Securing The Republic Flashcards
(22 cards)
Why were the plebs angry about their living conditions during the early Republic?
• Wars of Independence meant they were fighting constantly
• With men away, businesses and farms struggled to survive
• Families in poverty had to borrow money, but those who couldn’t pay it back were made homeless
• Many soldiers returned to find they were now in debt
• There was no system for the plebs to express concerns and demand debt relief and land reform
What happened in 495 BC with the veteran commander?
• Veteran commander enters the forum and asks for help
• He was now homeless after the war as his farm was destroyed by the Sabines and his possessions stolen
• The new war tax made him borrow money to pay
• These taxes were too high and he could not repay his debt
• His land was repossessed and his creditor tortured and whipped him
• The story caused public outrage and people wanted justice
How did the government respond to the veteran’s appeal in 495 BC?
• Consuls Servilius and Claudius I prevented a riot
• Senate couldn’t debate because many senators stayed away because they didn’t want to help the plebs.
• Appius Claudius wanted to crush the plebs
• Servilius wanted to give debt relief
What role did war with the Volsci play in 495 BC political tensions?
• The Volsci attacked
• Servilius promised debt relief if plebs fought
• After the war, Appius chained up returning soldiers who were debtors, claiming Servilius had no right to promise debt relief
• Debtors demanded Servilius help, but he was unable to
What actions did the plebs take during the civil unrest in 494 BC?
• Freed all the debtors
• Attacked all the senators
• Refused to form an army
• Held secret meetings on the Esquiline and Aventine
What occurred due to the civil unrest in 494 and how did the senate react?
• Rome’s enemies (Sabines, Aequi, and Aventine) attacked
• Senate held emergency meeting
• Larcius urged helping the plebs
• Appius warned that giving in would set a dangerous precedent and suggested appointing a dictator
Who was appointed dictator and what did he do?
Manlius Valerius is appointed Dictator
• Appealed to the plebs
• Promised to put their case to the senate
• Assembled 10 legions
• Senate refused to consider debt relief, so Valerius resigned
What was Sicinnius’ role in the 494 BC Secession?
• Senate refused to demobilise army, pretending war continued
• Sicinnius (a pleb) told the army to secede and to:
- Occupy the Sacred Mount
- Call the other plebs to join
• Patricians panicked as Rome’s military and economy collapsed because the army was now weak and the patricians struggled for food / trade without the plebs.
• Plebs raided farms for provisions. (Showed they didn’t plan on returning)
• Envoys sent by patricians; plebs demanded debt relief.
What happened in 493 BC during negotiations to end the First Secession?
• New consuls asked Agrippina to address plebs
• She told a story that showed patricians and plebs were both vital for Rome’s survival. (Plebs as limbs and hands, patricians as the stomach. If hands stop feeding the stomach it will die.)
• Plebs agreed to negotiate
• Appius refused to compromise, brought in Latin workers to replace the plebs.
• Brutus and Sicinnius proposed creating pleb tribunes to fight injustice and represent pleb interests
What problems remained even after the First Secession?
• Lack of land = impoverishment, debt, famine
• Tribunes had limited power and couldn’t do much
What did Coriolanus do in 492 BC, and how did the tribunes respond?
• Blamed famine on the First Secession
• Said plebs should starve
• Tribunes ordered him to be put on trial, but he ignored them
• Tribunes incited mob violence
• Senate panicked and scapegoated Coriolanus, putting him on trial and creating fair food prices
• Coriolanus fled to the Volsci and encouraged them to attack Rome
What did Spurius Cassius propose in 486 BC? What happened?
• Proposed land taken from Hernici be split between plebs and Latins
• Senate accused him of trying to become a tyrant by bribing the Latins and plebs.
• Plebs believed he wanted to give their land to Hernici and he wanted to be a tyrant.
• Tried to win back plebs with surplus grain, but failed
• Executed in 485 BC
What did Volero Publilius do between 473–471 BC?
• Refused to serve as ordinary soldier as he used to be a commander
• Turned mob against lictors, accusing tribunes of being weak against the senate.
