Consular Tribune
The military tribunes were elected during the "Conflict of the
Orders", starting in 444 BC, from 408-394 and again 391-367. Rome
created the office of Censor at the same time. Both laws had the same
goal. Because plebeians could take these offices, it gave them access
to higher levels of government without having to change the office of
consul. Each year the Senate decided whether to elect Consular
Tribunes or Consuls. The number of Consular Tribunes was originally
three, corresponding to the ancient tribes of the Titienses, Ramnenses
and Luceres. The new offices may have had practical origins as well.
As the state expanded, it required more overseers. One of the Censor's
duties, for example, was to count the number of men available for
military duty. There was also a new office of Quaestor that was
responsible for supplying armies with money and goods. In 426 the
Senate appointed four Consular Tribunes for the first time, to cope
with the military situation. In 405 for the first time they numbered
six, which became the new minimum, though sometimes the number reached
eight or ten. Consular Tribunes were elected like Consuls and could
do everything Consuls could. When the system ended in 366 it was
because Rome decided to reform the Consul office and grant plebeians
access to the office. This return to two Consuls was accompanied by
the creation of the lower offices of Praetor and the Aediles, which
was probably a rationalization of what was already happening.
Consular Tribunes at Wikipedia
Legate
Marriage
Plebeian Revolt
In 287 BC there was widespread indebtedness among the plebeians. They
demanded relief, but from Senate received none. Hence they seceded
from Rome by congregating on the Janiculum Hill. The Consuls appointed
a plebeian Dictator, Quintus Hortensius, to deal with this crisis. He
enacted the lex Hortensia (Hortensian Law) which ended patrician
oversight of the Plebeian Council, paving the way for government run
by both patrician and plebeian aristocrats. What we are probably
seeing here are wealthy plebeians exploiting the protests of the poor
plebeians to get what they wanted.
Consular Tribunes at Wikipedia
Plebeian Secession, First
The year 494 BC saw the first major dispute between the patrician
ruling class and the plebeian underclass, the first of five such
secessions. The initial spark was widespread indebtedness and the
demand for debt reform. Moneylenders were imprisoning and beating
debtors, despite the fact that many of them had come into this state
because they neglected their farms to fight in Rome's wars and
meanwhile the enemy had ravaged and stolen their property. Rome had
imposed new taxes as well, which had forced them into debt. An
outraged crowd gathered in the forum, but so many Senators stayed
home, probably out of fear, that at first the consuls could not
convene it. Ultimately they did convene, but the Consuls did not
agree, Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis saying they should use
their authority to quell the uprising while Servilius wanted to grant
concessions. While no progress was made, Latins came requesting help
with attacks from the Volsci. The plebeians refused to enlist as
soldiers. Servilius ordered all arrested debtors released and that no
further arrests should occur while a family member was serving in the
army. Plebeians now enrolled and Servilius led them against the
Volsci, defeating them and plundering one of their towns. The force
went on to further victories against the Sabines and the Aurunci. Upon
their return home, the people hoped for concessions; instead, Appius
issued severe decrees on debt, enabling further imprisonments. Most of
the Senate sided with him, leaving Servilius mostly powerless. Mob
violence broke out. The resumption of hostilities with the Sabines
generated no army enrollment. Appius tried to arrest ringleaders, but
they exercised their right of appeal. Stalemate applied for the rest
of the year as both sides planned and plotted in secret meetings. The
next year under new Consuls saw no change, so they decided to appoint
a Dictator, Manius Valerius Maximus, who was seen as more friendly to
the people. He re-issued the Servilian laws with respect to debt and
men once again enlisted in the army, for the first time growing to ten
legions. Each Consul took three and the Dictator, four. These forces
defeated the Volsci, Sabines and Aequi, taking new lands in the
process. But on their return the Senate once again refused to do
anything about debt, despite the harangues of the Dictator, who
promptly resigned. At this the plebeians left Rome for the Sacred
Mountain three miles outside the city, fortifying it. Those left in
the city were gripped with fear, on both sides. Ultimately, the
Senate resolved to negotiate and agreed to give plebeians
representation via creation of the office of the Tribune of the Plebs,
which had the power of veto. Initially there were two and they chose
an additional three. These Tribunes were sacrosanct, i.e. any person
who harmed a tribune was liable to punishment by death (apparently no
one thought about the possibility of one tribune harming another). A
final effect was that because farmers had not sown seed during the
secession, there was a famine in 492. Rome imported grain from the
Etruscans instead, and from Sicily. Discussion of its distribution
led to the exile and defection of Gaius Marcius Coriolanus.
First Plebeian Secession at Wikipedia
Plebeian Secession, Second
The Second Secession of 449 BC was triggered by the abuses of a
commission of the decemviri, who had suspended the office of
Tribune of the Plebs and the right of appeal while they were compiling
a new law code, ultimately known as The Twelve Tables. These tenissued
their laws, but failed to resign at the end of their one year terms,
and committed outrageous acts such as killing a plebeian tribune who
had criticized them, forcing a woman to marry one of them against her
will. There were riots and the sense of outrage spread to the army.
