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The struggle between patricians and plebeians

Since the formation of the Roman polis, the free population of the city was steadily divided into two layers - patricians and plebeians. The origin of this division. historically not clear. However, it is obvious that the patricians and plebeians had different rights in the property sphere, were considered residents different categories, their mutual family relationships were not encouraged, and were often impossible, and, most importantly, initially they had significantly different opportunities to influence the activities of power in Rome - that is, they were different classes within the Roman people.

Patricians were members of clans (this was their initial difference). They had the right to be elected to magistrates, they could only be senators. The most important thing is that only patricians constituted curiat assemblies where political issues were decided. Patricians could act as patrons (patrons) of other residents of Rome, defend them in court, and represent their property interests.

The plebeians did not have a clan organization; Apparently, these were people from other tribes and regions who moved to the Roman polis. Due to the lack of clan affiliation, the plebeians were completely deprived of political rights. Although they were obliged to perform military service together with the patricians. The plebeians were subject to the protection of the rexa and were forced to use legal rules different from those of the patricians. Marriages between patricians and plebeians were prohibited. Differences in cults and religious ceremonies were a serious social boundary.

Initially, the distinction between patricians and plebeians was not a distinction between rich and poor. Rather, on the contrary: since for patricianism only farming was considered “correct,” the plebs, concentrating crafts and trade in their hands, became richer more actively. However, belonging to the clan organization also influenced access to the distribution of public lands, especially newly conquered ones - ager publicus. The plebeians were, in fact, deprived of the rights to the main wealth of the then Rome - land. The agrarian question became another internal factor in the general socio-political struggle in Rome, which changed the course of the formation of statehood.

In 494 BC. e. after the next military campaign, the plebeians separated from the patrician part of the army and did not return to the city - this was called the first secession (removal) of the plebeians. Under the threat of external danger, the patrician part of the Roman community was forced to agree to the creation of political institutions that would guarantee the protection of the rights of the plebeians. In 493 BC. e. two tribunes of the people were elected, who were supposed to play the role of protectors of the plebs (previously played by the king).

The tribune's house could serve as a refuge for the plebeian, and with his power the tribune could stop the execution of a consular, senate or even curiat decision - practically paralyze all the activities of the state, except for the military. True, the tribunician power operated only in the city itself and the district with a radius of one mile. In 471 there were 4 tribunes, in 457 - 10; they were probably determined by meetings of the plebs - consilia plebis.

Established in the 5th century. BC e. The centurial organization of the army, and then the system of centuriate comitia (in which patricians and plebeians were enrolled on equal terms), brought into political system the first equation in rights. The beginning of the struggle for the abolition of debt oppression by the patricians, for the elimination of legal inequality in the property sphere, bore fruit in the form of restrictions on concentration land holdings, for charging excessive interest on loans, for selling into slavery the inhabitants of the Roman community (mid-IV century BC).

Over the course of a century, the plebeians achieved equality with the patricians in the right of access to elective positions that had already been established in Rome or were established during this period: as assistants to the consul - quaestors (409 BC), to the post of one of the consuls ( 367) to curule aediles - police rulers of the city (364), to censors (351), to praetors - judicial and military assistant to the consul (337).

In 356 it was established that the dictator (who would be given exclusive power in Rome for several months under unusual circumstances) could also be from the plebeians. The creation of some new elective offices was often a direct result of the struggle of the plebeians for their rights, in which again and again they resorted to the tried and tested method of secession.

All R. V century BC e. after another internal political crisis in Rome, the plebeians achieved the promulgation of the main court rules And legal procedures, applied in patrician courts, the so-called Laws of the XII Tables were drawn up. These laws made the most important step in the legal equation of patricians and plebeians, although still far from complete at that time.

After the promulgation of the Laws of the XII Tables, several decades of instability began in the organization of the supreme executive power in Rome.

A partial way out of the growing contradictions was found through new legislation, which would consolidate the structure of relative political equality within the Roman community. The laws of Valerius and Horace (consuls 449-448 BC) became the basis of the future republican system. The laws established: (1) the binding nature of the decisions of the plebeians, adopted by them at their tribunal meetings, for the patricians; (2) the right of any citizen accused by a magistrate to appeal to the people for a decision of his fate; (3) the sacred and inviolable character of the person of the people's tribune.

Soon, the laws of Canuleius (445/444 BC) abolished the ban on marriages between patricians and plebeians, and instead of consuls, special tribunes with consular power were established, to which plebeians could also be nominated. Consular power was restored only in 367 BC. e. and already on the basis of equality of political rights of patricians and plebeians. In 312 BC. e. The principle of qualification was also introduced into the structure of the Senate: not just patrician heads of clans began to be nominated to it, but people who met the designated property qualification, as well as those who had previously been elected to magistrates.

This also made the Senate, the stronghold of patrician family privileges, accessible to the plebeians. In 339, the principle of democracy was strengthened: it was recognized that the decisions of the comitia centuriata did not need the approval of the Senate to have the force of law. Finally, in 287 BC. e. it was once again confirmed that the decisions of the plebs (plebiscites) have the full force of law.

The socio-political unification of the Roman community was basically completed, and on this basis, by the end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd century. BC e. in the polis there was a developed state organization with a system of institutions of legislative, executive and supervisory power, based on a combination of direct democracy with aristocratic representation.

Ancient Roman society was characterized by duality. This is especially noticeable in the example of the main classes: plebeians and patricians. If the former had practically nothing, then the latter had all the rights and power.

Social classes of Ancient Rome

Ancient Roman society was characterized by a strict hierarchy. The population was divided into freeborn citizens, those who did not have civil rights, and slaves.

The most a big difference was between the plebeians and the patricians. Almost the entire history of Ancient Rome is an ongoing feud between these two classes.

Who are the patricians? This is, first of all, the ruling class in Rome. But, in addition, this word has several more meanings.

Roman patricians: origins

The translation of the word “patrician” is interesting - it means “fatherly”, since it comes from the Latin pater (father). This is due to the fact that the patricians lived according to the laws of a strict patriarchy, where inheritance occurs only through the male line. In Ancient Rome, the father of the family had control over the household and no one had the right to challenge his decisions. He could punish a family member in any way, sell him into slavery, or even kill him.

According to tradition, there were 300 patrician families in Rome. Each representative of a separate family had a generic name. The Romans, belonging to the representatives of the aristocracy, bore three names. The first was personal, a small number of them were used in Rome. The second is just a generic name. And the third is the so-called family. For example, Julius is the family name of one of the ancient patrician families.

Patricians are also the very first. In ancient times, the tribes of Latins, Etruscans and Sabines became the first full inhabitants of this city. Over time, they turned into a privileged class and began to be called patricians. This word has become synonymous with “aristocracy.” The patricians were the largest landowners in the country.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Privileged Class

Patricians are not only the ruling class, but also the highest officials of Ancient Rome. Initially, only they could be elected to the Senate and hold positions of priests. Conducting religious rites and ceremonies was also the exclusive right of the patricians. Military leaders and judges were elected from among them. Much later, when the number of patrician families was significantly reduced, the rulers of Rome had to give the opportunity to participate in the management of the empire and representatives of the lower class.

Ancient Rome: patricians and plebeians. Long-standing confrontation

Almost the whole story great empire- these are internal contradictions associated with the struggle of its two main classes. The plebeians, who represented the common people, constantly sought to improve their plight. Since they made up the bulk of the Roman army, they had something to blackmail the aristocracy with. Several times they refused to participate in battles unless their terms were accepted. The patricians could not change this or somehow influence the plebeians, and were forced to make concessions. Gradually, the plebeians managed to achieve the right to elect their own officials, who ensured that their few rights were not infringed upon by the patricians.

Gradually, representatives of the ancient Roman families became fewer and fewer. First, their number was reduced to 18, then to 14 families. This was facilitated by the long period during which the patricians died and the strict ban on marriages not with representatives of the clans - the founders of Rome. Eventually, by the first years of our era, the ancient patrician families had disappeared. If previously one could become a patrician only by birthright, now the title of patrician could be given by the emperor.

