Roman Law (4556 words) Essay Example For Students

Roman Law (4556 words) Essay Roman LawThe Romans have had almost every type of government there is. Theyve had a kingdom, a republic, a dictatorship, and an empire. Their democracy would be the basis for most modern democracies. The people have always been involved with and loved their government, no matter what kind it was. They loved being involved in the government, and making decisions concerning everyone. In general, the Romans were very power-hungry. This might be explained by the myth that they aredescended from Romulus, whos father was Mars, the god of war. Their government loving tendencies have caused many, many civil wars. After any type of government, the change has been made with a civil war. There have also been many civil wars between rulers. But it all boils down to wanting to be involved in government. When the Greeks finally entered Troy after ten long years of siege, a man named Aeneas escaped the city with his father, Anchises, and his son, Ascanius. They went to Mt. Ida, where they were to meet Aeneas wife, Creusa, but she never showed up. Saddened, Aeneas acquired a boat and sailed around the Mediterranean. He bounced around from Asia Minor to Greece to Crete looking for a place to found a new Troy, but he couldnt find a satisfactory place. As told by Homer in the Aeneid, Aeneas was cared for by the gods. Venus, in particular, was very worried about him. She asked Jupiter, king of the gods abouthim, and he said this:Since you are so consumed with anxiety for Aeneas,I shall turn forward farThe hidden pages of fate and speak of the future. He shall conduct a great campaign for youAnd conquer all Italy and its haughty peoples. He shall impose laws on his own peopleAnd build walled cities for them; the third summerShall see him rule in Latium, the third winterOf warfare see the Rutulians subdued. But his son Ascanius It is he who shall consolidate your power-For thirty years with all their turning months;Then shall he move his capital from LaviniumTo Alba Longa, which he shall fortifyTo the uttermost; and there a line of kings Shall reign and reign till Ilia , a priestessOf royal blood, bear twins begotten by Mars;And one of these, Romulus, fostered by a she-wolf,And joyfully wearing her tawny hide, shall ruleAnd found a city for Mars, a new city,And call his people Romans, after his name. For them I see no measure nor date, I grant themDominion without end. Yes, even Juno Even she will mend her ways and vie with meIn cherishing the Romans, the master-race,The wearers of the Toga. So it is willed.(Nardo 13)Finally, he wound up at the mouth of the Tiber River in Italy. He went inland up the river, which was a miracle in itself, becausethe river is very swift. He found Latium, ruled by King Latinus, and married his daughter, Lavinia. With King Latinus permission, Aeneas and Lavinia founded a city called Lavinium, where they ruled side by side for many years. When Aeneas died, his son Ascanius took over. Ascanius founded a new city, which he called Alba Longa, and made it his capital. Now we advance four centuries. The king of Alba Longa is Numitor. He had a jealous brother named Amulius, who seized the throne and drove out Numitor. To prevent Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, from having children who could claim the throne, Amulius made her a celibate priestess. While she was a priestess, Mars, the god of war, came and visited her and she had twin boys named Remus and Romulus (Burrell 7). When Amulius found out about the twins, he was furious. He ordered Rhea imprisoned and the boys drowned on the Tiber. The slave who was ordered to drown them felt pity for them, and instead sent them down the river in a basket. When they landed, a she-wolf found them and nursed them because her cubs had just been killed and she was still fertile. Romulus and Remus were found by a shepherd named Faustulus, who took them home to his wife to raise them. As they grew up, being sons of Mars, they turned out to be very athletic and natural leaders, especially of the local boys. When the boys grew up, they heard the story of Numitor and Amulius. With their local friends, they attacked Alba Longa, killed Amulius, restored their grandfather to the throne, and freed their mother. After restoring Numitor to the throne, the boys decided to found a city on one of the seven hills near where their basket wasfound by the wolf. This was a natural spot for a city. Accounts Livy,Not without good reason did gods and men choose this spot as the site of a city, with its bracing hills, its river by means of which the produce of inland countries may be brought down and inland supplies obtained; a sea near enough for all useful purposes, but not so near as to be exposed to danger from foreign fleets; a district in the very center of Italy, in a word, a position singularly adapted by a nature for the growth of a city. (Nardo, 12)The two boys couldnt decide between themselves which hill to start on, so they decided that whoever saw a vulture first could pick. Remus saw the first vulture and five others, and Romulus saw twelve. Remus had rightfully won, but Romulus claimed he should pick since he saw more vultures. He borrowed a plow and team, and plowed a furrow around the P alatine hill. He told his brother that was where the city would be, and if Remus crossed the line, he would be killed. Contemptuous Remus immediately crossed the line, and Romulus killed him. Romulus later said he regretted killing his brother, but life goes on. Hebuilt his city on the Palatine Hill, and called it Rome. When Romulus founded Rome in 753 BC, he made himself the king. Being a brand new