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EW EVERYTHING
N
YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

ANCIENT
ROME
THE COMPLETE GUIDE
E TO THE ANCIENT CIV
CIVILISATION

+ PLUNDSING
THE FOU
AN D
OF ROM E LE
IB
THE TERR
KIN GS
Edition
Digital

REPUBLIC THE SACRED BREAD AND

TO EM PIRE TEM PLES CIRCUSES
Entertaining the masses with
How civil war brought about the Chart the tales of the vengeful gods
SECOND
EDITION

birth of a new era and their complicated family tree innovation and violence
Welcome
he year is 14 CE. August us, t he first leader of
t he Roman Em pire lies on his deat hbed. He has

T managed to end years of civil w ar and usher in

a new era. While Ancient Rom e has ex isted for
over 700 years before him , t hanks to his hard
work, it w ill be around, in som e form or anot her, for over
1,000 years m ore.
Ancient Rom e - kingdom , republic and em pire - has inspired
count ries, law s, invent ions and m ore ever since it s fall. Now
we t ake a look back at t his legendar y civilisat ion, it s m yt hical
founding and w hat it has done for us. Walk t he aqueduct s,
t ake a front seat at t he Colosseum and head to t he front lines
to t ruly underst and w hat m ade t he Rom ans t ick.
But w hat about t he people t hem selves? M eet ten of Ancient
Rom e’s m ost despicable characters, join about t he em peror
w ho brought Christ ianit y to t he pagan em pire, and find out
w hy t he last Roman king w as overt hrow n in a bloody coup.
Ancient Rom e cert ainly w asn’t for t he faint-hearted.
Illustration; Joe Cummings
 EVERYTHING
YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

ANCIENT
ROME Future PLC Quay House, Th e Am b ury, Bat h , BA11UA

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Part of the

bookazine series

Con ten t p reviou sly ap p eared in

t h is ed it ion of All About History
Rom an Em pire
 C ntents
8 THE FOUNDING OF ROM E
10 THE ROM AN KINGDOM 753 - 509 BCE
12 THE LAST KING OF ROM E
18 THE ROM AN REPUBLIC 509 - 27 BCE
20 HOW THE ROM ANS LIVED 66
26 BIRTH OF THE SENATE
32 HOW TO BECOM E A ROM AN CONSUL
12
34 THE TWELVE TABLES
38 LIFE IN THE LEGION
42 BLOOD, GUTS & GLADIATORS
50 THE ROLES OF ROM AN WOM EN
52 CAESAR’S RISE TO POWER
60 THE FALL OF THE ROM AN REPUBLIC
62 THE ROM AN EM PIRE 27 BCE - 476 CE
64 THE DYNASTIES OF THE ROM AN EM PIRE
66 EM PIRE STATE OF M IND
68 ANCIENT ROM AN RELIGION
72 ROM E’S BIG TWELVE GODS
74 HOW TO CELEBRATE SATURNALIA
76 ROM AN INVENTIONS
78 CONSTANTINE THE GREAT
82 THE LAST DAYS OF THE WEST
88 THE BYZANTINE EM PIRE
94 10 M OST DESPICABLE ROM ANS
100 THE ROM AN EM PIRE’S LAST STAND
106 PLACES TO VISIT
42

6
 94

74

68
52

20
82
50

106
Images; Alamy (p66), Look and Learn (p92), Ed Crooks (p74), Getty Images (p68, p106),
Joe Cummings (p52), Icas94/De Agostini Picture Library via Getty Images (p50)

7
Contents
 Ancient Rome
FOUNDING
OF
ROME
The mythical origins behind one
of the greatest cities in the world
ccording to mythology, Rome
was founded on 21 April 753
A BCE by twin brothers Romulus
and Remus. Their mother, Rhea
Silvia, was the daughter of King
Numitor of Alba Longa, who is thought to have
been a descendant
descendant of Aeneas, the Trojan hero,
son of Venus and around whom Virgil’s epic
poem, the Aeneid, d was centred.
Numitor’s throne was usurped by his
younger brother, Amulius, who forced Rhea
to become a Vestal Virgin to prevent her from
giving birth to any heirs who could rival his
claim. Although Rhea took the vow of celibacy,
she was subsequently raped by Mars, the god
of war, and gave birth to twin boys.
Angered, Amulius had Rhea imprisoned and
ordered that the boys should be drowned in
the Tiber River. Instead, their basket drifted
down the river and they washed up ashore
underneath a fig tree. It was here that a she-
wolf discovered the twins and suckled them,
while it is said that a woodpecker found
them food. The two animals were considered
sacred to Mars.
Eventually, the boys were found and raised
by a shepherd named Faustulus and his wife.
Romulus and Remus grew up to become
shepherds like their adoptive father. While
out herding their sheep one day, they became
embroiled in an argument between the
supporters of Numitor and Amulius. Remus
was captured and taken to Alba Longa, so
Romulus headed to the city to free his brother.
8
THE
Words Jessica Leggett
Shortly afterwards, the boys discovered their
true identities and sought revenge against
Amulius by killing him and restoring their
grandfather, Numitor, to the throne.
The twins then returned to the place where
they had been saved as babies and decided to
found a new city there. But an argument quickly
ensued, possibly over the location of their new
city, as it is said that Romulus wanted to build it
on the Palatine Hill while Remus preferred the
Aventine Hill. They may have also been fighting
over who would get to rule their new city. When
Romulus started building the city wall, Remus
jumped over it, mocking its size. Romulus killed
him and named the new city Rome.
To populate his new city, Romulus offered
asylum to fugitives and exiles. Realising that he
also needed women to join them, he invited his
neighbours, the Sabines, to a festival. He then
seized the opportunity to abduct their young
women, which triggered a war between the two
groups. In the end, a peace treaty was arranged
that united the two groups under one nation,
establishing joint rule under both Romulus and
Titus Tatius, the Sabine king. When Tatius was
murdered just five years later, Romulus was left
as the sole ruler.
After ruling for 37 years, Romulus vanished
during a violent thunderstorm. The mysterious
circumstances surrounding his disappearance
led to speculation that he had been murdered
by his senior advisors, who then hid his body.
This caused outrage among the Roman people
and tensions in the city began to rise. To deal
with these rumours, it was announced that
Romulus had been taken to heaven by Mars,
which led many to believe that their king had
become a god himself. As a result, Romulus was
worshipped by many as a deity, y assuming the
name of Quirinus.
This myth about Rome’s founding appeared
in the 4th century BCE, 400 years after it
supposedly took place. The exact date that is
generally used today was first decided on by
Titus Pomponius Atticus, a wealthy Roman
banker, and later adopted by the great scholar
Varro. The story was famously recounted in
The History oof Romee by Titus Livius, the Roman
historian more commonly known as Livy. y
Rome was ultimately built to the east of the
Tiber River on seven hills, including the Palatine
and the Aventine, with the site known n today
as ‘The Seven Hills Of Rome’. In recent years,
archaeologists have uncovered evidence of a wall
that was constructed sometime between the 9th
and the 8th centuries BCE – before the official
date given for the founding of Rome – and there
is evidence suggesting that people were living on
the Palatine Hill back in the 10th century BCE.
However much of it is true, the story of
Romulus and Remus certainly impacted the
development of Roman identity and attitudes
– for example, the she-wolf was adopted as
the symbol of nationality when the Republic
was established in c.509 BCE. We may never
know the true origins of Rome, but they will
undoubtedly continue to fascinate us for
centuries to come.
 The Founding of Rome

“A she-wolf discovered the

twins and suckled them, while a
woodpecker found them food”
Image; © Dallas Museum of Art

Nicolas Mignard’s painting The

Shepherd Faustulus Bringing
Romulus and Remus to His Wife
hangs in the Dallas Museum Of Art

9
 Ancient Rome

THE ROMAN KINGDOM 753 BCE – 509 BCE

Rome is founded//
Romulus becomes king
753 BCE
Once a series of warring tribes and
clans, the strongest among them are
united underneath the warrior generall
Romulus. He installs himself as king
and forms the very first incarnation off
the Senate. The eldest members from
the most powerful and influential
gentes (clans) are chosen, Italy’s deeply
patriarchal makeup placing a great
deal of importance on the wisdom of
its older male members. Around 100
members are chosen by Romulus, and
the Senate begins by taking care of thee
day-to-day running of the kingdom.
Together, the very first laws of
the land are written and the
first standing armies formed.
O Romulus passes away
Around 716 BCE, Romulus
mysteriously disappears during a
storm. Some legends say he was
murdered, but the reality is that
the kingdom no longer has a king.
716 BCE
Romulus and his brother
Remus are as steeped in
legend and myth as they
are in actual history
y The democratic principles of the
d a period of a year, ten different
The Roman
style of architecture
lives on in the 18th-
century neoclassical
style that can be
seen to this day
The interim begins
716 BCE
Following the apparent death of
Romulus, by order of the Senate,
Rome enters an interregnum.
This is a period of year or less
where the traditional form of
government simply does not
exist, where one king has died but
another has yet to be determined.
Roman Kingdom state that only
the Senate or a similar body has
the power to make a king, so over
men rule the kingdom one after
the other. This provides the
Senate with the information it Not every gap between kings led to an interim;
needs to select one of them as the sixth king was murdered and his successor
claimed the throne almost immediately
the next king.
O Tullus Hostilius O Tullus Hostilius
becomes king passes away
After a short interregnum, With a reign that
the candidate Tullus sees Rome’s borders
Hostilius is selected expand like never
as king. Unlike his before, the warlike
predecessor, Hostilius is a Tullus Hostilius dies.
monarch more interested His reign is likened
in conquest than peace. to that of Romulus.
673 BCE 642 BCE

75 3 B C E 716 BCE 715 BCE 67 3 B C E 6 67 B C E 642 BCE 617 BCE

O Numa Pompilius is elected king
With the interregnum now over, the
Senate swears Sabine noble Numa
Pompilius in as king. According to
Roman historian Plutarch, Pompilius was
born on the day of Rome’s founding.
715 BCE
O Numa Pompilius passes away O Ancus Marcius passes away
Following a reign that saw many The fourth legendary king of the
of Rome’s religious institutions Romans, who helped reaffirm
founded, including many of its Numa Pompilius’ work on Rome’s
temples, Pompilius dies. religious infrastructure, dies.
673 BCE 617 BCE

By
Byzantium Curiate Assembly elects
iis founded Ancus M arcius
6667 BCE 642 BCE
A
Around 667 BCE, the first As with many kings who ruled in
rroots of Byzantium are the Regal era, an interim period
ssown; a nation that will takes place between Hostilius
ggo on to be a foe, and an and his successor. In between the
eeventual conqueror of Rome. election of the new king, an interrex
According to legend, the city
A is established (meaning a regent of
was founded by Byzas, who
w sorts is appointed to look after the
ssailed from a city-state near kingdom). The Senate selects suitable
Athens called Megara. With its
A candidates before the people of Rome
position at the only entrance to
p vote for who they want to rule them.
The Curiate Assembly was a collection
tthe Black Sea, Byzantium would of ordinary citizens who were gathered The legislative group that appoints the
ntually go
Byzantium would eve ggrow into a powerful nation together by Roman law to vote on the new leader, Ancus Marcius, is known
sequence
from being of little con ffuelled by its steady trade.
worthiness of the new king
as the Curiate Assembly.
e to bec om ing its capital
to Rom

10
 The Roman Kingdom

The Forum’s central building is constructed The Roman monarchy

600 BCE is overthrow n
Perhaps the most important structure in Rome’s history, the Forum becomes 509 BCE
the home of the Senate and many of the state’s important legislative decisions. The rape of Lucretia by the king’s
It is under Lucius Tarquinius Priscus’ reign that construction on the Forum son provides the spark to ignite
is finished. Each of the previous kings had made some pilgrimage in this the political powder keg that
area, from draining it of water to the building of simple temples. Priscus’ has been filling for years.
contribution is to have the main rectangular building constructed and the The people and the Senate
entire plaza paved. The Forum becomes a symbol of Rome’s democratic have grown increasingly
heartbeat. More contributions will be made to it over the course of history. uncomfortable with the
actions of the king, Lucius
Tarquinius Superbus,
and his tyrannical rule.
His obsession with
architecture and building
has largely exhausted the
royal coffers and his foolish
choice of military campaigns
(based more on elevating his
status rather than bettering the
The Roman Forum is still kingdom) leads the people to riot, The overthrow of the
standing today and remains one resulting in his exile and the abolition of monarchy leads to the
of the city’s most iconic structures formation of the Republic
the monarchy itself.

O Oldest Latin inscriptions

The very earliest examples of
written Latin date back to around
this time. It’s possible that this is
when the Romans began actively
recording their laws.
600 BCE
O The Cloaca Maxima is built
Under the direction of Priscus, the first
true Roman sewer is built beneath
the centre of Rome. More primitive
versions had been attempted, but this
is the first true version.
578 BCE
O Tullius builds city walls
In the first example of
a Roman leader actively
working to protect the
city from foes, Tullius
begins constructing walled
defences around Rome.
550 BCE

The raping of
616 BCE 600 BCE 57 9 B C E 578 B C E 575 B C E 550 BCE 535 BCE 509 BCE Lucretia led her to
take her own life

O Lucius Tarquinius Priscus
is elected
The fifth king of the Regal era,
once again elected by the people,
is found in the ambitious politician
Lucius Tarquinius Priscus.
616 BCE
O Servius Tullius becomes king O Superbus’ son rapes a patrician
Following a period of time as regent, With Superbus already a deeply
the Senate determines him a suitable unpopular king known for his tyrannical
candidate and elects him as the sixth king rule, the news that his son Sextus has
(and the second of Etruscan descent). raped the patrician Lucretia is the final
575 BCE act that sends the kingdom into turmoil.
509 BCE

Priscus’ murder would
present a disturbing
trend for later years
Images; Alamy (sixth king), Andreas Tille/CC BY-SA 4.0 (Roman Forum), Anthony M./ CC BY 2.0 (Romulus temple)
Priscus dies in a riot S
Servius Tullius
579 BCE Servius Tullius’ set the iis assassinated
In the first example of a Roman financial and military 535 BCE
5
infrastructure of the nation
leader being murdered, Lucius I another example of a disturbing
In
Tarquinius Priscus dies during a riott ttrend in Roman succession,
organised by the son of the previouss tthe king Servius Tullius is
leader, Ancus Marcius. According to aassassinated after 44 years of rule
legend, the sons of Ancus Marcius by his own daughter Tullia and
b
believe the throne should have her husband Tarquinius Superbus.
h
passed to them so they organise a Tullius had been a popular king,
T
riot among the people and strike orchestrating a number of reforms.
o
Priscus over the head in the chaos. Superbus convinces the Senate to
S
It’s said Priscus’ wife finds her eelect him king regardless and he
husband wounded but not dead, becomes the seventh (and final)
b
and uses the time to name the king of Rome, beginning one of
k
Etruscan Servius Tullius as regent. tthe least popular reigns.

11
 Ancient Rome

THE
LAST KING
The outrages of the royal Tarquins sparked a revolt that led

12
 The Last King of Rome

OF ROME
to the fall of the monarchy and the birth of a republic
Words Marc DeSantis