CHAPTERIX

Internal history of Rome until the 4th century

III. The struggle between the patricians and the plebeians

238. Reasons for the struggle between the patricians and the plebeians

The most important and even the most significant phenomenon in the internal history of Rome inVuIV centuries there was a struggle between the patricians and the plebeians. This struggle lasted a very long time and was distinguished by great tenacity on both sides. After the abolition of royal power the position of the plebs in Rome worsened, because all the power in the state fell into the hands of the patrician families, and they used it exclusively in their own interests. All the benefits went to the patricians, all the disadvantages fell on the plebeians. When Rome acquired additions to its state land (ager publicus), the use of individual sections of it was granted for rights of free occupation to patricians alone, and meanwhile, the plebeians who participated in wars and paid taxes were driven by these wars and taxes, on the contrary, to real ruin. Just as it was in Attica before Solon's reform, commoners were very often in unpaid debts from the nobility, Moreover, debt law in Rome was extremely cruel. The debtor pledged not only his property, but also his body: the creditor had the right to put him in chains or lock him up in prison, force him to work for himself and even subject him to punishment. The plebeians did not want to endure such injustices and began achieve a better position in the state, each time, however, encountering strong resistance from the patricians. In a word, in Rome it was repeated in new form the same struggle between aristocracy and democracy as was in Greece. But among the Romans this class struggle took on a different character than among the Greeks. It wasn't here exactly no popular uprisings, no establishment of tyranny, and the struggle took place on legal grounds, because at the very beginning the plebeians succeeded organize your forces for the peaceful enjoyment of political rights in popular assemblies and receive in the person of their own officials, tribunes, powerful defenders of their interests against the abuses of patrician authorities. The beginning of the organization of the plebs under the leadership of their own tribunes dates back to the middle of the second decade after the expulsion of the kings.

239. Establishment of the tribunate

In 494, returning from one happy campaign, the plebeians who were in the Roman army refused to return to Rome and retired to the Sacred Mountain(near Rome) with the intention of building their own special, plebeian city. The Senate, frightened by this decision, made concessions. The patricians agreed that the plebs should receive its own organization under the command of special tribunes. The plebeian tribunes (tribuni plebis), of which there were at first two, and then soon ten, could only be elected from among the plebeians, and likewise only by the plebeians in special gatherings of the plebs in local tribes, or tribunal comitia. These assemblies, in addition, had the right to deliberate on plebeian affairs and make decisions on them, plebiscites(plebiscita), which could then be presented to the Senate in the form of petitions. Tributary comitia were convened by the tribunes. Thus, next to the patrician comitia for curiae and the general comitia for centuries, purely plebeian comitia for tribes appeared. The duty of the tribunes was to provide assistance and protection to members of one's class(jus auxilii) in cases where they were oppressed, for which the tribune could not spend nights outside the city, and the doors of his house had to be always open. Inside the city limits, the stands soon gained the right destroy by interference(jus intercedendi), in just one word « veto"(i.e., I prohibit) decisions of consuls and other magistrates if they violated any rights of individuals from the plebs. The stands were recognized, moreover, sacred and inviolable(sacrosancti), and the entire plebs swore to protect them from insults and violence. But what was especially important was that, using their right to interfere with the orders of the authorities, the tribunes began to extend it to Senate resolutions who could also have been stopped by them « veto". To help the stands were given aediles, also elected plebeian officials who were in charge plebeian treasury which was made up of fines for offenses against the plebs: the fact is that the tribute comitia appropriated to themselves law of the court over anyone who acted against the plebs. Thus, the state community of Rome seems to split into two different communities - patrician and plebeian, and this division was decisive for all further struggle between both classes.

240. The Legend of Coriolanus

The patricians allowed the plebeians to have their own defenders only under the influence of fear that the plebs would leave the city, but subsequently were not averse to taking away this concession. An attempt in this direction, according to legend, was made by the patriciate on the advice of the senator Gnaea Marcius Coriolanus(who received his nickname from the capture of the city of Coriol). There was a famine in Rome, and Coriolanus proposed to the Senate not to sell grain from state reserves until the plebs renounced the tribunate. Demanded to trial by the tribunes, Coriolanus fled to the hostile Volscian tribe, marched with them towards Rome, devastating the fields of the plebeians, and even besieged the city itself. But his mother and wife came to meet him, and, yielding to their pleas, Coriolanus lifted the siege of the city, for which, however, he was killed by the irritated Volscians.

241. First proposal on the agrarian law

Among the reasons for the discontent of the plebeians was excluding them from the use of state lands. Among the patricians themselves there was a man who took the side of the plebeians and proposed in their favor first agrarian law, what they came to be called in Rome laws on participation in the use of state lands. This was the consul of 486. Spurius Cassius, whom the patricians were quick to accuse of seeking to seize royal power. The consul was summoned to trial by the curiat comitia and executed. At the same time, the plebeian Senate reassured the plebeians with a promise to give them part of the state lands for their use, but the successors of Spurius Cassius did not even think of fulfilling this promise. Thirty years later the tribune Genutius brought to trial the plebs all the consuls who were after Spurius Cassius, but the patricians got rid of the energetic tribune by murder .

242. Decemvirs

The plebeians were especially dissatisfied with the fact that in all ordinary civil and criminal cases, patrician magistrates alone judged and, moreover, according to customs and laws, which they kept secret, how they kept their religious rituals secret. The plebs therefore began to strive for written laws to be compiled for general information, just as the Athenian demos demanded written laws at the end of the 7th century. In 461, a proposal was made about this in the tribunal comitia by one tribune (Gaius Terentilius Arsoi), and since the patricians did not agree to this, then the plebs constantly elected the same tribunes for ten years in a row, until their persistence was crowned with success. The patricians gave in and, according to legend, even sent several senators to Greece to collect information about the laws of the cities there, and especially Athens. To write laws in 451 it was formed commission of decemvirs, those. ten husbands (decemviri legibus scribundis), who received for the entire time of their employment in this business and consular power. Thus, the decemvirs were supposed to govern the state; even the position of tribunes was temporarily abolished. In 450, the powers of the commission were continued, and several plebeians became members of it. When the laws were finally ready and carved on twelve copper boards, The decemvirs retained power under the pretext that the laws drawn up by them and adopted by the people still needed additions. At the head of the decemvirs was an ambitious and power-hungry Appius Claudius, began to act completely arbitrarily. According to legend, he planned to take possession of the daughter of a respectable plebeian, Virginia, and by a judicial verdict ordered her to be given to one of his clients, who declared that she was his runaway slave. Virginia's father, not wanting his daughter to go to Appius Claudius, killed her himself in the forum, and this was the signal for a new explosion of popular indignation, which was again expressed in leaving for the Sacred Mountain. Then the decemvirs resigned, and reconciliation took place between the patricians and plebeians (449).

243. Laws of the XII tables

247. The final equalization of the rights of patricians and plebeians

In 376, two energetic tribunes appeared among the plebeians - Gaius Licinius Stolon and Lucius Sextius Lateran. In an effort to equalize rights, they made three important proposals in the tribunal comitia: one on relief paying off debts by including in the due amount the interest already paid, the second is that no one should have the right to enjoy more than 500 jugeras state land, and third - to henceforth, only consuls were elected again, and one of them was a plebeian. The patricians resisted in every possible way these proposals, renewed by Licinius and Sextius every year for ten whole years, since each time they were again elected to the tribunes. At first, the patricians won over their comrades to their side, and they « veto" Licinius and Sextius stopped; then the patricians achieved the appointment of a dictator from among especially zealous defenders of the privileges of their class; finally, when nothing helped, they were ready to give up everything except the consulate. But the energetic tribunes stood their ground in 366, combining all three proposals into one rogation, achieved recognition of it for the law [Licinia and Sextiae] (leges Liciniae Sextiae). Agreeing to admit the plebeians to the consulate, the patricians, however, achieved separation from him of purely judicial duties on the basis that the law is known only to the patricians, to whom alone two new positions became available, now separated from the consulate: praetorship and curule aedileship. Judicial duties consuls were assigned praetor, who was, as it were, a comrade of the consuls, elected together with them and in the same order with them, and even took their place during their absence. At first there was one praetor, then their number began to increase. Upon assuming office, the praetor writes set out the rules by which he was obliged to be guided at trial (Praetor's Edict). The responsibility to manage public games, supervise trade and public buildings, order and cleanliness in squares and streets was assigned to the patrician position curule aediles(aediles curules), so named in contrast to the plebeian aediles by right to sit on a special curule chair, which was the privilege of some patrician magistrates. To commemorate the reconciliation between the patricians and the plebeians, a Temple of Concord. Following this, one position after another of those still remaining for some patricians moved on to plebeians - dictatorship (356), censorship (338), praetorship (336) and curule aedileship. For the longest time the patriciate retained exclusive right to occupy priestly positions, but around 300 plebeians were given access to office chief pontiff, those. high priest. One king of sacred affairs(rex sacrificulus) and the igniter priests (flamines) until the very end could only be from patrician families. But these positions did not enjoy any political significance. By equalizing rights, the patriciate was thus not yet completely destroyed, but after 300 all its institutions already had only a completely private character.

