Legend of the Republic
The first article below deals with the legend or semi-historical account of the revolution in Rome, including the overthrow of the monarchy and the formation and struggles of the Roman Republic. However, since Livy wrote the History of Rome in the first century BC, the early history of Rome is actually shrouded in legends. To me, it is more legend than facts in this period, because there were scarcely any written records before 240 BC.
Besides that, Livy is not known for having a neutral position as a historian. His accounts are coloured by his Roman bias and the need to make Rome's legendary past greater than it really was. So his books on history can be seen as a Roman propaganda machine.
The second article, titled New Constitution, briefly goes over the form of government that was established after the overthrow of the monarchy. This part is actually history, when Rome had to deal with the internal problems of their political system, as well as dealing with their foreign wars and conquests.
Birth of the Republic
End of Etruscan Rule
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus ruled Rome between 534 and 510 BC. Tarquin had three sons named Titus, Arruns and Sextus.
One day, Titus and Arruns went to consult the oracle in Delphi with their cousin, Lucius Junius Brutus. They wanted to know who would be the next king. They were told that the next leader would be the youth who returned home and kissed his mother first.
They all assumed that they had to kiss their mother. They returned to Rome, hoping to be the first to kiss their mother. It was Junius Brutus who tripped over and accidentally kissed the ground. This incident passed by without attracting notice, but it was what the oracle meant. The leader who kissed mother-earth would be the next king or leader.
Years later, Tarquinius Superbus' reign was becoming increasingly unpopular, because he ruled with absolute despotism. Tarquin had put many senators to death. The Senate had become increasingly uneasy during Tarquin's reign of terror. The populace also suffered from his misrule.
The last straw came in 510 BC, when his son Sextus stayed behind during the war against Ardea. Lucretia was the beautiful wife of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, nephew of Tarquinius Superbus. Lucretia lived in Collatia with her husband.
During the absence of his father and his cousin, Sextus went to Collatia, and at sword-point, raped Lucretia. Lucretia told her father and her husband what had happened. After Lucretia extracted an oath from her father and husband to avenge her, she killed herself. Junius Brutus, who was a friend of Collatinus, decided to help and called upon them to not only to kill Sextus, but to also overthrow Sextus' tyrannical father.
With the help of Lucius Junius Brutus, they led the populace to a revolution. Sextus fled to the Latin town of Gabii, east of Rome, but was murdered by the people he had betrayed. When Tarquinius Superbus heard the news about what had happened in Rome, he raised the siege at Ardea. When Tarquin arrived in Rome, he found that the city gates were closed to him.
Tarquin was forced to flee to Caere, in Etruria. Tarquin enlisted aid from the Etruscan cities of Veii and Tarquinii to regain his power in Rome.
To fill the vacuum of the government in Rome, Junius Brutus created a new system of government in Rome called a republic, after expelling Tarquinius Superbus. The government was led by two chief executive officers known as consuls. The consuls would have the power of the kings, which they would share the authority of equally, a system known as the imperium. The two consuls would be elected annually by the Comitia Centuriata. The Comitia Centuriata was an assembly of people who voted by centuries (100s).
Junius Brutus and Tarquinius Collatinus were elected as the first consuls. However, the populace was unhappy, because they didn't trust anyone with the name Tarquinius. Junius Brutus convinced his friend to step down from office. A new consul named Publius Valeria Poplicola was appointed to take over Collatinus' role.
There was a movement to rid the new republic of a conspiracy of Roman sympathisers to Tarquin who wanted to restore Tarquin as monarch of Rome. The plotters were discovered and captured. Among the plotters were Junius Brutus' two sons, Titus and Tiberius. Lucius Junius Brutus judged and condemned his own sons for conspiracy. Brutus watched as they executed his sons. His services to the new government he had created were indeed of the highest order. The moral of the story is that responsibility and the welfare of the community should be placed above one's own family.
A battle at Silva Arsia was indecisive. Junius Brutus encountered his cousin Arruns Tarquinius, the son of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. In a cavalry charge, Brutus and Arruns killed one another.
Lars Porsenna
According to Livy, Tarquin enlisted the aid of Lars Porsenna of Clusium, who promised to restore the exiled king, but Porsenna could not capture the city.
Horatius Cocles and his two other companions, Spurius Lartius and Titus Herminius, bravely held off Porsenna's army on the Tiber Bridge. The three champions gave the Romans time to collapse the bridge. Horatius told his companions to leave before the bridge collapsed, while he stayed behind. The bridge collapsed, but Horatius managed to swim safely through the Tiber, back to Rome.
A Roman named Gaius Mucius Scaevola made an unsuccessful attempt on Lars Prosenna's life. Scaevola secretly inflitrated the Etruscan camp and killed the wrong man. Scaevola was captured. Scaevola was angry that he had killed the wrong person and failed to kill Porsenna. Scaevola stuck his right hand in a fire at the altar, without hesitation and unflinching. Admiring Scaevola's courage, Porsenna returned the sword to the hero.
After witnessing three brave champions on the bridge of Tiber and now Scaevola's courage, Porsenna decided upon making peace with the Romans. Rome would remain a republic and move to the Janiculan hill on the other side of the Tiber. However, the Romans would have to submit hostages to Porsenna.
Among the hostages was a girl named Cloelia. Cloelia came from a noble Roman family. Cloelia asked one of her captors' permission to bathe in the Tiber. Once Cloelia was near the river, she leaped into the water and began to swim back to Rome. The Etruscans soldiers began hurling javelins and shooting arrows at the heroine, but she safely reached the other side of the river and returned home.