13
 Ancient Rome
THE FALL OF LUCIUS
TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS
he Roman monarchy, an
institution founded in 753 BCE
T by Romulus, the first king of
Rome, would last until
the end of the 6thh century BCE,
well over two centuries later. Its dissolution came
about as a result of a terrible crime committed
by Sextus Tarquinius, the son of what would
prove to be Rome’s final king, Lucius Tarquinius
Superbus. The king’s surname was a fitting
appellation – Superbus means ‘the Arrogant’ or
‘the Proud’.
Superbus, a man of Etruscan origin, had
become the seventh king of Rome in 534 BCE
by killing the previous occupant of the throne,
Servius Tullius. That Superbus’ own wife Tullia
was the daughter of Tullius did not prevent his
coup. He then eliminated d the senators who had
supported the old king. The rest of the Senate
was largely sidelined and ignored by Superbus,
even though it had long been an esteemed
advisory body to the monarchy. His opponents
were either fined, exiled or executed on spurious
charges in cases decided by the king himself.
Taking advantage of his position, he exploited the
people, building a magnificent temple to Jupiter,
the king of the gods, using public money and
forced labour. Hostility to his tyranny spread.
In 509 BCE, the Romans were at war with the
nearby city of Ardea. Unable to take Ardea in a
swift strike, they had settled in for a siege. With
little to do while they waited out the trapped
Ardeans, the king’s sons and their companions
passed much of their free time feasting and
roistering in camp. On one such occasion, Sextus
hosted Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus. The men
got to talking, while drinking heavily, about
which one of them had the best wife. With much
alcohol having been imbibed, the exchange grew
fierce. Collatinus suggested that they settle the
Bloody knife in hand, Brutus
swears his oath to drive the
Tarquins out of Rome
14
matter by leaving the siege to pay a surprise visit Queen Tullia, the wife of
to each man’s wife and see with their own eyes Lucius Tarquinius Superbus
and the daughter of Servius
which one was the best. Tullius, runs her wagon over
That night they found the wives of the princes the body of her slain father
were having a very good time, feasting with their
companions. Going next to the town of Collatia,
they found Collatinus’ wife, Lucretia, at home in
front of her spinning wheel, working quietly with
her maids. Lucretia thereby proved that she was
the most virtuous and dutiful of all the women.
Unfortunately, Sextus Tarquinius had now
seen the beautiful Lucretia and was overcome
with lust for her.
The men returned to the siege camp at Ardea,
but Sextus and a companion went in secret back
to Collatia a few days later. He was admitted
to the Collatinus house as a friend by the
unsuspecting Lucretia so that he could spend
the night indoors. Later, when the whole of the
household was asleep, Sextus crept up to the
slumbering Lucretia, sword drawn, and woke her.
He threatened her, but she would not agree to
have sex with him.
Sextus next threatened to kill her and a male
slave too. He said he would put the naked body
of the dead slave next to her own corpse, to make
it look as if she had been caught in bed with him
and killed while committing adultery. This last
threat, a threat to her honour, overcame Lucretia’s
determination, and she submitted to Sextus.
Later, after Sextus had left her, and aghast
at what had happened, she sent messages to her
father, Spurius Lucretius, in Rome, and to her
“Lucretia’s body was
husband Collatinus, who was still at the siege of laid in the forum so
Ardea. Both men were told to come to Collatia
and that each should bring a trustworthy friend that all could see what
with him.
They arrived at Collatinus and Lucretia’s home
Sextus had done to
in Collatia, with Spurius Lucretius bringing
Publius Valerius Publicola and Collatinus coming
the innocent woman”
with Lucius JJunius Brutus. Finding Lucretia
utterly distraught in her bedchamber, she told
them all that had occurred between her and the vile crime. They y left Collatia together and
Sextus. To prove her innocence, she pledged marched to Rome.
there and then to take her own life. First, The people of Rome were shocked at the rape
however, she made the four all swear to punish and death of Lucretia. Going before the people
Sextus Tarquinius. The men tried to persuade her in Rome’s forum, Brutus spoke against the king,
that she was not at fault for Sextus’ crime, but she reminding his listeners of his murder of the
took out a knife that she had kept hidden within previous king, Servius Tullius; of how Superbus’s
her clothing and plunged it deep into her chest. wife, Tullia, despite being Tullius’ own daughter,
Drawing out the blood-drenched knife had ridden her wagon over her father’s body; of
from Lucretia’s body, Brutus, the king’s own their own forced labour in Rome’s sewers; and of
nephew, swore that he would drive King Lucius the rape of Lucretia. The enraged crowd decided
Tarquinius Superbus (Sextus’ father) r from Rome, to revoke Superbus’ royal power and demanded
along with the rest of the Tarquin family. Giving that he, his wife and children go into exile.
the weapon to the others, each man in turn The bulk of Rome’s power lay in its army, and
swore the same oath. much of that was besieging Ardea. The soldiers
Lucretia’s body was laid in the forum of would be needed to enforce the expulsion and
Collatia so that all could see what Sextus had defend Rome against the Tarquins, and so
done to the innocent woman. More men joined Brutus went to Ardea to turn it against Superbus.
the cause against the Tarquins because of Queen Tullia, meanwhile, abandoned her home
 THE ROM AN HOPLITE ARM Y
The Roman army of the time of the kings fought in a phalanx formation
Though the Romans are famed for their legionary hoplites as history has come to understand the
army of swordsmen, the military in the late regal term. Our notions of how an ancient hoplite phalanx
period and early years of the republic was actually fought are largely derived from the Greek histories
composed primarily of spear-armed hoplites, as of the wars with the Persians (490–479 BCE), the
was the case in the armies of contemporary Greek Peloponnesian War of 431–404 BCE, and later
states of the 6th century BCE. Livy assures us that conflicts. Further, in the Greek world of the Classical
the soldiers of Rome fought in a phalanx. In Greek era, missile-hurling soldiers had no place inside the
practice, the phalanx was a formation of hoplite phalanx proper.
warriors armed with spears and shields arrayed So how might a Roman hoplite army have fought?
several lines deep. Sadly, our information on this matter is not solid. It
Livy also tells us that it was Rome’s penultimate is possible that only the First Class men fought in the
king, Servius Tullius, who instituted the system phalanx battleline. It may also have been the case that
of military recruitment based upon wealth. Then, the Second, Third and Fourth Class men fought on the
as now, military equipment tended to be rather flanks of the First Class men while the Fifth Class men
expensive, so he conducted a census of the Roman fought as skirmishers.
people to discover who could afford what for service Another possibility is that the Roman phalanx of
in the army. After the census was completed, the the late Regal Period/Early Republic displayed certain
Romans were divided into five classes, from the First ‘old-fashioned’ characteristics that became outmoded
Class, the wealthiest, to the Fifth Class, the poorest. among the Greeks of later centuries, whose practices
The First Class men were expected to appear for are better-known to us. The Roman phalanx may have
army service with the most complete panoply. This done battle in a manner more in keeping with that of
included a round bronze shield, a bronze helmet, the archaic Greek phalanx that prevailed prior to the
a pair of bronze greaves, and a bronze breastplate. great wars of the Classical Hellenic world in the 5th
Their weaponry consisted of a long spear and a sword. century BCE, with the archaic Greek battle array being
The men of the Second Class were to provide a formation in which the missile-throwing troops still
to the accompaniment of curses hurled at her h by themselves with an oblong shield (instead of had a place in the battleline, fighting beside the
incensed Romans. a round one), a bronze helmet and greaves, a long spear, heavier hoplites.
Word of the events at Rome reached Sup e
erbus
Superbus and a sword. Breastplates were not required of them. In such a case, Rome’s Fifth Class slingers, and its
at Ardea and he sped back to the city to su u
uppress
suppress The Third Class men were to serve with the same Fourth Class men too, who bore a long spear and also
the revolt, but Rome’s gates were closed to him. gear as those of the Second, but their equipment list a javelin, may have stood with their better-equipped
Simultaneously, Brutus reached Ardea, where
wheere
e omitted the greaves. The Fourth Class men showed comrades in the battleline. It also stands to reason
up for service only with one long spear and a javelin. that, if these lighter missile-casting troops could have
he was given a hero’s welcome by the sold
soldiers.
i
iers.
The Fifth Class men, with minimal resources, were occupied places in the line, then the heavier Second
Superbus’ sons were thrown out of the sieg
siege
g
ge
to fight as light skirmish troops and were armed only and Third Class men, whose gear approximated – if
camp, with two, Titus and Arruns, going in into
n
nto with slings and ammunition. did not altogether equal – that of fully equipped
exile in the Etruscan city of Caere, while Sextus
Seextus
e From the foregoing, it would seem that only the hoplites, may also have fought in the phalanx,
Tarquinius went instead to Gabii. His stay there
t First Class men were armed and armoured as ‘true’ together with the First Class men.
was short and unhappy. He was soon slain n by
inhabitants who wanted their revenge for his h
abuses of the town’s citizenry while his father
fatther
had reigned at Rome.

THE BIRTH OF THE

ROMAN REPUBLIC
Back inn Rome, a Republic was declared, and d
two consuls – officials whose combined, equal
eq
qu
qual
authority would replace that of the expelled d king
– were elected. Lucius Junius
J Brutus wouldd serve
that first year of their annual appointment with
w
his colleague, Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus.
Brutus did all that he could to ensure tha
that
a the
at
time of the kings would never return. He made
made
the Romans swear that they would never againa
restored
tolerate a king rulingg over them. He also res
s
stored
the Senate to its old membership of 300 men,
men, a
me Greek hoplites depicted in
battle on an amphora dating
number from which it had fallen under Superbus.
Supp
perbus. to the 6th century BCE
Ironically, some Romans objected to the
continued presence of the consul Lucius

1155
 Ancient Rome
The bodies of Brutus’ sons, executed on
his own order following their attempt to
overthrow the republic, are brought to him
Tarquinius Collatinus because he too was
a Tarquin n (a nephew of the fifth king)
king).. Brutus
advised Collatinus to leave Rome with the
assurance that all of his current property would
remain his. Collatinus was bewildered by this
development, and rightfully so since it was unjust.
He had played a leading role in overthrowing the
Tarquins, and Brutus, as the king’s nephew, was
even closer to the royal line. He was blameless in
all that had happened. Why must he leave?
Nonetheless, sensing the mood of the Roman
people, and listening also to the pleas of his
father-in-law, Spurius Lucretius, Collatinus
resigned the consulship and left Rome for the
city of Lavinia. He was replaced as consul by
Publius Valerius Publicola, who had been one of
the four men (along
( with Collatinus, Brutus and
Spurius) who had begun the revolt against King
Tarquinius Superbus.
COUNTER-REVOLUTION
Although the Tarquins were gone, there were
still supporters of the old regime left within
Rome’s walls. The city would suffer an abortive
insurrection by disaffected young nobles. Having
lived a dissolute life in the company of the
last king’s sons, they favoured a return of the
monarchy, an institution of governance that
they believed would be more congenial to them
than that of the dour, law-beholden republic.
Conspiring with envoys from the Tarquins who
had come to Rome for the ostensible purpose of
retrieving royal property, they were found out
when a slave who’d heard them plotting came
forward to reveal their secret.
Caught with an incriminating letter passing
between them and the Tarquins’ envoys, the
men were sentenced to death and beheaded by
the lictors, axe-wielding officials tasked by the
republic with the enforcement of the deadly
16
pronouncements of the consuls. These
executions were made all the more startling by
the presence of two of Brutus’ own sons among
the condemned men. They suffered the same
fate as the other conspirators while their father,
struggling to maintain his composure, watched
the lictors perform their stern duty.
THE TARQUINS
STRIKE BACK
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was infuriated by
the unravelling of his scheme. He next rallied
military support against the newborn republic
from the Etruscan cities of Veii and Tarquinii.
Marching against Rome, their forces were met
at Silvia Arsia by a Roman army under the
command of the consuls Brutus and Publius
Valerius Publicola.
Brutus engaged Superbus’ son, Arruns
Tarquinius, in single combat. Both men perished
in the encounter, but the Romans had the
victory in the battle. Publicola, who survived
the engagement, held a magnificent funeral for
Brutus, Rome’s fallen liberator.
Reeling from the defeat, in 508 BCE Superbus
went to the Etruscan city of Clusium, where
he enlisted the support of his fellow Etruscan
monarch, King Lars Porsena. Going against
Rome, the Clusian army seized the Janiculum
Hill and might even have carried the city
in one fell swoop but for the courage of the
Roman soldier Horatius Cocles. With just two
companions, Horatius held the Sublician Bridge
over the Tiber River against the oncoming
Etruscans until it could be pulled down.
Unable to take Rome by direct assault,
Porsena laid siege. He was impressed by the
bravery and patriotism of the Romans. One
young Roman, Gaius Mucius Scaevola, tried to
assassinate Porsena, failing only because he
m
mistook the wrong man for the Etruscan king.
When questioned by Porsena, Scaevola’s hand
W
was forced into a fire, but he didn’t cry
w y out. He
p
promised the king that there were 300 other
young
y Romans who were prepared to try to
assassinate
a him.
Porsena was taken aback, both by Scaevola’s
steely determination and the unwelcome
steely
n
notion that he would have to endure so many
attempts
a on his life. Seeking a better resolution
than
th
han unending strife, he soon made peace in
exchange
e for the Romans giving him hostages.
T
THE BATTLE OF
LLAKE REGILLUS
T
Though Porsena had failed to restore the
Tarquins, they did not give up on their dream of
T
re
einstatement in Rome. In 496 BCE, the Romans
reinstatement
w
were at war with the Latin League. Though the
R
Romans were Latins themselves, they and the
other
o Latins were sometimes at odds, and as
part of the First Latin War (c. 498–493 BCE), their
armies met in battle at Lake Regillus.
With the Latins came Lucius Tarquinius
Superbus. In a bid to regain his throne, the
deposed king again made war on his former
subjects alongside the Latin League army.
The Romans were aware of his presence,
and their detestation of him spurred them to
enter battle immediately to get to grips with
their opponents.
Horatius Cocles desperately
defends the Sublician Bridge
against the invading Etruscans
while other Romans tear it down
 The Last King of Rome

resumed fighting. Postumius’ crack soldiers also

“In a bid to regain his throne, the deposed king
again made war on his former subjects”
The battle was especially hard-fought. The
generals of both armies took direct part in the
combat, instead of hanging back to direct their
troops more easily. Superbus is said to have
spurred his horse forward to charge at Aulus
Postumius Albus, the Roman dictator (the
dictatorship was an office in which a single
Roman official was temporarily granted vast,
practically unchecked power to preserve the
state in a time of military emergency), who was
himself busy forming up his own troops for
battle. Thundering over the field, Superbus was
struck in his side by a Roman missile, but the
Latins were able to pull him to safety.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, the Latin general
Octavius Mamilius, Superbus’ son-in-law, and
Titus Aebutius Helva, Rome’s Master of Horse (the
Roman officer in charge of cavalry while Rome
was commanded by a dictator), charged at one
another like knights at a tournament. Mamilius’
lance tore straight through Aebutius’s
e arm, but
Aebutius’ own lance sank into Mamilius’ chest.
Both men were pulled from the fight by their
comrades. Aebutius had been so badly wounded
that he had to leave the field entirely. Mamilius,
however, despite his chest wound, remained,
exhorting the Latins on. When the Latins drew
back from contact with the Romans, he sent
in a unit of Roman exiles under the command
of Superbus’ last living son, Titus Tarquinius.
Thundering into the fray, they managed to gain
the upper hand, and the Romans on this part of
the field were pushed back.
Marcus Valerius Volusus, the brother of
Publicola (the man who had replaced Collatinus
as consul alongside Brutus) saw Titus
Tarquinius prancing on horseback in front of
the Roman exiles and rashly charged ahead.
Titus Tarquinius evaded the attack by simply
retreating into friendly troops. Volusus drove his
horse onward but was quickly brought down,
impaled by a Latin spear.
With Volusus dead, the Roman exiles attacked
and drove the Romans backward. Postumius,
seeing them breaking, sent in his own elite
cohort of troops to prevent them from running
away. Sandwiched now between the enemy
and the dictator’s men,, the Romans turned and
joined the battle with them – they had, until
then, been in reserve – and they battered the
by-now weary exiles.
Mamilius gathered several maniples (small units
of soldiers) to go to the rescue of the embattled
exiles. He was identified by a Roman officer, Titus
Herminius Aquilinus (notably
( y one of the two
courageous warriors who’d stood with Horatius
Cocles on the Sublician Bridge back in 508 BCE),
because of his ornate armour. Herminius charged
Mamilius and drove his spear into the enemy
general, killing him. Herminius was himself
injured by a spear thrust as he attempted to strip
Mamilius’ corpse of its arms and armour. Mortally
wounded, Herminius was brought back to the
Roman camp where he died shortly thereafterr as
his wounds were being dressed.
To bolster his army, Postumius had his
cavalrymen dismount and take places in the
main battle line beside the Roman infantrymen.
Thus reinforced, the Romans renewed their
attack, drove the Latins from the field and
captured their camp.
The defeat at Lake Regillus was Superbus’
last attempt to retake his throne. He would die
soon after, in 495 BCE, in the Italian-Greek city
of Cumae, where he had found refuge after the
battle. The time of the kings of Rome had finally
come to a bloody end. The time of the republic
had only y jjust begun.
g

By knocking off the heads of the tallest

HORATIUS HOLDS THE BRIDGE poppy flowers, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus
wordlessly lets his son Sextus know,
The venerated Roman hero Horatius Cocles prevented the through a messenger, that he should kill
Etruscans from crossing the Tiber and storming Rome the leading citizens of the city of Gabii

Following the expulsion of Tarquinius
Superbus, Lars Porsena, the Etruscan
king of Clusium with whom Superbus
had sought refuge, moved to restore
his fellow Etruscan to the Roman
throne. In 508 BCE he marched on
Rome with his army, occupied the
Janiculum Hill, and in a bid to carry
the city with a quick assault, sent his
troops across the single bridge (the
Sublician Bridge) over the Tiber.
The Roman soldiers on guard at
the wooden pile bridge would
have all taken to their heels but for
the resolute courage of one man:
Horatius Cocles. Horatius turned
soldier after soldier around, warning
them that if they did not return to
their posts and hold the bridge the
enemy would soon be inside Rome
itself. He told the other men to
demolish the bridge and while they
did he would hold off the Clusians on
his own.
Walking onto the bridge, the
stalwart Horatius faced off against
the advancing enemy with just two
companions, Spurius Larcius and
Titus Herminius Aquilinus, by his
side, while the rest of the soldiers
busied themselves with dismantling
the bridge. The trio withstood the
Etruscan onslaught until only the last
portion of the bridge remained to be
taken down.
Horatius told his comrades to
retreat. Alone now on the bridge,
he glared at the Etruscans and
challenged them to do battle with
him. They came at Horatius, throwing
spears that embedded themselves
in his shield. Horatius would not
budge. He held off his attackers until
the final portion of the bridge was
brought crashing down, severing the
route over the river.
His task finished, Horatius uttered
a prayer to ‘Father Tiber’ and plunged
into the water below. Though still
clad in his heavy armour, he managed
to swim to safety despite the heavy
burden. This was a feat, Livy slyly
notes, that later Romans would see
as more commendable than it was
believable. For this brave deed, his
fellow Romans honoured Horatius
with a statue erected in the Comitium
and a generous grant of land.

17
 Ancient Rome

THE ROMAN REPUBLIC 509 – 27 BCE

Roman Republic established Senones sack Rome
509 BCE 390 BCE
Following the overthrow of the monarchy and the exile of Lucius In 390 BCE, Rome suffers its worst
Tarquinius Superbus, the Senate establishes a new republic. In this domestic disaster as the Senones reac ch
reach
new form, two leaders will rule cooperatively as consuls, elected for and sack the city. On what is believed d
a single year each. With the formation of the Roman Republic, new to be 18 July, the Romans march to
powers are granted to the Senate and to the Plebeian Council, giving meet the forces of the Senones, a
the people more power and influence over the laws that govern large Gallic tribe that has invaded
their home. It is decreed that Rome will never again recognise a king northern Italy. Despite their usual
of Rome and subsequently elects Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius successes against the barbarians, the
Tarquinius
q Collatinus as its first joint
j consuls. Romans are almost completely routed,
routedd,
leaving the path to Rome open for
the Senones. The Senones find a city
largely undefended, and therefore
proceed to murder many of its elders,
burn buildings to the ground and
loot everything they can. Eventually,
a Roman general called Camillus The Romans almost have to bribe the
arrives with a relief force and destroyss Senones to leave at one point before
Lucius Junius Brutus is on the Senones. the arrival of Camillus and his forces
the left, shown between his
lictors, a type of bodyguard
to magistrates

O Battle of Silva Arsia
Republican forces meet those loyal
to the deposed and exiled king at
the Battle of Silva Arsia. Superbus’
forces are defeated, but Lucius
Junius Brutus is killed in battle.
509 BCE
O Plebeian Council given new
powers
As further evidence of Rome’s
growing sense of democracy, the
Plebeian Council (formerly known as
the Curiate Assembly) is granted the
power to help make Roman laws.
449 BCE
O Roman soldiers earn a wage
For the first time in the history of Rome,
soldiers are finally granted and paid a
standing wage. This is due to the wealth
brought in by the army’s growing list of
conquests and new lands.
396 BCE

509 BCE 501 BCE 449 BCE 44 5 BCE 44 3 BCE 396 BCE 390 BCE 337 BCE 2 93 B C E

O Marriage between patricians
and plebeians legalised
In another move created to foster
the growing sense of equality
between the high-ranking patricians
and the normal plebeians, marriage
between the two is legalised.
445 BCE
O Three consular tribunes
established
The office of the Tribuni militum
consulari potestate is established.
It’s a set of three councils who will
hold the power of the consuls in
order to settle a power struggle
between plebeians and patricians.
443 BCE
O First plebeian praetor
elected
Despite the political struggles
between the patricians and the
plebeians, the very first plebeian
praetor is elected into office.
337 BCE
O Roman census is conducted
In and around 293 BCE, the
Office of the Censor conducts
an official census that shows the
population of Rome has swelled
to around 300,000 people.
293 BCE

The Sabines had

p
Senate passes
a long-standing dictator law
rivalry with the city 501 BCE
Despite the realm’s difficult
past with a single man holding
too much power, the Senate
decides emergency laws are
needed to grant temporary
ultimate power to an individual
in the event of a crisis. This
is known as the senatus
consultum. With the threat
of a Sabine invasion looming,
Titus Lartius and Postumus
Cominius Auruncus select the
former as dictator.
The loss was a substantial one
for the Gauls with around 40,000
killed and another 10,000 taken as
prisoners to be sold into slavery
Rome halts a
Gallic invasion
225 BCE
The Battle of Telamon in 225 BCE
halts a potentially disastrous Gallic
invasion. Rome had formed a peace
with a handful of the Gallic tribes to
the north of Italy’s borders, but a new
alliance of Gauls seemingly ignore
this and begin moving troops into
northern Italy with their eye on Rome.
Roman forces under the command
of consuls Gaius Atilius Regulus
and Lucius Aemilius Papus march
to Telamon and defeat the Gauls,
extending Roman influence.

