The legends, the truth, and the Establishment of Government

 Virgil of Aeneid  Wrote the myth of Aeneas founding Rome  Aeneas was the son of Venus and a man.  Fought in Troy and escaped  Landed near what is now Rome and married a princess  Fought a war with King Turnus who wanted to marry that princess  Won the right to stay in the land

 Italian origin myth  Reconciled with the Greek origin myth of Aeneas  Twins born to Rhea Silvia, daughter to the then king Numitor who was overthrown by his brother  Sons of the God of War, Mars  Set adrift in a reed basket and found by a she wolf.  Found out their true origins, raised and army and restored their grandfather  Twins set up city where they washed ashore  They choose a hill that Romulus liked because of a sign from the gods.  During the marking of the city’s boundary Remus leapt over the area being carved out ▪ This was an ill omen and Remus was killed for it

 Originally a small town, it grew in size because of its close location to the Tiber  Greek culture influenced the emerging city  Also adopted the Etruscan’s model for trade and urban luxury  Between the 8 th and 6 th centuries the kingdom of Rome grew rapidly  Had 7 kings and the last, Tarquin the Proud was deposed in 509BCE ▪ Rival, Lucius Junius Brutus, made the government into the Roman Republic

 There are two social classes who struggled for power a lot during the first 200 years of the Republic  Patricians- privileged class, leaders, important family names. Major, if not majority of Senate  Plebeians- general citizens, originally excluded in all of the government offices except the military. Forbidden to marry the patricians for the first 200 years  2 Consuls replaced the role of King  Primarily Generals  Senate  Advised both magistrates and the Roman people. ▪ Technically only there to advise but they wielded the most power over the public votes  Assemblies  Centuriate Assembly- military focus. Voted on war and peace and elected all magistrates who would have military power. Open to all citizens  Tribal Assembly- civilian assembly that elected magistrates who did not have military power. Did most of the legislating and sat as a court for the most serious of offenses. Also open to all citizens.

 First written laws in Rome  Allegedly written by 10 commissioners  Desired for these to be written came from the Plebeians who wanted their legal rights written down  Recognition of the rights of the patrician class  Validity of enslavement for unpaid debt  Allowed for interference of religious customs in civil cases  Also ensured rights of Plebs who were threatening to secede from Rome without these written down  Now we only have small quotations of what tables stated, but court documents show what they may have said

 Table I- Mandates that when a person is accused of something, both the accused and accuser must be present at a hearing or trial. If one of the sides do not show up the judge is free to rule in favor of the side that did  Table III- allows debtors 30 days to pay off a debt  If they do not then the person they owe money to is free to take them prisoner and enslave them until the debt is paid  Table IV- Allows for a man’s written will to be binding  Table VIII- lists specific punishments from certain crimes  Ex.- if a person is shown to have lied in court they will be put to death (false witness)  If a person fails to appear as a witness can never again be a witness  Table IX- specifies capital punishment for judges who have taken bribes and for people who commit treason