HIST 3053 Key Terms

Hyper-literacy

• These are the most literate Roman citizens

• The fraction of the population that was giving/writing speeches

  • This is a fraction of a fraction of a fraction

• Mostly wealthy men with plenty of free time on their hands

• Includes the ranks of men such as Cicero

• There is not a great deal written about Rome’s past, and this necessitates finding other sources (i.e., graffiti)

Motivations for writing history

• Ancient elites wrote their history of Rome for a variety of reasons

  • As a lamentation/warning to future generations

    • Livy is lamenting the decline in national character when writing and explains that wealth brings avarice

  • To provide moral examples for future generations (i.e., Brutus, Lucretia)

  • To provide instruction to future generations — explaining what qualities to look for in men; what policies worked best

  • To provide a memory of one’s ancestors, who were looked upon as particularly virtuous

  • Frustration with the current state of events, and a chance to look back upon Rome’s glory days

    • Livy in particular talks about wanting to ignore the evils he has witnessed in his lifetime

  • Failure within the realm of politics leading one to take up a career in history (i.e., Livy)

Livy

• Roman historian who lived from 59BCE - 17CE

  • This was the end of the Republic and the start of the Empire

  • A period plagued by immense violence and slaughter

• Annalistic Historian: Does history year by year despite the tediousness of this methodology

  • His history begins in 753BCE; Wrote 142 books, of which only 35 survive

• Writing for a couple of different reasons

  • Laments the decline in national character he has observed among Romans, especially in comparison to Rome’s ancestors such as Cincinnatus

    • Talks about wealth bringing avarice; command of pleasure leading to self-indulgence

    • Escapist who wants to remove himself from the society he lives in like Machiavelli

  • Wants to instruct Romans in which policies work best, and show them what qualities to look for/emulate in their leaders

    • Obsessed with the moral exempla

  • Part of the reason he goes so far back is that he wants to create grand historical precedent

• Remembered as a “bad” historian for his inaccuracy

753 BCE

• This is the year that Rome was originally founded by Romulus and Remus

509 BCE

• This is the year the Republic was supposedly founded; however, the shift towards the Republic may actually have been more gradual

  • Brutus drives out the Tarquins

Aeneas

• Trojan noble w/ divine parentage (Venus — Mother)

• Rarely found in Roman sources until Virgil wrote the Aeneid

• Found Lavinium after fleeing from Troy

• Symbol of Roman identity??

Etruria/Etruscans

• Area/People north of the Romans, who are also older than the Romans

  • Roman contemporaries who are a great enemy

  • Their language has been lost

• Many early artifacts from Rome (i.e., pottery) are Etruscan or Etruscan-rooted

  • May signify Etruscan domination? Or just cultural mixing?

• Roman Kings gradually become more Etruscan (i.e., Priscus), explaining Etruscan influence on Roman practices

Romulus and Remus

• Twins of Rhea Silvia who allegedly are raised in part by a she-wolf, but also by Faustulus/Laurentia (Lupa = she wolf/sex worker)

• They help Numitor overthrow Amulius, thereby avenging their mother

• The two would go on to establish a city on the Tiber (Rome) where they originally washed ashore and were met by the she-wolf

  • They disagree over the exact location

  • Romulus favors the Palatine, later the site of elite housing

  • Remus favors the Aventine, later the site of housing for plebians

• Both brothers have their own power bases, and routinely clash, disagreeing over where the city should be founded —> agree to Auspices (interpretation of omens)

  • Remus sees six vultures

  • Romulus initially lies to Remus to convince him to come over to him, but ends up seeing 12 vultures after Remus arrives

  • Romans are very concerned with the interpretation of auspices

• Varies stories emerge surrounding Remus’s death

  • The followers of both sides may have quarreled with Remus happening to die in the middle of one of these

  • Remus may have died either at the hands of Romulus or one of his guards when jumping over Romulus’s walls

Quintus Fabius Pictor

• Known as the father of Roman history

  • Venerated as the original historian (270-200 BCE)

• Wrote entirely in Greek to give Roman history to non-Romans

• All of his work has been lost; however, it served as an inspiration for subsequent historians such as Livy

• Much of Rome’s early history has been passed down through oral tradition, as we have little archaeological evidence and no written record

  • Historians are often forced to guess at what happened in the beginning

Dionysius

• Greek historian from Halicarnassus, lived from 60 BCE - 7 BCE

  • Wrote a 20 book history, of which, only 9 survive

• Attempting to show his Greek brethren that the Romans are not barbarians/ruffians

  • This is coming at a time when Greece was coming under the control of Rome

• Emphasizes the story of Gabii in part to illustrate that the Romans are not barbarian, but have Greek roots

• Emphasizes Rome’s very unclean foundation, both the violence, but also those early inhabitants (largely criminals and other unwanted)

Teleology??

