The Roman Revolution of Servius Tullius

Vocabulary flashcards detailing the constitutional reforms, military transformations, societal restructuring, and fall of Servius Tullius.

Servius Tullius

The legendary 6th king of Rome (c. 578–535 BC) who launched a social and political revolution, reshaping the Roman constitution by replacing hereditary privilege with wealth-based citizenship.

Census

A systematic registration of all Roman citizens, their families, and their property to determine their financial worth and class ranking.

Five Property Classes

The socio-economic divisions into which Servius Tullius restructured citizenry, alongside the wealthy cavalry and the propertyless proletarii.

Centuriate Assembly (Comitia Centuriata)

A political body created by the Servian reforms to vote on laws and elect magistrates, where citizens voted within military units (centuries) grouped by their wealth class.

193 Total Centuries

The voting units within the Centuriate Assembly, structured such that the upper wealth classes held the majority and could decide votes before poorer classes voted.

Geographical Urban Tribes

The 4 administrative divisions (plus rural tribes) created by Servius Tullius to replace the traditional 3 hereditary clans and break patrician bloodline power.

Servian Wall

A massive defensive fortification surrounding Rome's Seven Hills, traditionally credited to Servius Tullius as a physical monument symbolizing the unified urban community.

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus

The husband of Tullia who orchestrated a bloody coup to assassinate Servius Tullius and usurped the throne as Rome's final tyrant king.

Tullia

The daughter of Servius Tullius who, together with her husband Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, orchestrated the bloody coup that ended her father's reign.