city, it had very few people. Romulus built up the population by allowing anybody who wanted to live there, including criminals who flocked to the city. This caused a shortage of women. To get some, the Romans hosted athletic games and invited their neighbors, the Sabines. While they were at the games, some of the Romans sneaked off and stole the Sabine women (Burrell 14-15). Realizing what had happened, the Sabines prepared their army. Expecting this, the Romans were ready and the two forces lined up preparing to fight. Surprisingly, some of the women ran into the no-mans-land in between the armies. This is what their leader said:We were just daughters a short while ago, now we are both wives and daughters. We did not choose our husbands they chose us. We want this fighting to stop. If it goes ahead, many will be slain. When our fathers are dead, we shall be orphans, but if our husbands die, we shall b e widows. We lose either way. (Burrell, 14-15)Surprisingly, the two armies listened and put down their weapons. Since anyone was allowed to reside, Rome had great diversity in its people. There were three main ethnic groups: the Romans, who were first generation, the Sabines, and the Latins, who Romulus is descended from. The Sabines lived in the mountains east of the Tiber and north of the Latins. Later on, another group of people called the Etruscans started moving in. They were unique in that their language had no relation to any other known language, the only one like that. Romulus established a government with a king, who was imperium, Over all persons and in all causes supreme (Adcock 6). Romulus chose one hundred fathers to form the Senate. These people and their descendants are known as Patricians, from the Latin word pater, meaning father. He divided the people into three tribes, mentioned above, and each tribe was divided into smaller curiae. The succession of kings wasnt hereditary. The previous king appointed someone, and that person had to show the good will of heaven. Once king he had to keep the pax deorum, Latin for peace of the gods. Romulus created an army that was to have three thousand infantry and three hundred horsemen, one-third from each tribe. This was a national guard, withpeople keeping their day jobs. When Romulus died in 717 BC, the two main tribes, the Romans and the Sabines, couldnt decide how to pick a king. Finally it was decided that the Romans would pick a Sabine king. They picked Numa Pompilius. This is what Plutarch had to say about him:He banished all luxury and softness from his own home, and in private he devoted himself not to amusement but to the worship of the immortal gods. (Nardo 19)One of Pompilius notable achievements was rearranging the calendar so it had twelve months instead of ten. The third king, Tullus Hostilius, was a war monger. He believed his subjects would grow soft if they werent engaged in a war. Conquering neighboring people, including Alba Longa, he extended Romes rule out to twelve miles. Supposedly the gods got angry with him and killed him with a lightning bolt (Burrell, 12). El Nino EssayAfter Caesars death, his adopted grandson, Octavian, formed the second triumvirate with Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Antony ruled the east, Octavian the west and Italy, and Lepidus ruled Africa. The second triumvirate was constituted by an act of state to reconstitute the state. They were given five years, but this was later extended. The three crushed all of their opponents, including Brutus, Cassius, and Cicero. Battling against Sextus Pompeius, Octavian summoned Lepidus to Italy to help him. Upon arriving, Lepidus tried to seize Sicily, and was subsequently kicked out of the triumvirate. Mark Antony fell in love with Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, who was rumored to be a former lover of Caesar. Together they ruled the eastern Empire for many years. With the growing support of the Roman people, Octavian declared war on Antony, to secure power for himself. The two forces, Octavians navy commanded by Marcus Agrippa, and Antony and Cleopatras navy, met at the battle of Actium on September 2, 31 BC. Agrippa, a very capable general and a good friend of Octavian, commanded 260 light ships, while Antony commanded 220 heavy ships (Encarta Actium). The battle raged on for a very long time, and was beginning to look like a stalemate, when the Egyptian fleet withdrew. Agrippas fleet crushed the remnants of Antonys fleet, who survived and escaped back to Egypt with Cleopatra. Antony received a false rumor and killed himself by falling on his sword. Upon hearing of his suicide, Cleopatra killed herself with an asp, which was a symbol of the eye of Ra, the Egyptian sun god (Gibson). Aft er the war was over, Octavian closed the Roman temple to Janus, the Roman god of beginnings of wars. This showed that the world was at peace. In 28 BC, Octavian and Agrippa became consuls. After one year, they turned the state over to the free decision of the Senate and People of Rome (Adcock 74). The Senate and people of Rome gave Octavian ten years of complete control. Octavian named himself the princeps, which is Latin for emperor. He ran the Empire as a monarchy, although it was disguised as a Republic. They still had a senate, but senators only made it into office with Octavians approval. Those citizens who werent fooled kept quiet, because Octavian kept things peaceful and governed fairly. Octavian ended the Roman tradition of conquest, cutting the army from seventy five to twenty eight legions. In 23 BC, Octavian gave up the consulate, but the senate forced himto keep power over the provinces. In effect, he ran the Empire from the background, while others were elected consul. These consuls had power, but always did what Octavian said. On his death bed, Octavian was advised to forgive his enemies. He responded with, Yes father, but how can I? I have them all (Adcock 75). Octavian was almost eighty when he died in 14 AD. After Octavian came the Emperor Tiberius. His reign was non-eventful, and he retired after plots against him were turned up. After Tiberius came Gaius, who was better known as Caligula. During his reign, Caligula went crazy. According to Burrell, anyone disagreeing with him was thrown to the lions in the Arena. He also got the Senate to name his horse consul.