Spaces of Roman Constitutionalism 26-28 September 2019

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Spaces of Roman Constitutionalism 26-28 September 2019 Spaces of Roman Constitutionalism 26-28 September 2019 Law, Governance and Space: Questioning the Foundations of the Republican Tradition (SpaceLaw) University of Helsinki Tieteiden talo (House of Science and Letters) Kirkkokatu 6, 00170 Helsinki Márlio Aguiar (University of São Paulo): Iurisdictio, ius dicere and ius dicentis officium in Roman legal tradition between the Republic and the Principate The word iurisdictio can be described as a basic historical concept (Geschichtliche Grundbegriff) in Roman legal and political history. It is at the same time a semantic unit that aims to explain a social phenomenon as a cognoscitive scientia or ars, and a normative concept which aims to act in social reality, concerned with the exercise of ius dicere to order the society. With the transformation and growth from the Republic to the Empire, not only the ius ciuile was marked with many changes, but 1 also the ius publicum (concerning the res publica, the princeps, the magistrates and the Roman officials) – and the iurisdictio was related with both private and public dimensions. After the lex Aebucia and the lex Plaetoria, from the mid and Late Republic until the Severan age, the Romans effectively used this concept within their own legal and cultural tradition of continuous modification of past concepts. The Romans later forged the nominalized form of the word that expressed the characteristics, symbols and acts of the “ius dicere”: praetors, aediles, the princeps, prases provinciarum, praefecti (and many of their legati) were all invested with some kind of iurisdictio, the ius dicentis officium (Ulp. D.2.1.1). The iurisdictio also played a large role in Roman legal history by its function in Roman civil procedure as the main function of the iudex appointed by the magistrate in the in iure stage for the trial in the stage apud iudicem. The iurisdictio is linked since its origins with the administration of Justice, simultaneously with the procedural-institutional aspects (the Courts, the quaestiones etc.) and substantial aspects of the ius edicendi. The iurisdictio was also connected with key-terms of the Roman public realm and its political culture, specially imperium, potestas and auctoritas. The relevance (and the tension) of such terms remained in the post-Classical and medieval understanding of iurisdictio as can be seen in the various comments on Digest 2.1.1 and D.1.21.1 in authors like Bartolus. For our purposes, the iurisdictio can be seen as the nodal point of the institutional and the legal history of Rome; it is an evidence of the immense laboratory of experiments of republican and imperial administrative and political practices. In brief, the iurisdictio is a way to understand how they thought their own politics, the exercise of governance and the “language” capable of expressing their legal experience. Tuuli Ahlholm (University of Oxford): Public figures? The display of numerical state information and the values of Roman Republicanism Producing and processing numerical data was an inherent part of Roman Republican administration, in the form of census records, tax revenues, state expenses, war booties, military logistics, election results, and geographical and architectural measurements. Public display and dissemination of such figures appears imperative to any political system that relies on the will of the people (cf. Cuomo, 2011). Any people that is entrusted with decision power, as was the case with the Republican populus, requires precise and objective state numbers to make informed decisions; and, they also satisfy the need for administrative accountability and transparency. Accordingly, we find that the Roman Republic had multiple fora to display such figures in public spaces, from the regular tabulae to both publicly and privately funded monuments. However, when we examine Republican history and what sort of numbers were recorded in monuments, we find that in different points of Republican history the public display of numerical data was heavily controlled by the elite, often also contested and subject to change. The status of public space as a forum of trustworthy political information was gravely compromised when many key state records could, in fact, be confined only to private spaces, and elites claimed the right to display triumphantly numbers of e.g. military campaigns in private monuments. How heavily were numbers that were allowed to enter the public sphere filtered and manipulated? What sort of numbers were carved in public monuments for all eternity, and which were only transiently available before disappearing to various public and private archives whereupon free and meaningful consultation was, as a rule, impossible? The current paper 1) reconstructs where, what kind of, and by whose agency numerical information relating to state matters was exhibited publicly in ancient Rome; 2) how public space was 2 accordingly used to display, often only superficially, values of democratic accountability and participation; and 3) what implications these aspects had on the balance of power between the populus and the elite in this ancient state that we call a republic. Joel Allen (City University of New York): Public Space at Nighttime in the Roman Republic On a morning in 121 BCE, dawn in the city of Rome shed light on the product of a nighttime escapade. According to Plutarch (Gaius Gracchus 16.6), onto the Temple of Concordia had been painted a slogan that reproached the consul, Lucius Opimius, who had commandeered the space by means of a reconstruction. The Gracchan faction, already oppressed