Since this time there were
no longer any kings. The Roman state, or as they said, the
commonwealth (res publica) was governed by the consuls, two
magistrates elected each year.
It is impossible to know how much truth there is in this tradition,
for it took shape a long time after the Romans began to write their
history, and it includes so many legends that we cannot accept it in
its entirety.
Attempt has been made to explain these names of kings as symbols of a
race or class. The early history of Rome has been reconstructed in a
variety of ways, but the greater the labor applied to it, the less the
agreement among students with regard to it.
=The Roman People.=--About the fifth century before Christ there were
in Rome two classes of people, the patricians and the plebeians. The
patricians were the descendants of the old families who had lived from
remote antiquity on the little territory in the vicinity of the city;
they alone had the right to appear in the assembly of the people, to
assist in religious ceremonies, and to hold office. Their ancestors
had founded the Roman state, or as they called it, the Roman city
(Civitas), and these had bequeathed it to them.
Pages:
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308