(49) Everyone was thankful when he was assassinated in 41 AD. Caligula was succeeded by several emperors who did nothing governmentally, including Claudius and Nero. Around the second century AD, the Empire began to crumble. Wave after wave of barbarian invaders, especially the Huns, chipped away at the state. Eventually some of the provinces had to be abandoned. At the end of the third century, Emperor Diocletian decided the empire was two big, and split it in two. He ruled the east from Turkey, and commissioned Maximian to rule the west from Milan. He called this form of government the Dominate, from Latin dominus, meaning master. There were two Augusti, who ruled the east and west, and under them there were two Caesars, who were like vice-presidents. The two Caesars of the east and west were Constantine and Galerius, respectively. Diocletian turned his empire into something like afeudal system, where peasants were deprived of personal freedom and tied to the soil. He renamed citizens to subjects. In 305, Diocletian and Maximian stepped down as Augusti, resulting in civil wars between the old Caesars and new Augusti. Eventually, Constantine the Great came out on top in 312. Constantines troops made him emperor, and he ruled the entire Empire from Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. Constantine was the first Christian ruler of the Empire. Alaric of the Visgoths helped the emperor Theodosius crush a rebellion. Unfortunately, Theodosius died before he could reward Alaric. The new emperor, Honorius, cut Alaric off from Rome, which he resented deeply. Alaric took his army to Constantinople, but found it too well guarded. He then led his army to the city of Rome, where, in the fifth century, sacked it. The Empire continued to fall to barbarians. The east and west sides of the Empire were in a virtual state of war. In 429, Vandals conquered Africa. In 410, Britain fell. In 451, the Huns took most of Europe. When Atilla the Hun came to Rome, Pope Leo was able to convince him to spare the city. In 455, Vandals came and sacked Rome. In the year 476 AD, the last emperor died, marking the fall of the Roman Empire, one of the greatest ever. That last emperors name was, ironically, Romulus. The Roman Kingdom, Republic, Empire, Dictatorship, and others have affected all of us. The United States government in commonly known as a democracy, but its actually a Republic, almost identical to the Roman one. The Roman government was one of the most powerful ever, at one point ruling most of the civilized world. It is almost certainly the best known. Ask anyone about Romulus and Remus, Gaius Julius Caesar, Augustus, Caligula, Nero, Constantine; theyll know who youre talking about. The term Caesar was used to mean ruler for thousands of years after his death. Both the German word Kaiser as well as the Russian word Czar are from the name Caesar and mean ruler. Today some three-fourths of the countries are Republic, styled after the Romans. The Romans are probably the most influential people of all-time. BibliographyActium, Battle of. Computer Software. Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. Adcock, F. E. Roman Political Ideas and Practice. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1959. Asimov, Isaac. The Roman Republic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966. Burrell, Roy. The Romans. Oxford: Oxford University, 1991. Caesar. Computer Software. Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. Caesar, Gaius Julius. Computer Software. Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. Gibson, Elke. Personal Interview. 19 March 1997. Nardo, Don. The Roman Republic. San Diego: Lucent, 1994. The Reforms of Diocletian and Constantine. CIS: Research and Education (16 March 1997). Republic. Computer Software. Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. Rise of Rome (753-44 BC). Computer Software. Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. Rome, Ancient the Empire. CIS: http://isdup/menu/133.html; Research and Education, Academic American Encyclopedia; Groliers (16 March 1997) . Rome, History of. Computer Software. Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. Sabines. Computer Software. Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. BibliographyThe Romans have had almost every type of government there is. Theyve had a kingdom, a republic, a dictatorship, and an empire. Their democracy would be the basis for most modern democracies. The people have always been involved with and loved their government, no matter what kind it was. They loved being involved in the government, and making decisions concerning everyone. In general, the Romans were very power-hungry. This might be explained by the myth that they aredescended from Romulus, whos father was Mars, the god of war. Their government loving tendencies have caused many, many civil wars. After any type of government, the change has been made with a civil war. There have also been many civil wars between rulers. But it all boils down to wanting to be involved in government.