trusted to do?

Agrarian society, rule through the senate

What unspoken agreement did the aristocracy have with the people?

They had a paternal government role

How long did the members of the senate occupy key positions?

One year

How long was the senate system in action for by the first century BC?

Approximately 400 years

What did the heads of patrician families agree to protect during early rome?

A number of poorer families

What did patrician families get in return for protecting poorer ones?

Assistance in public and private lives

What was the patron-client relationship like? What was it recognised by?

Hereditary relationship recognised by the republic’s early laws

How many members of the senate were there after Sulla’s reforms?

600

How did the members of the senate serve as elected magistrates?

In an administrative and military capacity

What were the members of the senate in a strong position to do?

Debate and recommend laws and policies to the magistrates and the people

What three things did the senate do?

Foreign policies, appointing governors for provinces and receiving foreign embassies

What was the Latin tern for a decision of the senate?

Senatus consulta

What did a senatus consulta carry enough wait for?

Voting approval or for magistrates to act on it

Why was factionalism commonplace in the senate?

There were few a powerful families

What were families with one consul at any time considered as?

Nobility

How long were magistrates elected for?

A year

Did the magistrates have more weight under republic or empire?

Republic

What was the cursus honorum?

The career path of politicians

What was the challenge for a member of the senate to ensure?

The correct political office in ‘your year’

How many quaestors were elected annually?

20

How old did you have to be to be a quaestor?

30

How many quaestors worked in Rome, and how many in the provinces?

Two in Rome, eighteen in the provinces

What were the two quaestors in Rome in charge of?

The treasury

What did the quaestors in the provinces work as?

Deputies to the provincial governors

How many aediles were elected annually?

4

How old did you have to be to be an aedile?

36

What four things were the aediles responsible for?

Buildings, street markets, food supply and certain games

Why was aedile a popular position?

It was used to gain popularity

How many praetors were elected annually?

8

How old did you have to be to be praetor?

39

What was a praetor primarily?

Judicial, presiding over law courts

What ability did the praetors have?

Imperium

What did it mean to have imperium?

Able to command military and impose law

What did a praetor do after his turn in office?

Became a pro-praetore, governing the provinces

How many consuls were elected annually?

Two

How old did you have to be to be a consul?

42

What did the consuls do?

Presided over senate debates and some public assemblies

What ability did the consuls possess?

Imperium

When could the consuls command armies?

During crisis

What did a consul do after his term in office?

Given proconsular imperium and went to a province

How many tribunes did there have to be?

Ten

What did all the tribunes have to be?

Plebeian

Who was the tribunal position great for?

Aspirational politicians who wanted to be known by the poor of Rome

What did the tribunes traditionally do?

Defended the rights of the people against the excesses of the magistrates

What could a tribune do as a sacrosanct?

Propose and veto laws

What about the tribunes did Sulla attack?

Strengths and status of tribunes

How did Sulla attack the tribunes?

Removed powers and banned progression into cursus honorum

Who overturned the restrictions Sulla put on the tribunes, and when?

Pompey and Crassus in 70BC

How many centuries of voters were in the comitia centuriata?

193

How many classes was the comitia centuriata divided into? What were they based on?

Seven classes based on wealth

What did the comitia centuriata do?

Appointed senior magistrates, consuls and praetors

What did the comitia plebis tributa not include?

The patrician order

Who presided over the comitia plebis tributa?

A tribune

Who presided over the comitia populi tributa?

A consul or praetor

What did the comitia tributa do?

Elected quaestors, aediles and tribunes and was the main forum through which laws were passed

Who debated on and drafted the laws?

The Senate

How was a law passed in Republican Rome?

Recommended to comitia tributa as a senatus consulta and then voted on

What were the comitia tributa based on?

Tribes

How many tribes were there in Republican Rome?

35, 4 urban and 31 rural

Where did the Romans go to vote? Who was this difficult for?

The forum, difficult for country tribes

What was each tribesman expected to do in terms of voting? Who, therefore, influenced it?

To support their patron within the tribe, so the rich still influenced the voting

What gifts were acceptable for reminding the tribesmen of their obligation to support their patron?

Dinner or money

If a patron gave a gift to a tribesman who wasn’t his client, what was it considered as?

Bribery

What was it called when senatorial friends and families formed alliances in a group?

Amicitiae or factiones

Were amicitiae permanent?

They were temporary, swiftly changing based on occurence

What were amicitae sometimes the product of?

Normal client patron relations

What does ‘optimates’ mean?

The best people

What political ideal did the optimates lean towards?

Conservative

What kinds of politicians were the populares?

Played on the needs of the poor in order to secure support for their own advancement

When did Cicero deliver the speech ‘Pro Sestio’?

56BC

What was the speech ‘Pro Sestio’ in defence of and on what charge?

In defence of P. Sestius on a charge of violence

What did Pro Sestio showcase about Cicero?

His view of the merits of the optimate view

What quote does Cicero give about the merits of the optimates?

‘Optimates are all those… not guilty of crime… not evil by nature… not raving mad.’

Who was Cicero speaking against in Pro Sestio and what kind of politician was he notorious as?

Clodius, notorius popularis

What do scholars think about how the Romans saw the popularis/optimate divide?

Doubt if they bothered much

How would a popularis politician appeal directly to the people?

Offered to appease them with land distribution, debt cancellation, free corn

Were the popularis politicians actually concerned for the people?

Debatably

When did Cicero give the speech ‘De Lege Agraria’?

63BC

What was De Lege Agraria opposing?

A land bill proposed by Rullus

What did Cicero say to attempt to appeal the people to not trust the generosity of populares, but him instead?

‘Nor should those who promise lands to the Roman people… be reckoned populares.’

How was law a private matter in Rome?

The victim of a crime had to bring the perpetrator to justice

Why did the rich patrons perhaps help their clients?

The poor had little chance of representation

How did Sulla reorganise the courts? Who presided over them?

Establish seven standing courts called the quaestiones perpetuae, each presided over by a praetor

What kind of cases did the quaestiones perpetuae try?

Political crimes

Who were the patricians?

Large landowners of noble birth with privileged position in the state

What was the plebs urbana?

The body of Roman citizens apart from the privileged patricians

What kinds of rights were the plebs excluded from?

Political, legal, economic and religious rights

What was the basis of the senatorial class?

Political

What did senators have to prove they had to be part of the class?

1,000,000 sesterces

What were the senators banned from engaging with personally?

In non-agricultural business, trade or public contracts

How could men from the senatorial class be identified?

A tunic with broad stripes called the laticlavi

What was the basis of the equestrian class?

Economic

How could one be formally enrolled in the equestrian order?

With proof of having a stable minimum wealth of property worth at least 400,000 sesterces

What would happen if an equestrian was elected to magistracy?

Moved up to the senatorial class

What were the equestrians primarily involved in?

Business prohibited to senators

How could a man of the equestrian order be identified?

A tunic with narrow stripes called the angusti clavi

What were the upper classes defined by?

Male activity, rather than birth

How was a woman’s class determined?

By her father’s, and then her husband’s

Did women have a special dress that distinguished their status?

No

When was female participation in social class formalised?

Under Augustus