The Senate failed to convince the decemviri to resign so the
people once again retreated to the Sacred Mount. Finally the Senate
forced resignations and restored the removed rights, upon which the
people returned and elected their tribunes. In addition, the Senate
passed a law that the laws passed by the Plebeian Council applied to
all Romans, including patricians, which had not before been the case,
and they also provided more transparency on Senate decisions, whereas
before they had been able to make decrees in secret. Finally it
prevented creation of any office that was not subject to appeal.
Second Plebeian Secession at Wikipedia
Pyrrhus and the Pyrrhic War
The Pyrrhic War, 280-275 BC, began when Greeks in the south of the
Italian peninsula invited Pyrrhus, Greek king of Epirus – just
across the Adriatic – to help them against Rome. Pyrrhus was an
excellent general. No less than Hannibal rated him second only to
Alexander the Great, rating himself third. Pyrrhus used war elephants,
which were a surprise to the Romans who had never faced them before.
By the time Pyrrhus appeared, Rome had developed a huge population and
the largest military establishment in the Mediterranean. Thus, even
though Pyrrhus defeated them in battle twice, it was of no use as the
Romans would just send more armies, leading to the expression "pyrrhic
victory", i.e. one which is untenable in the long term, a lesson
Hannibal failed to heed. Pyrrhus departed to Sicily to fight Carthage
for a few years and then returned with a depleted force to fight Rome,
only to be defeated. Pyrrhus returned to the Greek peninsula,
fighting in Sparta and Argos against Macedon, only to die in a city
fight when a woman dropped a roof tile on his spine. Meanwhile Rome
went on to complete its dominance of southern Italy and thus the
entire peninsula as a prelude to its first conflict with Carthage on
Sicily (First Punic War).
Pyrrhus at Wikipedia
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Pyrrhic War at Wikipedia
Samnite War, First
The Samnites were an Italic people – probably an offshoot of the
Sabines – whose Sanmium lay on a stretch of the Apennines south
of Rome. They had allied with Rome against the Gauls in 354 BC, but
came into conflict as a result of Rome responding to a request from
the wealthy city of Capua for help against a Samnite attack. In this
Rome hoped to avoid the rival Samnites becoming too powerful as well
as forming a strong connection with Capua, a valuable source of grain.
Thus in 343 the consuls marched against the Samnites, Marcus Valerius
Corvus into Campania and Aulus Cornelius Cossus into Samnium itself.
Valerius won first, at Mount Gaurus near Cumae, but only after a last
desperate charge after a long day of fighting. In the mountains,
Samnites tried to trap Cornelius in a pass, but forces under Tribune
Publius Decius Mus seized a hilltop, which diverted the Samnites and
the larger force escaped, while the Decius slipped away in the night.
The Romans defeated the surprised Samnites in the morning. (Note: as
this incident is very similar to one in Sicily during the First Punic
War, the historian Livy may have invented these details.) Valerius won
the third victory when he surprised the Samnites at a siege they were
conducting in Campania. Both consuls then celebrated triumphs. These
victories had several side effects. Carthage sent a congratulatory
embassy to Rome with a twenty-five pound crown for the Temple of
Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The Latins decided to abandon their plans to
war on Rome and the Falerii to make a permanent peace treaty. Over
the winter Rome provided garrisons to protect Campania from the
Samnites. Lured by the south's more luxurious lifestyle, some of these
soldiers planned to seize control of Campania for themselves. When
the Senate learned this, the plotters formed a rebel army and marched
on Rome. Rome named Valerius dictator and he managed to talk them out
of it, saving a battle. After this, the Senate instituted two
important reforms that the rebels had apparently demanded: no one
could be reelected to the same office within less than ten years, and
thenceforth one of the consuls had to be a plebeian.
First Samnite War at Wikipedia
Samnite War, Second
The Second, or Great Samnite War broke out over Rome establishing a
colony at Fregellae in 328 BC, a former Volscian town destroyed by
the Samnites, who saw the new colony as an act of aggression.
In this war, Rome declared its consuls would stay on as military
commanders until the campaign completed, inventing the position of
proconsul. They saw considerable success. They took Neapolis (Naples)
because its leading men preferred Rome to the Samnites and arranged
a successful plot. Rome also took towns in Samnium and concluded
alliances with Samnite neighbors, the Lucanians and Apulians.
In the following year Rome appointed a Dictator,
Lucius Papirius Cursor, who inflicted a crushing defeat.
The Samnites sued for peace, but after Papirius withdrew
rejected the peace terms. The next year saw no battles, but much destruction
of farms and property.
In 321 the consuls responded to misinformation that the Samnites were about
to attack a nearby town. Traveling through a wooded mountain area
known as the Caudine Forks, that had been
blocked up on both sides by Samnites, the trapped army was forced to
surrender, passing under the yoke, a symbol of subjugation.