• Livy is a teleological historian: Assumes that history is inevitable

  • Events such as Rome’s decline are impossible to prevent

• Livy is obsessed with the origins of Rome, and some of his history is used to explain later events

  • For example, Aeneas’s treaty with Lavinium may have been fabricated as a basis for the later Italian treaty system

  • He likely misdates certain Roman traditions to provide a stronger historical precedent for them

Rhea Silvia

• Mother of Romulus and Remus

  • Numitor’s son, forced by Amulius to become a Vestal Virgin to prevent her from siring an heir

• She is assaulted by a God; however, she is comforted by being told her sons will be excellent

• The first of many tragic Roman women who suffered for the glory of the state

  • Sacrifice is viewed as a feminine virtue (i.e., Lucretia)

• Her sons are left for dead along the Tiber River, and she is either imprisoned or killed; sources differ

Moral Exempla??

• Refers to the use of historical figures to provide moral warnings of what is right and what is wrong

  • People should emulate those who are morally right and ignore those who are morally wrong

• Livy uses characters within his history to create/illustrate moral examples

  • Brutus, for example, provides a moral example by sacrificing his children for the greater good of the state (traitors)

  • Certain Roman institutions are also created by his moral examples, providing greater justification for their existence/continued use

Agrarian Myth

• Rome’s early history, including its ancestors, is constantly memorialized by historians like Livy

• They adore the early independent citizen-soldiers who would put down their plow to defend the state when needed, and then return to their fields once the war was over

  • Essentially, they would serve the state whenever called upon, but did not prioritize power, instead returning to their agricultural work

• All Roman historians speak of the past and their ancestors as the golden age of morality and virtue

  • Roman historians would often compare the present unfavorably to the past (primary use of the myth)

• This idea was also present among the founding fathers; both Washington and later Truman modeled themselves after Cincinnatus

Romulus/Quirinus??

• Romulus welcomes thieves, exiles, criminals, etc., into the city to form the original citizenry

  • The Romans are proudly allochthonous, meaning not of the same soil, but rather coming from across Italy

• Romulus also orchestrated the abduction of the Sabine women

• He leads Rome in its first wars against Caenina, Crustumerium, and Antemnae, who are all defeated, and become Rome’s first colonies

• The Temple of Jupiter Feretius is founded; spolia optima created (honor bestowed among Roman generals)

• He vows to dedicate a temple to Jupiter Stator if the Romans hold when the Sabines invade with Tarpeia’s help

  • Symbolizes Romulus’s continual use of religion for conquer/defense

• The intervention of the Sabine women leads to a treaty with Romulus and Tatius (Sabine) ruling as co-kings

• Allegedly, he dies when he vanishes within a thunderstorm on the field of Mars, and undergoes apotheosis: transformation into a God (Quirinus)??

The Abduction of Sabine Women

• Romulus sends envoys across Italy to petition for intermarriage; however, because most of the citizens are invalids, no city grants the right

• Thus, Romulus hosts the Consuales Ludi (religious celebration) as a pretext for the abduction of the Sabine women

• On cue, the men take the Sabine women, who understandably are angry

  • Romulus can calm them down, convincing them that the men will be great husbands, that they were overcome by passion, that they would share civil/property rights

• Later, the Sabine men, with Tarpeia’s help, invade Rome attempting to take back their wives; however, the women intervene to stop the fighting

  • Do not want to watch the fathers of their children perish

The Pomerium

• Created by Romulus during his rule as King

• Area of the city (where Romulus first plowed) in which one cannot farm, kill, or live

  • A violation of these rules was considered a grave offense

  • Lictors even remove the axes from their Fasces upon entrance into this area

Numa Pompilius

• Longest reign of any of the Roman Kings at 43 years, a Sabine man known for his virtue and piety

  • He was elected by the Senate after the people relinquished their right to vote for their own King

  • Allegedly a disciple of Pythagoras; however, Livy dispels that notion, arguing that Roman excellence can exist without Greek influence

• Numa was known for bringing piety to Rome, taking it away from its warlike state by instilling fear of the Gods

  • Built the Temple of Janus (open when war is at Rome, closed when Rome is at peace)

  • Established the first 12-month calendar

  • Established Flamens and the Flamen Dialis to oversee the care of the Gods

  • Established the Pontifex Maximus

  • Established the Vestal Virgins (daughters of the state), tasked with keeping the eternal flame burning, given special privileges and a stipend