248. Emergence of nobility

The equalization of the rights of patricians and plebeians entailed a new grouping of parties. As they fell estate partitions, began to gain more and more importance property differences, on which the division of citizens into five classes with varying degrees of participation in the comitia centuriata was based. Rich patricians and plebeians They began to get closer to each other, become related through marriages, and support each other. The election of magistrates in the comitia centuriata depended only on them, and only they could undertake, free of charge, the difficult and responsible positions of consul, praetor, etc. That is why all positions, and with them seats in the Senate, became the property of a certain number of families, formed from themselves new aristocracy of nobles, i.e. eminent people, otherwise nobility (nobiles). This was no longer the clan nobility, sanctified in the eyes of the people by religious traditions: it was know official, whose entire significance, except wealth, rested on the occupation of government positions. For some and quite a long time (until the middle of the 2nd century), the new nobility enjoyed great authority among the masses and directed all domestic and foreign policy of the state. It was ruling class Rome, under which, however, the people had their share of influence on the course of affairs. Main body new ruling class became senate, which had previously occupied a leading place in the republic.

From the equalization of rights between patricians and plebeians (366) to the beginning of new civil unrest (133) passed about two and a half centuries, during which Rome transformed from the head of the Latin union into a world power.

Introduction

social struggle society

In the history of every state there is a period of struggle between classes for their rights, both with the state itself and with each other. So, in the history of Ancient Rome there is such a stage in the development of society. This is the struggle of the plebeians with the patricians from the middle of the 6th to the beginning of the 3rd century BC, which determined the theme of the course work.

The relevance of this work is seen in the enduring significance of the consequences of the struggle between the plebeians and the patricians for Roman society.

In socio-economic terms, Italy in the 6th-3rd centuries BC. (Appendix 1) presented a rather motley picture. The most developed of its regions were Etruria and Capania, where they flourished Agriculture, crafts, trade. Southern Italy with the rich Greek colonial cities ranked second in terms of its level of development. Latium with the city of Rome, inhabited by pastoralists and farmers, very conveniently located at the intersection of important land and river routes, in the 6th-5th centuries BC. lagged behind its highly developed neighbors - the Etruscans and Greek colonies. Finally, in the mountainous regions of Northern Italy there lived tribes who were at the stage of decomposition of primitive relations.

In this regard, the social structure of Rome in the 6th-4th centuries BC. was distinguished by great complexity and diversity. In Roman society, there were three main types of social structures: tribal institutions dating back to primitive times, the new communal-peasant sector, and early slaveholding relations. In progress further development clan institutions gradually died out, the communal-peasant sector strengthened, and early slaveholding relations tended to turn into classical slavery. Against the backdrop of all this, the direct struggle of the plebeians with the patricians for their rights unfolds.

From all of the above, we can determine the object of our work - this is the social situation in Rome in the 6th-3rd centuries BC.

The subject is the actual struggle of the plebeians with the patricians.

The political system of Rome during the period of struggle changed both radically and slightly. In the middle of the 6th century BC, when the first contradictions between the patricians and plebeians appeared, Rome was ruled by kings whose dynasty was founded by the Etruscans. It was “a primitive monarchy, greatly limited in its competence by a popular assembly, first by an assembly of curiae, and then of centuries.” This is followed by the period of the Republic (V-I centuries BC) after the overthrow of the kings around 510 BC. At the initial stage of the so-called Early Republic, the highest government agency was a national assembly. It passed and repealed laws, declared war and made peace, and was the supreme court. Before the reform of Servius Tullius, there was only one type of popular comitia (from the Latin word comitia - gathering) - curiat. The curiae were a closed association of patricians with strong vestiges of tribal government and did not include plebeians. Servius Tullius, who played a large role in the formation of Roman statehood, allowed plebeians to military service and created centuriate comitia, dividing all Roman citizens into 193 centuries. In the process of the struggle between the plebeians and the patricians, they acquired an important national significance assemblies of plebeians in territorial districts - tribes (Roman territory was divided into 4 urban and 31 rural tribes). Despite the great democratization of the Roman popular assemblies and their wide competence, they did not have legislative initiative. The Senate played a very important role in the public life of Rome; it led and controlled the activities of the people's assembly. All executive branch belonged to elected officials - magistrates. All magistracies were collegial (2 consuls, 2 praetors, 4 aediles, 10 tribunes of the people, 4 quaestors), annually re-elected and unpaid. The consuls commanded the army and exercised the highest civil authority, while the praetors sent judiciary. The tribunes of the people had the right of veto over the decisions of the magistrates, they could introduce bills, convene tribunal comitia, arrest the magistrate and protest the decision of the Senate. The responsibilities of the aediles were monitoring order in the city, urban improvement, taking care of food, and arranging public games. The quaestors were in charge of the treasury, kept financial books, they accompanied the consuls on military campaigns, and controlled the sale of prisoners and military booty. The magistrates and the Senate enjoyed virtually the entirety of state power in the Roman Republic, which acquired a pronounced aristocratic character.

The purpose of this work is to show the significance of the struggle between the plebeians and the patricians in the history of Roman society and the state.

Achieving the goal involves solving the following tasks:

1. consideration of the reasons for the struggle between the plebeians and the patricians;

2. coverage of the main course of the struggle;

3. study of the main results and consequences.

The work took place in three stages: finding literature and sources on the chosen topic; their processing; systematization of all received data.

The main source on which it relies this work, is the work of Titus Livy “History of Rome from the Foundation of the City”. Despite some obvious shortcomings (for example, lack of analysis of socio-economic processes, uncritical use of data from previous historians, almost complete inattention to original documents), this work remains the main source on the history of Republican Rome. Most of the facts reported by Livy find direct or indirect confirmation in other sources and can be considered completely reliable. Despite all the monotony and tediousness of some moments, the book as a whole has a tremendous artistic impact, which allows you to better understand the material. This is the most complete textbook majestic and perfect image ancient republican Rome, but, despite the obvious contradictions with reality, Livy’s moralizing narrative contains the core of true history, as evidenced by the latest achievements in the field of archeology and linguistics.

A special group of documentary sources consists of legal monuments. Information about the social structure, economy, legal proceedings and cult of the beginning of the Republic and partly of the tsarist period is found in the archaic laws of the XII tables (Appendix 2). This source also seems important to us, since it arose directly within the framework of the topic under consideration.

During the work, the historiography about Ancient Rome was reviewed. First of all, mention should be made of one of the outstanding historians of the 19th century and the largest specialist in the field of Roman history - Georg Barthold Niebuhr (1776-1831). Niebuhr examines the development of Roman society from a tribal system to a state system based on territorial principles. In the course of this development, an important role is played by the struggle of the plebeians with the patricians, in which Niebuhr outlined the line of confrontation between small and large landowners. A number of Niebuhr’s provisions: the tribal structure as the initial cell of the historical development of the Romans, the emergence of Rome from different ethnic elements, the interpretation of the origin of patricians and plebeians (the theory of “original citizenship of the patricians”), the role of the legislation of Servius Tullius in the development of the Roman state - were major discoveries in the field of Roman stories.

Based on the doctrine of formations, K. Marx and F. Engels developed their understanding of Roman society as going through the stage of a slave-owning socio-economic formation, determined by the movement of the slave-owning mode of production. The characterization of the main aspects of the polis as a special socio-economic and political-cultural organism was successful: the ancient form of ownership, the role of agriculture and urban forms of life, political structure and military organization. Much attention in their works was paid to characterizing the class and estate structure of Roman society, the role of large and small landowners in Roman history, different forms social protest (slave uprisings, movements of the free poor, religious opposition, etc.).