18

Battle of Arausio
105 BCE
The Battle of Arausio represents one
of Rome’s worst military defeats,
and marks a turning point in the
relationship between consuls. It
also leads to many important
reforms. The battle begins
when a large Gallic tribe,
the Cimbri, start migrating
through Gaul, which
causes an imbalance
in the hierarchy of the
tribes. With the Cimbri
now growing in number,
two armies under the
command of consul Quintus
Servilius Caepio and consul
Gnaeus Mallius Maximus arrive
to meet them. However, tactical
disagreements between the two
leaders have disastrous results with
over 100,000 Roman soldiers dying.
O Province of Macedonia
established
After a series of long wars with the
tribes of Macedonia, the lands are
eventually absorbed into the republic
and made a province of Rome.
146 BCE
22 5 BCE 146 BCE 121 BCE
O First senatus consultum ultimum
In 121 BCE, the first senatus consultum
ultimum is passed by the Senate,
granting consul Lucius Opimius
emergency powers to defeat the forces
of Gaius Gracchus.
121 BCE
Spartacus’ rebellion had an
impact on master and slave
for decades to come
The defeat at Arausio was a
wake-up call for Rome, and
led to serious reforms
105 BCE 91 BCE
O The Social War
The Social War erupts when a series
of Roman cities (known collectively
as the Latins) rebel against the
inequality in land ownership and
wealth between Rome and its allies.
91 – 88 BCE
Third Servile War
begins
73 – 71 BCE
The third and final slave rebellion,
which is led by Spartacus, is the
only servile uprising to threaten
the stability of Rome itself. A
band of escaped gladiators begins
swelling with slaves who wish to
know true freedom. Under the
leadership of slave and gladiator
Spartacus, the loosely armed
rebels defeat a number of Roman
forces before Roman commander The principate gave the illusion of a
Marcus Licinius Crassus crushes republican era, but in reality Augustus
held almost all the power in the realm
the uprising.
The Roman Republic
Caesar’s death led to a civil war
and the formation of the empire
Julius Caesar is assassinated
44 BCE
In the build-up to his assassination, Julius Caesar had
risen from consul and member of the First Triumvirate
to the most powerful seat in the land. He was not, as
is sometimes incorrectly assumed, an emperor, but a
dictator who was voted into that position by the Senate
in 49 BCE and then again in 45 BCE. The Senate passes
a vote making him dictator perpetuo, a role that made
many senators who had not voted in his favour fearful
that Caesar would install himself as king. On the Ides
of March, a conspiracy is put into motion that sees
Caesar betrayed by his allies and stabbed to death in the
Theatre of Pompey.
O First Triumvirate formed
Images; Alamy (census), Classical Numismatic Group, Inc/CC BY-SA 2.5/3.0 (coins), Fabrice Philibert-Caillat/CC BY-SA 3.0 (Gauls), Karl Hammer (Arausio), Maksim/CC BY-SA 3.0 (Spartacus), The Conmunity/CC BY 2.0 (Roman soldiers)
The First Triumvirate, an alliance
between three of Rome’s most
powerful politicians (Julius
Caesar, Pompey and Marcus
Licinius Crassus) is formed.
59 BCE
73 BCE 59 B C E 44 BCE 30 BCE 27 BCE
O Province of Egypt established
Around 30 BCE, Egypt’s
dominance of North Africa has
faded and it is absorbed into
Rome, becoming a Roman
province as a result.
30 BCE
Welcome to the empire
27 BCE
Following the death of his great-uncle
Julius Caesar, Gaius Octavius, known
as Octavian at this point, forms
the Second Triumvirate with Mark
Antony and Marcus Lepidus to find
his assassins. The alliance causes
a civil war. Lepidus is eventually
driven into exile and Mark Antony
commits suicide following his defeat
at the Battle of Actium. Still granted
the ultimate power of office by the
Senate, Octavian begins creating a
framework with the Senate, beginning
the empire.
19
 Ancient Rome

HOW THE
ROMANS
LIVED
All walks of life filled the streets of
Ancient Rome, and for the poorer
people of society the empire was
very different to those at the top
ork hard, play hard. That appears to be the
mantra by which a lot of Romans lived their

W lives. There’s a general impression that the

Romans were a wealthy, articulate bunch,
who had splendid villas and clothes. However,
that, in truth, is only half the story. As in any society, the
normal men and women who lived and worked in Rome
(Plebeians) led very different lives to those at the top of the tree
(Patricians), residing in homes that were a world apart from the
nobility and the elite and having differing levels of access to
education and health provisions.
Today, most of the physical evidence of the lower class’
existence has crumbled away. Their poorly built homes and
unwritten stories have been lost to time. But historians have
still been able to piece together the structure of Roman life:
how they ate, what they wore, where they bathed and how
they were schooled.
We also know that wealth was the key y towards a good
life, even for slaves who found they could amass money and
sometimes buy their freedom.

“The normal men and women who lived and

worked in Rome (Plebeians) led very different
lives to those at the top of the tree (Patricians)”

20
 How the Romans Lived

21
Image; De Agostini via Getty Images
 Ancient Rome
CLASS ACT: HOW THE
ROM ANS WERE DIVIDED
D
Roman society was a complex system
made up of a strong social pecking
order that went far beyond a simplistic
dichotomy of very rich and incredibly
poor. While we are familiar with the
privileged lives of the emperors,
senators and the equestrians below
them, perhaps the most intriguing
class of all was that of the plebeian.
The men and women of the lower
classes were the beating heart of the
empire but there were few comforts
their work afforded them, and this
didn’t go unnoticed. A great dispute
arose between the patricians and the
plebeians in 494 BCE and it raged
intermittently for 200 years.
In that year, the plebeians threatened
to leave Rome – a withdrawal of
manpower that would have proved
devastating – and concessions were
Life among the classes
In such a cut-throat city, how did the patricians, equestrians and plebeians navigate through Roman life?
If there was a social leveller in Rome, then it
would be found in the public toilets, where
95 per cent of the million-strong population
sat, chatted and did their foulest of business.
Within the latrine walls, the Romans were at
their most naked, with their tunics pulled up
and squatting over the large holes
M AR CU S TU LL IUS
CICER O sponges
Dec 43 BCE
3 Jan 106 – 7
Since a large factor in a
Roman’s ‘nobility’ was
their ancestry, plebs who
amassed money were still
not considered patricians.
The inability for Rome to
shake off traditional divisions
Brief resulted in the creation of an ddiff
Bio eques trian class, acting as
our equivalent of the middle
class today. Cicero was an equestrian
ea
by birth, but he managed to becom
senator throu gh politic al conne ction s and
orator.
his notoriety as a great lawyer and
ly
While his speeches and writing great
Roma n politic s, he could fall
influenced
ing of
prone to snobbishness, once speak
–
the sordida plebs – the great unwashed
. He was
a turn of phrase still common today
also an outsp oken critic of Julius Caesa r.
22
introduced. However, in the minds of o
the Romans there was still a differen
difference
nce
in social standing, and the further
down the chain you belonged, the
worse your life became.
Beneath the plebeians in the
Roman class hierarchy were the
freedmen and the slaves. The latter
did not hold citizenship, while the
former had either been granted
their freedom or had purchased it
for themselves.
Being a citizen afforded a Roman n
a relatively comfortable life and slaves Women
certain rights, making it possible to Skilled slaves often worked as tutors Valued as wives and mothers,
vote, own property, lawfully marry, or accountants, and were able to women were expected to marry
make contracts, sue, and attain a earn their own money. Those who young, bear children and look
were illiterate or lacking skills would after the home. Their role in
lawyer in court to avoid torture or
endure hard manual work. In all public life was limited, but they
death for any crime except treason. cases, slaves were the property of came to have greater freedoms
However, women had a more limitelimited
d their owners. by the 1st century CE.
citizenship in Ancient Rome.
– and an economic class of equestrians, who Rome certainly y wasn’t a city for the faint-
wore a tunic with narrow stripes called the hearted, and the governors and senators had
angusti clavi. But further down, there were the a constant battle to quash plebeian revolts
ordinary people of Rome, wrapped in a long and disharmony to keep the peace. Providing
semicircle of woollen cloth called a toga, as well a weekly ration of grain and entertainment
as the freedmen and the slaves. However, the seemed to satisfy the lower classes, and the
o cut in wood freedmen often occupied roles in the Imperial organisers or benefactors of festivals were
or
o st stone,
tone, and their Palace, and so could improve their social always held in high esteem.
privacy
priv
p vacy completely standing and gain quality clothing. Rome was seen as a ready-made job market
whipped
whiipped away. They
w The Plebeians saw Rome as it really was, away for the poorer man, its streets perceived to be
wiped
wiped their bottoms
w from the ornate, marbled villas and the grand paved with gold as much as dirt and disease.
with
w h water-soaked buildings enjoyed by the privileged. Their warts- The many building projects meant there was
sspo onges attached and-all view was of the cramped apartments in always a pressing need for labour, so plenty y of
to o ssticks, which which they lived, multiple people to a room, in people emigrated there looking to work.
they
thhey y then discarded crowded areas that would absorb ever greater After its founding, the city of Rome fast
into
in nto o the Roman numbers year after year. For them, Roman life became a bustling multicultural metropolis,
sewer
sew wer system. was the narrow streets between the squalid but it was impossible to build enough quality
Back
B out on the high-rise garrets, the busy taverns and visiting accommodation for everyone. The harsh living
streets,
sstreeets, however, the ground-floor shops (tabernae)
(
(tabernae) to buy food quarters were generally as good as it got for
life
liifee was very and essentials. hundreds of thousands of people, and for that
different.
ferent. There the These areas may have wafted with the reason, they tended to live most of their life
class
cla
c ass system was smell of fresh bread and exotic foods, but outside of their apartments. The whole of Rome
very
verry much in place.
v there would also have been the unmistakable became their home.
At
A the top end of stench of sweat, blood and human waste. Rome With so much time spent in the company
the
thhee scale were was usually a rowdy city, with fighting in the of others, the plebeians were known for being
the
thhee higher ranks public areas, rows among residents, evidence of sociable and rowdy. y They were also mostly
of
o Romans: the domestic violence and the ever-present risk of tolerant of different races and religions.
emperor,
eemmperor, senators fire. Any moments off bliss could be interrupted Incomers were integrated into the city just as
– who
w wore tunics by the emptying of a chamber pot out of a they had been from the moment Romulus and
with
wi
w ith broad stripes window to the ground below, particularly in the Remus founded Rome as a city of outsiders,
called laticlavi roughest part of town (subura). inviting criminals and runaways to seek
 How the Romans Lived

Plebeians
Tending to refer to Rome’s
ordinary citizens, the plebs
initially lacked social mobility
and privilege, although the Lex
Canuleia law passed in 445 BCE
allowed them to marry patricians
and afforded them greater rights.

Freedmen Patricians
Slaves deemed worthy by their The patricians were at the top
owners (or those who had saved of society but their status was
enough money to buy their more a historical privilege than
freedom) were legally released anything. The noble families
from servitude. Freedmen claimed they could trace their
couldn’t run for office, but they heritage as far back as the
could legally marry. founding of Rome (supposedly).

asylum. People quickly got involved in the figures of entertainment, they could also hold but this was rejected because of the potential
busy Roman way of life. respectable positions in wealthy households. embarrassment of seeing half of Rome’s
Workers would rise early, toiling through the Rome’s obsession with health and well-being, population dressed in such a way.
day for a small amount of money and seeking for example, saw an influx of Greek doctors Such was the lure of Rome that when a slave
ways to supplement their income elsewhere. entering as slaves after 47 BCE. As well as was afforded the status of a freedman, many
Children would also work, the boys serving allowing Romans the benefits of better hospital would remain, becoming a Roman citizen and
apprenticeships and the girls carrying out treatment and the skill of surgeons, the Greeks using their connections to their advantage.
domestic chores under the watchful eyes of also aided advances in medicine. In some ways, Some freedmen actually went on to hold
their mothers or a domina (female master) – they were perhaps a little too enthusiastic – their important positions, such as Tiberius Claudius
usually splendidly dressed in their stolas given willingness to experiment with patients to test Narcissus, a close confidant of Emperor Claudius
shape by a belt called a zona. Schools were their theories caused a deep suspicion. who almost succeeded in stopping Nero’s
mainly fee-paying and were reserved Having said that, it was usually ruler
succession to become ruler.
for the rich and privileged. preferable to the expensive
However, poorer families quacks whose methods were
would look to educate their According g to quite unorthodox.
sons themselves, fathers g
Roman legend, Having treatment
teaching sons the tools of Romulus and his available was a benefit
their trade. tw in brother Remus of Roman life across the
Generations of the were the offspring g classes; even the slaves
poor, therefore, grew up of Rhea Silver and much lower down the
largely illiterate but skilled chain benefited to some
the God, M ars
nonetheless. By the age of degree. It also showed that
14 (12 for girls), children would being brought into Rome as
be married, their coming of age a slave could actually be a good
marked by a hearty banquet. Boys career move for the skilled. Many
Images; Glauco92/CC BY-SA 3.0 (Bust of Cicero photo), Alamy (Therving)
could be drafted into the military to help the from the East, in particular, were intelligent
Romans conquer and control far-flung lands, and cultured, and were able to slot easily into
and girls were used to manoeuvre through society and contribute greatly. In fact, some
social circles and join powerful families. Roman citizens with overwhelming debt would
The soldiers also served another purpose: sell themselves into slavery. Some slaves were
they were able to capture slaves and bring also allowed to earn and keep their own money,,
them back to Rome. Far from being chosen saving up to buy their freedom or expensive
on racial grounds, slaves were generally taken clothes. By the 1st century CE, more than half off
instead for their strength, intelligence, practical Rome’s population was made up of slaves and
skills or appearance. While some were used freedmen. At this time, the Senate proposed
as labourers or turned into gladiators or other slaves wore their own specific identifying tunics
tunics,
s,

This wood engraving from c.377 CE

shows a Therving selling himself as
a slave for a dog to feed his family
223
 Ancient Rome
Hearths, homes and hypocausts
The Romans brought with them new homes, landscapes and ways of living
Before the Roman conquest, Britain was formed
of predominantly rural communities. The
majority of people dwelled in roundhouses of
mud, wattle and daub, timber and crowned
with thatched roofs. These homes were unlikely
to have separate rooms, so the space inside
was more communal, especially the warming
hearth in the centre. While there is evidence of
rectangular buildings existing before the Romans’
arrival, they were rare. Roundhouses continued
to exist, in declining numbers, throughout the
Roman rule of Britain – perhaps even 40 per cent
of homes maintained this traditional design.
The ruins of the large North Leigh
Roman villa in Oxfordshire that boasted
60 rooms and its own bath house
The Romans, particularly the elite, brought
with them a culture that was both rural and
urban, and the elite in particular needed a
presence in both worlds: just as the growth
of towns and urban life was a major part of
Romanisation, so was the presence of villas
dotted throughout the countryside.
Villa, which translates as ‘farm’, does not tell
the full story. Far from simple farms, they were
often country estates and could be key industrial
centres or even countryside palaces of a sort,
more about demonstrating power and prestige
than working the land. Usually located within 15
kilometres of towns, they gave the elite access to
both urban and rural worlds.
Villas were commonly surrounded
by a mound and ditch, and they were
positioned to face east, southeast or south
– whichever direction would allow the
principal rooms to receive the morning
sun. They could offer views of countryside
24
that were impossible in urban townhouses, and
these vistas were highly prized.
They were often built around a peristyled
courtyard, and while symmetry was valued
in Roman architecture, additional wings and
outhouses were commonly added. A typical villa
would be entered through a portico, or porch,
flanked by columns, that would lead into a
series of reception rooms, dining room, kitchen,
library and bedrooms. The principal rooms
would look out over gardens or a courtyard. The
most lavishly decorated rooms, often featuring
mosaic floors, would be found towards the rear
An intricate mosaic of Medusa at a
villa in Bignor, West Sussex. Mosaics
were a luxurious, high-status addition
to British architecture
of the building. Hypocausts, a form of underfloor
heating, were extremely common in villas in
Roman Britain. The grounds around them would
likely possess a shrine, storage and bath houses.
In town, townhouses were the urban abodes
of the elite. They shared many similarities
to villas in terms of style and decoration,
although they were often more focused on
being private due to the compact urban
and urban style of villa, near Wroxeter, built using traditional
setting. Townhouses had a strong emphasis on
hospitality, entertainment and greeting guests.
They were built around what Dr Dominic
Perring described as a “hierarchy of reception
and movement”: the portico would lead from
the bustle of the street into a large reception
rooms with views of the courtyard, then on to
the more intimate and better-decorated rooms
towards the rear, and possibly a dining room,
where only the most privileged visitors would
be admitted.
As noted by the Roman architect Vitruvius
in De architectura, “Into those which are
private no one enters, except invited; such are
bed chambers, triclinia [dining room], baths,
and others of a similar nature. The common
rooms, on the contrary, are those entered by
anyone, even unasked. Such are the vestibule
[hall], the cavædium [courtyard], the peristylia
[colonnade], and those which are for similar
uses.” The use of columns, arches, natural light
and more luxurious decoration would have
signalled the progress through the house.
Townhouses and villas were most likely
single-storey, would have had walls of stone
topped with timber or wattle and daub, with
columns, a whitewashed exterior and ceramic
or stone roof tiles. Windows would have been
covered with wooden shutters, although glass
windows were occasionally used.
But it was not only the elite whose homes
were transformed by Roman influence. As
urban centres grew, the need for rectangular
housing became more apparent; round houses
do not sit close together, whereas rectangular
buildings can be placed compactly. In Britain,
unlike in overcrowded cities like Rome and
elsewhere in Italy, large, multi-storeyed housing
in insula was unlikely to have been required.
Urban housing was instead
A recreation of a Roman villa urbana, the more luxurious
techniques for the TV series Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day
 How the Romans Lived

FOOD FOR THE M ASSES

While the rich indulged their taste buds with an array
of mouth-watering foods, brought to them by slaves,
the diet of the poor was rather more bland. Most
were unable to enjoy the sauces, expensive meats and
imported spices that the aristocrats digested, so made do
with cheaper alternatives.
The poor would rely on the staples of cereal, olive
oil and wine, and supplement it with bread, lentils,
vegetables and porridge. Flat, round loaves made by
cereal grain called ‘emmer’ were popular, but later bread
made from wheat was introduced. Women would also
grind grain into flour in thrusting mills, although there is
evidence of animal-driven mills attached to bakeries such
as in Pompeii and Ostia.
Farmers, hunters and fishermen had better diets, and
thanks to no religious restrictions, anything could be
consumed. Cured pork was popular, while beef was much
less common.
Roman citizens would eat their meals three times
a day. They would have breakfast (jentaculum) in the
morning, lunch (prandium) at roughly midday, and dinner
(cena) in the evening. This would be the main meal and
the highlight of many days. A lot of effort went into
producing the best dinner possible with the resources
that were available.
Dinner parties were a popular affair for the patricians,
and infamously, they would recline on couches in order
to relax as they ate and savoured each mouthful. Stuffed
dormouse was a particular delicacy enjoyed by the rich,
sprinkled with honey and poppy seeds. Due to the lack
of cutlery, the Romans would eat with their hands, so the
food had to be conveniently presented. At dinner parties
it was considered impolite to eat with your left hand.