Mos Maiorum

• Translates to “customs of the elders” or “way of the ancestors”

• Explains why the Senate is an approving body, despite the sovereignty of the people

  • The Senate would approve treaties, the allocation of funds, the election of Kings and other propositions

• These are not codified procedures, but are based on historical precedent

  • Laws did not need to be referred to the Senate for approval

    • Breaking this was seen a taboo, since the precedent was so strong

    • It would also bring the anathema of lawmakers

• Livy attributes this custom in the days of the Kingdom to strengthen its historical precedent

• These customs were viewed as the ways of the Republic’s virtuous ancestors, and thus the way to make the Republic function

  • Breaking them could be interpreted as a bid for Kingship, a grave offense, and one that an individual could be killed for

Flamens??

• Flamens are priests, and they were established by Numa to oversee care for the Gods, and to honor the Gods

  • They are governed by all sorts of weird restrictions

• The Flamen Dialis is the Priest of Jupiter

Pontifex Maximus??

• An office set up by Numa tasked with the oversight of all religious obligations

  • Becomes a position of immense prestige

Fasces

• These are bundles of sticks with an axe inside that were carried around by individuals known as Lictors

  • Of Etruscan and regal origin

  • Embody the power of capital and corporal punishment

• The degree to which an official held imperium was determined by the number of fasces and lictors with them

• They were symbols of tyranny, fear, violence, dread, power, death, etc…

  • Citizens were never pleased to see the Lictors with the Fasces

    • Officials would have their Lictors lower the Fasces when making a speech to put the crowd at ease

  • When citizens broke fasces, it was a symbol of rejecting a politician and their authority

• Romans were always trying to carve out exceptions for themselves regarding imperium

• The modern meaning of fasces (democratic unity and strength) comes from modernity’s confusion with Aesop and his fable

• Fascism comes from Fasces, with the Lictor being viewed as the good citizen who selflessly sacrifices themselves for the cause of Fascism

  • Their use in fascist cultures decreased their appearance in democratic contexts

Imperium

• Term that comes from imperare “to command”

• Represents the formal power of life and death as well as the authority to exercise one’s judgement free of inhibitions

  • Signifies one’s power over capital punishment

• In the Kingdom, the King alone held imperium, however, as the Republic matured, imperium was divided among many offices

  • Quaestors, Consuls and Proconsuls all held different degrees of imperium

• Furthermore, there were different laws that lessened its supreme authority when dealing with citizens

• Military imperium remained much more intact than civil imperium

Fetials

• Priests who declared war and peace, thereby providing a religious justification for war in Roman society

  • Also served to ritualize war and peace

    • Created by Tullus Hostilius

Servius Tullius

• The Second Etruscan King who succeeded Priscus

  • First unelected King who was placed on the throne either by Tranquil or popular will

• Said to have, but did not actually build, the Servian walls

• Established the Comitia Centuriata to replace the Comitia Curiata

  • Required the creation of the first census

• Murdered by his son-in-law, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus

Tarquinius Superbus

• Final Roman King, who became infamous for his tyrannical acts

  • Slaughtered Senators without trial or appeal

  • Forced the citizens to complete various projects requiring intensive labor (i.e., Cloaca Maxima)

  • Never consulted the Senate or the people before taking action

  • Fined, executed, and extorted whomever without impunity

• Only purchased three of nine Sibylline Books; Seized Gabii through violent trickery

• Dethroned by Brutus, after his son Sextus assaults Lucretia

  • Driven from the city, never to reign again

Lucretia

• Wife of Collantius, who is considered the most faithful of the leading soldiers’ wives

• She is assaulted by Sextus Tarquin, leading to outrage among the other leading men, such as Brutus

  • Commits suicide to make her honor unimpeachable

    • This suicide inspires Brutus to lead the revolt against the Tarquins

• Turned into a moral exemplar through her service to the state via suicide

Valerius Publicola

• Wealthy man renowned for his generosity to the poor

  • Served with Brutus to help drive out the Tarquins

  • One night, he is visited by a slave (Vindicius) who tells him of a plot being developed to restore the monarchy

• Publicola helps thwart this plot by capturing the conspirators and having Vindicius testify against them

• Elected consul after Collantius is driven out of the city

  • Tarquin association, and because he hesitated to sentence his nephews who were involved in the restoration plot