The multifaceted activity of Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903) made a great contribution to the study of Roman history. He gave a profound development of the history of Roman state law; he carefully studied the history of the Roman government as a system (national assemblies, senate, magistracy, etc.) in connection with the evolution of Roman society from the royal era to the time of the late Roman Empire. His most famous work is “Roman History” (vols. I-III, 1854-1856; vol. V, 1885; the fourth volume was not published). This work, based on all the scientific achievements of that time, traces the history of Rome from the royal era to the death of Caesar. Although the author's main attention is focused on political events and institutions, he pays sufficient attention to social relations, economic life, and the cultural process.

A feature of Russian historiography is the second half of the 19th century century is an interest in the socio-economic problems of Roman history, and above all in the agrarian question. In the work of M.P. Leontiev “On the fate of the agricultural classes in Rome” (1861), in the monographs of P. Komarovsky “Essays on Rome in financial and economic relations” (1869), M. Volsky “Slave cultivation of the land” (1869) subjects new to European science were studied - socio-economic and, above all, agrarian relations in Roman history. The study of these topics continued in the works of R.Yu. Vippera, M.M. Khvostov and M.I. Rostovtseva.

In the second half of the 20th century, Russian historiography attached special importance to the study of specific aspects of early Roman history. For our work, the following monographs were reviewed.

Mayak I.L. "Rome of the first kings (Genesis of the Roman polis)." It focuses on the origins of the Roman polis. The work is written on the basis of the works of ancient authors, as well as the latest archaeological and linguistic data. Also the work "Romans of the Early Republic".

An earlier study by F.M. was also devoted to the special origin of Rome. Nechaya “The Formation of the Roman State.” The author considers the emergence of Rome in a general antique context: the city grew as a result of the synoicism of ancestral villages. The entire royal period is considered in the book as a time of the primitive communal system and a period of its decay.

Nemirovsky’s monograph “The History of Early Rome and Italy” should also be mentioned. The author believes that the decomposition of tribal relations occurred during the rise of Rome. The transformation of Rome into a state entity is discussed in the book in connection with those economic changes from the 6th to the first half of the 5th century. BC, which made the existence of primitive relations impossible, and then the predominance of the tribal aristocracy in Rome.

A definite “milestone” in the history of the study of social economic development ancient Rome can be considered the works of E.M. Shtaerman: “Roman ownership of land”, “On the problem of the emergence of the state in Rome”, “Ancient Rome. Problems of economic development”, “Once again to the question of the Roman rural community”. They developed the theory of Roman agrarian property and revealed the specifics of its historical evolution.

A series of works by L.A. is devoted to the emergence and initial stage of development of ancient Roman slavery. Elnitsky “At the origins of ancient Roman culture and statehood”, “The emergence and development of slavery in Rome in the 8th-3rd centuries. BC.".

Having studied the historiography on this issue, we came to the following conclusion. Most of the works describe the general socio-economic or political situation in Rome in the 6th-3rd centuries BC, but we do not find a separate description of the immediate course of the struggle between the plebeians and the patricians. One can see this confrontation only as part of a single process of development of social, economic and political relations during the formation of the Roman state. In connection with all of the above, we see the opportunity to devote separate work sanctification of the struggle of the plebeians with the patricians.

1. Roman society in VI-IV centuries BC

1.1 Social structure of Rome in VI-IV centuries BC

The social structure of Roman society at the beginning of the time described presented a complex and motley picture. It included elements of both the tribal system, the beginning of slaveholding relations, and the emergence of the community-peasant sector. Representatives of all these components were patricians, plebeians, clients and slaves. Each of these groups had its own rights and responsibilities and occupied its own special position in Roman society and the state.

Before considering the actual course of the struggle, it is necessary to trace the emergence of both classes to identify the reasons for the emergence of confrontation.

Patricians were the name given to the ancient population of Rome, full members of the Roman community, united in clans and curia: namely, those who could indicate their fathers (patres), i.e. ancestral ancestors. This is where their name comes from. The total number of patrician clans was 300. Every 10 clans were united into a curia, every 10 curias into a tribe. There is no reason to doubt these facts, because they are recorded in many ancient sources. However, their interpretation in modern research is far from clear. For example, the curia was interpreted by Soviet researchers as a phratry, as a “union of husbands” or warriors. I.L. The lighthouse recognizes the genetic connection of the curiae with the ancient phratries. However, it is known that phratries include all members of their clans, curia - only men. Probably, the predecessors of the Roman curiae were the “male secret unions” characteristic of some late-clan societies.

The patricians had the right to collectively use the lands of clans and curiae, as well as the public field. They participated in the curiat comitia and served in the curiat military militia and cavalry. After from the 6th century BC. Plebeians were accepted into the Roman community and army, patricians became part of the new Roman citizenship, but part of the privileged one, as indigenous citizens, bearers of ancient tribal and religious traditions, endowed with supposedly special divine grace. Only patricians could perform sacred social rituals and bird divination (auspices), which were most important for the superstitious Romans. Therefore, in the first century of the Republic, only patricians were elected consuls or dictators. They also retained the right to form the Senate.

At the other pole of the generic organization, a category of dependent people - clients - was formed. The origin of this category is still controversial. These were probably impoverished members of the “younger” clans, as well as conquered or newcomers included in the Roman community. Deprived of political and civil rights, although personally free, they could exist only thanks to the patronage of indigenous Roman citizens (patrons), who defended clients before third parties: “For the most ancient period, ideas about archaic slavery were complicated ... by the fact that along with it there exists both very close to him and a very widespread phenomenon, the institution of patronage-clients.” Slavery in this era was patriarchal in nature. Slaves and clients did not represent an independent social force and were not aware of their corporate interests. “The revolutionary uprisings of slaves and clients,” writes Elnitsky, “occurred primarily on the initiative of their owners and patrons, who sought to use the discontent and potential political activity of those under their control to achieve their own, however, more or less democratic goals. Only as the number of foreign and foreign slaves increases and the forms of slavery become more brutal, slaves begin to rebel own initiative and under the leadership of their own leaders almost always, however, in context with other oppressed elements"

T. Mommsen says that clients are not guests, that is, not members of other homogeneous societies who temporarily stayed in someone else’s house, and not slaves, who were considered by law not members of the family, but its property, but people are no less dependent, that is, such who, while not being free citizens of any community, nevertheless live in the community and enjoy freedom thanks to someone's patronage. This included partly people who had left their homeland and found refuge with some foreign patron, partly those slaves in relation to whom their master temporarily renounced the enjoyment of his rights and to whom he granted actual freedom. These relations in their originality were not as strictly legal as relations with a guest; the client remained an unfree person, for whom bondage was softened by the word of honor and customs given to him. Therefore, household clients, together with real slaves, constituted household servants (familia), dependent on the arbitrariness of the citizen (patronus or patricius), which is why the most ancient decrees gave the citizen the right to take away the client’s property in part or in full, if necessary, to again turn the client into slavery and even punish by death; the actual difference between the slave and the client was that these rights of the master were not so easily exercised in their full extent in relation to clients as in relation to real slaves, and that, on the other hand, the moral duty of the master to take care of his own people and being their intercessor became more important in relation to clients than in relation to slaves. The actual freedom of the client had to come close to the legal one, especially in the case where the relationship between the client and his patron had not been interrupted for several generations: indeed, if the manumitted man and the freedman both died, it would be a flagrant injustice if the descendants of the first would claim ownership over the descendants of the second.

EAT. Shtaerman comes to the conclusion that the classes of patricians and plebeians in Rome arose in exactly the same way as the classes of the nobility and common people were born in all other societies at a similar stage of development.