2 Pork from
f Gaul
Highly prized cured pork was imported
from Gaul, which had become imfamous for its
Key
bacon in particular. Britain also had a plentiful Minor nations
Importing
p g food
f from
f India supply of pigs reared for their meat but Gaul’s
1 According to Pliny the Elder, writing in
the 1st century CE, Romans splashed out
stock was considered to be particularly good.
Fish Grapes
Londinium
Londiniu m 100 million sestercii annually, importing
spices and exotic perfumes from India,
China and the Arabian peninsula. 3 Let them eat wheat
Wheat was very important and
it was used in vast amounts to feed
Cow Flaxseed

millions of people, including the army.

To cope with the demand, it needed
2 Lugd
ugdunu
ugd
gdunu
d unum
num
n
Lugdunumum to be imported and around 250,000 Pig Wheat
Sirm
S m iu
ium
i
million tons was required by the time
Pompeii was destroyed.
Arelate
Arelate
Roma Sheep Olives
Byzantium
Byz
zzantium Trapezus
us
Barcino
Spices Salt
Thessalonica
h essal nic
he
hessal ca
ca
3 1
Antiocha
Antioch
ha
ha
Car
rrtha
ago
Carthago
3 4
3 4 Fishingg the Mediterranean
Whether fresh, dried, salted, smoked
or pickled, fish from the Mediterranean was
Ty
T y rus
yrus
Tyrus s devoured enthusiastically. It was more expensive
Leptis
L M agna

Images; P L Chadwick/CC BY-SA 2.0 (Roman villa urban), Lolalatorre/CC BY-SA 3.0 (North Leigh Roman villa), De Agostini via Getty Images (thermopolium), Getty Images (map)
Alexandria
A than other meats, but freshwater and saltwater
ponds were used to breed fish more cheaply.

single-storey, made of wattle and daub or timber. Customers gather in a thermopolium,

or cook-shop – a place similar to a
These include ‘strip’ buildings – long, rectangular fast food restaurant that served hot
buildings with shops or workshops in the front meals to the poorer people of Rome
and homes in the rear. They would have had
small windows with wooden shutters and iron
grilles covering them. More conventional hearths
would have provided the much-needed warmth
in these lower-status abodes.
It was not unheard of that these more humble
homes would include reception rooms, although
it was noted that the lower classes had less
need for these by Vitruvius: “For a person of
middling condition in life, magnificent vestibules
[entrance hall] are not necessary, nor tablina
[tablet storage], nor atria [courtyard], because
persons of that description are those who seek
favours which are granted by the higher ranks.”
With the eventual breakdown of Roman rule
in Britain, urban houses and countryside villas
alike were gradually abandoned and fell into
disrepair and ruin.

25
 Ancient Rome

Caesar, his rise to power and his

assassination within the Senate,
was one of many factors that led to
the Senate’s eventual loss of power

26

BIRTH OF
THE
SENATE
From its humblest beginnings to its clashes with the many Roman
Emperors of history, the Senate was the resolute voice of the people
or over 1,000 years, the Romans
reigned as one of the most
F powerful nation states in history.
It was a time of incredible
military might and expanding
borders, where the eagle sigil was raised across
the known world to signal a new era of colonial
expansion. But it wasn’t just abroad that the
Romans made their mark – in the Senate, Rome
had its own unique form of governance. A
parliament of learned men where every member
had the right to express their thoughts in debate,
where the laws of the land were made and the
future of the nation decided.
Rather fittingly for an institution so
synonymous with Rome itself, the Senate is
believed to have been established around the
same time King Romulus created the Roman
Kingdom in 753 BCE. Romulus chose Rome
as his seat of power and with it he created a
new state office that would take care of the
dull, repetitive reality of legislation and general
political infrastructure. This was, in its very
earliest form, the beginnings of the Senate,
and even here, in Rome’s youngest days, the
basic elements that would define it were already
being formed.
Rather than selecting ordinary citizens (or
plebeians, as they were known), representatives
were instead selected from the most influential
families from around the region. Romulus
originally selected 100 members, but that
number soon swelled to a regular figure of 300
as more individuals of note were added. These
individuals were ‘patres’, or patriarchs, the most
important male in a noble clan, or gens. These
patricians, and the Senate itself, didn’t have
the power they would reflect in later centuries
(it was very much an advisory council to the
monarchy at this stage), but it was still a platform
for the people to be represented to the ears of
the king.
The Senate of the Roman Kingdom served
three main purposes in the years prior to the
formation of the Republic. Firstly, it served in an
advisory capacity to the monarch. Secondly, it
functioned as a legislative body for the people
of the kingdom, and finally, it existed as the
ultimate repository of executive power. The
king could, by all means, ignore the counsel
offered by the Senate, but as the years passed,
the prestige of the Senate grew and it became
increasingly difficult for a monarch to simply
discard the word of such an important office.
It was the beginning of a tumultuous pattern
that would follow the Senate through history,
both to its advantage and its error…
Part of the Senate’s influence, especially
among the people, finds its source in the deeply
patriarchal nature of Roman society at this
time. The elders of the realm were held in the
highest regard and this created a considerable
seat of power. Even the crown was subservient
to the will of the Senate in some regards – for
instance, a new king (selected by the people and
Senate) could only ascend to the throne with the
prior approval of the Senate. In the interim, all
executive power would reside within the Senate,
making it the most powerful seat in the land.
A total of seven kings ruled over the course
of the Roman Kingdom, and it would be the
seventh that would change the realm, and the
The Birth of the Senate
crown’s relationship with the Senate, forever.
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus – or Tarquin the
Proud, as he’s been sometimes called – was your
typical tyrant. A man who murdered his way
to power and abused its potency at every turn.
He was warring constantly, and coupled with
an obsession with building new structures, his
exploits were squeezing the kingdom’s coffers
dry. His own people eventually ousted him
when news that his son, Sextus Tarquinius, had
raped a noblewoman. The act was used as a
means to oust the royal family, with the nobility,
the people and the army all supporting the
king’s exile.
After the abolition of the monarchy in 509
BCE, the Senate’s position as an advisory
council continued. Its size swelled to between
300 and 500 members, with each one being
a patrician that would serve on the Senate for
life. The republic no longer wished to be victim
to the will of a single man, so it was decided
that the position of consul would be created –
two consuls (elected for one year at a time by
the people) would serve jointly. The consuls
could also call the Senate at any time, but these
executive powers were rarely abused in the
republic’s early years.
Over time, the consolidation of power in
the Senate began to grow. The consuls were in
charge of leading the armies and serving as the
face of the republic, but the Senate was largely in
charge of running everything else in the realm.
It dealt with finance, creating and amending
laws, overseeing trials of those that broke the
Image; Alamy
law and debated the topics and grievances of
the people in a forum where any voice could be
27
 Ancient Rome
Ancient Rom e
TOP 5 FAM OUS
SENATORS
It wasn’t just the emperors who were the talk
of the town – the Senate also produced some
of Rome’s most interesting characters
Marcius Agrippa
An unusual senator, Marcius Agrippa
began life as a slave, working as a
beautician. He flitted between a number
of different roles, before pretending to
be a man of higher rank (he was found
out and banished). He was eventually
called back, granted the same rights as a
man who was born free and was elevated
to senatorial rank.
Aulus Gabinius
A prominent figure in the twilight years
of the republic, Aulus Gabinius was a
statesman, a general and a supporter
of Pompey. As well as a senator, he had
a storied history in the army and was
the general who successfully helped
Mark Antony restore Egyptian pharaoh
Ptolemy XII Auletes to his throne.
Tillius Cimber
Famously one of the men who betrayed
and assassinated Julius Caesar, Tillius
Cimber was initially one of Caesar’s
strongest supporters, but the political
games he was playing with the Senate’s
power proved too much and so he
served as the distraction that enabled
Caesar’s assassins to get the drop on him.
Cato the Younger
Cato the Younger – or Marcus Porcius Cato
Uticensis, as he was also known – was
a Roman senator famed for his stoic
nature and iron-clad moral centre.
He refused to accept bribes and was
known as a great orator within the
Senate. He is emembered as stubborn,
tenacious, and a vocal sparring partner of
Julius Caesar.
Marcus Licinius Crassus
A Roman statesman and general,
Marcus Licinius Crassus was
instrumental in the transition the
Romans made from a republic to an
empire. He’s also rather famous for
his incredible wealth. His death would
go on to cause a rift between Caesar
and Pompey.
28
heard
heard.d. It was during this time we started to see and it was a factor that often put off plebeians
plebei iaans entering the Senate – those who were
plebeians who wanted to have a voice but didn’t have the
not off n
the hi
noble stock – but it took a long time for
igghest of ranks to be opened up to them.
highest
financial foundations to support themselves if
successfully elected.
Thee relationship between the Senate and
the consuls
coon nsuls also became more formal during
the republic
reeppublic – when the Senate wished to pass
As such, the Senate required a position within
itself in which to enforce the moral codes of its
own members. So it was here, during the days
advice
its adv viice to the consuls, it would present an of the republic, that we saw the creation of the
official
officiaal degree known as a senatus consultum. censor. Censors were the political police of the
Again,
Again n, these were not orders, but they did hold Senate, and they were often some of the most
weight
weigh ht and even the foolhardiest of consuls well respected and most revered members of the
often heeded
h the counsel regardless. Especially forum – characters not averse to punishing their
so when
whheen these decrees concerned the popular own for breaking the Senate’s codes of conduct.
Roman
Roma ann practice of warfare – a magistrate would Crimes often punished included corruption,
have to to justify any military action beyond the abuse of capital punishment and the disregard
defence
defenncee of an invading force to the Senate, of another member’s rights. These were usually
which h aimed to deter any warmongering fines, but severe cases could lead to a member
consuls
consu ulss from seeking glory in needless battles. being impeached, which meant they were
Upholding
Uph ho olding the law of the land also layered expelled outright from the Senate.
Senate
the Se en nate with a cast-iron sense of morality The creation of the censor also placed new
regarding
regard diing its own practices. For instance, a rules on those applying to join the Senate.
serving
servin ngg senator could not involve themselves in Those with prior criminal convictions or those
any form
orrm of banking or public contract and were
fo that had previously fought as a gladiator and
forbidden
forbiddd den from commissioning or possessing won their freedom were not often considered
a shipp large
l enough to be used in foreign (mainly because neither background often left
commerce.
comm meerce. In fact, a senator could not even a man with much financial backing). In fact, by
leave It Italy,
taly, such was the importance of their 123 BCE, the law Lex Acilia repetundarum was
presence
presen ncce in Rome. passed, making it illegal for any new prospective
Mo
More ree interestingly, a senator was not paid. senator to have been convicted of a prior crime.
It wass a factor linked with the wealthy, high- These laws only became more numerous as
born o origins
or rigins of the Senate’s earliest members. the republic grew on, with public corruption
One waswaas simply expected to be from a rich and
w forcing the Senate to be ever-more vigilant when
monied
monie ed d background before entering the Senate, conducting these screenings.
The role of the senator differed
over the centuries, but the Senate
was always in an advisory capacity
to the king, consuls or emperor
 The Birth of the Senate

When the Senate convened, it was usually height of its republican power, and by 312
conducted within the walls of the city (known
collectively as the pomerium), and official
BCE, the power to select new consuls passed
exclusively to the Senate. The reforms continued
WHAT WAS A
rules stated that the Senate could not meet
any further than one mile from the city’s
and in 81 BCE, general and senator Sulla
successfully changed the law so the number
DEBATE IN THE
boundaries. Meetings outside the pomerium
weren’t common, but they did happen. Most
of quaestors (the lowest rank of magistrate in
the Senate) increased to 20, in addition to
SENATE LIKE?
of these were political in nature, including including all former quaestors back into the The Senate was designed
to be the most democratic
choosing to meet a new nation’s emissary Senate by default.
representation of Roman
outside of the city in order to avoid Its position on foreign policy governance, so debates were
revealing too much about Rome’s also changed during the final long and took into account
internal defences. years of the republic. Initially every member’s thoughts on
In the last two centuries, The Senate loosely involved in such a particular matter. It would
begin by a presiding magistrate introducing a relatio
however, the powerbase retained a level matters, the Senate (matter for discussion) and then opening the floor to
of the Senate began to eventually decreed that debate. Every single senator would be called forward
transform. The relationship of p power all the meetings with foreign to express their opinions before their peers.
between the consuls and w ayy through g dignitaries and decisions The order in which members were called forward
was very specific and was based upon their role. The
the Senate had degraded the Byzantine
y involving Rome’s interest
order was as follows: Consules designati, Princeps
to a certain extent as the overseas must be dealt senatus, Dictatorii, Censores designati, Censorii,
official state office began to Empire
p in the 6th with by the Senate itself. Consulares, Praetores designati, Praetorii, Aediles
assume more roles (and thus century It was a sign of the office curules designati, Aedilicii curules, Aediles plebis,
designati, Aedilicii plebis, Tribuni plebis designati,
accumulate more collective becoming more self-aware of
Tribunicii plebis, Quaestores designati, Quaestorii and
power) than the magistrates its role within a larger machine, Privati.
themselves. The Senate could now although the Senate still showed Once each senator had expressed their opinion on
veto any decision made by the consuls, a sense of restraint. There was never an the relatio, the presiding magistrate had to express
which would see senators raise their concerns independent desire to acquire absolute power in theirs (or risk a fine). Expressing an opinion, however
long or short, was known as a sententia and was a vital
vocally or with a show of hands, a power that the realm – for instance, the declaration of war
part of the Senate’s open floor of expression. A member
greatly troubled those who were in the position and the ratification of treaties always remained could then respond to a sententia by vocalising their
of a consul. with the people. agreement or disagreement, or choose to sit next to
Over time, this saw the Senate evolve into an The power and influence of the Senate them to show solidarity. It’s not known just how much
autonomous, self-governing entity that largely began to wane before the rise of the Roman discretion a presiding magistrate would have to bring
a debate to an end, but a meeting would need to be
ignored the whim of the annual magistrates. Empire. The nation was beginning to splinter concluded before midnight.
During this period, the Senate grew to the with internal conflict, including the issue of

The Roman Forum remained a vital

part of the Senate’s political process,
serving as a platform on which the
issues of the day could be heard

Images; Alamy x2 main, Ssolbergj/CC BY 3.0 (SPQR), Marie-Lan Nguyen/CC BY 2.5 (Agrippa), M.Romero Schmidkte/CC BY-SA 3.0 (Cato)

29
 Ancient Rome

Censors such as Appius

LIM ITATIONS OF THE SENATE
The limitations in power endured by the Senate differed from
the republic to the empire. During the republic, the Senate
existed alongside the consuls – however, the consuls had far
more power than the Senate and could effectively do what
they wanted. This put the Senate at a disadvantage, but since
consuls could only serve for two years at most while the
Senate remained permanent, many consuls were often wary
of the Senate’s power.
Claudius were the men who
ensured the Senate itself abided
Towards the end of the republic, the Senate’s power by a strict code of moral conduct
exploded, but it was reduced rapidly under imperial rule.
Its control of everything from finance to judicial laws was
limited as the emperors continued to consolidate power into
their own positions. The emperor enjoyed the privilege of
calling and presiding over Senate meetings at will, picking
members as he chose, and always being the first person to
speak in a debate.

TIM ELINE Senate names

Nero an enemy
The Senate is founded 68 CE
753 BCE Nero proves to be one of Rome’s most
Alongside the formation of the Roman Kingdom unpopular rulers and his decisions and policies
itself, the Senate is also created. As befitting of its not only alienate the people and the army, but
later incarnations, its members consist of high- even the Senate itself. The Great Fire of Rome
ranking citizens from the most influential families in 64 CE is blamed on Nero as he seeks to build
who bring matters of discussion to the attention a grand palatial complex, the Domus Aurea, in
of the state. It’s thought that King Romulus may the city centre.
have been the one who set the Senate up in the When in hiding in 68 CE, Nero learns that
first place. the Senate has finally grown tired of his antics
The first Senate consists of 100 members, each and has declared him an enemy of the state.
from influential families. Over time, this number He is ordered to be brought to the Forum and
doubles as the power of the Senate increases in the beaten to death. Instead, he commands his
creation and maintenance of law and government. private secretary to kill him.

