THE ROMAN REVOLUTION I: Events and Issues to 80 B.C..

  1. The Reform of the Roman Army
    1. The demands of empire created the need for a standing army and for a professional corps of officers.
      1. Traditionally, the Romans employed a citizen militia. The right to vote was tied with the responsibility to serve in the army. This militia had conquered the Mediterranean world. To conquer is one thing, to hold is another. The core of the army was the peasant farmer but such individuals could not afford to remain in continuous service. There was however a large number of property-less Roman citizens who, though not liable for service, might be so employed.
        1. Marius, to meet the dangers of the German advance in 104, enrolled these proletarians and they continued to be used thereafter.
        2. Problems
          1. These men had nothing to lose; were prepared for revolution.
          2. As professional soldiers, they demanded both salary and bonus after service. They were dependent on commander to achieve it.
          3. This professional army increasingly owed its allegiance to its commander and not to the state.
    2. Need for an experienced corps of commanders
      1. Traditionally a dilemma for Romans as military leaders achieved that rank by being elected to office. Many disasters. Dictatorship no longer possible; appointment of a commander extra ordinem.
      2. The Constitutional Problem of the extraordinary command
        1. The position was outside the constitution and had no normal constraints on behavior.
        2. In fact, the office was usually given be the assemblies in defiance of the wishes of the senate (the senate traditionally had the responsibility for assigned "provinces" and commands).
    3. In sum, the combination of the extra-ordinary commander and the new professional army and the dynamic patronal relationship between the two constituted an important ingredient in the civil wars of the period.
  2. The "optimates" and the "populares"
      1. These are not political parties in the modern American sense nor do the terms describe an alignment of the senate vs. the people. They have no underlying ideological basis.
      2. Some vocabulary...

·         factio: a clique of leading men who had common designs for their own advantage in the state.

·         partes: the divisions in the elite. The two groups are called the optimates and the populares.

      1. The differences between the two partes:
        1. Not an alignment of senate against people, but a struggle between two groups of men of noble and senatorial rank.
        2. Essentially the difference lay in the instrument of legal power. The optimates controlled the senate and the higher magistracies and pursued their goals by traditional means (senatus consulta and decrees). The populares, in contrast, would have preferred the prestige of being optimates, but, frustrated in their bid for advancement in the traditional manner, turned instead to the people and obtained commands and powers by laws/leges without the approval of the senate.
    1. The propaganda:
      1. To some, the optimates were the defenders of the constitution, of law and order, and of tradition. They were boni="good men". To others they were ruthless reactionaries willing to defend property, privilege and the status quo at any cost.
      2. To some, the populares were selfless reformers who understood the new demands on the state; to others they were unscrupulous politicians with no sense of the traditional constitution that had made Rome great. They were interested simply in personal power; were potential tyrants/monarchs.
      3. Each side claimed to be "liberating the state from tyranny". RC I, 269-75.
    2. The Issues:
      1. The prize was not simply the annual magistracy (especially the consulate) but the opportunities that offices provide to exploit the wealth of a might empire.
      2. Programs
        1. state subsidy of grain and bread for urban mob (only comprehensible if the mob controlled the assemblies),
        2. agrarian laws: land for the poor,
        3. extension of citizenship: provides new clientele but endangers an older one,
        4. defense of private property (often conflicts with (b.),
        5. sound government (especially toward subjects of Rome).
  1. The Italian Question: The incorporation of Rome and Italy politically was an important step in the transition from city-state to world-state; ultimately it generated a state that transcended linguistic and cultural differences.
    1. Background
      1. Italy consisted of a numerous communities (urban plus supporting rural areas). Some of these communities enjoyed full Roman citizenship, others had a half citizenship called the ius Latinum or "the rights of Latins" (important commercial, connubial and residential rights but not suffrage), a third group had only allied status ius Italicum. The latter were nominally independent states, but owed military service for the common defense. The situation in 133:
        1. Allies provide troops but not taxed; autonomous except in foreign policy.
        2. Provinces consist of subject allies who are taxed and autonomous in all but foreign affairs and usually did not provide troops. Increasing number of Romans and Italians (veterans) settle and form communities of citizens with no official status.
      2. Rome had conquered the Mediterranean world both with her own and with Italian citizen militias. The latter had fought willingly enough against external enemies (Carthage), but now the acquisition of empire seemed to benefit only Rome; they had shared the dangers, but were denied the profits.
      3. Allies complained of the increasing arrogant behavior of magistrates.
    2. Gracchus had proposed to extend Roman citizenship to all with the Latin right and to give the Latin right to all Italians. This was a sensible solution and eventually the one that was adopted.
    3. The problem was aggravated by the unfulfilled promises of the populares. Bills had been proposed and defeated in 125, 122, and 91.
    4. Opposition
      1. There was legitimate concern about whether Rome could absorb so many at one time (it would double her citizen body) and retain her identity.
      2. Urban population opposed because it perceived that it would mean a dilution of benefits they increasing enjoyed through the largesse of the populares.
      3. The optimates opposed because they feared the disruption of the traditional system; one man would acquire too great a clientele and threaten the constitution (and their privileged position).
    5. Resolution: Bear in mind that the Romans did have a generous tradition on citizenship.
      1. Social War fought between 90 and 88. The oath of the allies; Italian bull gores Roman wolf
      2. Rome wins by selectively distributing citizenship to some of the Italians and breaking the strength of the movement.
      3. Note that the Italians created a constitution modeled after that of Rome...they were ready to be absorbed.
      4. The internal problems were overcome by allowing a number of magistrates to sponsor the necessary legislation, thus diluting the danger of excessive clientele.
    6. The effects: census data: citizens in 115 = 395,000; 96 = 470,000; 81 = 910,000
  1. Enfranchisement --the theory. Incorporation by communities was the usual method
    1. It violated the ancient concept of the autonomous city-state..
    2. The basis of municipal life was the charter that spelled out the powers of the community but always allows for appeal to Rome. The charter was fairly standard. (RC I, p.445ff.)
    3. The crucial principle is the notion of dual citizenship.
    4. How the concepts of Status and Rank were used in this case. The more Romanized a community was the easier and less expensive it was to govern. Hence, the Romans provided incentives for subjects to become Romans and to move up the scale.
      1. Capitulant: lowest status, after conquest; no individual or community rights
      2. Ally: dependant subject state
      3. Latin right: half citizenship
      4. Municipium: full citizenship
      5. Colony: full citizenship but more prestige.