Horatii and Curiatii

• Sets of triplets, the Horatii from Rome, and the Curiatii from Alba Longa

  • Fighting to decide the fate of Alba Longa

• Brutal conflict that ends with only Publius Horatius standing

• Upon returning to Rome, the crowd erupts seeing Publius, however, his sister is mourning the now dead Curiatii triplet she was engaged to

  • So Publius stabs her, admonishing her for mourning an enemy and forgetting her brothers/fatherland

• Publius is put on trial for this, and sentenced to be hanged and scrounged

• He issues the first Provocatio (“I call out”)

  • Ends up being acquitted, not because he is innocent, but because the public love him

Comitia Centuriata

• Established by Servius Tullius to replace the Comitia Curiata

• Divided Romans into tribes based on class and military service

  • Gave the aristocracy primacy in voting, and thus an advantage

  • However, all Roman citizens could vote

• Significantly increased political power and prepared them for a Republic

• Passed certain laws, and was responsible for electing higher magistrates

Provocatio (Provoco: “I call out”)

• First used by Publius Horatius to appeal his sentence after he murdered his sister

• Allows the assembly to vote on a citizen’s fate in cases of capital punishment

• Extended to Roman soldiers and provincials under the Porcian laws

Brutus

• Feigns stupidity for the majority of his life so that Tarquin never suspects him

• After Lucretia’s death, he swears a blood oath promising to drive out the Tarquins

  • Takes charge and has the Comitia revoke Tarquin’s Imperium; forces him and his family from the city

• Voted in as consul with Collantius by the Comitia Centuriata

• Has his Romans swear off all tyranny

• Upon finding that his sons participated in a plot to restore the monarchy, he has them executed

  • Seen as virtuous because of the sacrifice he made and his willingness to put the state above all else, including familial ties

• Plutarch writes that the Romans love Brutus because of his association with the Republic and virtue

  • Shows no emotion/second thoughts upon sentencing his sons to death

    • Putting the state above all social bonds and self-worth

    • New idea of virtue emerging around the state

Poverty in the Roman World

The Conflict of Orders

• Concerned with the protection of privileges

  • Enslaved debtors want relief, especially former soldiers

• Frustration at the lack of relief and representation

• Endless patrician waffling

  • Refuse to settle the debt crisis on several occasions (i.e., when Servius returns with enslaved debtors from war)

• Leads to the first secessio plebis (Secession of the Plebs)at the Mons Sacer (Sacred Mount) in 494 BCE

  • Halts all affairs in Rome

• Menenius Agrippa tells the seceding Plebs the parable of the stomach in an attempt to convince them to return

• Leads to a creation of the Tribune of the Plebs

  • Begins the second phase of the Conflict of Orders

• The conflict continues with Patricians holding a majority of authority

  • Secessions are certainly real, but the events are dramatized

Results

• Plebeian and Patrician fully separated from class

  • Both classes become “equal”

• Creation of the Plebeian-Patrician aristocracy and calming/claiming of the Tribunate

  • Wealthy Plebeians see riches amass in their hands, and side with Patricians who help buy Tribunes

  • Leads to Plebeians betrayal and the selling out of the Tribunate

• Everyone is a Plebeian by the late Republic

• No serious reform in terms of economic poverty besides the attempted alleviation of poverty

  • The lots of the poor are set in stone, as Knapp says

Lex Hortensia

• Enacted in 287 BCE

• Passed by the first Plebeian dictator, Quintus Hortensius

  • Made dictator to handle another secession of the Plebs

  • Traditional end date of the Conflict of Orders

• Made all bills passed by the Plebiscites?? binding on the entire population of Rome, and gave all Tribune legislation the same legitimacy as laws proposed by actual magistrates

Lex Licinia Sextia

• Enacted in 367 BCE

• Opened the door for Plebeian consulships, restricted land ownership, created the Praetorship, created the Decemviri for the Syblline books (5 Plebs), allowed for Tribunes to approach higher office

Twelve Tables and the Decemviri

• The first written record of Roman law, and a source for later codes

• Agitation begins in 462 BCE, since without writing laws were arcane and enforced on whims

  • The people did not know the laws, and would randomly find themselves punished for that

• Envoys are sent to Athens to learn about laws

Board of Decemviri (451-449 BCE)

• Board of ten put in charge of publishing a system of rights and punishments that were highly amendable (Twelve Tables)

• Published the Twelve Tables on the rostra, and these served as a basis for later Roman law codes

  • The tables were broken into 12 sections, of which only a portion survives, collected from a myriad of sources

  • Some of the rules are hyper-specific, while others are broader

Verginia and the Decemviri

• The Second group of Decemviri, led by Appius Claudius, became tyrants as they refused to cede imperium