75 3 B C E 494 BCE 341 BCE 121 BCE 27 BCE 68 CE

O Tribune of the Plebs O Senate agrees peace
increased
The Tribunes of the
Plebs, a Roman office
of state that is open
to plebeians (regular
citizens), is increased in
number by the Senate
due to its popularity.
494 BCE
O First Senatus
with Samnites
Following decades of
war with the Samnites
(a people who live in a
stretch of the Apennine
Mountains), the Senate
agrees to an early treaty
of friendship.
341 BCE
O Senate grants
consultum ultimum
The Senate passes the
first Senatus consultum
ultimum, which grants
consul Lucius Opimius
emergency powers to
defeat the partisans of
Gaius Gracchus.
121 BCE
Augustus new titles
Augustus, the first
emperor of the new
Roman era, is granted
a series of new national
titles including Augustus,
Majestic and Princeps.
27 BCE

30
 The Birth of the Senate

prominent army generals and politicians gaining
independent followings that saw that attempt
to curry favour with the Senate. The rise of
the First Triumvirate (including the man that
would beckon in the empire, Julius Caesar)
also threatened the Senate’s influence over
the people, as did the three horrific uprisings
(sometimes referred to as Servile Wars) that
plagued the end of the republic.
By the time of Julius Caesar installing himself
as dictator, and his subsequent assassination,
the Senate was once again about to endure
a significant transformation. The beginning
of the empire proper with the formation of
the principate saw the projected image of the
emperor working in cooperation with the Senate
to run the state – in reality, the emperor retained
far more power than the consuls that preceded
him ever had.
The Senate had swollen to around 900 by
this point (a change brought in by Julius Caesar
in order to fill it with his own supporters in
the buildup to his own ascendancy), but this
was reduced to 600 under Augustus. For a
time it retained full control of the treasury, but
Augustus (the first emperor of the principate)
removed his power as more control was
consolidated into the throne.
The emperor’s power over the Senate during
the Roman Empire was absolute. Now, an
individual could gain entry into the Senate by
being granted the chance to be elected as a
quaestor by the emperor, or granted automatic
quaestorship and entry into the Senate by
imperial decree. The Senate was simply at the
beck and call of the emperor, and it only got
worse from there.
The Senate was once again relegated to the
role of advisory council, and it was a position
that would only degrade following the anarchy
of the Crisis of Third Century. The end of that
chaotic period saw the rise of Tetrarchy, a four-
person seat of emperorhood that led the empire
to be carved into four sections. The main mind
behind the Tetrarchy, Diocletian, even made
a decree that gave the emperor the right to
remove all executive power from the Senate
without warning, further whittling down the
Senate’s influence.
As the empire waned, the Senate endured, but
it was a shell of its former self and ultimately
petered out as the empire slowly fragmented
and was conquered part by part. And yet, while
it ultimately followed the empire itself into the
grave, the Senate’s impact on modern politics
lives on to this day. The idea of a democratic
forum where a man could air his opinion and
veto a law he did not agree with lives on in
many a parliament and senate, while the idea
of civil law (where laws were codified alongside
proportionate punishment) exists now as a basic
fundamental of modern law.

Diocletian dismantles Senate

power
“Diocletian made 293 CE
In perhaps the most decisive reduction in Senate
a decree that gave power since its creation, the first emperor of the
Tetrarchy in 293 CE (an era where four leaders
the emperor the ruled the empire in four different sections),
Diocletian, begins stripping away many of the
right to remove all

Images; Alamy (Censors, Romulus), Jean-Pol Grandmont/CC BY-SA 3.0 (limitations of the senate), G.dallorto (Diocletian bust)
office’s official powers. He does this via a series off
radical reforms, one of which states the emperors
executive power control
have the theoretical power to assume total contro
of the state from the Senate. The Senate retains
ol

from the Senate” the power to try treason cases and determine thee
order of appearance during a debate, but it is a
shadow of its former self compared to the power it i
had once wielded at the heart of the empire.

117 CE 2 38 CE 2 75 C E 2 93 C E 32 5 CE 330 CE 552 CE

O Hadrian recognised O Senate elects
by the Senate
As is the case with
every single official
emperor of the Roman
Empire, the Senate
officially recognises
Hadrian as the next
official ruler of Rome.
117 CE
O Senate recognises
two rulers
On 22 April 238 CE, the
Senate elects two rulers
to govern Rome (much
like the old consuls of
the Republic) in the
form of senators
Pupienus and Balbinus.
238 CE
O First Council of Nicaea O
Tacitus The Senate finds its position
In September 275 CE, ignored as Constantine
following the murder of convenes a meeting of
Emperor Aurelian by the bishops and officials to
Praetorian Guard, the determine whether Jesus
Senate recognises his Christ held the same status
successor, Tacitus. as God Himself.
275 CE 325 CE
Roman capital moved
to Constantinople
The Christian emperor
Constantine the Great
moves the capital of the
empire to Byzantium,
where he creates the city
of Constantinople.
330 CE
O Senators executed
following death of Totila
After the fall of the Western
Roman Empire, the Senate
continues under the Eastern
kings. However, a number
of senators are murdered in
retaliation for the death of
Ostrogoth’s King Totila.
552 CE

31
 Ancient Rome

How to INSIDE Venue Open doors

become a
Many locations were used for Meetings were public. To
THE Senate meetings, such as the
Temples of Jupiter Capitolinus,
highlight this, doors were left
open during meetings, so
SENATE Fides, Concord and Apollo. anyone could observe them.

Roman
Consul
Want to learn how to
gain power and influence
in Ancient Rome?
Here s how to
Here’s t do it
Audience Tradition Consul
The Senate originally One way to keep your opponents As the consul would frequently
comprised 100 men but from the floor was to keep talking address the Senate, he was
increased to around 300 at – a tactic employed several times expected to have a dominant
the height of the republic. by Cato the Younger. presence and strong oratory style.

DUTIES OF
THE CONSUL t was the highest elected office in the
days of the Roman Republic, and two
BCE a plebeian (common) citizen could even stand for
office. This kind of democracy wouldn’t last, however, as

Chief judge
I consuls were elected at any one time,
each serving a one-year term before
the death of Julius Caesar and subsequent wars led to
the establishment of the Roman Empire in 27 BCE. The
This power was transferred to the being replaced. Their duties spanned consuls’ powers were absorbed by that of the emperor,
d
praetors in 366 BCE, but consuls woul a vast range of civil and military tasks, and from 367 leaving them as mere figureheads.
and
still serve as judges in serious cases
whenever called upon.
Senate ng
Consuls were responsible for passi
g
the laws of the Senate, as well as actin
as ambassadors on behalf of it.
Military
Consuls were the commanders-in-
chief of the vast and strong Roman
army, which they governed with the
assistance of military tribunes.
Governorship
After leaving office, each consul was
or
assigned – at random – a province
area to govern for a term of anywhere
between one and five years.
Veto
GET EDUCATED MARRY INTO A WEALTHY FAMILY
Each consul had the power to block
his colleague’s decree, in the proce
ss
ensuring that important decisions were
only made in unison.
1 Roman consuls are expected to have the immense
confidence and education necessary to be superb
public orators. For this reason, find yourself a private
p
2 If all else fails, attempt to increase your influence
by marrying into it. In Rome, powerful and wealthy
families often support each other in the form of alliances
tutor – known around these woods as a pedagogue – to known as amicitia, which are generally made concrete in
make sure you have the basic reading skills to lay the the form of arranged marriages. Being associated with a
ffoundations you need to learn the art of rhetoric. great family is a quick way to get some votes.

32
 How to Become a Roman Consul

(IN)FAM OUS
CONSULS
Lucius Junius Brutus
LuciusJunius
509 BCE
The founder of the Roman
Republic, he was one of the first
consuls and is claimed to be an
ancestor of Marcus Junius Brutus,
one of Julius Caesar’s assassins.

BE A SHOWMAN INTIMIDATE YOUR RIVALS

3 The better you present yourself to the people, the
higher your odds of becoming a consul. As Marcus
Tullius Cicero himself says: “Surround yourself with large
4 You mustn’t be afraid to use less than savoury
means in order to get what you want. This can
include inciting riots or hiring heavies – gladiators are
JuliusCaesar
Julius Caesar
100-44 BCE
Caesar was consul on five
numbers of people from every class and rank… Make sure particularly effective options here – to beat people up. If
separate occasions, before being
your campaign has plenty of ceremony, brilliance and you happen to be a general, even better; simply make use
murdered after declaring himself
entertainment for the people.” of your heavily armed troops to threaten disorder. a dictator for life.

Mark Antony
83-30 BCE
A consul on two occasions, he
later ruled with Octavian before
falling out, losing against him in
battle and committing suicide
with his lover, Cleopatra.

INDULGE IN BRIBERY BECOME A MOB FAVOURITE

5 Bribery is common, especially in these waning
days of the Roman Republic. Should you decide
upon this as an option, be aware that it can take two
6 A man who has the support of the mob is a
powerful man indeed, and should help you
in your quest to become a consul. Putting on a series
forms: direct bribery (paying off officials with money of gladiatorial games – preferably with a host of exotic
in return for votes) or indirect (provision of free grain, animals – is a safe method of getting the mob on your
entertainment and outdoor banquets). side and willing to support you.
Augustus
63 BCE-14 CE
Formerly known as Octavian, he
HOW NOT TO SEIZE POWER first became consul in 43 BCE,
Lucius Sergius Catilina, more commonly known as Catiline, was a before becoming the first Roman
prospective consul whose attempts to seize power went horribly wrong. emperor in 27 BCE.
Having been forbidden to campaign for election as a consul at an earlier
date due to facing charges of extortion (he was ultimately acquitted), he
Image; Andrew Bossi/CC-BY-SA-2.5 (Caesar)

was later defeated in 64 BCE by Cicero. Angered by this, he planned to

take power by force, gathering a number of followers by promising to
cancel debts, as well as appealing to the wants and needs of the poor.
However, Cicero was constantly kept abreast of Catiline’s actions,
forcing him to flee Rome after denouncing him as a traitor. Catiline later
tried to enter Gaul (France) with his army, but he was prevented from
doing so by soldiers led by general Gaius Antonius Hybrida in 62 BCE
at Pistoria, where he and the majority of his followers were killed.

33
 Ancient Rome

THE
TWELVE TABLES
In the Roman Republic, laws were
displayed on 12 bronze tablets
Words Katharine Marsh

The Roman Forum

as it appears today

34
 The Twelve Tables

t was the 5th century BCE read them. The people could see their rights A depiction of the Tw
elve
Tables being drawn up
and the Romans needed a law enshrined in bronze.

I code. It needed to ensure some

amount of fairness for the
ordinary people; the elite had
But the Twelve Tables weren’t a liberal legal
reform that gave the lower classes power in the
Roman Republic. Instead, they laid out what
their own council that could sway trials their was already known: that the patrician class
way. The upper-class patricians had a history of had the power and people could be enslaved
gaining judgements in their favour. Naturally, for unpaid debt. One thing they did introduce,
the plebeians were angry. however, was that religious leaders should have
According to legend, three men were sent less power in civil cases.
to Athens to study the laws of Solon, a famous The Twelve Tables would later move out
lawgiver who had died a few years previously. of use as times changed, but they were never
In 451 BCE, a group of ten men – the decemviri really abolished. In fact, their legacy can still be
– were appointed to draft the laws. They put felt today.
forward ten tables to combat elite abuses of
power, with a further two tables added later.
power later
The tables were inscribed on bronze tablets
and displayed in the Roman Forum alongside
other important notices. The reason was simple:
it was somewhere everyone could see them and

EVERYTHING HAPPENS
IN THE FORUM
The Roman Forum was one of
the most important places in the city
If you head to any city today, you’ll be able to find its
hub – the place where the main shops are and where
the legislative and judicial buildings find their home.
That’s not a new concept – in Ancient Rome, these
areas were called forums (or fora). The city of Rome
was home to perhaps the most famous of all: the
Roman Forum, or Forum Romanum.
Situated between the Palatine and Capitoline hills,
from its early days in the Roman Kingdom it was filled
with shops and markets. As time went on, though, its
use expanded to include public affairs from around
500 BCE. At one end stood the Curia, the meeting
place of the Senate, until it burnt down in the late
republic. The first temple was constructed around 498
BCE and was dedicated to Saturn, a god of agriculture.
Temples were later built to Castor and Pollux, and to
Vesta.
The Roman Forum was the main hive of activity
in Rome. It was where people congregated or did
their shopping, so it made sense for notices to be
published there. In 304 BCE, a calendar was erected
there so everyone could see what was happening in
Image; Wolfgang Moroder/CC BY-SA 2.5 (main)

the city, and it was where the Twelve Tables had been
displayed a couple of centuries earlier.
The Roman Forum was no stranger to politics.
Assemblies took place there – or on the Campus
Martius – and criminal trials were held there. Politicians
gave public speeches, public meetings took place and
religious ceremonies were held. It was the centre of
the city’s activity.

35
 Ancient Rome

,
EXECUTION O
EXECUTION OFF
PROCEDURE
PROCEDURE FOR
FOR COURTS
COURTS
JU DGEM E
UDGEM NT
ENT
AN D JU
AND DGES A
UDGES ND
AND
FURTHER ENACTM
FURTHER EN ACTM ENTS
EN TS Table III told you how long you had to pay a fine
after a trial. If it wasn’t paid within 30 days, the
ON T
ON RIALS
TRIALS guilty party would return to court, where the accuser
could either discharge them or take them away.
The first two tables outlined trial proceedings. Table I They would then be fastened “with not less than 15
laid out what should happen leading up to a trial – for pounds of weight or, if he choose, with more”. The
instance, defendants couldn’t try to flee, and the court creditor had to give them a pound of grits to eat
would provide a vehicle to bring defendants to court if each day, or more at his discretion. Alternatively, the
they were too ill or old to make it there themselves. If debtor could bring their own food. A compromise
either party failed to attend court, then after noon the could be sought, or else the debtor would be held in
judge would make judgement in favour of the party bonds for 60 days. During that time, they would be
who was present. It also gave a time limit for trials – brought to the magistrate on three successive market
they would end at sunset. Table II went on to set out a days, and the amount they owed declared publicly.
limit on fines. “The penal sum in an action by solemn On the third market day they either received capital
deposit shall be either 500 asses or 50 asses,” it said. punishment or were sold abroad.

R IGHT OF
RIGHT OF
FAM ILIAL
FAM ILIAL H EADS
HEADS
The oldest living male in a household – the
paterfamilias – was the head of the Roman family. He
had all the authority, and Table IV laid out just what
that entailed. He had the power of life and death over
his sons and had to kill babies with severe physical
deformities. If he wanted to leave his wife, he could
order her to leave and manage her own affairs.
However, if a father tried to sell his son three times
then the son would earn his freedom from the father.
“The head of the family
held the power of life and
death over his sons”
, ,
GUARDIAN SHIP,
GUARDIANSHIP,
POSSESSION S A
POSSESSIONS ND
AND
SACRED LAW
SACRED LAW
Women had very little power and the Twelve Tables
confirmed it. Table V stated that all women, except
Vestal Virgins, were under the guardianship of
men – they belonged to their fathers and husbands.
They couldn’t inherit property, so a man’s estate
would go to a male relative. According to Table VI,
a man and woman were considered married if they
lived together continuously for a year. It wasn’t just
estates and guardianship that saw women’s agencies
ignored – women were possessions and their actions
were regulated. Table X dictated rules surrounding
funerals, including orders that the dead should not
be buried within the city and that women couldn’t
make a scene or cry too loudly during a funeral.

36
 The Twelve Tables

PROPERTY,
PROPERTY, L
LAND
AN D R
RIGHTS
IGHTS
AN D CRIM
AND CRIM ES
ES
When it came to property, Table VII had all the
answers. Disputed property boundaries would go
through an arbitration process and trees leaning over
boundaries could be removed by the neighbour. The
tablet even dictated to whom fruit belonged if it fell
from a tree onto a neighbour’s property. Roads were
a big part of what remains of Table VII. They were
to be kept in good condition and people who lived
near the road were in charge of maintaining it. It also
specified that straight sections of road should be 2.5
metres (eight feet) wide, while bends should be five
metres (16 feet) wide. Slaves were also considered to
be property, so Table VII dictated the terms under
which one might be set free in a will.
TORTS
TORTS AND
AN D DELICTS
DELICTS
((LAW OF
LAW OF IINJ URY)
N JU RY)
If anyone sang or composed a song that insulted
someone else, “he should be clubbed to death”.
It seems like an incredibly harsh punishment
today, but this was par for the course in Ancient
Rome. Table VIII went on to say that patrons who
defrauded their clients should be killed, and if you
maimed someone, the same must be done to you.
Lying during a trial wasn’t an option, either – that
would see you flung from the Tarpeian Rock.
Stealing crops was punishable by hanging as
a sacrifice to Ceres, a goddess of agriculture,
although the punishment was lesser if the offender
had not yet reached puberty. If someone attempted
to steal during the night and was killed by the
owner, the killing was deemed lawful.

P
PUBLIC
UBLIC LAW
LAW T
THE
HE SSUPPLEM
UPPLEM E ENTS
N TS -
MA RRIAGE B
ARRIAGE ETW EEN
BETWEEN
Treason has never been leniently punished, and that
was certainly the case in Ancient Rome. According to CLASSES A
CLASSES ND
AND
Table IX – which mostly covers crimes against Rome
– anyone found guilty of treason would suffer
BIN DIN G IINTO
BINDING N TO LAW
LAW
capital punishment. Similarly, judges and arbiters
found guilty of receiving bribes in return for Drafted the year after the original laws, Tables XI
decisions were to be put to death. The table dictates and XII were added to supplement the legal code.
that the punishment of a person must only be Little remains from these, but from what we have
decided through the greatest assembly, or maximus we know that Table XI forbade marriages between
comitatus. It also says, “He who shall have roused up plebeians and patricians. People were also not
a public enemy or handed over a citizen to allowed to use controversial items for consecrated
a public enemy must suffer capital punishment” and use, but the punishment for this is unknown as part
that the “putting to death of any man who has not of this fragment has sadly been lost to time.
been convicted, whosoever he might be, is forbidden”. Table XII covers the punishment slaves faced for
The Romans weren’t afraid to send people to their thieving or damaging property, and also the terms of
deaths, but they did want to make sure the penalty binding into law. It dictates: “Whatever the
was dished out by the proper authorities. people ordain last shall be legally valid.”

