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First Secessio Plebis
The first was a significant event in ancient Roman political and social history that occurred between 495 and 493 BC. It involved a dispute between the patrician ruling class and the plebeian underclass, and was one of a number of secessions by the plebs and part of a broader political conflict known as the conflict of the orders. The secession was initially sparked by discontent about the burden of debt on the poorer plebeian class. The failure of the patrician rulers, including the consuls and more generally the Senate, to address those complaints and, subsequently, the Senate's outright refusal to agree to debt reforms, caused the issue to flare into a more widespread concern about plebeian rights. As a result, the plebeians seceded and departed to the nearby Mons Sacer (the Sacred Mountain). Ultimately, a reconciliation was negotiated and the plebs were given political representation by the creation of the office of the tribune of the plebs. Background The last king of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), Roman Republic (509–27 BC) and Roman Empire (27 BC–476 AD) until the fall of the western empire. Ancient Rome began as an Italic settlement, traditionally dated to 753 BC, beside the River Tiber in the Italian Peninsula. The settlement grew into the city and polity of Rome, and came to control its neighbours through a combination of treaties and military strength. It eventually dominated the Italian Peninsula, assimilated the Greek culture of southern Italy ( Magna Grecia) and the Etruscan culture and acquired an Empire that took in much of Europe and the lands and peoples surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. It was among the largest empires in the ancient world, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants, roughly 20% of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volsci
The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the south, the Hernici on the east, and stretching roughly from Norba and Cora in the north to Antium in the south. Rivals of Rome for several hundred years, their territories were taken over by and assimilated into the growing republic by 300 BCE. Rome's first emperor Augustus was of Volscian descent. Description by the ancient geographers Strabo says that the Volsci formed a sovereign state near the site of Rome. It was placed in the Pomentine plain, between the Latins and the Pontine marshes, which took their name from the plain. Language The Volsci spoke Volscian, a Sabellic Italic language, which was closely related to Oscan and Umbrian, and more distantly to Latin. In the Volscian territory lay the little town of Velitrae (modern Ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Cavalry
Roman cavalry (Latin: ''equites Romani'') refers to the horse-mounted forces of the Roman army throughout the Regal, Republican, and Imperial eras. In the Regal era the Roman cavalry was a group of 300 soldiers called '' celeres'', tasked with guarding the king. Later their numbers were doubled to 600, then possibly 1,800. All of the cavalrymen were patricians. In the Republican era, the general name for the cavalry was Equites and consisted of the Equites class and the First Class, with a group of 300 cavalrymen in every legion. They were divided into 10 groups of 30 men. Each group elected three leaders known as ''decuriones''. Later the Roman cavalry stopped using Roman citizens as cavalrymen and relied on Auxilia and foreign recruits. Roman cavalrymen wore a Corinthian helmet, bronze chestplate, and bronze greaves. Later mail was adopted into the army. Their arms included a lance ('' lanceae''), a long sword (''spatha''), and short throwing spears (''akontes''). Hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabines
The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divided into two populations just after the founding of Rome, which is described by Roman legend. The division, however it came about, is not legendary. The population closer to Rome transplanted itself to the new city and united with the preexisting citizenry, beginning a new heritage that descended from the Sabines but was also Latinized. The second population remained a mountain tribal state, coming finally to war against Rome for its independence along with all the other Italic tribes. Afterwards, it became assimilated into the Roman Republic. Language There is little record of the Sabine language; however, there are some glosses by ancient commentators, and one or two inscriptions have been tentatively identified as Sabine. There are also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suessa Pometia
Suessa Pometia ( el, ; also Pometia) was an ancient city of Latium, which had ceased to exist in historical times. Although the modern city of Pomezia is named after it, the exact location of the ancient city is unknown. It bordered on the Pomptinus ager or Pomptinae Paludes, which supposedly took its name. Virgil reckons it among the colonies of Alba, and must therefore have considered it as a Latin city: it is found also in the list of the same colonies given by Diodorus; but it seems certain that it had at a very early period become a Volscian city. It was taken from that people by Tarquinius Superbus, the first of the Roman kings who is mentioned as having made war on the Volsci: Strabo indeed calls it the metropolis of the Volsci, for which we have no other authority; and it is probable that this is a mere inference from the statements as to its great wealth and power. These represent it as a place of such opulence, that it was with the booty derived from thence that Tarqu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacramentum (oath)