• Appius claims that Verginia, a Pleb, is one of his clients’ escaped slaves and tries to re-enslave her

  • A corrupt court led by Claudius leads to her sentencing

• Her father begs to see her one last time and stabs her to “vindicate” her to liberty

  • Verginia becomes another tragic woman who sacrifices her life for the state

• Fury over this action leads to the second secession of the Plebs and the ousting of the Decemviri

Sacrosanctity

• Status held by the Tribunes that is the source of their power

  • Means they cannot be killed or harmed, and if they are, the offender is liable to be killed with impunity or given accursed status

  • Essentially, this is supposed to prevent one from being easily able to intimidate them into changing course

    • However, once the aristocrats buy the office, it enables them to halt all public business during disagreements

Tribune of the Plebs

• An office only for those who come from Plebeian families

• NO imperium or Lictors (not magistrates)

  • Could only convene specific assemblies (i.e., “Tributa”)

• Power derived from being sacrosanct

• Eventually elected by the comitia tributa

• Held the ultimate veto (intercessio)

Theory/Reality

• Held the state accountable and looked out for Plebeians

  • Mainly intervened during levies to force negotiations

  • Could also prevent the passage of any law

• Ignoring an intercessio, provocatio, or violating the sacrosanctity of a Tribune would result in death or accursed status

  • The veto was mainly used as a threat and was largely based on popularity

  • They mainly vetoed the Senatus Consultum (discussion)

• Could convene the concilium plebis and comitia tributa to suggest and pass laws

  • Later these laws would apply to all Roman citizens

• Significantly changes over time as it is bought out and becomes another element of aristocratic control

Plebeians and Patricians

• Patricians: Descendants of the initial population brought in by Romulus

  • Also includes families like the Claudians and Julians who were added from conquered cities like Alba Longa

• Plebeians: All other Roman citizens

• The Patricians held virtually all power in the early Republic

  • Includes high offices, augurs, pontiffs, committee votes

• NOT an economic distinction

• Patricians eventually fade mostly into obscurity

Rex

• Defined as “King”

• Those accused of being a rex face a very serious charge, and usually either the accuser or accused ends up dying

  • All Romans have a moral duty to kill suspected rex for the sake of the state

• After dying, those who were suspected often have their property confiscated, their house destroyed and that spot consecrated

Roman Virtus??

Cincinnatus

• Embodiment of the Republican Virtus

• Despised Plebeians and the Conflict of Orders

• Allegedly appointed dictator twice, once for sure

  • Dictatorship is the only unelected Roman office; consuls do most of the appointing

• Both of his dictatorship narratives demonstrate some form of Roman excellence

First Dictatorship (458 BCE)

• One Roman army destroyed, another trapped by the Aequians

• Cincinnatus is at the plow at the age of 61 when envoys tell him that he has been appointed dictator

• Crushed the Aequians and made them pass under a yoke (symbolizing humiliation/dehumanization)

• Resigns after 16 days and returns to his farm

*Cincinnatus’s virtue comes from resisting the temptation of power, being humble, serving the state when called upon, and embodying the agrarian myth

Second Dictatorship (439 BCE)

• Spurius Maelius was a plebeian who bought grain he intended to distribute during a shortage

  • Seen as building a power base among the poor

  • Suspected rex (King); allegedly storing weapons and holding secret meetings

• Cincinnatus is made dictator at 80, and his Master of the Horse tracks down and kills Maelius without a right to appeal

  • Cincinnatus thinks that the Tribunate and provocatio have made the Romans soft; thus, he approves of the conduct

  • He also disapproves of the equalization of the power structure

• Cincinnatus resigns after 21 days in power

*He is virtuous because he sacrificed his retirement to serve the state; he resists the temptation of power; he helps kill a suspected rex

Caius Mucius Scaevola

• Roman, who during a siege by the Etruscans, sneaks into the Etruscan camp to kill their King

  • Ends up killing the wrong man, and is captured

• Upon capture, he plunges his hand into a fire, which scares the King and causes him to be released

  • Before being released, he also tells the King that hundreds more are ready to follow in his footsteps

    • These two events combined lead to the Etruscans negotiating a peace treaty

• Scaevola is viewed as virtuous because he is willing to suffer for and serve the state regardless of his own bodily harm

Valerian Laws

• Made the people sovereign in capital punishment by legalizing the provocatio and setting up its function

  • Those sentenced can appeal to the assembly

  • Leads to a gradual disappearance of capital punishment over time

• However, these laws were mostly for the elite

• Marks a shift where Romans can no longer be killed with impunity

Res Publica?? (Separation of Imperium)