Her father respected the treaty with Etruscans, and returned her to Porsenna as a hostage again. Admiring the girl's bravery, Porsenna decided to release Cloelia and the other hostages.
The bravery of these heroes and heroine helped the Etruscans and Romans to reach a complete reconciliation.
According to Tactius (who flourished in AD 100) and other historians, a different version of the account said that Porsenna captured Rome (508 BC). Instead of restoring Lucius Tarquinius Superbus to the throne, Porsenna decided to rule Rome himself. The Romans were banned from the use of iron weapons. The Latin cities grew restless under their Etruscan yoke, and decided to revolt. The Latin cities formed an organisation known as the Latin League. They also formed an alliance with Aristodemus of Cumae, in Campania (a region south of Latium).
It was Aristodemus of Cumae who led the Latins and defeated Porsenna's army at Aricia, about 506 BC. This enabled Aristodemus to drive the Etruscans out of Latium, as well as cut off the link between Etruria and Campania. In this version of history, Rome had little to do with the defeat of Porsenna by the Latins.
There have been a lot of debates about whether any of what was written about Rome during the time of its foundation and monarchy to the time of establishing the Republic, has any basis historical fact. Or whether it was fictional, to boost the image of Rome's so-called historical past.
After all, Livy, the Roman historian (59 BC - AD 17), wrote Rome's early history several hundred years after the fact. Livy was a contemporary of Virgil and Ovid. Livy might have had problems distinguishing history from traditional stories. Or, it could be likely that Livy invented or exaggerated his early historical account of Rome.
Either way, the legend or history of Rome is quite interesting. You will find some more history of Rome under the page titled About Classical Mythology; see Who were the Romans?
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History of Rome was written by Livy.
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Lucius Tarquinius Superbus.
Genealogy: House of Rome.
New Constitution
It may or may not be relevant to the Roman myths, but I thought it wouldn't it hurt to give a little background of how the new government (republic) operated. You may skip this article if you like.
If you were to believe the traditional story or history of how Rome became a Republic, then Lucius Junius Brutus was the great reformer and revolutionary who developed the new constitution.
The two magistrates who replaced the monarch were called praetors, but were more popularly known later as the consuls. The consuls were elected annually, and shared equal power (imperium). The consuls had the power of a king, but were limited to serving for only one year. They served as chief magistrates and as generals in times of war.
The assembly of people, who were organised into centuries called Comitia Centuriata, elected the consuls. The ex-consuls were ennobled for life, and received seats in the Senate after their term of office ended.
Lucius Junius Brutus and Marcus Horatius Pulvillus were the first to be elected as consuls under the new constitution. Although Augustus ended the Republic in 27 BC, the consuls continued to be elected, but they no longer held the same power that they used to enjoy during the Republic. The office of consul became increasingly ceremonial by the 2nd century AD.
At first, the Roman aristocratic families (the patricians) dominated the consulships. Though the plebeians were not barred from putting their own candidates for election, it was difficult for a commoner. The secessions first at 494 BC and then later in 449 BC, gave the plebeians protection against the aristocrats or patricians and allowed them rights to stand as candidates for any offices.
The plebeians created a new set of magistrates known as the tribunes (tribuni plebs), and an assembly called the Concilium Plebis. The tribunes and the Concilium Plebis weren't formally recognised until a new legislation was passed, Lex Publilia Volernonis, in 471 BC. It wasn't until 449 BC that the law, Lex Valeria-Horatia, properly defined the power of the tribunes. It was the tribunes' duty to protect the plebeians from the magistrates, aristocrats and Senate. Each tribune was given the right to veto a bill put forward by a magistrate. The tribunes became powerful weapons during the civil unrest and civil war of the late 2nd century and the 1st century BC.
The plebeians were also given a right to appeal to the Roman People, if they thought that they were victims of the magistrates' power.
The first plebeian consul, Lucius Sextius, was elected in 366 BC.
As the duties of the consuls increased, it was realised that the burden was too heavy for the consuls, so they introduced a new magistrate called the praetor. The praetor acted as the chief judge. As the population increased and the empire grew, they increased the number of praetors. They ranked below the consuls in power.
Another magistrate was created to handle the financial revenue, such as the treasury. These were called quaestors. The quaestors were ranked below the praetors. At first there were four quaestors, but they increased the number as the empire grew.
The Senate served in their capacity by advising the magistrates. It seemed that the senators numbered around 300. The senators wielded enormous power concerning the consuls, who were candidates to be elected for offices.
In the late Republic, many senators and magistrates became increasingly corrupt. They divided themselves into various factions; the most common divisions between the senators were the patricians and the plebeians.
Though the power of Rome gained new heights in the 1st century BC, several civil wars saw the dwindling of power of the Senate and the increase of the powers of the proconsuls (ex-consuls who served as provincial governors) with the backing of the military might of the Roman legions. The civil wars such as between Marius and Sulla, Pompey Magnus against Julius Caesar, and finally between Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius) and Octavian (Augustus), exposed serious flaws and weaknesses of the Senate's positions.
When Caesar was appointed dictator for life, the senators assassinated him in the hope of saving the Republic. They made a grave mistake, because the trouble with the constitution only escalated with the civil wars, first between Caesar's supporters and Caesar's murderers, and then later between two of Caesar's supporters, Mark Antony and Octavian.
The last civil war dealt a deathblow to the Roman Republic when Octavian emerged as victor in 30 BC. Octavian gained ultimate power, heralding a new form of government as well as a new age of Imperial Rome.
Imperial Rome lasted for over 450 years after Augustus before it fell to the Ostrogoths, in AD 476, but the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) lasted a thousand years more before its capital of Constantinople (Byzantium) fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
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By Jimmy Joe