by Opimius since the death of their champion, by means of nocturnal graffiti now challenged his claim to “their” temple, which had tokenized popular authority for centuries (Morstein-Marx 2004). The Gracchans thus achieved a declaration: the city one saw in the light of day was not the only city. A regime of the night should loom in any imagination, whereby different populations practiced different rites and were governed by different rules, ignored at one’s peril. This paper reads this and other episodes involving public space after dark against expectations of nighttime as revealed in Roman literary sources. On the one hand, evening hours were a moment of anxiety owing to fear of the unknown, be it human or supernatural, a sentiment that is clear among writers of the late Republic (Mueller 2004, on Livy) and early Principate (Spaeth 2010, on Ovid, among others). Roman political thought accordingly considered the evening city a different place from that of the day. In the Twelve Tables (VIII), the very existence of due process—the life-blood of any civil society—hinged on whether a crime were committed in darkness: during waking hours personal theft and political assemblage, no matter how contentious, had to be treated by the book; at night, at least with thieves, it was sauve qui peut. The state of light could influence the propriety of senate meetings (Ramsey 2008). On the other hand, as James Ker has shown (2004), in certain contexts nighttime labor was ennobled, precisely, according to Quintilian (10.3.22-27), because it was shielded from public review and gave the practitioner freedom to operate without shame or laughter. The nocturnal community could be seen as a productive one. Unruh (2015) reads a passage in Seneca’s Thyestes as a comment on the Domus Aurea’s encroachment onto public space, bringing with it a more gruesome form of night. As with historians of other pre- and early-modern societies (Koslofsky 2011, Baldwin 2012), the study of nighttime in Rome reveals nuances of social relations, political movements, and cultural stereotypes. Clifford Ando (University of Chicago): The Perils of Republican Magistracy: Elite Competition in Space and Time It was a notable feature of Roman republican politics that competition among the elite for prestige and office took place to a very large degree outside of Rome. In the language of Sallust, which was echoed by Augustine and affirmed by Machiavelli, the virtue of the elite was expressed in a desire to dominate, and the project of empire issued from a compromise whereby that desire to dominate was directed not at the masses in Rome but outwards, to enemies further and further afield. By the early second century BCE, the diversity and size of the empire triggered fundamental changes in the structures of politics and the nature of elite competition. The effects of this are visible in the politicization of controls on magistrates in two arenas, senate and assembly. These controls were often expressed in terms of geographic constraints on magisterial action, which amounted to an incipient project of mapping and territorializing empire. 3 Alberto Barrón Ruiz de la Cuesta (Universidad de Cantabria): Among priests and magistrates: towards the function of the seviri Augustales The aim of this contribution is to analyse the discussed function of the Augustality, following the precedent studies and the preserved sources of the seviratus Augustalis, which are mainly epigraphic. The uncertain rank and nature of this urban and semi-official institution, that was mainly hold by freedmen, has fostered the debate about its primary occupation and the responsibilities that it implied. While some aspects of the seviratus Augustalis are typical of a priesthood, other features can be also related with a collegiate magistracy, or even with the professional collegia. Indeed, the name of this particular organisation is parallel to those ones of many priesthoods, as some of its symbols
Recommended publications
  • Contents More Information
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-17549-4 - The Neighborhoods of Augustan Rome J. Bert Lott Table of Contents More information CONTENTS List of Figures and Tables page ix Abbreviations xi Acknowledgments xiii 1 Introducing Neighborhoods at Rome and Elsewhere 1 Neighborhoods at Rome 4 Defining Neighborhoods 12 Defining Vici in Ancient Rome 13 Neighborhoods in Modern Thought 18 Voluntary Associations 24 Conclusion 25 2 Neighborhoods in the Roman Republic 28 Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Neighborhood Religion 30 The Middle Republic 37 The Late Republic 45 Social Disaffection, Populares, and Community Action 45 Magistri Vici and Collegia Compitalicia 51 Neighborhoods in the Final Years of the Republic 55 Conclusion 59 3 Republic to Empire 61 Julius Caesar 61 The Triumvirate 65 The Augustan Principate Before 7 b.c.e. 67 A Statue for Mercurius on the Esquiline 73 vii © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-17549-4 - The Neighborhoods of Augustan Rome J. Bert Lott Table of Contents More information CONTENTS 4 The Reforms of Augustus 81 The Mechanics of Reform 84 The Ideology of Reform 98 Neighborhood Religion 106 Emperor and Neighborhood 117 Conclusion 126 5 The Artifacts of Neighborhood Culture 128 Think Globally, Act Locally 130 Altars in the Neighborhoods 136 Altar from the Vicus Statae Matris 137 Vatican Inventory 311 14 0 Altar of the Vicus Aesculeti 142 Altar of the Vicus Sandaliarius 144 Ara Augusta of Lucretius Zethus 146 Two Augustan Neighborhoods 148 Vicus Compiti Acili 148 Vicus of the Fasti Magistrorum Vici 152 Numerius Lucius Hermeros 161 Some Other Dedications and Magistri 165 Conclusion 168 6 Conclusion 172 Conclusion 175 Appendix.
