419 



SERVIUS, TULLIUS. 



SERVIUS, TULLIUS. 



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their unwearied struggles with the patricians. What Servius actually 

 did for the Romans has been the subject of much discussion among 

 the continental scholars ever since the time that Niebuhr's work 

 appeared. We shall only give a sketch of the constitution of Servius, 

 and refer our readers to the best modern works on the subject. 



Servius is said to have commenced his legislation by dividing the 

 public land which was taken from the Latins among those citizens (of 

 course plebeians) who, owing to their poverty, were compelled to 

 work for wages ; and by sanctioning, through the Comitia Curiata, 

 about fifty laws relating to contracts and injuries, (Dionys., iv. p. 

 218.), which were probably intended to regulate the relations between 

 the two estates. He divided the city, with the exclusion of the Capi- 

 toline and Aventine, into four regions, three of which answered to the 

 three original townships or tribes of which Rome consisted. All the 

 plebeians who dwelled in any of these regions formed a tribus ; so 

 that all the plebeians of the city were divided into four local tribes 

 (tribus urbanso). Their names were Tribus Suburana, Palatina, Esqui- 

 lina, and Collina ; and these tribes continued to the time of Augustus. 

 The plebeians who inhabited the country around and subject to Rome, 

 were divided into twenty-six local tribes (tribus rusticse), which are 

 sometimes also called regions. This division of the country plebeians 

 is not mentioned by Livy at all ; and Dionysius found different and 

 contradictory accounts of it, but he preferred the statement of Fabius 

 Pictor, who mentioned the twenty-six rustic tribes. The subject how- 

 ever might still seem to be involved in difficulties, inasmuch as Livy 

 (ii. 16) states that, in the year B.C. 495, the whole number of tribes 

 was only twenty-one. This difficulty however is removed by the 

 plausible conjecture of Niebuhr (i. p. 416, &c.), that in the war against 

 Porsenna Rome lost a third of its territory that is, ten regions or 

 tribes ; so that there remained only twenty, to which, after the im- 

 migration of the gens Claudia with its numerous clients, the twenty- 

 first tribe (ti-ibus Claudia, afterwards tribus Crustumina) was added. 

 The names of the sixteen rustic tribes which continued to exist after 

 the war with Porsenna are : tribus ^Emilia, Camilla, Cluentia, Cornelia, 

 Fabia, Galeria, Horatia, Lemonia, Menenia, Papiria, Pollia or Publilia, 

 Pupinia, Romilia, Sergia, Veturia, and Voltinia. (Niebuhr, i. p. 419 ; 

 Gottling, p. 238.) To these were added, in B.C. 387, the tribus Stella- 

 tina, Tromentina, Sabatina, and Arniensis ; in B.C. 357, the tribus 

 Scaptia; in B.C. 318, the tribus Ufentina and Falerina; in B.C. 301, 

 the^tribus Terentina and Aniensis; and lastly, in B.C. 241, the tribus 

 Velina and Quirina. The number of tribes thus amounted to thirty- 

 five, and it was never increased. The number of thirty tribes instituted 

 by Servius Tullus was equal to that of the patrician curise; both 

 divisions however existed independent of each other, the one compre- 

 hending only the patricians, and the other the plebeians. The clients 

 were probably not contained in the Servian tribes. (Niebuhr, i. p. 

 241; Walter, 'Gesch. d. Rom. Rechts,' p. 30. note 5.) Gottling (p. 

 23G) assumes the contrary, but his arguments are not convincing. The 

 division of the plebeians into a number of local tribes was nothing 

 beyond a regular organisation of the body of the plebes, of which 

 they had indeed been in need ; but it did not confer any other rights 

 upon them than what they possessed before. At the head of each 

 tribe, in the city as well as in the country, was a tribune (QvXapxos), 

 who was appointed by the members of his tribe. He had to keep a 

 register of all his tribesmen, and he levied the troops and taxes in his 

 tribe. The plebeians now held their own meetings according to their 

 tribes, as the patricians held theirs according to their curise. The 

 tribes had also their common festivals : those of the city were called 

 the Compitalia, and those of the country the Paganalia. 



The first step by which Servius promoted the liberty of the people was 

 the institution of judices for private actions, which had formerly been 

 part of the jurisdiction of the kings. (Dionys., iv. p. 228, &c.) These 

 judices were, according to the supposition of Niebuhr (i. p. 428 ; comp. 

 Gottling, p. 241, &c.), the court of the Centumviri, for which three 

 members were chosen from every tribe. The number of the court 

 however would then be only ninety. But see ' Diet, of Greek and 

 Roman Antiq., Centumviri,' by Prof. Long. 



But ^ the chief part of the Servian constitution was his census, 

 according to which he divided the whole body of Roman citizens, 

 both the patricians, with their clients, and the plebeians, into five 

 classes. The first class comprised those whose property amounted to 

 at least 100,000, or, according to others, at least to 110,000, 120,000, 

 or 125,000 a?ses. (Liv., i. 43 ; Dionys., iv., p. 221 ; Plin., ' Hist. 

 Nat.,' xxxiii. 13; Qellius, vii. 13; Cic., 'De Rcpubl.,' ii. 22.) The 

 second class included those who had at least 75,000 asses; the third, 

 those who had at least 50,000; the fourth class, those who had at 

 least 2o,000 ; and the fifth class, those who had at least 12,500 or, 

 according to Livy, 11,000 asses. The members of each of these 

 classes were divided into juniores, or men from seventeen to forty- 

 five years old; and sehiores, or men from forty-five to sixty years. 

