The Roman Republic

It is difficult to overestimate the historical significance of the Roman Republic.  The Romans were able to achieve something that had not been achieved before their time or since.  They unified Western Civilization in a single, and enduring state.  The existence of this state has had far-reaching implications.  It sustained and spread \ Greek and Roman religion, philosophy and literature.  It established a Hebrew/Greek religion--Christianity--as the dominant religion of Western Civilization, and it served as a model and inspiration for kings and rulers ever since.

How were the Romans able to create and sustain such a large and stable state for so long?  Some answer to this question is key to understanding the course of civilization in the West.  As with the Greeks, we need to consider Roman politics, family and society, religion and sports.

Family and Politics

As with the Greeks, the military organization of the phalanx infantry (learned from the Greeks) played an important role in the establishment of the Roman republic.  But the republic was quite different from the polis.  One reason for this was the Roman emphasis on family.  Aristotle said that the political life of the polis superseded the family.  The Romans never quite agreed; the family was always a key social bond, and the Roman republic was built initially as an assembly of leading families that united to govern themselves.  This has the potential of a more flexible than a polis because a republic of family representatives is more flexible and expandable than a polis.  More families might be included, even those from outside the city of Rome itself.  This republican system was a critical reason for Roman political success, as we shall see.

Because the family was so important, aristocratic women were more important in social and political life than was the case in classical Greeks.  In early Roman times, the family was dominated by the oldest male.  In later times, however, as Rome grew wealthy and cosmopolitan, the power of fathers declined.  Families wished to retain control of their wealth, even if that meant limiting husbands control over wives (and their family's possessions). After her father's death, a woman controlled her own dowry (the gift of her family to the marriage).  As Rome became richer, the property that women might control became larger, and they had more opportunities to assert themselves.  That is why conservative Romans like Cato the Elder wanted to limit women's luxury (Oppian Law--see p. 153). But the power of women was ultimately founded on the importance of the family, of which Cato approved.  As a traditional Roman, he thought it was more important to be a faithful husband and attentive father than a great senator.

Republican Political System

In the earliest period of the republic, Rome was governed by the men of the leading families (patricians).  They governed through a senate, and the senate selected the officers of the city and officials of the city religion.  The most important executive post was the consul. Two consuls were elected every year to pass laws and command the armies. Before long the consuls were elected not just by the leading families, but by all male citizens who were eligible to serve in the military. There were other elected posts as well, including financial and legal officers. One office was the Censor, who kept the records of citizenship, and might through people out if they were immoral or criminal. The chief religious official was the Pontifex Maximus, who was responsible for religious festivals, and for consultation with the gods on affairs of state.  (The Pope is still called the "Pontiff")

The key idea of the republican system was power-sharing. No one man or group would hold power. That is why there were two consuls and ten tribunes (see below). Power sharing worked not by a carefully written system, but by an understanding that everyone must cooperation, negotiate and compromise for the good of Rome. The Romans themselves spoke often of gravitas, the virtue of wisdom, duty and seriousness that made this government work. If political leaders lacked gravitas then the republic was in danger.

Early on, in the 5th century BCE (during the golden age of the Athenian Empire), plebs, non-aristocratic people, established their own form of government consisting of  a plebian council, officers called "tribunes", and laws called "plebiscites," and even developed their own religion centered on Ceres, the goddess of grain.  Soon, after the so-called "conflict of the orders," the plebian assembly and the tribunes gained recognition and power. This happened partly because many plebians were growing wealthier, and partly because of the importance of the common people Roman in the army.  By 287 BCE, it was law that one of the consuls had to be a plebian, and plebiscites were binding on all Romans.  A new ruling class emerged to rule Rome, made up of the older leading families represented in the Senate along with wealthy, ambitious and well-connected plebians. This new elite, working through the senate and the tribunes guided Rome in almost continuous wars of conquest that added built a vast empire.  But, as you might expect, the rich benefited most from the new wealth of empire.  The rich used this new money to buy land and create great estates run by slaves.  Many small farmers were priced out the land or forced into debt.  The result was a new outburst sort of class warfare that was resolved by the rise of military dictators who maintained social order while also granting jobs and other economic favors to the poor --as we shall see when we discuss Caesar and Augustus.

Religion

Traditional Roman religion was similar to that found in Mesopotamia and Greece--a pantheon of anthropomorphic gods, ritual sacrifices, and divination (augurs and auspices).  One significant difference, again, was the importance of family and household gods.  Vesta, the goddess of hearth and home was very important, as were the Lares familiares--guardian spirits of family.  It is not surprising, given their devotion to family, that Romans practiced ancestor-worship.  Each family had its own "genius"--that is to say a special gift or spirit that passes in a family from generation to generation.  Good Romans were devoted above all to the family honor.