• Means “The Public Thing”

  • Used in reference to the Republic

Pietas

• Modern Term for piety

• Means conscientiousness and represents a person who meets obligations

  • The divine was viewed as an obligation by Romans

  • Thus, someone who was pious, met their religious obligations

Do ut Des

• Means I give so that you may give

  • Embodies the contractual nature of Roman religion

  • The Roman citizenry gave to the Gods in the hope that the Gods would give back

  • Includes giving votive offerings, performing dedication, saying specific lines

    • Specific instructions were always provided (i.e., Cato)

Cato’s Ritual Descriptions

• Cato’s recorded rituals are meant to purify one’s land, preserve the health of the livestock, ward off sickness/destruction, and flourish harvests

• Embodies the personal/familial aspect of Roman religion

• Embodies the principle of Do ut Des since one is expected to sacrifice/offer something to the Gods in return for these favors

  • For example, the suovetaurilia is offered in his second ritual

Types of Religious Activities

• There are three main locations of religion in the Republic, each of which involves different activities

• Familial/Personal

  • Involved household Gods, ancestor worship, farming/craftsman assistance, the principle of self-help

• City

  • Festivals, feasts, elections, priesthoods

  • Ensures all state actions were accepted by the divine to ensure the city met its obligations with the divine

  • Oversees elections, festivals, etc.

• Imperial/Regional: Cult of Roma, Panhellenic games

Specifics:

Sacrifice

• Animals selected based on deity and dressed appropriately

  • Ritually impure dismissed

    • Roman religion cared deeply about the separation of purity and impurity (foreigners, criminals, infamia kept separate from pure rituals)

    • Occupations, social standing, and birth all played a role in determining religious status

• Prayers offered (Do ut Des) and an animal slaughtered

• Animal then cooked and offered to the deity; people typically consume the rest

Penates and Lares

• Originally brought by Aeneas from Troy

• Gods thought to be protectors of the family and the household

  • Follows one’s family wherever

• Under the delegation of the paterfamilias

  • Can be delegated to clients/slaves

Roman Funerary Practices

Non-Elites

• Nobody is buried in the Pomerium

• Emphasis on the correct disposal of one’s body; if a body was disposed of incorrectly this was seen as a bad sign/omen

  • Significant effort was put into proper death rituals

• The poor were cremated and left in mass graves

  • Quickly disposed of

• Charon’s coin was placed in the mouth’s of some to give them safe passage through the underworld

Elites

• Involves ritual lamentation (women cry/wail; men groan)

• The bodies are washed and then exposed for seven days so that all can pay proper respect

• Involves a lengthy procession through the city that includes actors wearing masks of the ancestors

  • Praeficae (professional female mourners) and musicians

• Eulogy given on the rostra among the ancestors, with the individual being spoken of as great, and their virtue providing a moral example

Orthopraxy

• No sources on orthodoxy regarding Roman religion, rather Rome was a society of orthopraxy (correct practice)

  • The Pax Deorum was maintained through correct ritual observance

• Any flaw in an election, ritual, etc… could invoke divine wrath

  • If there is a flaw, the Romans must redo the entire affair

• This is why the Romans provide such specific detailed instructions regarding their religious rituals

Pontiffs

• One of the several offices of state religion

  • Composed of Flamens and the Pontifex Maximus

• Most important priests

  • Oversaw all major religious functions

  • Supervised all other priests (fetials, salii, etc…)

• Ensured compliance with the Pax Deorum

• Regulated expiation rituals, consecrations, and major sacrifices

• Maintained annalistic records and important state documents

• Had the final say in religious matters

Augurs

• “Religious Birdwatchers”

  • Come from the Etruscan art of divination from the sky (predates Pontiffs)

• Interpreted divine will from watching the sky or birds in general

• Required before all elections, voting procedures, major military actions, founding colonies, etc…

• Often times used to implement the Obnuntiatio

  • The process of halting/delaying all public business due to unfavorable omens

Haruspices

• Etruscan diviners and keepers of ancient wisdom

  • Seen as having a unique divine connection

• Often consulted the Senate, but not an official office

  • Read entrails before major events (similar but less common than auguries)

  • Brought in as consults for major portents

Saturnalia

• Festival between 2-7 days that celebrates Saturn’s rule of Italy

• Social roles reversed and equality practiced

  • Slaves dressed the same as elites, and were actually brought food by elites

• Involves lots of drinking and feasting (Raucous)

• Origin for Christmas

Expiations

• Response to issues with orthopraxy, negative portents, and impiety

• Consulted a variety of sources (haruspices, pontiffs, and sibylline books)