Here is what Mayak I.L. says about the appearance of plebeians:

“After the death of Tullus Hostilius, an interregnum was again established. The interrex (inter-king) appointed by the senators convened a popular assembly, at which the grandson of the Sabine Numa, Ancus Marcius, was elected king. Fate leads him along an already beaten path. He pays special attention to federal law and at the same time persistently and successfully fights with the Latins. He manages to advance Roman rule to the south, take possession of the mouth of the Tiber, where salt was mined, throw a pile bridge on the right bank of the river and thus secure the Janiculum hill. Ankh defeats the inhabitants of the Latin cities of Politoria, Tellen, Ficana and the more northern Medullia in battles, destroys the cities, seizes lands, and resettles most of their inhabitants to Rome. The Aventine Hill and near it the Murcia Valley are designated for its habitat. These acts of Ancus Marcius found not only archaeological, but also linguistic confirmation. Scientists have discovered in the language of the classical Romans words from the ancient lexicon of both southern and northern Latium. They could establish themselves in the Roman linguistic environment only in the conditions of mass habitation of the people who used them, which is quite consistent with the legend about the policy of the fourth king. The population of Rome increased markedly. The mass of new Romans began to be called the plebs.” The entire mass of the population of Rome, left outside the clan organization, received the name plebeians. This category consisted of two main sources. One part is voluntary newcomers, attracted by trade and business interests, the second part was resettled by force as a result of Rome’s wars against neighboring peoples. Subsequently, immigrants from the original Roman community, who broke ties with it due to ruin, became an important source of replenishment of the plebeian class.

The plebeians were personally free, owned property, property rights, were engaged in crafts and trade, were involved in military service (albeit in the auxiliary troops), and could independently carry out lawsuits and carry legal liability. Thus, in the area of ​​private civil relations plebeians had equal rights with patricians. In the sphere of political relations, the status of these classes was diametrically opposite: the plebeians did not have any political rights and therefore were completely deprived of the opportunity to participate in solving community affairs.

The economic status of the plebeian class was in clear contradiction with their civil and political lack of rights. As E.M. rightly notes. Shtaerman, “the plebeians did not constitute a group of people whose labor could be used by another group due to their place in social production.” The plebeians were not an economically exploited class. Consequently, the social struggle between patricians and plebeians was not class. “The plebeians...represented neither a class nor a class-estate, but an archaic estate, similar to the same estates in other societies similar in stages.”

1.2 Causes and beginning of the struggle in the 6th - early 5th centuries BC

In the previous paragraph, we noted that the management system of ancient Roman society was based on the principles of clan organization and was designed only for the indigenous members of the Roman community - the patricians. The later settlers - plebeians who were not part of the system of patrician clan ties, were thereby completely excluded from socio-political life. Without taking part in solving public affairs, they did not fully bear general civil responsibilities, primarily military and taxation. This situation could be tolerable as long as the patricians remained the predominant majority, and the proportion of the plebeian element in the total mass of the population and in the sphere economic relations was small. However, as the plebeians began to play an increasingly greater role in the daily life of ancient Roman society, their isolated position outside the Roman community turned into an increasingly large socio-political anomaly.

The struggle of the plebeians with the patricians became the main content of socio-political life, and therefore the main spring of early Roman history. This struggle, which stretched over several centuries, at times took very sharp forms, repeatedly bringing the country to the brink of civil war.

There are three main stages in the history of this struggle:

1. mid-6th century BC - 494 BC - from the reform of Servius Tullius to the establishment of the people's tribunate;

2. 494 - 444 BC - from the establishment of the position of tribunes of the people to the laws of Canuleus;

3. 385 - 287 BC - from the movement of Manlius and the laws of Licinius - Sextius to the plebiscite of Hortensius.

Consideration of the course of the struggle should begin from the tsarist era, namely from the reforms of Servius Tullius. Until the middle of the 6th century BC. Plebeians were considered an alien element in society and were not even trusted to serve in the army.

Servius, just like his predecessors, wanted to limit the influence of the clan nobility in society and achieved this. First of all, he divided the entire Roman territory into 4 urban and 16 rural districts, which he called tribes. Servius established an annual population census for territorial districts. It happened this way: each person - man, woman, child - made an appropriate payment to the treasury at his place of residence, a contribution was made for both the born and the deceased. Thanks to this system, population dynamics by gender and age were taken into account. The collected contributions formed part of the Roman treasury. And its main part consisted of taxes. Servius Tullius did tax fees for the first time regular and differentiated. To account for income, he carried out a census reform. “The heads of all Roman families, whether indigenous inhabitants, or descendants of Latins forcibly resettled on the Aventine, or voluntary newcomers, had to appear before the king and, under oath, report on the state of their family, how much land, livestock, slaves and other goods they have, what income they receive. Depending on their property, Roman men were included in the qualification categories (later there were six of them). In accordance with the level of income, people, regardless of their clan and curiae, were drafted into the army. The richest formed heavily armed infantry and cavalry, the less wealthy - lightly armed detachments; the poor were freed from military service, because they did not have the means for equipment. These people were called “proletarians”, since all their wealth lay in their offspring (proles in Latin).”

The army was divided into centuries, i.e. into groups of ideally one hundred people. But in fact, in the century of rich warriors there were much less than a hundred, and in the proletarian century there were much more. This was of great importance for the internal life of Rome, because the Servian century was not only a military unit, but also a voting unit.

Leaving the decisions of only some issues related to religious institutions to the meetings of the curiae, Servius Tullius transferred all the most important matters to the meetings of the centuries. So he entered the new kind national assemblies - comitia centuriata. Since the centuries of the wealthy ranks were much larger than the centuries that included poorer people, the vote always turned out to be in favor of the rich, although not necessarily the well-born.

After the census, cleansing rituals were performed and a five-year period was set for the next census.

Having become warriors according to the reform of Servius Tullius, the plebeians received the right to participate in comitia centuriata, i.e. gained some civil rights. They accepted Active participation in the establishment of the Republic, because they suffered from the heavy duties with which King Tarquin the Proud imposed on them, but did not receive the main thing: permission to use the public field, huge areas of which were the source of well-being for the patrician families.

It is not surprising that from the very beginning of the Republic, the plebeians experienced a shortage of land, and the endless wars that the Senate started in the interests of the patricians ruined their already small farms. The real threat to the plebeians was indentured servitude. The plebeians were forced to rent land from the patricians and go into debt with them. The slightest delay in paying monstrous interest turned a plebeian, often with his wife and children, into indentured slaves. It was impossible to escape from bondage. Already at the beginning of the 5th century BC. intolerable debt slavery spread so much that it threatened the existence of the plebeians as a free class and forced them to fight for their rights.

In 509 BC. A republic was established in Rome, headed by patricians.

Already by the beginning of the 5th century BC. Plebeians made up the majority of the army, but continued to suffer from a lack of land and debt slavery, and the patricians kept sending them to new wars. We find a very revealing moment describing the difficult situation of debtors in Titus Livius (Appendix 3). Physical and material oppression of a huge number of plebeians liable for military service led to general anger, and frightened senators took refuge in their homes. In the same 495 BC. The Volscians were advancing on Rome, and the plebeians refused to take up arms: “The gods are avenging the self-will of the senators,” the plebeians said; they urged each other not to enlist in the army, because it was better together with everyone than alone; let the senators fight, let the senators take up arms, so that the dangers of war may fall on the lot of those whose spoils fall.”

With great difficulty, promising serious concessions and relief from debt bondage, consul Servilius managed to gather an army and drive back the Volscians. But detachments of Sabines, Aequians and Aurunci immediately appeared on the borders. At the same time, the second consul Appius Claudius “began to rule the debt court in the most severe manner.” Those whom Servilius had previously forgiven, as well as new debtors, were chained. The plebeians, having lost faith in the help of the consuls and the Senate, began to act completely differently: “... now, if they saw a debtor being taken to court, they quickly ran to him from everywhere. And here it was no longer possible to hear the consular decision because of the noise and shouting, nor did anyone want to obey this decision: in front of the consul’s eyes everyone rushed in a crowd at one and the matter was decided by force, so that it was no longer the debtors who had to fear and be in danger, but to lenders."

Meanwhile, the already replaced consuls announced a new recruitment in 494 BC. At the Forum, from the tribunal, they shouted the names of the young conscripts, but no one responded, the lictors were driven away by the crowd. Then the Senate is convened. After much debate, senators propose appointing a dictator.

Dictator Manius Valery manages to recruit an army, sometimes with the help of threats, sometimes with promises to reduce debts, and win a glorious victory. Returning, the dictator invited the Senate to approve his orders regarding the release of debtors from slavery. But the Senate rejects his proposal. Manius Valery, angered by this attitude of the Senate towards the people, resigns his powers, which deserves the respect of the plebeians.