    [Show full text]
  • The Shops and Shopkeepers of Ancient Rome
    CHARM 2015 Proceedings Marketing an Urban Identity: The Shops and Shopkeepers of Ancient Rome 135 Rhodora G. Vennarucci Lecturer of Classics, Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, University of Arkansas, U.S.A. Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of fixed-point retailing in the city of ancient Rome between the 2nd c BCE and the 2nd/3rd c CE. Changes in the socio-economic environment during the 2nd c BCE caused the structure of Rome’s urban retail system to shift from one chiefly reliant on temporary markets and fairs to one typified by permanent shops. As shops came to dominate the architectural experience of Rome’s streetscapes, shopkeepers took advantage of the increased visibility by focusing their marketing strategies on their shop designs. Through this process, the shopkeeper and his shop actively contributed to urban placemaking and the distribution of an urban identity at Rome. Design/methodology/approach – This paper employs an interdisciplinary approach in its analysis, combining textual, archaeological, and art historical materials with comparative history and modern marketing theory. Research limitation/implications – Retailing in ancient Rome remains a neglected area of study on account of the traditional view among economic historians that the retail trades of pre-industrial societies were primitive and unsophisticated. This paper challenges traditional models of marketing history by establishing the shop as both the dominant method of urban distribution and the chief means for advertising at Rome. Keywords – Ancient Rome, Ostia, Shop Design, Advertising, Retail Change, Urban Identity Paper Type – Research Paper Introduction The permanent Roman shop was a locus for both commercial and social exchanges, and the shopkeeper acted as the mediator of these exchanges.
    [Show full text]
  • The Impact of the Roman Army (200 BC – AD 476)
    Impact of Empire 6 IMEM-6-deBlois_CS2.indd i 5-4-2007 8:35:52 Impact of Empire Editorial Board of the series Impact of Empire (= Management Team of the Network Impact of Empire) Lukas de Blois, Angelos Chaniotis Ségolène Demougin, Olivier Hekster, Gerda de Kleijn Luuk de Ligt, Elio Lo Cascio, Michael Peachin John Rich, and Christian Witschel Executive Secretariat of the Series and the Network Lukas de Blois, Olivier Hekster Gerda de Kleijn and John Rich Radboud University of Nijmegen, Erasmusplein 1, P.O. Box 9103, 6500 HD Nijmegen, The Netherlands E-mail addresses: [email protected] and [email protected] Academic Board of the International Network Impact of Empire geza alföldy – stéphane benoist – anthony birley christer bruun – john drinkwater – werner eck – peter funke andrea giardina – johannes hahn – fik meijer – onno van nijf marie-thérèse raepsaet-charlier – john richardson bert van der spek – richard talbert – willem zwalve VOLUME 6 IMEM-6-deBlois_CS2.indd ii 5-4-2007 8:35:52 The Impact of the Roman Army (200 BC – AD 476) Economic, Social, Political, Religious and Cultural Aspects Proceedings of the Sixth Workshop of the International Network Impact of Empire (Roman Empire, 200 B.C. – A.D. 476) Capri, March 29 – April 2, 2005 Edited by Lukas de Blois & Elio Lo Cascio With the Aid of Olivier Hekster & Gerda de Kleijn LEIDEN • BOSTON 2007 This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC 4.0 License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
    [Show full text]
  • Calendar of Roman Events
    Introduction Steve Worboys and I began this calendar in 1980 or 1981 when we discovered that the exact dates of many events survive from Roman antiquity, the most famous being the ides of March murder of Caesar. Flipping through a few books on Roman history revealed a handful of dates, and we believed that to fill every day of the year would certainly be impossible. From 1981 until 1989 I kept the calendar, adding dates as I ran across them. In 1989 I typed the list into the computer and we began again to plunder books and journals for dates, this time recording sources. Since then I have worked and reworked the Calendar, revising old entries and adding many, many more. The Roman Calendar The calendar was reformed twice, once by Caesar in 46 BC and later by Augustus in 8 BC. Each of these reforms is described in A. K. Michels’ book The Calendar of the Roman Republic. In an ordinary pre-Julian year, the number of days in each month was as follows: 29 January 31 May 29 September 28 February 29 June 31 October 31 March 31 Quintilis (July) 29 November 29 April 29 Sextilis (August) 29 December. The Romans did not number the days of the months consecutively. They reckoned backwards from three fixed points: The kalends, the nones, and the ides. The kalends is the first day of the month. For months with 31 days the nones fall on the 7th and the ides the 15th. For other months the nones fall on the 5th and the ides on the 13th.
