Spelade
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From 343-341 BC Rome fought a brief war against the Samnites, a
powerful hill tribe who would plague the Romans for the rest of the
century. The Romans won an inconclusive victory, but the war was only
the opening salvo in a long running struggle between the two peoples. -
In the decades after the Gauls abandoned Rome to its fate, the Romans
were forced to battle both external threats and internal sedition. The
Plebes, saddled with debt from the reconstruction, forced through
reforms in 367 BC that finally gave them access to the most powerful
office of state: the Consulship. -
Soon after the war with Veii, Rome was sacked by invading Gauls. The
event traumatized the Romans and left their city in ruins. It would be
the last time a foreign army breached the walls until the fall of the
empire 850 years later. -
Economic necessity forced a final conflict with Veii, Rome's Etruscan
rival to the north. After years of inconclusive fighting, Marcus Furius
Camillus was appointed dictator and lead the Romans to victory. -
The years after the creation of the Twelve Tables were hard. Political
discord, grain shortages and famine all conspired to weaken the city,
but the Romans soldiered on in the face of seemingly insurmountable
adversity. -
Cincinnatus was famously appointed dictator of Rome in 458 BC and then
resigned soon after, securing his place in history as a paradigm of
republican virtue. -
In 451 BC a committee was ordered to compile and then condense Roman
law into a single text called the Twelve Tables of Law. Despite
tyrannical machinations by the committee, the Twelve Tables secured an
objective rule of law for all Roman citizens regardless of wealth or
class. -
The infant Roman Republic faced many challenges as it grew into
adolescence, both internally and externally. Most significantly class
divisions led to a confrontation between patricians and plebs that
resulted in the creation of the office of Tribune. -
The monarchy had been overthrown and the Roman Republic was now
established. Despite the appearance of a free democratic republic, the
Romans were beset with economic and political divisions that threatened
the unity of the young State. -
The last days of the Roman Kingdom were ruled over by the three members
of the so-called Tarquin Dynasty: Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius
and Tarquinius Superbus. The last proved to be such a tyrant that he
was overthrown and monarchy was forever outlawed by the Romans. -
This week we cover the first three of Romulus's successors to the
throne: Numa Pompulius, Tullus Hostilius and Ancus Marcius, who they
were and what affect they had on the evolution Roman law and culture.