 The latter, though they had still to perform military service, remained 

 at Rome for the protection of the city; while the former went out 

 into the field, and served in the regular armies. All had, according 

 to their higher or lower census, to equip themselves with a more or 

 less complete suit of armour. All public burdens for the maintenance 

 of the state and the armies were distributed among these classes, in 

 such a manner that the heaviest duties fell upon the wealthiest, who 

 had at the same time practically the greatest influence in public affairs. 



All Romans whose property did not come up to that of the fifth class 

 were kept apart from the classes. Dionysius indeed says that they 

 were formed into a separate class. They were however subdivided 

 into capite cenei and proletarii ; among the former were reckoned all 

 those who possessed no more than 375 asses, and among the latter 

 ;hose who possessed from 375 to 1500 asses. These two divisions 

 were exempt from the tributum, and, with few exception?, also from 

 service in the army ; but they had to pay a head-tax. It is a very 

 ingenious supposition of Niebuhr, that all those who possessed more 

 than 1500 asses, but less than the census of the fifth class, formed the 

 accensi and velati in the Roman army, that is, a class of reserves who 

 went into the field without arms, and stepped into the places of those 

 who had fallen, whose armour they also took. All the citizens who 

 were comprised in the classes were called assidui or locupletes, in 

 contradistinction to the rest. (Cic., 'Do Republ.,' ii. 22; Gellius, 

 xvi. 10.) 



After the taxation and the military duties of the Romans were thus 

 regulated by the census, Servius proceeded to determine their rights 

 by the same standard. For this purpose he subdivided each of the 

 five classes into centuries, each of which was to have a vote (suflra- 

 jium) in the great national assembly which they were to form (comitia 

 centuriata, or comitiatus maximus). The number of centuries how- 

 ever was not the same in all classes : the first class, though the 

 smallest in numbers, received the greatest number of centuries or 

 suffrages, in order that those who had to bear the heaviest burdens 

 might also have the greatest influence in public affairs. The first 

 class was thus divided into eighty centuries ; the second, third, and 

 fourth classes into twenty centuries each ; and the fifth class into thirty 

 centuries. The whole number of centuries thus amounted to one 

 hundred and seventy. This division was made with a view to form 

 the Roman army, and the whole number of centuries represented the 

 Roman citizens as a military body. Hence half the number of cen- 

 turies in each class consisted of the seniores, and half of the juniores. 

 The seniores, though fewer in numbers, had thus equal influence with 

 the juniores, so that all political power was distributed with a due 

 regard to age as well as to property. (Gellius, xv. 27.) But to theso 

 one hundred and seventy centuries, five others were added, independent 

 of the census, partly to give them a compensation for the active part 

 which their members took in the army ; partly, perhaps, that they 

 might be the means of forming a majority in cases where opinions 

 were equally divided between the seniores and juniores. The first 

 two additional centuries were the centurise fabrorum, which Livy 

 describes as being assigned to the eighty centuries of the first class, 

 and Dionysius as belonging to those of the second class. Cicero 

 assigns the fabri to the first class, but only as one^ century. The 

 difficulty arising from these different accounts may be removed by 

 the supposition that of the two centuries of the fabri, one was assigned 

 to each of the first two classes ; and if this supposition be correct, it 

 is highly probably that the three other additional centuries, viz., those 

 of the accensi, cornicines, and liticines or tubicines, were likewise 

 assigned one to each of the three last classes. Diouysius says that 

 the five additional centuries were, like the one hundred and seventy 

 others, divided into seniores and juniores. 



These one hundred and seventy-five centuries formed the whole 

 body of infantry in the Roman army. The cavalry was likewise repre- 

 sented by a number of centuries. Twelve centuries of equites existed 

 before the time of Servius, and to these he added six new ones. 

 Dionysius speaks as if Servius had created eighteen new centuries of 

 equites ; and Livy (provided the reading in i. 43, be correct), forgetting 

 the six centuries of equites made by Tarquinius Priscus, states that 

 Servius made twelve new centuries in addition to the existing six. 

 The twelve centuries of equites which existed previous to the legisla- 

 tion of Servius, belonged to the patricians, and had their dignity as 

 equites independent of the census, though they naturally belonged to 

 the wealthiest class. The six new centuries of Servius were formed 

 of the wealthiest plebeians of the first class, and were called the sex 

 suffragia, as they had six votes in the assembly of the centuries. 

 (Gbttling, p. 253, &c.) Cicero reckons all the eighteen centuries of 

 equites as belonging to the class which had the highest census, 

 whereas Dionysius seems to distinguish between those equites who 

 belonged to the first class, and the patrician equites. The only dis- 

 tinction between these two classes of equites in the comitia centuriata 

 was that the patricians gave their vote before the plebeian equites. 

 We do not know whether there were any other distinctions. They 

 were however in so far placed on a footing of equality, that all of 

 them received a horse from the state (equus publicus), or money to 

 purchase one, together with an annual sum for its support, which stun 

 was raised by a tax on the unmarried women, widows, and orphans 

 (ses hordearium). 



The whole body of the Roman people who performed service in the 

 army, and had a right to vote in the great assembly, was thus contained 

 in one hundred and ninety-three centuries, of which one hundred and 

 eighty-one had been newly created. The eighty centuries of the first 

 class, together with the six suffragia of plebeian equites and one cen- 

 tury of fabri, formed a decided majority in the comitia centuriata, for 

 they amounted to eighty-seven centuries; whereas all the other 

 classes together had only eighty-four centuries. The votes in the 

 great comitia, which were always held in the Campus Martins, were 