The senators, fearing that after the dissolution of the troops secret meetings would begin again, ordered the legions to be withdrawn from the city under the pretext of a new attack by the Aequi. This is followed by an explosion: “... the troops, on the advice of a certain Sicinius, without the permission of the consul, withdrew to the Sacred Mountain three miles from the city beyond the Aniene River. There, without any leader, they surrounded the camp with a rampart and a ditch and waited, not taking any actions other than those necessary for food. They stayed like that for several days, not disturbing anyone and not being disturbed by anyone.” Since then, secession (i.e., “removal”) from Rome has become an effective form of struggle for the plebeians.

As we see from the sources, great fear reigned in Rome: the city found itself without troops, the remaining plebeians were afraid of the revenge of the patricians, and the senators were afraid of violence from the plebeians. The patricians had to humble their pride and take measures to return the rebels. The honorary senator Menenius Agrippa convinced the plebeians to agree to reconciliation for the sake of the consent of the estates (Appendix 4).

Secession 494 BC ended with the return of the plebeians on the terms of the creation of a special post of plebeian tribunes and the adoption by the patricians of “sacred laws” (leges sacratae) on the forgiveness of rebels and respect for the rights of plebeians in the future.

Here is what Mommsen reports about the functions of the tribunes: “The power of the tribunes was powerless before the military power (imperium), i.e. before the power of the dictator in general and before the power of the consul outside the city; but from ordinary civil authority, which belonged to the consuls, the tribunician power was independent, although there was no real division of power. The tribunes received the same right that belonged to the consul against the consul, and even more so against lower officials, i.e. the right, by means of a timely and personally declared protest, to cancel any given official an order by which one of the citizens declared himself offended, as well as the right to consider any proposal made by an official to citizenship, and then suspend it or cancel it, i.e. the right of intercession, or the so-called tribune veto.”

Thus, the power of the plebeian tribunes lay, first of all, in the fact that they had the right, at their discretion, to inhibit the actions of the administration and the administration of justice. By virtue of his judicial rights, the tribune could bring any citizen to justice, and if he did not obey, he could be arrested and sentenced to death. death penalty or to a monetary fine. For this purpose, simultaneously with the appointment of the tribune, two popular aediles were appointed as his servants, mainly to carry out arrests. The tribunes and aediles of the people were guaranteed personal integrity by the universal oath of the plebeians. IN civil jurisdiction plebeian institutions penetrated only in the form of “ten judges” (indices decemviri, later decemviri litibus iudicandis), who pronounced sentences in trials of particular importance for the plebeians to defend freedom, when consuls were deprived of the right to appoint juries.

Thus, the result of the first stage of the struggle was first the inclusion of the plebeians in military organization Roman society and obtaining some civil rights. Further, in the course of a series of clashes with the highest authorities - the Senate and consuls - the plebeians achieved the establishment own body management - the people's tribunes. However, all this was only the beginning of the real struggle.

1.3 Main points of the confrontation in the 5th century BC

After the first victory of the plebeians and the establishment of the position of tribunes of the people, we can conditionally mark the beginning of the second stage of the confrontation.

The most difficult fate befell Spurius Cassius Vecellinus. Repeated consul, winner of the Aequians and Hernicians, who earned an honorable triumph, he was in 493 BC. concluded an agreement with the Latins, which provided for the equality of two related peoples. This demonstrated Cassius’s ability to regulate complex relationships with his neighbors. The text of the Treaty of Cassius, beneficial to the Romans, was engraved on a bronze pillar and exhibited in the Forum. Newly elected consul, he in 486 BC. concluded an agreement with the Guernicas, according to which two-thirds of the lands that went to the fund of the Roman public field were taken from them. Spurius Cassius proposed to give one half of the captured lands to the allied Latins, according to the agreement, and the other half to the Roman plebeians. Moreover, he gave for use to the plebeians that part of the old public lands that was illegally owned by private individuals (although these individuals were many senators). The senators and the second consul categorically opposed this, accusing Cassius of seeking ways for popularity, dangerous for freedom, that he was looking for a way for royal power. In fact, Spurius showed great statesmanship: by ceding part of the land to the allies, he created a barrier from them against the Volscians and Aequi; and, going towards the plebeians, he tried to soften internal contradictions.

The demagoguery of the patricians was successful, and some of the plebeians succumbed to the “patriotic” propaganda of the senators, seeing in the division of lands with the allies a certain infringement of their rights, as if they were counting on more. Even the money received by the state from the sale of Sicilian grain, appropriated by the Senate, which Cassius ordered to be returned to the people, did not protect him from reprisals. After the resignation of the consul, Spurius Cassius was brought to trial by the quaestors, convicted of striving for royal power and crimes against the fatherland, and executed in 485 BC. His house was destroyed, and on the edge of the wasteland a temple was built to the goddess Ceres, to whose sacrifice state criminals were doomed. This is how the outstanding figure of Rome, the reformer Spurius Cassius, ended his life. His agrarian bill was the first in a series of others, each of which led to the greatest upheavals in the state.

In addition to the agrarian question, during the struggle between the plebeians and the patricians, the issue of civil rights, which would be enshrined in law, was also resolved. There were no written laws at the beginning of the early Republic in Rome. Instead, the norms of the so-called customary law: tribal traditions, religious institutions, customs of ancestors, transmitted orally. Naturally, the scope of interests of these norms did not include the rights of the plebeians. The Senate was the expert and interpreter of customary oral law. Many economic and legal transactions were carried out using religious procedures, according to the sacred books of pontiffs, augurs and flamens, which were secret and hidden from the people. It was impossible for a simple plebeian not admitted to the patrician sacraments to verify the truth of the interpretations of the Senate and the priests, and even more so their impartiality. Many standards are already outdated and do not meet the needs of the developing economy. This gave rise to abuses and lawlessness on the part of the patricians and caused the plebeians to strive to make the law open to the people. They wanted the law to be simpler, to help make transactions faster, and to protect their private property.

More than once or twice, the plebeian tribunes advocated the creation of written laws, but met stubborn opposition from the patricians. In 462 BC. sentiments changed radically: not only the plebeians, but also some ordinary patricians advocated the codification of law. The matter was already moving towards the adoption by the People's Assembly of the rogation of Terentil Garza to create a commission of five people to draw up laws on consular power. It was assumed that the consuls would use only those rights that the people would grant them, and not their own will. But the patricians, clinging to power, went to extreme measures. On the eve of the vote, the author of the bill, a passionate supporter of the plebeians, tribune Guy Terentilius Garza was found murdered at his home. The patricians did not hide their participation in this. By resorting to open terror, they were able to intimidate the remaining tribunes and postpone the discussion of Garza's rogation.

But ten years later, demands to begin drawing up written laws were heard from all sectors of society, except the Senate. The plebeians even agreed to the temporary abolition of the position of plebeian tribunes and the right of provocation.

In 451 BC. the Romans elect a board of ten people (decemvirs) for a period of one year, who were tasked with bringing together all existing laws and developing new ones that meet the needs of society (Appendix 6). During the work of the decemvirs, all other magistrates were abolished, and their actions were not subject to appeal. The best experts in law, including from the Greek cities of Southern Italy, were involved in the work on the laws. There is evidence that the decemvirs even sent an embassy to Athens to study the laws of Solon (but this may be a late invention). The laws were drawn up in an amazing atmosphere of democracy and general discussion. It was announced that every citizen could come to the meeting, read the laws, think about each article and make amendments and additions. At the end of the year, the decemvirs submitted a code of laws to the comitia centuriata for approval. Their text was carved on ten large bronze plaques.

But it turned out that two more tables were missing to completely complete the code of Roman law. Their revision was entrusted to a new college of decemvirs, elected for the following 450 BC. For the first time, in addition to the patricians, it also included several plebeians, which made the work more democratic. Soon the tables were ready and, together with the first ten, constituted the first complete set of Roman quotient and civil law, and called - Laws of the XII tables (Appendix 2).

Titus Livy rightly called the Laws of the XII Tables “the source of all state and civil law.” The tables themselves have not survived, nor have their texts, but they were of such great importance to the Romans that a huge number of quotations and paraphrases in a variety of written sources allows us to roughly reconstruct their structure and content.

The Laws of the XII Tables defined the difference in the rights of patricians and plebeians, patrons and clients, freemen and slaves. In them the concept of cives (citizen) is encountered for the first time, and the centuriate People's Assembly, called the “great” (comitiatus maximus), is established as the highest civil authority.