Rome handed over six hundred equites (knights) as
hostages and a truce began. In Rome people
went into mourning, shops closed and all Forum activities ceased.
Spurius Postumius said that Rome was not bound to the truce
because it was given without the authorization of the people
Meanwhile the Samnites took back Fregellae.
Over the coming years Rome rescued the hostages the two sides battled
back and forth, taking towns and founding colonies.
In 311 war also broke out with the Etruscans to the north and Rome
was now fighting on two fronts. After many victories and a few losses
by 301 Rome had forced a peace and now dominated both areas.
Second Samnite War at Wikipedia
Samnite War, Third
The Third Samnite War began in 298, more an outgrowth of the second war than for any other cause. More than ever the situation developed into one of two rivals and their alliances fighting it out. On the Samnite site were once again the Etrurians, and also the Apulians, united in their fear and dislike of Rome. Rome had her Latin allies, made alliance with the Picentines – coastal neighbor of the Etruscans – and with the Lucanians – a people being dominated by the Samnites. As with many Roman wars, the actual declaration began when Rome demanded that the enemy – the Samnites – leave their ally – the Lucanians – alone, and of course the enemy refused. There are similarities with the sequences in both the First and the Second Punic Wars. For the first time the history provides numbers of troops, stating that in 297 Rome sent two legions and 15,000 allied troops to Etruria and two legions and 12,000 allies to Samnium. There were already two proconsuls with a legion each in the field, so Rome had raised six legions by then. Despite the confusions and disagreements inherent in having four commanders in the field, the unprecedented size of Rome's forces enabled them to achieve impressive routs. Rome even established new colonies in the enemy areas. But in 295 their enemies enlisted Gallic tribes and the Umbrians to their cause. We hear of interesting things in the eventual battle at Sentium. For one, the enemy were still using chariots, and it was actually successful in driving back the Roman cavalry. In addition, when pressed, the Gauls formed the testudo (tortoise), sometimes thought to be an exclusively Roman practice. In the end, the Romans won, losing 8,700 compared to 20,000 of the enemy. The Samnites were reduced to raiding and over the next three years Rome inflicted the decisive defeat at Aquilonia that ended the war.
Although subjugated, the Samnites would make trouble later. They
would help Pyrrhus, and then Hannibal in their wars against
Rome. They fought Rome again in the Social War and fought against
Sulla in his civil war against the Marian forces. Sulla defeated them
at the Battle of the Colline Gate in 82 BC and took steps to
completely break them, after which they disappear from history.
Third Samnite War at Wikipedia
Scandal
Veientine War
Some historians look at this as two distinct wars, the first from
483-474 BC and the second from 437-434. Actually Rome fought a third
war with Veii, an Etruscan city-state, 405-396, represented in the
game as the Siege of Veii. Veii was a mere ten
miles away from Rome and the two had probably come into conflict even
before the incidents discussed here. The two states owned opposite
sides of the Tiber River, but at the coast Rome also possessed the
other bank and in the uplands, Veii possessed territory on the Roman
side. Rome first captured the latter area and planted a colony there.
In 479 Veii established a stronghold on Rome's Janiculum Hill and in
response the Fabius clan established a fort between Veii and the
river. Both sides captured the other's outpost, which led to a truce.
The second war began when the upstream town Rome had taken decided to
switch back to the allegiance of Veii. After an expensive victory,
Rome thought the situation serious enough to appoint a dicatator. The
eventual battle was difficult and raged for a long time, until Aulus
Cornelius Cossus, a military tribune, unhorsed Tolumnus, Veii's king.
Cossus forced the king to the ground and speared him to death, upon
which the Etruscan cavalry fled and the battle was won. Cossus
claimed the spolia opima, stripping the arms and armor from the
fallen king.
First Veientine War at History of War
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Second Veientine War at History of War
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Third Veientine War at History of War
Volscian War
During the 5th century BC Italic peoples called the Volsci and the
Aequi migrated out of the Apennines and invaded the plain of the Latin
city states, where Rome was leader. Fighting against at least one of
them occurred nearly every year of the first half of the 5th century,
probably consisting mostly of raids and counter-raids. The other Latin
states often participated as well, on either side and sometimes Latin
cities could be found on both sides. Over time Rome had the better of
the conflict, planted colonies and grew stronger. By the second half
of the fifth century conflict had lessened. In 389 a Gallic tribe
sacked Rome and her other enemies sought to exploit this weakness.
Rome appointed Camillus dictator and he raised a new army. He eluded
the Volsci and with part of his force marched around a mountain and
arrived in their rear. The Volsci retreated into their camp, but the
Romans lit fires that burned them out; most of the Volsci force died
in fire or combat. This seems to have ended the Volsci threat, mostly.
Over the fourth century Rome would take the fight to them and annex
much of their land. By the 340s the Volsci had banded together with
the Latins in revolt, but it was no use; Roman dominion was sealed.
Volscian War at Wikipedia
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