Ancient Rome: An Introductory History Read Online Free PDF Page A

the republic and empire the knights, or equestrians, were conspicuous because of the gold ring that they were allowed to wear.
First Class Men who had capital valued at 100,000 asses (the as was the basic unit of Roman currency) or more. They were required to equip themselves with helmet, round shield, greaves, breastplate, sword, and spear. Two centuries of engineers also belonged to this class.
Second Class Men whose property was valued between 100,000 and 75,000 asses . They had to equip themselves with the same equipment as the men of the first class, except for the breastplate, and they were allowed a long shield instead of a round one.
Third Class Men whose property was valued at 50,000 asses . They had to supply the same equipment as those in the second class, except for the greaves.

 

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Fourth Class Men whose property was valued at 25,000 asses . They had to supply only the spear and javelin.
Fifth Class Men whose property was valued at 11,000 asses . They supplied slings and stones. Buglers and trumpeters also belonged to this class.
Proletarii Those whose property was valued below 11,000 asses . They were formed into a single century and were exempt from military service. They were called proletarii because the only thing they could contribute to Rome was their children (proles).
Each class was further divided into groups of one hundred ( centum ), forming a centuria , which was the smallest unit of the Roman army. Those centuriae eighteen of cavalry and one hundred seventy of foot soldiersalso were the basis of an assembly (the Comitia Centuriata, or Meetings by Hundreds) at which the soldiers voted. Whenever a vote was needed on, say, whether or not to go to war, the soldiers voted in order of class; thus, while the rich were expected to do more for the state, they also received political prerogatives for their added burdens. The richer always voted before the poorer, and rarely did a vote go even to the Second Class, for the classes above the Second Class had already decided the matter.
Servius also divided the city into four tribes, where citizens would register for the census. The census was the basis by which people were grouped into classes. He enacted a law that punished with death all who failed to register with the census. At the first census, eighty thousand men capable of bearing arms registered. After conducting the census, Servius also performed a lustrum (purification ceremony), whose purpose was to ward off evil; since the census and lustrum occurred every five years, lustrum came also to mean a period of five years.
Since the population of Rome was growing quickly and needed more space, Servius added the Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline Hills to the city. Rome now had its seven hills, the other four being the Palatine, Capitoline, Caelian, and the Aventine. Some Romans believed that Servius also built a wall around the city; parts of the "Wall of Servius" remain today, although modem scholars believe that the wall in question was actually built later, in 378 B.C. It was

 

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4.5 meters thick and 8.5 meters high. On either side of the wall was a strip of land called the pomerium , originally a line made by a plow drawn by a bull and a cow to demarcate the religious boundaries of the city. An army could not cross the pomerium into the city except in triumph; consequently Roman soldiers mustered outside the city, on the Campus Martius, or Field of Mars.

 

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Chapter 5
Tarquin's Coup d'État and the End of the Monarchy
Lucius Tarquin, son of the first Tarquin, Tarquinius Priscus, wanted to be king himself, and not just King Servius' son-in-law. He began spreading malicious rumors about Servius, no doubt concerning Servius' lowly birth. Tullia, the king's daughter who had married Tarquin's brother Arruns, was as ambitious as her brother-in-law Tarquin; she thought her own husband, Arruns, was a wimp. To facilitate their evil plans, Tarquin killed his wife (Tullia's sister), and