    [Show full text]
  • The Lex Sempronia Agraria: a Soldier's Stipendum
    THE LEX SEMPRONIA AGRARIA: A SOLDIER’S STIPENDUM by Raymond Richard Hill A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Boise State University August 2016 © 2016 Raymond Richard Hill ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COLLEGE DEFENSE COMMITTEE AND FINAL READING APPROVALS of the thesis submitted by Raymond Richard Hill Thesis Title: The Lex Sempronia Agraria: A Soldier’s Stipendum Date of Final Oral Examination: 16 June 2016 The following individuals read and discussed the thesis submitted by student Raymond Richard Hill, and they evaluated his presentation and response to questions during the final oral examination. They found that the student passed the final oral examination. Katherine V. Huntley, Ph.D. Chair, Supervisory Committee Lisa McClain, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee Lee Ann Turner, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee The final reading approval of the thesis was granted by Katherine V. Huntley, Ph.D., Chair of the Supervisory Committee. The thesis was approved for the Graduate College by Jodi Chilson, M.F.A., Coordinator of Theses and Dissertations. DEDICATION To Kessa for all of her love, patience, guidance and support. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to Dr. Katherine Huntley for her hours spent proofing my work, providing insights and making suggestions on research materials. To Dr. Charles Matson Odahl who started this journey with me and first fired my curiosity about the Gracchi. To the history professors of Boise State University who helped me become a better scholar. v ABSTRACT This thesis examines mid-second century BCE Roman society to determine the forces at work that resulted in the passing of a radical piece of legislation known as the lex Sempronia agraria.
    [Show full text]
  • Pompeii and Herculaneum: a Sourcebook Allows Readers to Form a Richer and More Diverse Picture of Urban Life on the Bay of Naples
    POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM The original edition of Pompeii: A Sourcebook was a crucial resource for students of the site. Now updated to include material from Herculaneum, the neighbouring town also buried in the eruption of Vesuvius, Pompeii and Herculaneum: A Sourcebook allows readers to form a richer and more diverse picture of urban life on the Bay of Naples. Focusing upon inscriptions and ancient texts, it translates and sets into context a representative sample of the huge range of source material uncovered in these towns. From the labels on wine jars to scribbled insults, and from advertisements for gladiatorial contests to love poetry, the individual chapters explore the early history of Pompeii and Herculaneum, their destruction, leisure pursuits, politics, commerce, religion, the family and society. Information about Pompeii and Herculaneum from authors based in Rome is included, but the great majority of sources come from the cities themselves, written by their ordinary inhabitants – men and women, citizens and slaves. Incorporating the latest research and finds from the two cities and enhanced with more photographs, maps and plans, Pompeii and Herculaneum: A Sourcebook offers an invaluable resource for anyone studying or visiting the sites. Alison E. Cooley is Reader in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick. Her recent publications include Pompeii. An Archaeological Site History (2003), a translation, edition and commentary of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti (2009), and The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy (2012). M.G.L. Cooley teaches Classics and is Head of Scholars at Warwick School. He is Chairman and General Editor of the LACTOR sourcebooks, and has edited three volumes in the series: The Age of Augustus (2003), Cicero’s Consulship Campaign (2009) and Tiberius to Nero (2011).