In ancient Roman religion and law, the ''sacramentum'' was an oath or vow that rendered the swearer '' sacer,'' "given to the gods," in the negative sense if he violated it. ''Sacramentum'' also referred to a thing that was pledged as a sacred bond, and consequently forfeit if the oath were violated. Both instances imply an underlying ''sacratio'', act of consecration. The ''sacramentum'' differs from ''iusiurandum'', which is more common in legal application, as for instance swearing an oath in court. A ''sacramentum'' establishes a direct relation between the person swearing (or the thing pledged in the swearing of the oath) and the gods; the ''iusiurandum'' is an oath of good faith within the human community that is in accordance with '' ius'' as witnessed by the gods. ''Sacramentum'' is the origin of the English word " sacrament", a transition in meaning pointed to by Apuleius's use of the word to refer to religious initiation. Legal usage In Roman law, a thing given as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Law
Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law forms the basic framework for Civil law (legal system), civil law, the most widely used legal system today, and the terms are sometimes used synonymously. The historical importance of Roman law is reflected by the continued use of List of legal Latin terms, Latin legal terminology in many legal systems influenced by it, including common law. After the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire, the Roman law remained in effect in the Eastern Roman Empire. From the 7th century onward, the legal language in the East was Greek. ''Roman law'' also denoted the legal system applied in most of Western Europe until the end of the 18th century. In Germany, Roman law practice remained in place longer under the Holy Roman Empire ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curia Hostilia
The Curia Hostilia was one of the original senate houses or "curiae" of the Roman Republic. It was believed to have begun as a temple where the warring tribes laid down their arms during the reign of Romulus (r. c. 771–717 BC). During the early monarchy, the temple was used by senators acting as a council to the king. Tullus Hostilius (r. 673–641 BC) was believed to have replaced the original structure after fire destroyed the converted temple. It may have held historic significance as the location of an Etruscan mundus and altar. The Lapis Niger, a series of large black marble slabs, was placed over the altar (known as the Volcanal) where a series of monuments was found opposite the Rostra. This curia was enlarged in 80 BC by Lucius Cornelius Sulla during his renovations of the comitium. That building burned down in 52 BC when the supporters of the murdered Publius Clodius Pulcher used it as a pyre to cremate his body. History There has been a meeting house for the people of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis
Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis or Inregillensis (fl. 505 – 480 BC) was the legendary founder of the Roman gens Claudia, and consul in 495 BC. He was the leading figure of the aristocratic party in the early Roman Republic. Background and migration to Rome Appius Claudius was a wealthy Sabine from a town known as "Regillum". His original name was ''Attius Clausus'', according to Livy; Suetonius gives ''Atta Claudius'', while Dionysius of Halicarnassus gives ''Titus Claudius''.Livy, ii. 16Suetonius, "Life of Tiberius", 1.Dionysius, v. 40. From the '' Fasti consulares'', it is known that Claudius' father was named ''Marcus''.Broughton, vol. I, p. 13. He had at least two sons: Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis, consul in 471 BC, and Gaius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis, consul in 460 BC. Appius Claudius Crassus, the decemvir, was his grandson. In 505 BC, shortly after the establishment of the Roman Republic, Rome successfully waged war against the Sabines, and in the followi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ergastula
An ergastulum (plural: ergastula) was a Roman building used to hold in chains dangerous slaves or to punish other slaves. The ergastulum was usually built as a deep, roofed pit below ground level, large enough to allow the slaves to work within it, and containing narrow spaces in which they slept. Ergastula were common structures on all slave-using farms (latifundia). The etymology is disputed between two possible Greek roots: ''ergasterios'' "workshop" and ''ergastylos'' "pillar to which slaves are tethered." The ergastulum was made illegal during the reign of Hadrian as part of a series of reforms to improve conditions for slaves. Columella in his ''De re rustica'' states that an underground ergastulum should be as healthful as possible and lit by windows with narrow bars, which are far enough from the ground that it is not possible to reach them by hand. In the Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books origina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Usury
Usury () is the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is charged in excess of the maximum rate that is allowed by law. A loan may be considered usurious because of excessive or abusive interest rates or other factors defined by the laws of a state. Someone who practices usury can be called a ''usurer'', but in modern colloquial English may be called a ''loan shark''. In many historical societies including ancient Christian, Jewish, and Islamic societies, usury meant the charging of interest of any kind, and was considered wrong, or was made illegal. During the Sutra period in India (7th to 2nd centuries BC) there were laws prohibiting the highest castes from practicing usury. Similar condemnations are found in religious texts from Buddhism, Judaism (''Loans and interest in Judaism, ribbit'' in He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