37
 Ancient Rome

LIFE IN THE
LEGION
Rome’s ranks were filled with some of the best-trained
oldiers in the world, forming one formidable force
soldiers forc
Words Tim Williamson

38
 Life iin
Life n tthe
he Legio
ion
Legion

oman armies were highly A DAY IN

R
organised and supremely
disciplined entities of war. Each
legion numbered around 5,000
ROM E’S RANKS
men, all trained and armed to Backbreaking work, relentless training and
defeat enemies from all across the vast Roman routine marches were just a few of the
territories. The backbone of a legion was its daily
y tasks facing legionaries
legionaries, heavy infantry with sworn allegiance
to the Senate and the people of Rome (Senatus
Populusque Romanus), and later to the emperor. These re-enactors are playing the role of auxiliary
auxiliaarry
However, the daily lives of these men weren’t cavalry, armed with spears and longer swords fo for
orr
cutting down the enemy
filled with glorious adventures fighting Rome’s
enemies but were instead governed by strict
routine, endless hours of marching, and yet more The next stage of training was the armat
armatura,
tuura, a
hours spent training. sparring exercise that pitched two soldiers head h
As a legionary, you would march, work, to head. Wielding blunted or covered blades
bladeess to
eat, fight and rest alongside the men of your avoid injury, soldiers attacked and parried o onene
contubernium, or squad. Each contubernium another using the same techniques learned d Washing
hi Training
contained eight soldiers, with ten contubernia fighting the wooden stakes. Legionaries trained
traaiined Soldiers were expected to Soldiers were expected
making up one centuria. At the end of each in this way throughout their careers so as to to maintain their own equipment to train daily, practising
day’s march, after constructing the legion’s maintain their skills. In fact, it was so impo
important
orrtant but also their own personal for real combat with
fortifications for the night, each squad would set to the legions that buildings were constructed
construccted hygiene during their limited wooden swords, slings,
free time each day. While bows and javelins.
up its own tent then enjoy some precious down especially for this purpose, so practice coul
couldldd
barracks often had comfortable Repeating tough
time. One servant was assigned to each squad, continue regardless of the weather. Those who w
adjoining bath houses, when battlefield drills prepared
and they who would repair kit, cook, clean and underperformed during training were punished
puniisshed soldiers mentally and
on campaign troops would
carry out any general chores for the soldiers. with a reduction in their rations, heavy fines,
fineess, or wash with whatever resources physically to face the
At least one member of each squad would be even a rough beating from an officer. they could find. enemy for real.
assigned to guard duty throughout the night, Weakness or dissent in the ranks could mean m
before the camp rose at the crack of dawn and the difference between victory and defeat on o the
prepared to march once more. battlefield, so strict discipline was often enforced
enfo orced
through harsh punishments. Depending on n the
TRAINING AND DRILLS desertion
circumstances, crimes such as theft, desert tiion
Officers trained their men mercilessly using or even falling asleep on duty could be met met
techniques and combat styles developed by with a whipping, demotion or even public
gladiators. Experience of the competitive and execution – usually by being clubbed to de death.
eaath. In
bloody contests in the arenas had made gladiator very rare circumstances where entire unitss ran
trainers experts in teaching fighters how to best away in the face of the enemy, the sentence
sentenccee of
their opponents. decimation was carried out – one in every ten ten of
te Martial
Marttia
i l Building
Buil
uildi
il dii ng
il g
New recruits practised with wooden swords the accused would be executed. The fear of o such punishment ffortifications
and shields, which were heavier than the a fate was usually enough to bolster the co courage
ou urage Discipline was essential in All soldiers would help
equipment they would be armed with in battle. of any wavering squad or centuria. the army, and breaking any construct a new temporary
This was intended to build up strength and rules could earn a severe fortification at the end of
stamina for the real fight. Practising on wooden BLOOD AND COIN sentence. Theft, desertion, each day’s march, building
stakes, recruits repeated drills to strike at the A regular wage was one of the key attractio
attractions
onns disobeying orders and trenches and wooden walls
head, legs and torso, all while dodging and for recruits, and legionaries were the highe esst-
highest- other crimes were often around the camp. This meant
blocking
blockin
king as if their lives
es depended on it. paid units in the army. Through promotion n and punishable by demotion, that no matter where the
beatings, flogging or army travelled it could ensure
time served, soldiers could hope to receive pay- p
even public execution some level of protection from
and-a-half (sesquiplicarius), and veteran troops
tro
oo ops
by clubbing. enemy attacks at night.
n
(duplicarius).
eventually could get double pay (duplicariu uss).
While auxiliary recruits were generally paid da
little less, they had the additional lure of being
beeiing
granted full Roman citizenship on completion
complettio on of
25 years’ military service.
Anyone looking to earn a little more could
couuld d
seek out both wealth and glory in war. In tthe h
he
aftermath of a battle, generals were known n tot
reward particularly brave actions, or those who w Marching
Images; Alamy (re-enactors)

had received grisly wounds in the line of du duty.

New recruits would have to master the
pilum (javelin) and the gladius (sword),
as well as battlefield formations
d uty. An army would be regularly ordered to march up to nine
After the Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BCE), fo ffor
or hours per day, with each soldier carrying their equipment and
example, Julius Caesar was presented with ha rations, which could weigh up to 40 kilograms. Disciplined
shield that had been pierced by over 100 ar arrows
rrrows marching was often the first thing taught to new recruits.

3399
 Ancient Rome

– he rewarded its owner, a centurion, with riches
and honourable promotion.
However, during campaigns some men found
less honourable ways to gain wealth. After
a successful conquest, generals would often
allow their men to pillage and loot, enabling
legionaries to fill their pockets with the spoils
of war. In many extreme cases, generals used
this as a way to secure the loyalty of the army
and prevent possible mutinies in the ranks.
Legionaries lucky to live long enough could
receive a bonus of 12,000 sesterces (praemia)
upon retiring or even be granted land to settle
down, often within the same region in which
they served.
DECLINE OF THE LEGIONS
Towards the middle of the 4th century CE,
the Roman Empire was past the height of its
power, and several fearsome tribes – Goths,
Vandals, Huns and others – began threatening
its borders. Armies garrisoned at the furthest
edges of imperial territory, such as in Britain,
were marched back down the roads to defend
Roman heartlands. By this period the legions
had dramatically changed from the dominating
forces of previous centuries.
Original height and age requirements were
overlooked as recruiters struggled to fill the
ranks to defend the empire. There was also little
time for the strict training regimes of previous
eras, and the wisdom of the armatura was all
but forgotten. Without the allure of sharing in
the riches of conquests, men were often forced
into service. By this time, non-citizens were no
longer prevented from becoming legionaries,
Cohorts
A legion was made up of ten
cohorts, each containing six
centuries. Each century was
while Roman citizens were also as likely to join
auxiliary units. This meant that Rome’s armies
were no longer filled with men from the regions
close to Rome itself but from among so-called
‘barbarian’ territories conquered by the empire,
some even from beyond its borders. Although
these new legions did achieve some victories,
they paled in comparison to the elite fighting
ng
forces they once were.
Tribunus laticlavius
The second-in-command of the army
was a senior tribune appointed by the
Senate or the emperor and identified
by a broad stripe in his uniform.

Structure of
comprised of 80 soldiers.

the army
Legions were highly organised
fighting forces with rigid
command structures es

Praefectus
castrorum
The third-most-senior officer
in the army, the ‘camp prefect’
oversaw the maintenance of all
arms, armour, fortifications and
camp logistics.

Aquilifer
A prestigious position, the
KEY ‘eagle-bearer’ had the honour
of carrying the legion’s standard
into battle. He was also
responsible for soldiers’ pay.

Legionary Centurion
i Trumpeter

Praefectus Equites Aquilifer Legatuss

castrorum llegionis
egioniss

Eques legionis
Each legion also included a
Tribunus Signifer Tribunus Optio 120-man-strong cavalry unit.
angusticlavius laticlavius

40
40

40
 Life in the Leg
Life Legi
giion
Legion

AUXILIARIES
Although heavy infantry formed the backbone of Roman
armies, specialist troops such as archers, slingers and
cavalrymen were also crucial on the battlefield. These units
were largely recruited from conquered territories, such as
Gaul, Greece, Germania and Britain. Archers from Crete, for
instance, were renowned for their skill with the bow, while
German cavalrymen proved instrumental during Caesar’s
conquest of the Gauls in 58–50 BCE.
While auxiliary units were often raised and disbanded
to meet the needs of a legion, the Romans became
increasingly reliant on them. Unlike their legionary
comrades, these men were not considered Roman citizens,
but citizenship could be earned through lengthy service. As
the empire began to decline, auxiliary and legionary units
became almost indistinguishable. Eventually, non-citizens
were widely recruited to help defend Roman territory.

Tribunus
angusticlavii
Five tribunes, identified by a
narrow stripe on their uniform,
were responsible for the A depiction of an auxiliary
army’s administration, but infantryman from Rome’s
they occasionally led cohorts. imperial period
Centurion
The commander of a centuria,
usually promoted through the
ranks, would have many years’
experience. The most senior
centurion in each legion was called
the primus pili, or ‘first spear’.

E ROM AN LEGION
TUR Leg
ion RECRUITM ENT
UC
arie
s
STR REQUIREM ENTS
RY
N TU 1 Citizenship
CE Only a citizen of Rome could become
a legionary. Freed or current slaves
were not permitted to join the ranks,
although this rule was relaxed as the
needs of the army changed.

Optio
O ptio Trumpeter
Trumpe
Trumpetter
t
2 Height
Recruits were expected to be a
(assistant
(as
ssis
sistan
tantt
Signifer
Sig
Signif
nifer
er minimum height of 1.72 metres,
centurion)
cen
ntur
turion
ion))
though for some roles even taller men
Centurion
Centur
Centurion
ion were required. Even so, it is thought
that this rule was not always strictly
followed by the military recruiters.
A Roman soldier
often marched over
30 kilometres a day 3 Age
Boys as young as 17 could join the

Images; Alamy (Roman soldier), Getty Images (re-enactment, auxiliary infantryman), Ed Crooks (illustrations)
Legatus legionis ranks, and men generally aged
anywhere up to their mid-20s would
The overall commander of the be accepted. In desperate times, this
legion, the legionary legate
maximum age was extended to 35.
was usually a former politician
appointed directly by the
emperor or Senate.
A re-enactment shows
a 4 Education
, Although the ordinary soldier did not
centuria on the march need any education, those wishing to
led by a centurion,
eter gain officer posts needed basic
signifers and a trump
numeracy and literacy skills.

5 Strength
Most important was the recruit’s
health, stamina, eyesight and
strength. Soldiers incapable of
carrying out the highly physical tasks
demanded of them were often
discharged from the army.

411
4

41
41
 Ancient Rome
BLOOD,
GUTS &
GLADIATORS
From enjoying beautiful poetry to cheering on a blood-
thirsty gladiator going in for the kill, the Romans sure
knew how to enjoy their free time
ntertainment and sport were
central to Roman living with
E lots of pursuits, both literate and
spectacular, keeping Rome’s
citizens busy during their
free time. They were used by the emperor to
control and occupy the poor, idle masses in a
bid to head off any potential revolt, but the vast
population would come to enjoy and embrace
great and clear prose, elegant Latin poetry and
art inspired by their neighbours, the Etruscans.
The ordinary Romans were literate, or at least
semi-literate, visiting libraries and enjoying the
work of satirists such as Juvenal, who proved so
influential that, in 1738, poet Samuel Johnson
would model his work, London, on Juvenal’s
‘Satire III’. But to concentrate on the arts is to
tell halff a story: the Romans came to love large
visual, mainly brutal events so much more. The
rulers knew that and used huge games to paper
over the cracks of the empire’s struggles.
Their greatest innovation was truly turning
sport from something that was played into
something that would be watched for pleasure,
celebrating the athleticism of man and gleaning
great reflected glory from the achievements
of the strong competitors to a greater degree
42
than the Greeks. Huge amphitheatres and
stadia dominated Roman towns and cities and
they became proud and powerful focal points.
Spectator sports also became hugely organised
with large teams looking to get the best out of
those competing.
Individuals and groups of friends could find
their own pursuits, though, away from the huge
venues. They wanted to be fed and entertained,
and so it became known as panem et circenses;
bread and circuses. Board games were very
popular among citizens with the two-player
strategy board game Ludus latrunculorum
drawing on military tactics and being played
Tic-T
- ac-T
- oe, which survives
across the empire. Tic-Tac-Toe,
today although it is more familiar to some as
Noughts and Crosses, kept minds ticking over
in ancient Roman times.
The countryside would be home to hunters
and recreational fishing. There was also boxing,
wrestling, swimming, throwing and riding,
as well as a version of football, known as
Harpastum, which was played on a pitch. It was
depicted in drawings as having two sides. With
the aim appearing to be to keep the ball in their
own half, the game was seen as a way to keep
soldiers fit and healthy.
 Blood, Guts & Gladiators

Female ggladiators,
each of them slaves,
were common in
Rome’s arenas byy
the 1st century CE

A 4th-century-CE mosaic from

Image; Alamy

Terranova, Italy, depicting

Roman gladiators fighting

43
 Ancient Rome

Land of gore and glory

Wild beasts wouldn’t tear people away from the Rome’s spectacles.
Indeed, they’d have citizens flocking to stadia in their droves
Ancient Romans loved their bloody sports and for In light of that, it’s very easy to say that the
more than 650 years, they turned up in their tens Romans saw them as dispensable and that the
of thousands to enjoy the ferocious spectacles of crowds had a true sadistic streak. But while that
gladiatorial combats and chariot racing, admiring is certainly going to be true of some of those who
the courage of the participants while thriving attended, in reality Roman sport was actually
on the inherent danger. Far from being seen symbolic. Gladiatorial bouts had their origins in
as barbaric or cruel, whether to man or beast, the funeral ceremonies of wealthy nobles (the
such forms of entertainment were embraced first was a combat staged in honour of Junius
and celebrated, seen as defining the Roman Brutus Pera in 264 BCE, with three slaves
civilisation. Since the empire’s citizens having been selected to fight at the
prized physical fitness, those who Forum Boarium cattle market).
took part were often seen as In that instance, it was less about
symbols of strength, especially M iliarius w as the thrill of a kill and more
for the wealthy sponsors of the the name giveng about the belief that spilt blood
well-publicised shows. to a charioteer would help purify the soul of
Sports tended to be all-male or horse w ho the deceased.
affairs both in terms of those The fights bestowed political
w on more than
competing and those who prestige on a family, y which is
gathered to watch. Huge stadia
1,000 races why the funeral shows became
and arenas were built in Rome, more elaborate, involving greater
from the splendour of the Colosseum, numbers of gladiators. Eventually,
completed in 80 BCE for crowds of up emperors began to stage them as
to 80,000 to the vast, long and narrow Circus entertainment in their own right, again for the
Maximus on Palatine Hill, which would be popularity it brought them. The crowds began to
packed with as many as 250,000 people for the enjoy more than blood being spilt, too; there were
most popular events. Since sport was enjoyed complex rules and regulations, and gladiators
across the empire, more than 230 steeply seated would have their own fighting styles. The contests
ancient amphitheatres have been discovered could be very tactical.
across all territories, all of which would have In fact, crowds loved to see certain skills pitted
been a source of civic pride, many clad with against each other. Many Romans thrived on the
marble and decorated with statues. Britain’s shows between sword-and-shield murmillo and
largest was in Chester. Thraex gladiators, for instance. Their different
Crowds would gain free entry to events, which sized shields forced them to adopt different
was a way for emperors to make themselves ways of harming their opponent and it lent an
popular. Romans would seize the opportunity exciting tactical air to the proceedings. This
to watch sports, making an entire day of it. The love of mashing-up of styles extended to other
huge popularity of such occasions meant that ancient sports: getting different animals to face
even the largest venues became overcrowded, off – elephants against lions, perhaps – got the
leading to fights among those trying to get in. crowds very giddy indeed.
But unlike today, the people they watched and But there were other reasons for sport, which
those who were associated with show business, could be starkly seen at the chariot races that
even in sport, were seen of low social standing. were a betting man’s dream. As the charioteers
While the crowds would have their favourites – slaves or former slaves backed by large expert
and some competitors would become very teams of trainers, vets and blacksmiths –
famous as a results, sportsmen were typically competed over 12 daily races (or 24 under chariot
slaves,
slaves criminals or war captives.
captives race fanatic Caligula), much money was won and
lost. There would be four teams – the Whites,
Reds, Blues and Greens – and the addition of
money only served to enhance the thrill. Not
that it was any less dangerous a sport, with many
riders suffering injury or death. More gentle
were the trick-riding exhibitions that tended to
be staged alongside the races. Roman taste in
entertainment could certainly be very diverse.

,
This mosaic in the Jamahiriya Museum, Tripoli
Libya dates from before 80 CE and shows
444 Roman entertainments from the 1st centur
y

A painting by the French painter Jean-Léon
Gérôme dating from 1872, showing a gladiator
being condemned to death by the crowd
Commissioned by William T Walters
this 19th-century painting shows
Christian martyrs praying before being
devoured by wild beasts – another form
of entertainment in Ancient Rome
ROM E’S M OST POPULAR SPORTS
Sports and entertainment were synonymous in Ancient Rome,
as athletes became famous icons that drew huge crowds
Gladiators
Rather than involve multiple gladiators in a unruly
fight to the death, gladiatorial combats came to be
structured, refereed battles between two well-trained
men. Schooling in the art of fighting would take
many years and much expense so while emperors
in the Colosseum and the excitable crowd at venues
elsewhere would decide whether to spare a gladiator,
there was actually a reluctance to do so given the fees
trainers would command for deaths.
The most popular of all spectator sports, armed men
in violent fights had Romans flocking to arenas
“It tapped into the Roman love of a great
spectacle and appealed to an emperor’s
penchant for showing off”
Wild beasts
Roman crowds would start the day watching huntsmen
in the arenas showing their skills. Wild beasts, from
elephants to lions, would also be thrown together in
combat. Arenas would be decorated with trees and
shrubs for a greater spectacle, and the crowds lapped
up man’s dominance over nature. Audiences also
liked watching men enter the arena to fight animals,
and massive crowds would flock to see a sideline of
Christians and convicted criminals getting mauled.
Whether called to do tricks or to fight against each
other, wild beasts played a part in sporting life
Blood, Guts & Gladiators
Chariot racing
Chariot racing was one of the few sports women
could watch and it came with its own terrifying
dangers. Up to 300,000 people would pack the long,
narrow Circus Maximus on the Palatine Hill as teams
of charioteers scorched the earth completing seven
anti-clockwise laps. Chariots would typically be pulled
by four horses but sometimes more. There would be
many heart-in-mouth moments as wheels smashed
into stone and riders as the rider jostled for position.
It’s said that Rome’s founder Romulus used chariot
racing to distract the Sabine men
Water sports
The huge space of the amphitheatres would be
flooded with water so that competitors could engage
in gigantic naval battles. This would happen at both
the Colosseum and Circus Maximus, where small
ancient vessels would battle it out. It tapped into the
Roman love of a great spectacle and appealed to an
emperor’s penchant for showing off. Eventually lakes
would be used for this purpose and the captives who
competed in them were called naiunachiarii.
Images; Alamy (popular sports; gladiators, chariot racing, wild beasts)
The staging of naval battles as mass entertainment
would have been an amazing spectacle
45
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 THE BREECHES BISHOP
In that age of gallantry, the reign of Charles the Second, it
was customary when a gentleman drank a lady’s health to
throw some part of his dress into the flames, in order to do her
still greater honour. This was well enough for a lover, but the
folly did not stop here, for his companions were obliged to
follow him in this proof of his veneration by consuming a
similar article, whatever it might be.