• Senate freed him to avoid making him a martyr
• In 472, demanded change to tribune voting system. This scared the senate as they would have no influence over who became a tribune.
• Appius Claudius II, as elected consul, was coerced into accepting the reform
• Reform allowed plebs to elect true representatives
What did Quintus Fabius propose in 467 BC to ease plebeian discontent?
He was a consul
• Volscian land made into a colony for plebs
• This reduced the urgency for land reform and weakened tribunes’ influence
What did Gaius Terentilius propose in 462 BC?
• While the consuls were away he demanded written laws defining and limiting consular power
• Said consuls abused power and acted with more freedom than kings
• Fabius attacked him as a traitor
• Law was delayed
What led to the creation of the First Decemvirate in 451 BC?
• 461–455: Terentilius’ law repeatedly proposed and blocked
• 454: Compromise—tribunes stop demanding the law, senate agrees to panel of lawgivers
• 453–452: Envoys sent to Athens to study laws
• 451: First Decemvirate replaces tribunes/consuls, led by Appius Claudius III
• Fair and just—created the 10 Tables, well-received by people. People did however want two more tables in second decemvirate
What happened under the Second Decemvirate (450–449 BC)?
• Appius Claudius III selected himself and 9 allies, became “10 Tarquins”. (He was elected to choose next Decemvirate because he was very popular with the plebs).
• Ruled tyrannically with 12 lictors each
• Held trials in allies’ homes to target plebs and kill any of his enemies.
• Removed right of appeal and elections for consuls, tribunes etc. for a year because they announced they would rule again.
• Two new tables protected patricians rather than plebs.
What events in 449 BC led to military collapse under the Decemvirate?
• Sabines attacked a Roman colony
• Senate refused to meet after the Decemvirate called them to meet to vote to assemble an army. Plebs refused to enlist.
• Decemvirs forced senators to attend and vote
• Two senators accused them of acting like kings however most of the senate preferred this to the plebs getting the tribunes back.
• Army was unmotivated / not willing to fight and suffered heavy losses.
What led to the downfall of the Decemvirate? (Virginia Incident)
- Crassus lusted after Virginia, knowing she was engaged to a former tribune.
- Virginia refused his advances, so Crassus asked his client to claim she was a runaway slave
- Virginia asked Icilius (a former tribune and representative of the people and her husband) to contact her father who was stationed at an army camp. Icilius claimed that Crassus wanted to rape Virginia, but at the trial Crassus dismissed this evidence, declaring Virginia a slave and her father a traitor.
- Her father (Verginius) stole a knife from a butcher and killed his daughter in order to preserve her freedom
- Verginius returned the army camp he had been stationed at.
What happened during the Second Secession?
- Virginias and Icilius roused the pleb army against the Decemvirs
- The army seceded to the aventine hill
- The senate got alarmed and sent envoys again to find a solution:
- The plebs refused to speak to anyone other than valerius and horatius, the consuls
- Valerius and horatius refused to speak to the plebs until the Decemvirs resigned - the army called in their families to join the secession, Rome was now deserted
- The Decemvirs resigned but demanded freedom from prosecution
- The plebs wanted the restoration of tribunes and the prosecution of Decemvirs
What was the outcome of the Second Secession?
• Decemvirs deposed
• Valerius and Horatius passed laws to protect the plebs:
◦ Right of appeal restored
◦ Tribunes and aediles made inviolable
◦ Twelve Tables kept
◦ No magistrate could hold court without right of appeal
• Icilius, Verginius, and 8 others became tribunes
• Icilius proposed no revenge on Decemvirs. Others wanted revenge on Crassus.
• Crassus committed suicide; others exiled or committed suicide.
What did Gaius Canuleius achieve in 440 BC?
Gaius Canuleius, who was very popular, used his support to lift the ban on marriage between patricians and plebs, he also argued that plebs should be able to run for consul. The senate feared this and offered a compromise:
- Plebs could become military tribunes
- This would give the elected plebs or patricians the power to command armies and seek the same glory as a victorious consul