    [Show full text]
  • A Resolution of the Political Activities of Philo with the Politico-Messianic Ideas Expressed in His Works Leonard Jay Greenspoon
    University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Master's Theses Student Research Spring 1970 A resolution of the political activities of Philo with the politico-messianic ideas expressed in his works Leonard Jay Greenspoon Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses Recommended Citation Greenspoon, Leonard Jay, "A resolution of the political activities of Philo with the politico-messianic ideas expressed in his works" (1970). Master's Theses. Paper 308. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A BESOLUTIOO OF 1'HE POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF mn.,o wrm THE POLITICO-MESSIANIC IDF.AS EXPRESSED IN HIS WVRKS BY LE<llARD JAY GBEF.:N'SPOCFT A THESIS SU'.BMIT'1.'1ID TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY OF' THE UNIVERSITY OF P.ICHMOND m CAIIDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS JUNE 1970 LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF RV:::-tMONO VIRGINIA APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ANCIENT LANGUAGES DfuECTOR ii CONTENTS PREFACE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • iv CHAl?TER I. JEWS AND GENTILFS m JUDEA AND EGYPT • • • • • • • • • l Palestine fran 63 B.c. to 60 A.D •••••• • • • l Egypt from the Beginning or the Hellenistic Age to 38 A.D. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 19 Gaiua, Claudius and the Jews • • • . • • 33 POLITICS, MESSIA!JISM, AND PHILO • • # • • • • . 42 Polltics • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 42 Messianism • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 52 CHAP.fER III. THE RESOLUTION . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 67 APPENDIX I • • • • • • • • • • • . - • • • • • • • • • • 81 APPENDIX II . .. 83 BIBLIOORA.PHY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 85 VI'.t'A. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • \ iii LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND -- .
    [Show full text]
  • Roman Law and Global Constitutionalism
    DOMINGO.DOCX (DO NOT DELETE) 2/6/2020 3:56 PM Roman Law and Global Constitutionalism RAFAEL DOMINGO* TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................217 I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................218 II. APPLYING SOME LESSONS FROM ROMAN LAW TO GLOBAL CONSTITUTIONALISM ...............................................................................221 A. Cosmopolitan Spirit .......................................................................221 B. Unwritten Constitution ..................................................................223 C. Respect for Tradition .....................................................................225 D. Nonsovereign State Paradigm .......................................................226 E. A Integrated Idea of Public Law....................................................228 F. Recovering the Idea of Necessity as a Source of Binding Law...................................................................................230 G. A Nonfoundational Approach to Constituent Power......................232 H. A Nonpositivist Approach to the Law.............................................235 I. Centrality of Litigation and Plurality of Jurisdictions...................237 J. A Practical Law Connected With Reality.......................................239 III. CONCLUSION ...........................................................................................240 ABSTRACT
    [Show full text]
  • The Classification Into Branches of Modern Legal
    THE CLASSIFICAT ION IN T O BRANCHES OF MODERN LEGAL SYS T EMS 443 Revista de Derecho de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso XXVII (Valparaíso, Chile, 2º semestre de 2006) [pp. 443 - 472] THE classiFicatiON INTO BRANCHES OF MODERN LEGAL SYSTEMS AND ROMAN laW TRADITIONS [“La clasificación en ramas de los sistemas legales modernos y las tradiciones del Derecho romano”] GÁBOR HAMZA * RESUMEN ABS T RAC T El presente trabajo se basa en la lec- This paper is based on the author’s ción inaugural del autor para su ingreso opening lesson upon his entry into the en la Academia Húngara de Ciencias; y Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He en él examina las diversas divisiones en hereby discusses the various divisions in partes o ramas de que ha sido objeto el parts or branches of the Law throughout Derecho, a través de la historia, empe- history, beginning with those formulated zando por las formuladas por los juristas by Roman jurists of public and private romanos, de Derecho público y privado y Law, and of civil and praetorian (hono- Derecho civil y pretorio (honorario). Es rary) Law. The first one has undoubte- sobre todo la primera que ha tenido una dly some influence, which the author influencia posterior, que el autor analiza analyzes among the commentators, in entre los glosadores y comentaristas, en la the humanistic judicial practice, and in jurisprudencia humanística y en diversas several later schools, with an extension escuelas de la época posterior, con exten- to Scottish law and to the common law sión al derecho escocés y al common law, and, of course in the juridical science of y desde luego en la Ciencia jurídica de the XIX and XX centuries.