The main attention was paid to private law: problems of inheritance, transfer of property by will, regulation of purchase and sale transactions, property rights, land issues(quirit property), such as renting land, a system of fines and penalties for illegal cutting of trees, unauthorized drainage of water from a common canal, or plowing the boundary between two plots. Only Roman citizens possessed Quirite property (land and its fruits). She assumed compliance legal norms, common to all citizens.

An important achievement of the plebeians was the limitation of interest on debts. The development of slavery in Rome was also reflected in the laws: the definition of slaves and debtor slaves, the punishment of masters for the misdeeds of slaves, the procedure for releasing a slave and the rights of a freedman. The laws, however, were harsh on debtors: indentured slaves could be sold “beyond the Tiber,” i.e. outside of Rome; it was even possible to tear the debtor's body into pieces if there were several creditors. The laws eroded family property, which weakened the unity of the patricians. At the same time, the patricians managed to include in the tables an article prohibiting marriages between patricians and plebeians.

The laws of the XII tables were the most important feature of the state. For many centuries they became the basis of all subsequent legislation, the core of Roman law. Lawyers of the Empire era referred to them as the decisive argument in disputes, and schoolchildren of Cicero’s time, according to the most famous speaker, crammed articles from the XII tables by heart. And to this day the roots of many norms modern law go into this well of legal wisdom.

The outcome of the reign of the decemvirs was marked by dramatic events that radically changed the social and political system Rome. According to legend, the decemvirs of the second term were headed by the demagogue and hypocrite Appius Claudius Crassus, who thought more about establishing his power than about the good of the state. Under his influence, the rest of the decemvirs intended to extend their powers after the end of their term. They hesitated to give up their place to the ordinary magistracy under the pretext that the remaining two tables with laws were not yet ready, and remained in office after the expiration of the year's term. As T. Mommsen writes, this was possible because the magistracy, called in an extraordinary way to revise government agencies, could not be - in Roman state law- bound by the deadline assigned to her.

The decemvirs were challenged by senators Lucius Valerius Potitus, grandson of Poplicola, and Marcus Horace Barbatus. Gathering the Senate under the pretext of discussing the war with the Sabines, they tried to convince the senators to remove the decemvirs from office. But the most conservative part was more afraid of popular indignation than of the decemvirs, and was inclined to allow the decemvirs to continue to formally rule, and to send the people away to war in order to avoid unrest. The plebeians were not too inclined towards the decemvirs, but all power passed into the hands of the Senate, which was in no hurry to restore the republican magistracy. The cup of popular patience was filled with the vile behavior of Appius Claudius, who tried to take possession of the plebeian girl Virginia, the indignant people took to the streets, an uprising broke out in the army, where the news of the overthrow of the decemvirs was brought by the energetic leader of the plebeians, the former tribune Lucius Itilius.

The army marched on Rome, followed by a second army led by Marcus Duillius. Having passed through the whole of Rome, the plebeian troops, as half a century ago, retired to the Sacred Mountain. Following them, crowds of plebeians also left Rome. “Depopulated Rome,” reports Titus Livy, “turned into a desert.” Fear shackled the senators and the decemvirs submissive to them, who asked only for protection from human hatred. This time the supporters of Valery and Horace won. Having deprived the decemvirs of formal power, they went to the Sacred Mountain to ask the plebeians to return. The strength of the popular uprising was so great that the Senate was forced to make much more serious concessions than in the first secession.

Returning to the city, the victorious plebeians flock to the Aventine, where, under the leadership of the Pontifex Maximus (there were no other magistrates left to carry out auspices), plebeian tribunes were elected at the National Assembly and among them the leaders of the uprising: Lucius Icilius, Marcus Duillius and Gaius Sicinnius. Excited against the decemvirs criminal prosecution it ended with the fact that two of them who were most guilty - Appius Claudius and Spurius Opius - committed suicide in prison; the remaining eight were sent into exile, and their property was confiscated in favor of the state. Further prosecution was stopped by the prudent and moderate Marcus Duillius, who used his right of veto in time.

Then two laws were adopted in the tribunal comitia: prohibiting the persecution of those who participated in the secession, and electing consuls with the right to appeal their actions to the people. Perhaps the position of consuls replaced the magistracy of the previous praetors. Their powers have expanded. The consuls were less dependent on the Senate and accountable to the People's Assembly.

The elected consuls for 449 BC, Valerius and Horace, proposed a number of important legislative reforms to the comitia centuriata, which went down in history as the Valerius-Horace laws. First passed law stated that the decisions of the tribunal comitia are binding on all citizens, including patricians. Thus, they became equal to the laws of the comitia centuriata themselves. Two equal assemblies arose, but each with its own sphere of activity. Then the right of provocation was restored and strengthened and the inviolability of the plebeian tribunes was confirmed, as well as the aediles and the panel of “ten judges”, who were in charge of cases of citizenship and freedom. Finally, they decided to deliver to the temple of Ceres to the plebeian aediles all the decisions of the Senate, which had previously been hidden from the people or distorted by the arbitrariness of the consuls. The pinnacle of Valery-Horace's reforms was the publication of the Laws of the XII Tables, put on public display at the Forum. The laws of Valerius-Horace finally formalized the political system of the Roman Republic and contributed to the unification of patricians and plebeians into a single powerful state.

The logical continuation of the work of the reforming consuls was the adoption in 445 BC. the law of the plebeian tribune Canuleus, who recognized the legality of marriages between patricians and plebeians, prohibited by the decemvirs. Children from such a marriage belonged to their father's class. The Law of Canuleus laid the foundations for the merger of the wealthy elite of the plebeians with the patricians into one class and deprived the patricians of the exclusive privilege of performing clan cults and community sacred rites, especially the auspices. Canulei's second bill - on the admission of plebeians to the consular magistracy - was initially rejected. But then, not without resistance, the demand of the plebeians to occupy the highest position was satisfied, although not as consuls, but as military tribunes with consular power equated to them.

From all of the above we can draw the following conclusions. Throughout the 5th century BC. The struggle of the plebeians for their rights continued to develop. This century was important in their successes. The plebeians were able to achieve the drawing up of the first written laws in the history of Rome, which provided them with some stability in transactions and their position in society. Important laws were adopted in the beginning equalization of classes in rights - these are the laws of Canulei.

2. New society in Rome in IV-III centuries BC

2.1 End of the fight in IV-III centuries BC

Rome 80-60s of the 4th century BC. becomes an arena of sharp clashes and dangerous enslaved debtors for the patricians. The first attempt to soften debt law was made by Marcus Manlius in the 80s of the 4th century BC.

Marcus Manlius in 392 BC he performed consular duties and performed the Great Games very well. For his successes in the war with the Aequians, Marcus Manlius was awarded an ovation. However, the consulate was overshadowed by sad events: one of the censors died, and both consuls fell ill. This was regarded as a harbinger of future troubles, because the consul embodied the strength and power of the entire state for the sovereign Romans. Two years later, Rome was attacked by the Gauls. Marcus Manlius, already a former consul, distinguished himself here as well, leading the defense of the Capitol, the last stronghold of the Romans. For saving the fortress he received the nickname "Capitolian".

After the expulsion of the Gauls, he did not remain aloof from political affairs. In Rome with new strength The issue of debts and indentured slaves became more acute. He acted as an irreconcilable fighter for the rights of the oppressed, among whom were his military comrades. “When a brave officer was sentenced to imprisonment as a debtor, Manlius interceded for him and ransomed him at his own expense; At the same time, he put his lands on sale, declaring publicly that as long as he owned at least one inch of land, he would not allow such injustices. This was more than enough to turn the entire government party - both patricians and plebeians - against the dangerous innovator.” In addition, Marcus Manlius accused the senators of concealing funds that could have been used to help debtors. After this, he faced prosecution for high treason and accusations of intending to restore royal power. He was sentenced to death and thrown from a cliff, and after his death he was dishonored: it was decided that not a single patrician should live on Capitol Hill, and the Manlian family would forever renounce the name Mark.