About the latter part of the seventeenth century, there was living at
Aldersferry, in the Soke of Godsport in Hampshire, a worthy
clergyman of the name of Barnabas Winthrop. The little living of St.
Ascham’s—a perpetual curacy in the Archdeaconry of Winchester—
supplied the moral and material needs of this amiable man; his
granddaughter, Miss Joan Seabird, kept house for him; and never
were cream and ripe fruit happier in contact than were these two
playful and reasonable intellects in their relations of child and sage.
A hysteromaniac, however, is Fortune, who, charmed for a while
with the simplicity of these her protégés, soon began to construe
their contentment into self-sufficiency, and to devise some means to
correct their supposed presumption on her favour, by putting it into
the head of the artless divine how silence on questions which one
felt called loudly for reform might be comfortable, but was shameful
and an evasion of one’s duty. In short, Dr. Winthrop, entertaining
original views on sanitation and the prevention of epidemics, was
wickedly persuaded by her to expound them, and so to invite into his
harmless Eden the snake which was to demoralize it. In one day he
became a pamphleteer.
Now the Plague, in that year of 1682, was not so remote a
memory but that people lived in a constant terror of its
recrudescence. Pandects, treatises, expositions, containing
diagnoses, palladiums and schemes of quarantine, all based on the
most orthodox superstitions, did not cease to pour from the press, to
the eternal confusion of an age which was yet far from realizing the
pious schism of the aide-toi. What, then, as might be supposed, was
the effect on it, when a clergyman of the Establishment was seen to
enter the arena as a declared dissenter from the fata obstant of
popular bigotry?
For a time Godsport, startled and scandalized, watched aloof the
paper warfare; and it was not until after the appearance of the
Doctor’s tract, “De omni re Scibili”—wherein he sought, boldly and
definitely, and withal with a characteristic humour, to lay the
responsibility for pestilence, not upon the Almighty’s shoulders, but,
literally, at the doors of men, at their face-to-face proximity, and at
“the Castynge of Noisome filth in their neare neighbourhood”—that it
brought down its official hand with a weight and suddenness which
shook St. Ascham’s to its roots. In brief, there was flung at the
delinquent one morning his formal citation to the Sessions Court,
there to answer upon certain charges of having “in divers Tracts,
Opuscules and Levrets, sought insidiously to ingrafte the minds of
his Majesty’s liege subjects with such impudent heresies as that it is
in the power of man to limit the visitations of God—a very pestilent
doctrine, and one arrogating to His servants the Almighty’s high and
beneficent prerogatives; inasmuch as Plague and Fire and other His
scourges, being sacriligeously wrested from His graspe, the world
would waxe blown with overlife, till it crawled upon the face of the
heavens like a gross putrid cheese.”
Under this bolt from the blue the liberal minds of grandsire and
child sank amazed for the moment, only to rally to a consciousness
of the necessity for immediate action.
“Up, wench!” cried the Doctor, “and saddle our Pinwire. I will go lay
my case instanter before the Bishop.”
“Alas, dearest!” answered the weeping girl, “you forget; he is this
long while bedridden.”
Her imagination, which had been wont secretly to fondle the idea
of her grandfather’s enlightened piety rewarded with a bishopric,
pictured it in a moment turned to his confusion, and himself,
perhaps, through the misrepresentations of a blockhead Corporation,
disgraced and beggared in his old age. But, though she knew the
Churchman, she had not calculated the rousing effects of criticism
on the author.
“Then,” roared he, “I will seek the fount itself of reason and justice.
It was a good treatise, a well-argued treatise; and the King shall
decide upon the practical merits of his own English.”
“The King!” she cried, clasping her hands.
“The King,” he answered. “Know you not that he moves daily
between Southampton, where he lies, and Winchester, where he
builds? We will go to Winchester. Nay, we, child; blubber not; for who
knows but that, the shepherd being withdrawn, the wolves might
think to practise on the lamb.”
He checked himself, and hung his head.
“The Lord pardon and justify me indignation,” he muttered. “I was
a priest before an author.”
It was fine, but a loaded sky, when they set forth upon their
journey of twenty or so miles, Joan riding pillion behind her
grandfather on the sober red nag. After much cross work over
villainous tracks, they were got at last into the Southampton turnpike,
when they were joined by a single horseman, riding a handsome
barb, who, with a very favourable face for Joan, pulled alongside of
them, as they jogged on, and fell into easy talk.
“Dost ride to overtake a bishopric, master clergyman,” says he,
“that you carry with you such a sweet bribe for preferment?”
Joan looked up, softly panting. Could he somehow have got wind
already of their mission, and have taken them by the way to forestall
it? But her eyes fell again before the besieging gaze of the cavalier.
He was a swart man of fifty or so, with a rather sooty expression,
and his under-lip stuck out. His eyes, bagging a little in the lower lids,
smouldered half-shut, between lust and weariness, under the
blackest brows; and, for the rest, he was dressed as black as the
devil, with a sparkle of diamonds here and there in his bosom. Joan
looked down breathless.
“I seek no preferment, sir, but a reasonable justice,” said the
curate; and, in a little, between this and that, had ingenuously,
though with a certain twinkling eye for the humour of it all, confessed
his whole case to the stranger. But Joan uttered not a word.
 The cavalier laughed, then frowned mightily for a while. “We will
indict these petty rogues of office on a quo warranto,” he growled.
“What! does not ‘cleanness of body proceed from a due reverence of
God’? Go on, sir, and I will promise you the King’s consideration.”
Then he forgot his indignation, leering at the girl again.
“And what is your business with Charles, pretty flower?” said he.
But, before she could answer, whish! went Pinwires’s girth out of
its buckle, and parson and girl tumbled into the road.
The cavalier laughed out, and, while the Doctor was ruefully
readjusting his straps, offered his hand to the girl.
“Come, sweetheart,” said he. “Since we go a common road, shalt
mount behind me, and equal the odds between your jade and my
greater beast.”
Joan appealed in silence to her grandfather.
“Verily, sir,” he said nodding and smiling, “it would be a gracious
and kindly act.”
In a moment she was mounted, with her white arms belted about
the stranger’s waist; the next, he had put quick spurs to his horse,
and was away with a rush and clatter.
For an instant the Doctor failed to realize the nature of the
abduction; and then of a sudden he was dancing and bawling in a
sheer frenzy.
“Dog! Ravisher! Halt! Stop him! Detain him!”
He saw the flight disappear round a bend in the road. It was
minutes before his shaking hands could negotiate strap and buckle,
and enable him to follow in pursuit. But he carried no spurs, and
Pinwire, already over-ridden, floundered in his steps. Distraught,
dumbfounded, the old man was crying to himself, when he came
upon Joan sitting by the roadside. He tumbled off, she jumped up,
and they fell upon one another’s neck.
“O, a fine King, forsooth!” she cried, sobbing and fondling him. “O,
a fine King!”
“Who? What?” said he.
“Why, it was the King himself!”
“The King!”
“The King.”
“How?” he gasped. “You have never seen him?”
 “Trust a woman,” quoth she.
“A woman!” he cried. “You are but half a one yet.”
“It was the King, nevertheless.”
“Joan, let us turn back.”
“He had a wooing voice, grandfather.”
“Retro Satanas! How did you give him the slip?”
“We were stayed by a cow, the dear thing, and like an eel I slid
off.”
“Dear Joan!”
“He commanded me to mount again, laughing all the while, and
vowing he’d carry me back to you. But I held away, and he said such
things of my beauty.”
“That proves him false.”
“Does it? But of course it does, since you say so. And while he
was a-wheedling in that voice, I just whipt this from my hair on a
thought, and gave his beast a vicious peck with it.”
She showed a silver pin like a skewer.
“Admirable!” exclaimed her grandfather.
“It was putting fire to powder,” she said. “It just gave a bound and
was gone. If its rider pulls up this side of Christmas, I’ll give him——”
“What, woman?”
“Lud! I’ve come of age, in a minute. And it’s beginning to pour,
grandfather; and where are we?”
He looked about him in the dolefullest way.
“If I knew!” he sighed. “We must e’en seek the shelter of an inn till
this storm is by, and then return home. Better any bankruptcy than
that of honour, Joan.”
They remounted and jogged on in the rain, which by now was
falling heavily. The tired little horse, feeling the weight of his own
soaked head, began to hang it and cough. Presently they
dismounted at a wayside byre, and, eating the simple luncheon
which their providence had provided, dwelt on a little in hopes of the
weather clearing. But it grew steadily worse.
“I have lost my bearings,” said the clergyman in a sudden
amazement. “We must push on.”
About four o’clock, being seven miles or so short of Winchester,
they came down upon a little stream which bubbled across the road.
The groaning horse splashed into it and stood still. Dr. Winthrop,
wakened by the pause from a brown reverie, whipped his right leg
over the beast’s withers, landed, slipped on a stone, and sat down in
two feet of water. Uttering a startled ejaculation, he scrambled up, a
sop to the very waist of his homespun breeches. Their points—old
disused laces, fragrant from Joan’s bodice—clung weeping to his
calves. He waded out, cherishing above water-mark the sodden
skirts of his coat, his best, of ‘Colchester bayze.’ The horse, sensibly
lightened, followed.
“O, O!” cried Joan. “Wasn’t you sopped enough already, but you
must fill your pockets with water?”
“Joan!” he cried disconcerted. “I am drowned!”
Luckily, in that pass, looking up the slope of the hill, they espied
near the top a toll-booth, and, beyond, the first houses of a village.
Making a little glad haste, they were soon at the bar.
The woman who came to take their money looked hard at the tired
girl. She was of a sober cast, and her close-fitting coif showed her of
the non-conforming order.
“For Winchester, master?” said she.
“Nay,” answered the clergyman; “for the first hostelry. We are beat,
dame.”
“The first and the last is ‘The Five Alls,’ ” said she. “But I wouldn’t
carry the maiden there, by your leave. There be great and wild
company in the house, that recks nothing of anything in its cups.
Canst hear ’em, if thou wilt.” And, indeed, with her words, a muffled
roar of merriment reached them from the inn a little beyond.
“One riding for Winchester, and the rest from,” she said, “they met
here, and here have forgathered roistering this hour. Dare them so
you dare. I have spoken.”
“Nunc Deus avertat!” cried the desperate minister. “The Fates fight
against us. At all costs we must go by.”
“Nay,” said the good woman; “but, an you will, seek you your own
shelter there, and leave this poor lamb with me. I have two already
by the fire—decent ladies and proper, and no quarry for licence. I
know the company; ’twill be moving soon; and then canst come and
claim thine own.”
 He accepted gladly, and, leaving Joan in her charge, rode on to
the inn, where, dismounting, he betook himself to the stable, which
was full of horses, and, after, to the kitchen.
The landlord, cooking a pan of rashers alone over a great fire,
turned his head, focussed the new-comer with one red eye, and
asked his business.
“A seat by the hearth, a clothes-rack for my breeches, a rug for my
loins while they dry, and a mug of ale with a sop in it,” answered the
traveller, with a smile for his own waggish epitome. And then he
related of his mishap.
The landlord grunted, returned to his task, blew on an ignited
rasher, presently took the skillet off the coals, forked the fizzing mess
into a dish, and disappeared with it. All the while an ineffable racket
thundered on the floor above.
“Peradventure they will respect my cloth,” thought the clergyman.
“The Lord fend me! I am among the Philistines.”
The landlord returned in a moment with a horn of ale in one hand,
and a rug in the other, which he threw down.
“Dod, man!” he cried; “peel, peel! This is the country of continence!
Hast no reason to fear for thy modesty.” And he went out between
chuckling and grumbling.
Very decently the curate doffed his small-clothes, hung them over
a trestle before the fire, wrapped and knotted the rug about his loins,
and sat down vastly content to his sup. In ten minutes—what with
weariness, warmth, and stingo—he was asleep.
He woke with a little shriek, and staggered to his feet. Something
had pricked him—the point of a rapier. The flushed, grinning face of
the man who had wielded it stood away from him. The kitchen was
full of rich company, which broke suddenly into a babble of
merriment at the sight of his astounded visage. In the midst, a swart
gentleman, who had been lolling at a table, advanced, and taking
him by the shoulders, swung him gently to and fro till his eyes
goggled.
“Well followed, parson!” said he, chuckling, and lurching a little in
his speech. “What! is the cuif not to be spoiled of his bishopric
because of a saucy baggage?”
 He laughed, checked himself suddenly, and, still holding on,
assumed a majestic air, with his wig a little on one side, and said
with great dignity: “But, before I grant termsir, you shall bring the slut
to canvass of herself what termsir. Godsmylife! to hold her King at a
bodkin’s point! It merits no pardon, I say, unless the merit of the
pardon of the termsir—no, the pardon of the merit of the termsir.
Therefore I say, whither hast brought her, I say? Out with it, man!”
The clergyman, recognizing Joan’s abductor, and listening
amazed, sprang back at the end with a face of horror, almost
upsetting His Majesty, who, barely recovering himself, stood shaking
his head with a glassy smile.
“Ifhicakins!” said he: “I woss a’most down!”
“Avaunt, ravisher!” roared the Doctor.
Charles stiffened with a jerk, stared, wheeled cautiously, and
tiptoed elaborately from the room. His suite, staggering at the
balance, followed with enormous solemnity; and the Doctor, still
pointing denunciatory, was left alone.
At the end of a minute, after much whispering outside, a young
cavalier re-entered, and approached him with a threatening visage,
as if up the slope of a deck.
“His Maj’ty, sir,” said he, “demands to know if you know who the
devil you was a-bawling—hic—at?”
“To my sorrow, though late, I do, sir,” answered the Doctor in a
grievous voice.
“O!” said the cavalier, and tacked from the room. He returned
again in a second, to poke the clergyman with his finger, and
suggest to him confidentially, “Betteric la’ than never—hic!” which
having uttered, he took himself off, after a vain attempt to open the
door from its hinge side. In two minutes he was back again.
“His Maj’ty wan’s know where hast hidden Mrs. Seabird. Nowhere
in house, says landlord. Ver’ well—where then?”
“Tell the King, where he shall reach her only over my body.”
The cavalier vanished, and reappeared.
“His Maj’ty doesn’t wan’ tread on your body. On contrary, wan’s
raise you up. Wan’s hear story all over again from lady’s lips.”
“I am His Majesty’s truthful minister. There is nothing to add to
what I have already reported to him.”
 The cavalier withdrew, smacking his thigh profoundly. Sooner than
usual he returned.
“His Maj’ty s’prised at you. Says if you won’t tell him where’ve laid
her by, he’ll beat up every house within miles-’n’-miles.”
“No!” said the simple clergyman, in a sudden emotion.
“Yes,” said the gentleman, not too drunk to note his advantage.
“For miles-’n’-miles. His Maj’ty ver’ s’prised her behaviour to him.
Wan’s lil word with her. Tell at once where she is, or worse for you.”
The clergyman looked about him like one at bay. His glance
lighted on the trestle before the fire, fixed itself there, and kindled.
“The Lord justify the ways of His servant!” he muttered; and drew
himself up.
“Tell His Majesty,” he said in a strong voice, “that, so be he will
honour a toast I shall call, the way he seeks shall be made clear to
him.”
The other gave a great chuckle, which was loudly echoed from the
passage.
“Why, thish is the right humour,” he said, and retired.
Within a few moments the whole company re-entered, tittering and
jogging one another, and spilling wine from the beakers they carried.
The King called a silence.
“Sir,” said the clergyman, advancing a little, “I pray your Majesty to
convince me, by proof, of a reputed custom with our gallants, which
is that, being to drink a lady’s health, the one that calleth shall cast
into the flames some article of his attire, there to be consumed to her
honour, and so shall demand of his company, by toasters’ law, that
they do likewise.”
“Dod!” said the King, chuckling; “woss he speiring at? Drink man!
drink and sacrifice, and I give my royal word that all shall follow suit,
though it be with the wigs from our heads.”
The Doctor lifted his horn of ale and drained it.
“I toast Joan!” he cried.
“Joan!” they all shouted, laughing and hiccuping, and, having
drunk, threw down their beakers helter-skelter.
The clergyman took one swift step forward; snatched up his small-
clothes from the trestle; displayed them a moment; thrust them deep
into the blazing coals, and, facing about, disrugged himself, and
stood in his shirttails.
“I claim your Majesty’s word, and breeches,” said he.
A silence of absolute stupefaction befell; and then in an instant the
kitchen broke into one howl of laughter.
In the midst, Charles walked stately to the table, sat down, and
thrust out his legs.
“Parson,” said he, “if you had but claimed my hair. The honours lie
with you, sir; take ’em.”
He would have none but the Doctor handle him; and, when his
ineffable smalls were burning, he rose up in his royal shift, and
ruthlessly commandeering every other pair in the room, stood, the
speechless captain of as shameful and defenceless a crew of
buccaneers as ever lowered its flag to honesty.
Then the Doctor resumed his rug.
“Sir,” said he, trembling, “I now fulfil my bond. My granddaughter is
sheltering, with other modest ladies, in the pike-house hard by.”
But the King swore—by divine right—a pretty oath or two, while
the chill of his understandings helped to sober him.
“By my cold wit you have won! and there may she remain for me.
And now, decent man,” he cried, “I do call my company to witness
how you have made yourself to be more honoured in the breach
than the observance; and since you go wanting a frock, a bishop’s
you shall have.”
And with that he snatched the rug, and, skipping under it, sat on
the table, grinning over the quenching of his amazed fire-eaters.
And this, if you will believe deponent, is the true, if unauthorized,
version of Dr. Winthrop’s election, and of the confounding of
Godsport on a writ of quo warranto.
 THE STRENGTH OF THE ROPE
Si finis bonus est, totum bonum erit.