The Romans borrowed a lot of ideas and practices from the Greeks, but many Romans also feared the growing influence of Greek ideas.  Polybius, a Greek writer in Rome during the 100s BCE,  tells us that Romans believed that their religious seriousness, along with their sense of honor and duty to family and city were the primary reasons that Rome was stronger than Greece and was able to build an empire.  Many conservative Romans during the time of the Republic, such as Cato the Elder, feared that the Romans might become more secular and "soft" like the Greeks.  They favored Roman virtues of dedication and sacrifice, embodied in the idea of "pietas" (piety),  as opposed to the Greek virtues of excellence in thought and expression. This was an ongoing concern because, as we shall see, Rome became larger, richer, more Greek, more cosmopolitan, and more religiously diverse.  The old religion and ideals of Rome gradually faded or were transformed.  Religious festivals gave way to spectacular games as the main holiday attractions.

Discipline and Empire Building

The Roman political system and moral values made it possible for them to build the greatest state of the ancient world. When they conquered their neighbors on the Italian pennisula, the Romans gained the loyalty of the conquered peoples by extending citizenship to the elite, and by enlisting the commoners in the army--which for most was a good opportunity for regular pay and the opportunity to move up the ranks, perhaps even gaining land and Roman citizenship. In the 200s BCE, Rome confronted the other great power of the Mediterranean Sea: Carthage.  In 216 BCE, the brilliant Carthaginian general, Hannibal, vanquished the Roman army at Cannae in southern Italy.  Rome was on the verge of collapse.  Even though Hannibal was stronger, and he stayed in Italy for several years, he could not win over allies in Italy to help him finish off the Romans.  Italians felt they had more to gain, politically and socially, from sticking with the Romans.

Besides the relative openness and inclusiveness of Roman rule, the Romans also relied on extensive military training and a fierce code of honor and self-sacrifice. The Romans were the first in history to have a truly professional army.  Late in the era of the Republic, soldiers stayed in the army many years and had the opportunity to move up the ranks. These soldiers were self-disciplined and motivated by duty.  While on campaign Roman legionnaire ate only bread and drank only water, not allowing themselves the softer pleasures of meat or alcohol.  They refused to accept anything less than total victory.  Death was preferable to defeat.  If there was any failure to carry out orders, discipline was severe.  If a soldier is found asleep on watch, he might be stoned by his comrades.  The Romans also invented the practice of "decimation."  If a legion, or portion of a legion failed in its duty, 1 in 10 of the soldiers were selected at random by drawing lots, and were executed as an example to the others.

If they had no pity on themselves, they certainly had none for their enemies.  A notable example of this fact is their invention of a means of subjecting rebels and criminals to a slow, agonizing death:  crucifixion.  After a major slave revolt in 72 BCE was defeated, 6,000 slaves were crucified along the Appian Way, a major road leading from Rome as a very dramatic display of Roman power. It was a true forest of pain and death. One historian has written: "In many respects, the Romans' behavior resembles that of many other non-primitive peoples, yet few others are know to have displayed such an extreme degree of ferocity in war while reaching a high level of political culture.  Roman imperialism was in large part the result of quite rational behavior on the part of the Romans, but it also had dark and irrational roots.  One of the most striking features of Roman warfare is its regularity--almost every year the Romans went out and did massive violence to someone--and this regularity gives the phenomenon a pathological character." Roman discipline made them a killing machine so terrifying that many enemies surrendered before the battle could begin.

Sports

Aristocratic Roman families valued the military arts of horseback riding and sword fighting.  The Romans never really adopted Greek athleticism, however.  They had a passion instead for action-packed spectator sports--chariot races and gladiator combats.  The Chariot races were, like NASCAR today, full of crashes, and the spectators would bet on the winners.  The gladiators fought for their honor and to win the regard of the crowd.  A few gladiators survived long years as a fighter and became rich and famous. In the last years of the Republic Julius Caesar was one of the great promoters of gladiator shows, and started a trend towards bigger and more spectacular events.  He had a gladiator school which trained criminals and slaves to be skilled fighters.  When he came to power, Caesar arranged for a full-scale battle with 1000 armed men to be reenacted in one of the circuses (racetracks).   These sports had the dual value of offering the shock value of current "reality" shows as well as a means to celebrate the special Roman virtues of sacrifice, duty and honor.  How convenient that the spectators could watch without actually having to display these virtues of sacrifice themselves!