Further, the issue of reforms continued to remain the most pressing. On the one side, state land continued to grow as a result of successful wars, and on the other hand, the peasantry became increasingly burdened with debt and became poorer. Moreover, the debt burden affected not only the poor, but also the most prominent plebeians. The patricians managed to strengthen their position so much that they not only took over all the highest positions of consular tribunes, but also bribed many plebeian tribunes. In this situation, a compromise between the classes was required.

To this end, the tribunes of the people (375 BC) Gaius Licinius and Lucius Sextius proposed a number of bills for the benefit of the plebeians: on the repayment of arrears on dogues, on limiting land holdings to 500 jugeras (125 hectares) and on the election of one of two consuls necessarily from the plebeians, with the abolition of the post of consular tribunes in general. As T. Mommsen writes, it was also proposed to open plebeians to one of the three main priestly colleges - the college of “keepers of the oracles” (duoviri, later decemviri sacris faciundis), in which the number of members should be increased to ten. Regarding the agrarian question, it was also proposed to oblige landowners to employ a certain number of free workers in proportion to the number of their arable slaves for the cultivation of their fields.

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Expulsion of Tarquin the Proud

All dates are from the founding of Rome (776 BC)

The struggle of the plebeians with the patricians in Ancient Rome is an interesting and colorful page in its history. In fact, in almost two centuries of struggle between these classes, the state of Rome, a “social organism,” arose. Quite a lot of evidence from ancient historians and writers about this struggle has reached us, but there are only two related and consistent stories. The great Roman historian Titus Livius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Both wrote their works in different eras and for different purposes, so they sometimes contradict each other. But both historians, carried away by the story of truly exciting events, nevertheless were sensitive to the oral tradition of telling about them. The stories they recorded are legends and a source of pride for the Roman people. Let's listen to their story.

As Roman territory expanded and population increased, the former exclusive position of the patrician families could not remain low. The struggle between classes began, according to legend, at the end of the tsarist period. Titus Livius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus outline the course of this struggle as follows. Our sources consider the reform of Tarquin the Ancient to be the first step towards extending political rights beyond a few patrician families; this king annexed a number of new families to the ancient Ramnes, Titii and Luceri, without forming independent tribes from them, but including them in the old ones under the name Ramnov, Titii, Luceri the Younger, and thereby giving them the right to participate in the national assembly. Some of the plebeians (according to Livy - 100) even received access to the Senate, as "fathers of the younger nations." This first measure facilitated the further improvement of the position of the plebeians, closest to the reform of Servius Tullius, who found support among them. Tradition ascribes to Servius not only a military reform, but also a political one; Having divided the people into classes and centuries, Servius, at the same time, according to Roman historians, laid the foundation for centuriate assemblies, accessible to both patricians and plebeians with the necessary qualifications. These conquests, according to legend, were almost lost under Takrvinia Gord, whose entire reign, from the moment he ascended the throne, was complete violence and violation of the law. Clearly striving to expand his power, Tarquin conferred less and less with the senator and almost never convened public assemblies, but decided matters individually. The hidden discontent with the king was fueled by violence against Collatinus’s wife, Lucretia, committed by the son of Tarquin. The people declared Tarquin the Proud deprived of the throne, subjected him and his family to exile and decided to destroy royal power forever. The convened centuriate assembly elected two consuls - successors to royal power, but with certain restrictions, which increased over time. By the way, already in the first year of the republic, the consul Publius Valerius passed a number of laws that gave him the nickname Publicola (“honoring the people”). Among the laws of Valery, noteworthy is the unsanctioned law on provocation - the law on appeal, which allowed a citizen convicted within Rome or 1 mile from it to criminal punishment to appeal to the people with a complaint, until the consideration of which the sentence is not carried out. At the very beginning of the republic, the number of senators was replenished by members from the plebeians - “fathers assigned to the Senate.”

1 Patricians - representatives of the indigenous population of Latium - the region in which Rome arose (map). 300 patrician families had representatives in the Senate and were elected to all positions in the state.

Removal of Plebeians to the Sacred Mountain

Meanwhile, the economic situation of the plebeians was very difficult: as a result of continuous wars and high taxes, they became entangled in debts, for which, according to the system prevailing at that time, they had to pay not with property, but with personality. The dictator Valery, who understood the danger of the situation, suggested that the Senate should at least somewhat ease the situation of the plebeians, but his efforts led to nothing. Then the plebeians, driven to extremes, decided to separate from Rome and found their own city. For this purpose, they crossed the Anio River and settled on the Sacred Mountain (first departure 260 BC). The patricians, having lost the largest part of their army in their person, became frightened and made concessions. The result of the negotiations was the so-called sacred laws, which declared an amnesty for those who separated, some relief from debts, and most importantly, recognizing the plebeians' right to elect their class representatives - the people's tribunes and aediles.

But the plebeians did not rest on this: they began to strive for recognition of legislative power for their meetings. Since the patricians resorted to the most brutal opposition, making noise and not allowing the plebeians to do their business, in 262 the tribune Icilius held a plebiscite (gathering of plebeians) in the plebeian assembly, according to which a person who prevents the tribune from speaking at the meeting may be fined by him, and if you do not provide guarantors for the payment of the fine, you are even sentenced to death; provocation to such a verdict was allowed only before the plebeian assembly. Icilius' law on plebescite did not receive Senate approval, but was applied in practice, thus assigning, to a certain extent, to the assemblies of plebeians legislative branch and criminal court law; this right expanded every year, arousing discontent among the patricians, who did not even stop at killing the most energetic leaders of the people. The stands lost heart and did not dare to act in the same direction. Then, in order to revive their former energy, at the suggestion of Publius Voleron (Lex Publilia Voleronis 282), he decided to henceforth elect tribunes in the assemblies of the plebeians according to tribes, not without reason hoping to strengthen their independence from the patricians in this way. Voleron's law passed, however, not without resistance from the patricians.

The results achieved so far did not sufficiently ensure the position of the plebeians due to the lack of written laws, which gave the patricians the opportunity to arbitrarily interpret the law when administering court. Therefore, in 292, the tribune Terentilius Arsa proposed in the plebeian assembly to form a commission to write laws for the guidance of the consuls. The Senate refused its consent, but the plebeians elected the same tribunes for five years in a row, who renewed the proposals of Terentilius. The patricians finally made minor concessions: in 297 the Senate allowed the number of tribunes to be increased to 10, in 298 the plebeians were given public land on the Aventi Hill (plebiscitum Icilium de Aventimo publicando) to build houses, in 300 the consuls were held in centuriate assembly, the Law of Aternius Tarpeia, which granted the plebeian magistrates a multae dictio (i.e., the right to impose property fines) and established a certain gradualism in the imposition of fines, as well as the highest limit of peremptory fines (2 sheep and 30 bulls). Since the plebeians, despite these concessions, stood their ground, agreeing only to a purely patrician composition of the legislative commission, in 300 three patricians were sent to Greece to familiarize themselves with the laws of Solon, and upon their return a codification commission was formed (in 302). of the 10 patricians - “ten men to write laws”, who were given full power in the state: neither consuls nor tribunes were elected for this year; Decemvirs and provocation were not allowed. During 303, they wrote only part of the laws (on 10 tables), and therefore their power was continued into 304; the second year's work produced two more tables. All these laws passed through the centuriate assembly (the last two tables were carried out by the consuls after the fall of the decemvirs) and constituted the so-called “Laws of the 12 Tables”. After the laws were drawn up, the power of the decemvirs was supposed to end, but they did not want to lose power: they did not relinquish their titles and ruled the state oligarchically, so that there was a kind of power of ten kings. The embittered plebeians were looking only for a pretext for an uprising. According to legend, such a pretext was presented in the attempt of the decemvir Appius Claudius on the female honor of the plebeian Virginia. The indignation of the plebeians was expressed in a second retreat to the Sacred Mountain; in addition, they fortified themselves on the Aventine, from where they threatened Rome. Only through the efforts of Valerius and Horace was it possible to convince them to return under the condition of electing again the people's tribunes and consuls (305). ). The conciliators, Valery and Horace, were elected consuls. They passed a series of laws, the Laws of Valerius Horace, the content of which boils down to the following:

a) the plebeian institutions introduced after the first departure, as well as ten judges, are restored and declared invalid;

b) An irreversible provocation is declared; the proposal of a law prohibiting provocation against any magistrate condemns the author to death;

c) assemblies of people according to tribes are recognized.

Plebeians gain access to top government positions