There were notices, of varying dates, posted in prominent places

about the cliffs to warn the public not to go near them—unless,
indeed, it were to read the notices themselves, which were printed in
a very unobtrusive type. Of late, however, this Dogberrian caveat
had been supplemented by a statement in the local gazette that the
cliffs, owing to the recent rains succeeding prolonged frost, were in
so ill a constitution that to approach them at all, even to decipher the
warnings not to, was—well, to take your life out of the municipal into
your own hands.
Now, had the Regius Professor a bee in his bonnet? Absurd. He
knew the risks of foolhardiness as well as any pickpocket could have
told him. Yet, neither general nor particular caution availed to abate
his determination to examine, as soon as we had lunched, the
interior formation of a cave or two, out of those black and
innumerable, with which the undercliff was punctured like a warren.
I did not remonstrate, after having once discovered, folded down
under his nose on the table, the printed admonition, and heard the
little dry, professorial click of tongue on palate which was wont to
dismiss, declining discussion of it, any idle or superfluous
proposition. I knew my man—or automaton. He inclined to the
Providence of the unimaginative; his only fetish was science. He was
one of those who, if unfortunately buried alive, would turn what
opportunity remained to them to a study of geological deposits. My
“nerves,” when we were on a jaunt (fond word!) together, were
always a subject of sardonic amusement with him.
Now, utterly unmoved by the prospect before him, he ate an
enormous lunch (confiding it, incidentally, to an unerring digestion),
rose, brushed some crumbs out of his beard, and said, “Well, shall
we be off?”
 In twenty minutes we had reached the caves. They lay in a very
secluded little bay—just a crescent of sombre sand, littered along all
its inner edge with débris from the towering cliffs which contained it.
“Are you coming with me?” said the Regius Professor.
Judged by his anxious eyes, the question might have been an
invitation, almost a shamefaced entreaty. But the anxiety, never more
than apparent, was delusive product of the preposterous magnifying-
glasses which he wore. Did he ever remove those glasses, one was
startled to discover, in the seemingly aghast orbs which they
misinterpreted, quite mean little attic windows to an unemotional
soul.
“Not by any means,” I said. “I will sit here, and think out your
epitaph.”
He stared at me a moment with a puzzled expression, grinned
slightly, turned, strode off towards the cliffs, and disappeared, without
a moment’s hesitation, into the first accessible burrow. I was moved
on the instant to observe that it was the most sinister-looking of them
all. The tilted stratification, under which it yawned oblique, seemed
on the very poise to close down upon it.
Now I set to pacing to and fro, essaying a sort of mechanical
preoccupation in default of the philosophy I lacked. I was really in a
state of clammy anxiety about the Professor. I poked in stony pools
for little crabs, as if his life depended on my success. I made it a
point of honour with myself not to leave off until I had found one. I
tried, like a very amateur pickpocket, to abstract my mind from the
atmosphere which contained it, only to find that I had brought mind
and atmosphere away together. I bent down, with my back to the
sea, and looking between my legs sought to regard life from a new
point of view. Yet, even in that position, my eyes and ears were
conscious, only in less degree, of the spectres which were always
moving and rustling in the melancholy little bay.
Tekel upharsin. The hand never left off writing upon the rocks, nor
the dust of its scoring to fall and whisper. That came away in flakes,
or slid down in tiny avalanches—here, there, in so many places at
once, that the whole face of the cliffs seemed to crawl like a maggoty
cheese. The sound was like a vast conspiracy of voices—busy,
ominous—aloft on the seats of an amphitheatre. They were talking of
the Regius Professor, and his consideration in making them a
Roman holiday.
Here, on no warrant but that of my senses, I knew the gazette’s
warning to be something more than justified. It made no difference
that my nerves were at the stretch. One could not hear a silence thus
sown with grain of horror, and believe it barren of significance. Then,
all in a moment, as it seemed to me, the resolution was taken, the
voices hushed, and the whole bay poised on tiptoe of a suspense
which preluded something terrific.
I stood staring at the black mouth which had engulfed the Regius
Professor. I felt that a disaster was imminent; but to rush to warn him
would be to embarrass the issues of his Providence—that only. For
the instant a fierce resentment of his foolhardiness fired me—and
was as immediately gone. I turned sick and half blind. I thought I saw
the rock-face shrug and wrinkle; a blot of gall was expelled from it—
and the blot was the Professor himself issued forth, and coming
composedly towards me.
As he advanced, I turned my back on him. By the time he reached
me I had made some small success of a struggle for self-mastery.
“Well,” he said. “I left myself none too much of a margin, did I?”
With an effort I faced about again. The base of the cliff was yet
scarred with holes, many and irregular; but now some of those which
had stared at me like dilated eyes were, I could have sworn it, over-
lidded—the eyes of drowsing reptiles. And the Professor’s particular
cave was gone.
I gave quite an absurd little giggle. This man was soulless—a
monstrosity.
“Look here,” he said, conning my face with a certain concern, “it’s
no good tormenting yourself with what might have happened. Here I
am, you know. Supposing we go and sit down yonder, against that
drift, till you’re better.”
He led the way, and, dropping upon the sand, lolled easily, talking
to himself, by way of me, for some minutes. It was the kindest thing
he could have done. His confident voice made scorn of the never-
ceasing rustling and falling sounds to our rear. The gulls skated
before my eyes, drawing wide arcs and figures of freedom in the air.
Presently I topped the crisis, and drew a deep breath.
 “Tell me,” I said—“have you ever in all your life known fear?”
The Regius Professor sat to consider.
“Well,” he answered presently, rubbing his chin, “I was certainly
once near losing hold of my will, if that’s what you mean. Of course,
if I had let go——”
“But you didn’t.”
“No,” he said thoughtfully. “No—luckily.”
“You’re not taking credit for it?”
“Credit!” he exclaimed, surprised. “Why should I take credit for my
freedom from a constitutional infirmity? In one way, indeed, I am only
regretful that I am debarred that side of self-analysis.”
I could laugh lovelily, for the first time.
“Well,” I said, “will you tell me the story?”
“I never considered it in the light of a story,” answered the Regius
Professor. “But, if it will amuse and distract you, I will make it one
with pleasure. My memory of it, as an only experience in that
direction, is quite vivid, I think I may say—” and he settled his
spectacles, and began:
“It was during the period of my first appointment as Science
Demonstrator to the Park Lane Polytechnic, a post which my little
pamphlet on the Reef-building Serpulæ was instrumental in
procuring me. I was a young man at the time, with a wide field of
interests, but with few friends to help me in exploring it. My holidays I
generally devoted to long, lonely tramps, knapsack on back, about
the country.
“It was on one of these occasions that you must picture me
entered into a solitary valley among the Shropshire hills. The season
was winter; it was bitterly cold, and the prospect was of the dreariest.
The interesting conformations of the land—the bone-structure, as I
might say—were blunted under a thick pelt of snow, which made
walking a labour. One never recognizes under such conditions the
extent of one’s efforts, as inequalities of ground are without the
contrast of surroundings to emphasize them, and one may be
conscious of the strain of a gradient, and not know if it is of one foot
in fifty or in five hundred.
“The scene was desolate to a degree; houseless, almost treeless
—just white wastes and leaden sky, and the eternal fusing of the two
in an indefinite horizon. I was wondering, without feeling actually
dispirited, how long it was to last, when, turning the shoulder of a hill
which had seemed to hump itself in my path, I came straight upon a
tiny hamlet scattered over a widish area. There were some cottages,
and a slated school building; and, showing above a lower hump a
quarter of a mile beyond, the roofs and tall chimney of a factory.
“It was a stark little oasis, sure enough—the most grudging of
moral respites from depression. Only from one place, it seemed,
broke a green shoot. Not a moving figure was abroad; not a face
looked from a window. Deathlily exclusive, the little stony buildings
stood apart from one another, incurious, sullen, and self-contained.
“There was, however, the green shoot; and the stock from which it
proceeded was the school building. That in itself was unlovely
enough—a bleak little stone box in an arid enclosure. It looked
hunched and grey with cold; and the sooty line of thaw at the foot of
its wall only underscored its frostiness. But as if that one green shoot
were the earnest of life lingering within, there suddenly broke
through its walls the voices of young children singing; and, in the
sound, the atmosphere of petrifaction lifted somewhat.
“Yes? What is it? Does anything amuse you? I am glad you are so
far recovered, at least. Well——
“I like, I must confess, neither children nor music. At the same
time, I am free to admit that those young voices, though they
dismissed me promptly on my way, dismissed me pleased, and to a
certain degree, as it were, reinvigorated. I passed through that little
frigid camp of outer silence, and swung down the road towards the
factory. As I advanced towards what I should have thought to be the
one busy nucleus of an isolated colony, the aspect of desolation
intensified, to my surprise, rather than diminished. But I soon saw
the reason for this. The great forge in the hills was nothing but a
wrecked and abandoned ruin, its fires long quenched, its ribs long
laid bare. Seeing which, it only appeared to me a strange thing that
any of the human part of its affairs should yet cling to its
neighbourhood; and stranger still I thought it when I came to learn,
as I did by and by, that its devastation was at that date an ancient
story.
 “What a squalid carcass it did look, to be sure; gaunt, and unclean,
and ravaged by fire from crown to basement. The great flue of it
stood up alone, a blackened monument to its black memory.
“Approaching and entering, I saw some writhed and tortured guts
of machinery, relics of its old vital organs, fallen, withered, from its
ribs. The floor, clammy to the tread, was littered with tumbled
masonry; the sheet iron of the roof was shattered in a hundred
places under the merciless bombardment of the weather; and, here
and there, a scale of this was corroded so thin that it fluttered and
buzzed in the draught like a ventilator. Bats of grimy cobweb hung
from the beams; and the dead breath of all the dead place was acrid
with cold soot.
“It was all ugly and sordid enough, in truth, and I had no reason to
be exacting in my inspection of it. Turning, in a vaulting silence, I was
about to make my way out, when my attention was drawn to the
black opening of what looked like a shed or annex to the main
factory. Something, some shaft or plant, revealing itself from the dim
obscurity of this place, attracted my curiosity. I walked thither, and,
with all due precaution because of the littered ground, entered. I was
some moments in adapting my vision to the gloom, and then I
discovered that I was in the mill well-house. It was a little dead-
locked chamber, its details only partly decipherable in the reflected
light which came in by the doorway. The well itself was sunk in the
very middle of the floor, and the projecting wall of it rose scarce
higher than my knees. The windlass, pivoted in a massive yoke,
crossed the twilight at a height a little above my own; and I could
easily understand, by the apparent diameter of its barrel, that the
well was of a considerable depth.
“Now, as my eyes grew a little accustomed to the obscurity, I could
see how a tooth of fire had cut even into this fastness. For the rope,
which was fully reeled up upon the windlass, was scorched to one
side, as though some exploded fragment of wood or brickwork had
alighted there. It was an insignificant fact in itself, but my chance
observation of it has its importance in the context; as has also the
fact that the bight of the rope (from which the bucket had been
removed) hung down a yard or so below the big drum.
 “You have always considered me a sapient, or at least a rational
creature, have you not? Well, listen to this. Bending over to plumb
with my eyes the depth of the pit (an absurdity, to begin with, in that
vortex of gloom), I caught with my left hand (wisdom number two) at
the hanging end of rope in order to steady myself. On the instant the
barrel made one swift revolution, and stuck. The movement,
however, had thrown me forward and down, so that my head and
shoulders, hanging over, and actually into, the well, pulled me,
without possibility of recovery, from my centre of gravity. With a
convulsive wrench of my body, I succeeded in bringing my right hand
to the support of my left. I was then secure of the rope; but the
violence of the act dragged my feet and knees from their last
desperate hold, and my legs came whipping helpless over the well-
rim. The weight of them in falling near jerked me from my clutch—a
bad shock, to begin with. But a worse was in store for me. For I
perceived, in the next instant, that the rusty, long-disused windlass
was beginning slowly to revolve, and was letting me down into the
abyss.
“I broke out in a sweat, I confess—a mere diaphoresis of nature; a
sort of lubricant to the jammed mechanism of the nerves. I don’t
think we are justified in attributing my first sensations to fear. I was
exalted, rather—promoted to the analysis of a very exquisite, scarce
mortal, problem. My will, as I hung by a hair over the abysm, was
called upon to vindicate itself under an utmost stress of
apprehension. I felt, ridiculous as it may appear, as if the surrounding
dark were peopled with an invisible auditory, waiting, curious, to test
the value of my philosophy.
“Here, then, were the practical problems I had to combat. The
windlass, as I have said, revolved slowly, but it revolved persistently.
If I would remain with my head above the well-rim—which, I freely
admit, I had an unphilosophic desire to do—I must swarm as
persistently up the rope. That was an eerie and airy sort of treadmill.
To climb, and climb, and always climb, paying out the cord beneath
me, that I might remain in one place! It was to repudiate gravitation,
which I spurned from beneath my feet into the depths. But when,
momentarily exhausted, I ventured to pause, some nightmare revolt
against the sense of sinking which seized me, would always send
me struggling and wriggling, like a drowning body, up to the surface
again. Fortunately, I was slightly built and active; yet I knew that wind
and muscle were bound sometime to give out in this swarming
competition against death. I measured their chances against the
length of the rope. There was a desperate coil yet unwound.
Moreover, in proportion as I grew the feebler, grew the need for my
greater activity. For there were already signs that the great groaning
windlass was casting its rust of ages, and was beginning to turn
quicker in its sockets. If it had only stuck, paused one minute in its
eternal round, I might have set myself oscillating, gradually and
cautiously, until I was able to seize with one hand, then another,
upon the brick rim, which was otherwise beyond my reach. But now,
did I cease climbing for an instant and attempt a frantic clutch at it,
down I sank like a clock weight, my fingers trailed a yard in cold
slime, and there I was at my mad swarming once more—the madder
that I must now make up for lost ground.
“At last, faint with fatigue, I was driven to face an alternative
resource, very disagreeable from the first in prospect. This was no
less than to resign temporarily my possession of the upper, and sink
to the under world; in other words, to let myself go with the rope,
and, when it was all reeled out, to climb it again. To this course there
were two objections: one, that I knew nothing of the depth of the
water beneath me, or of how soon I should come to it; the other, that
I was grown physically incapable of any further great effort in the
way of climbing. My reluctance to forgo the useless solace of the
upper twilight I dismiss as sentimental. But to drop into that sooty pit,
and then, perhaps, to find myself unable to reascend it! to feel a
gradual paralysis of heart and muscle committing me to a lingering
and quite unspeakable death—that was an unnerving thought
indeed!
“Nevertheless, I had actually resolved upon the venture, and was
on the point of ceasing all effort, and permitting myself to sink, when
—I thought of the burnt place in the rope.
“Do you grasp what that sudden thought meant to me? Death, sir,
in any case; death, if, with benumbed and aching hands and
blistered knees, I continued to work my air-mill; death, no earlier and
no later, no less and no more certainly, if I ceased of the useless
struggle and went down into the depths. So soon as the strain of my
hanging should tell direct upon that scorched strand, that strand
must part.
“Then, I think, I knew fear—fear as demoralizing, perhaps, as it
may be, short of the will-surrender. And, indeed, I’m not sure but that
the will which survives fear may not be a worse last condition than
fear itself, which, when exquisite, becomes oblivion. Consciousness
in extremis has never seemed to me the desirable thing which some
hold it.
“Still, if I suffered for retaining my will power, there is no doubt that
its loss, on the flash of that deadly reflection, would have meant an
immediate syncope of nerve and an instant downfall; whereas—well,
anyhow, here I am.
“I was fast draining of all capacity for further effort. I climbed
painfully, spasmodically; but still I climbed, half hoping I should die of
the toil of it before I fell. Ever and again I would glance faintly up at
the snarling, slowly-revolving barrel above me, and mark how death,
as figured in that scorched strand, was approaching me nearer at
every turn. It was only a few coils away, when suddenly I set to doing
what, goodness knows, I should have done earlier. I screamed—
screamed until the dead marrow must have crawled in the very
bones of the place.
“Nothing human answered—not a voice, not the sound of a
footfall. Only the echoes laughed and chattered like monkeys up in
the broken roof of the factory. For the rest, my too-late outburst had
but served to sap what little energy yet remained to me.
“The end was come. Looking up, I saw the burnt strand reeling
round, a couple of turns away, to the test; and, with a final gulp of
horror, I threw up the sponge, and sank.
“I had not descended a yard or two, when my feet touched
something.”
The Regius Professor paused dramatically.
“O, go on!” I snapped.
“That something,” he said, “yielded a little—settled—and there all
at once was I, standing as firmly as if I were in a pulpit.
“For the moment, I assure you, I was so benumbed, physically and
mentally, that I was conscious of nothing in myself but a small weak
impatience at finding the awful ecstasy of my descent checked. Then
reason returned, like blood to the veins of a person half drowned;
and I had never before realized that reason could make a man ache
so.
“With the cessation of my strain upon it, the windlass had ceased
to revolve. Now, with a sudden desperation, I was tugging at the
rope once more—pulling it down hand over hand. At the fifth haul
there came a little quick report, and I staggered and near fell. The
rope had snapped; and the upper slack of it came whipping down
upon my shoulders.
“I rose, dimly aware of what had happened. I was standing on the
piled-up fathoms of rope which I had paid out beneath me. Above,
though still beyond my effective winning, glimmered the moon-like
disk of light which was the well mouth. I dared not, uncertain of the
nature of my tenure, risk a spring for it. But, very cautiously, I found
the end of the rope that had come away, made a bend in it well clear
of the injured part, and, after many vain attempts, slung it clean over
the yoke above, coaxed down the slack, spliced it to the other, and
so made myself a fixed ladder to climb by. Up this, after a short
interval for rest, I swarmed, set myself swinging, grasped the brick
rim, first with one hand, then with both, and in another instant had
flung myself upon the ground prostrate, and for the moment quite
prostrated. Then presently I got up, struck some matches, and
investigated.”
The Regius Professor stopped, laughing a little over the memory.
“Do go on!” I said.
“Why,” he responded, chuckling, “generations of school children
had been pitching litter into that well, until it was filled up to within a
couple yards of the top—just that. The rope, heaping up under me,
did the rest. It was a testimony to the limited resources of the valley.
What the little natives of to-day do with their odd time, goodness
knows. But it was comical, wasn’t it?”
“O, most!” said I. “And particularly from the point of view of the
children’s return to you for your dislike of them.”
“Well, as to that,” said the Regius Professor, rather shamefacedly,
“I wasn’t beyond acknowledging a certain indebtedness.”
“Acknowledging? How?”