• Had to redo festivals, chorus of singers, remove sources of nefas or scelus, could take a myriad of forms depending on what happened

  • Nefas: Unspeakable or wicked deed

  • Scelus: Crime, act against the odds

• Also took the form of punishing impious criminals

  • Punishments and expiation had logic

Magic

• Unsanctioned religion, but prominent religion

• Often labelled superstitio (excessive fear of the gods)

• Includes amulets, individual freelance diviners, a whole host of religious practitioners

• Appealed to the nonelite

• A regulated practice

Pax Deorum & its Dangers

• Means “Peace of the Gods”

• The idea is that the Romans must meet their religious obligations to the Gods to prevent anything awful from happening

  • Take rigorous care and precision to ensure that the Gods do not explode everything with extreme violence

  • Fear that everything is hanging on by a thread, with the Gods being volatile

• All citizens are bound by this covenant

  • The most important contract between the human and supernatural

• Source of all Roman success

Dangers to Pax Deorum

• Any misstep in orthopraxy has grievous consequences

  • Gaius Flaminius and the battle of Lake Trasimene

• Even sacrifice had many, many fail-safes

• Potential blood pollutant at each sacrifice

• Grisly affairs

• Anti-Roman actions carefully intertwined with religious impiety

  • Gravest crimes transcended private law

Portents/Prodigies

• Prodigies are relatively common affairs

  • Almost every major military defeat is blamed on ignorance of omens

  • Consequences are arguments for evidence of the divine, as exemplified by Cicero

    • Tiberius Gracchus

• Julius Obsequens: Late Imperial author who catalogued the portents of the Republic and Empire

Socii

• Unlikely that Rome conquered all of Italy

  • Would have exhausted its manpower

• Instead, used Aristocratic Diplomatic Conquest

  • Elite cooperation/collusion forming Socii across city-states

  • Aristocrats gave up autonomy in exchange for Roman protection, land for Roman colonies

• Socii (“Friends”)

  • Italy bound in a system of alliances that becomes one of Rome’s advantages in conquest

  • After conquest or diplomatic annexation, Romans granted the city the status of socii (ally)

  • Romans also seized land from the city to set up Latin colonies

  • These allies had obligations not to fight one another, give soldiers to Rome in its wars, and refrain from participating in foreign policy

    • Other than that, they have complete autonomy

  • Allies ended up forming almost half of Rome’s army (source of manpower)

    • Significant manpower without administrative burdens

  • Leads to a gradual pacification of Italy

Roman and Latin Colonies

• Roman Colonies: Small cities (usually on ports), populated by Romans who maintained citizenship on very small plots of land

• Latin: Huge cities populated by Roman and Italian families; Romans lose citizenship and receive the status of Latin rights

  • Latin rights were the middle ground for citizenship (intermarriage, protection against capital punishment)

    • Rights varied from colony to colony

  • Broke up Italian land bases to separate strong city-states from cooperating and to ensure loyalty

Why?

• Protection and peace; built in autonomy and protections

• Colonies provided new trading opportunities

  • Significant boost for merchants

• Romans built roads around their colonies that made travel easier

Pyrrhic War (Epirus)

• Very common motif for Roman expansion

• Tarentum (Greek) joins with the Samnites to attack the Romans, but fail

  • Appeal to Epirus, whose King Pyrrhus decides to help them

• Pyrrhus defeats the Romans, but his victories are unsustainable, and are essentially defeats because of the loss they entail

  • “Pyrrhic Victory”

  • Rome uses its manpower to overwhelm him, Tarentum later falls

  • First Greek to notice Rome, part of the increasing scale of war

  • Rome and Carthage actually ally with one another

Carthage

• Phoenician colony; Punic Empire

  • Naval hegemon that relies on smaller mercenary armies

• Republic (Suffetes, aristocratic Senate, assemblies)

• Foreign foe, much of the information we have on it was written by its enemies

• Continually tries to expand into Eastern Sicily

First Punic War

• Longest continuous war in antiquity (264 - 241 BCE)

• Rome lacks a navy, but builds one and initially wins on land and at sea

• Ends with a series of brutally long sieges with no sign of victory

Origins

• Messina is overcome by pirates who are later besieged and beg both Roman/Carthage for aid

  • Carthage accepts; Rome, unsure what to do, puts a vote to the assembly, which decides to declare war

Roman Adaptability/Stubborness

• Romans attempt a land invasion of Carthage but are repelled, losing their first fleet to a storm in 255 BCE