    [Show full text]
  • The Temple of Divus Iulus and the Restoration of Legislative
    Connecticut College Digital Commons @ Connecticut College Classics Faculty Publications Classics Department 2011 The eT mple of Divus Iulus and the Restoration of Legislative Assemblies under Augustus Darryl Phillips Connecticut College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/classfacpub Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons Recommended Citation Phillips, Darryl A. "The eT mple of Divus Iulus and the Restoration of Legislative Assemblies under Augustus" in Phoenix. Vol. 65: 3-4 (2011), 371-392 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Classics Department at Digital Commons @ Connecticut College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Classics Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Connecticut College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author. THE TEMPLE OF DIVUS IULIUS AND THE RESTORATION OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES UNDER AUGUSTUS DARRYL A. PHILLIPS I. INTRODUCTION /JLUGUSTUS' ACHIEVEMENT IN BRINGING ORDER TO THE STATE after the turbu- lent years of civil war is celebrated in many and diverse sources. Velleius Pater- culus (2.89.3) records that "force was returned to laws, authority to the courts, and majesty to the Senate, that the power of magistrates was brought back to its old level" (restituta vis legibus, iudiciis auctoritas, senatui maiestas, imperium magistratuum adpristinum redactum modum). Velleius continues on to offer the general summation that the old form of the republic had been reinstated (prisca ilia et antiqua reipublicae forma revocata).^ An aureus from 28 B.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Roman History the LEGENDARY PERIOD of the KINGS (753
    Roman History THE LEGENDARY PERIOD OF THE KINGS (753 - 510 B.C.) Rome was said to have been founded by Latin colonists from Alba Longa, a nearby city in ancient Latium. The legendary date of the founding was 753 B.C.; it was ascribed to Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of the daughter of the king of Alba Longa. Later legend carried the ancestry of the Romans back to the Trojans and their leader Aeneas, whose son Ascanius, or Iulus, was the founder and first king of Alba Longa. The tales concerning Romulus’s rule, notably the rape of the Sabine women and the war with the Sabines, point to an early infiltration of Sabine peoples or to a union of Latin and Sabine elements at the beginning. The three tribes that appear in the legend of Romulus as the parts of the new commonwealth suggest that Rome arose from the amalgamation of three stocks, thought to be Latin, Sabine, and Etruscan. The seven kings of the regal period begin with Romulus, from 753 to 715 B.C.; Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, from 534 to 510 B.C., the seventh and last king, whose tyrannical rule was overthrown when his son ravished Lucretia, the wife of a kinsman. Tarquinius was banished, and attempts by Etruscan or Latin cities to reinstate him on the throne at Rome were unavailing. Although the names, dates, and events of the regal period are considered as belonging to the realm of fiction and myth rather than to that of factual history, certain facts seem well attested: the existence of an early rule by kings; the growth of the city and its struggles with neighboring peoples; the conquest of Rome by Etruria and the establishment of a dynasty of Etruscan princes, symbolized by the rule of the Tarquins; the overthrow of this alien control; and the abolition of the kingship.
    [Show full text]
  • Romans on Parade: Representations of Romanness in the Triumph
    ROMANS ON PARADE: REPRESENTATIONS OF ROMANNESS IN THE TRIUMPH DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfullment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Amber D. Lunsford, B.A., M.A. * * * * * The Ohio State University 2004 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Erik Gunderson, Adviser Professor William Batstone Adviser Professor Victoria Wohl Department of Greek and Latin Copyright by Amber Dawn Lunsford 2004 ABSTRACT We find in the Roman triumph one of the most dazzling examples of the theme of spectacle in Roman culture. The triumph, though, was much more than a parade thrown in honor of a conquering general. Nearly every aspect of this tribute has the feel of theatricality. Even the fact that it was not voluntarily bestowed upon a general has characteristics of a spectacle. One must work to present oneself as worthy of a triumph in order to gain one; military victories alone are not enough. Looking at the machinations behind being granted a triumph may possibly lead to a better understanding of how important self-representation was to the Romans. The triumph itself is, quite obviously, a spectacle. However, within the triumph, smaller and more intricate spectacles are staged. The Roman audience, the captured people and spoils, and the triumphant general himself are all intermeshed into a complex web of spectacle and spectator. Not only is the triumph itself a spectacle of a victorious general, but it also contains sub-spectacles, which, when analyzed, may give us clues as to how the Romans looked upon non-Romans and, in turn, how they saw themselves in relation to others.
    [Show full text]