• Lose their second fleet to this same storm in 253 BCE

• Third fleet sunk at the Battle of Drepana in 249 BCE

• Their fourth fleet required citizen funding to be built

Results

• Both states were bankrupted and had their manpower destroyed

• Romans forced the Carthaginians to pay an indemnity of 3,200 talents over 10 years

• Rome gained Sicily, later Sardinia and Corsica

  • Sicily becomes Rome’s first province; main agricultural hub of the Empire

• Humiliates Carthage

  • Leads Carthage to seek new opportunities and revenge

    • Capture Saguntum in 218 BCE

    • Confiscate Roman ships/supplies; attack Roman ambassadors (2nd)

Corvus/Battle of Mylae

• Adaptability was one of the two keys to Roman success

• Includes Rome building a navy from scrap

  • Adds the Corvus (Raven), which enabled soldiers to board enemy ships very easily (walkway)

  • Turns naval warfare into land warfare, where the Romans excel

• Leads to a Roman victory at Mylae in 260 BCE against the main Carthaginian fleet

  • However, this innovation was abandoned after this battle

Polybius

• The historian of the Middle Republic

• Greek historian from the second Century BCE

• Hostage of the Scipio’s

• Witnessed the Third Punic War

  • His history covers Rome from the First Punic War to the end of the Third Punic War

• Unique and reliable historian

  • Unique in that he is not afraid to disparage the work of others

  • Reliable in that he relies on annalistic records and witnesses

• Rome’s first superfan

  • Writing to illustrate Rome’s quick rise to power, emphasizing the superiority of its government in that conquest

    • In particular, because he is Greek, he wants to explain to his fellow countrymen how the Romans conquered them

      • The Greeks are largely unaware of who the Romans are

Hannibal

• Takes an oath as a child never to befriend the Romans

• Long march over the Alps recorded by Polybius

  • Arrives with 37,000 troops and war elephants

  • Guided by the enemies of Rome

• Attempts to break Rome and brings it the closest it has ever been to destruction

  • Keeps winning battles against the Romans and inflicting major losses

• Stays in Italy for about 15 years, until the Romans adapt

Second Punic War

• Largest conflict in the Middle Republic

  • Begins with conflict in Iberia, leading Carthage to take Saguntum, prompting Rome to declare war

• The other age of heroes and agrarian myth

• Rome eventually prevails through adaptation

• Rome loses on several different occasions

  • Battle of Ticinus (218 BCE): Hannibal uses his superior cavalry to defeat Publius Scipio

  • Battle of Trebia (218 BCE): The other consul, sent to aid Scipio, is baited by H and has his consular army of 40,000 destroyed

  • Battle of Lake Trasimene (217 BCE): Hannibal ambushed nearly the entirety of Flaminius’s forces

Fabius Cunctator (Delayer)

• Emphasizes a strategy of patience, telling the Romans to wait for Hannibal to exhaust his manpower and resources

  • Instead, send aid to the Socii to prevent them from supporting Hannibal

  • Shadows Hannibal, constantly harassing him but avoiding pitched battle

• Appointed as dictator after the Battle of Lake Trasimene

• Encourages obedience by taking emergency measures

  • 24 lictors; deposition of the other consul; emphasis on honoring the Gods (expiates the city)

• People become disgruntled with his strategy, appoint his Master of the Horse co-dictator (accused of being a traitor/lazy)

  • FC is forced to save him in battle

• Later steps down, but after Cannae, he is re-appointed

  • Guards stationed around the city; regulation of mourning; bans the word Pax

  • Italy is fully mobilized, scorched, and taxed

    • Able to recover Tarentum and Capua

      • Make an example of Capua to scare other Socii into returning to the Roman’s side (slaughter, enslavement, partition)

      • Armies sent to Sicily and Iberia

  • Victory considered only a matter of time

• Emphasizes that in high office, parents and children are secondary to Rome’s good

• Later scolds Scipio Africanus for leaving Rome, clearly in the wrong

  • Yet, the Roman people honor him by paying for his burial

Cannae

• New Consuls dispose of Fabius’s scorched-earth policy and combine their consular armies

• Muster an army of 80,000 Romans against 40,000 Carthaginians

• 216 BCE: Roman stubbornness on full display

  • Hannibal uses superior tactics, baiting the Romans in and allowing his line to bend, only to double-envelope the Romans

  • Republic’s worst defeat

  • Causes many potential enemies of Rome to ally with Carthage

    • Gauls, Syracusans, Samnites

  • H breaks the Socii by demonstrating Roman vulnerability

Scipio Africanus

Battle of Zama

The Roman Triumph