An Introduction to the Ancient World by de Blois Lukas; van der Spek R. J.; & R.J. van der Spek

Author:de Blois, Lukas; van der Spek, R. J.; & R.J. van der Spek
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2019-05-17T00:00:00+00:00

The early republic (509–265 bc)

State and society

Around 500 bc – the traditional date is 509 – the era of the kings came to an end. Tradition has it that the Romans expelled their last king, Tarquinius Superbus, because they had had enough of his cruelty and arrogance, but it is more likely that the real reasons were the Romans’ desire to break away from the Etruscan sphere of influence and rebellion of the aristocrats (patricians) against an increasingly powerful kingship. The last kings had focused ever more on the state and the citizenry as a whole, which must have undermined the power of the family groups and their leaders. We note a similar development in Roman worship: Tarquinius Superbus commissioned the construction of a large temple on the Capitoline hill (Map 12.5) for Jupiter, the supreme god of the collective Roman population. The temple was consecrated in 509, the year in which, according to Roman legend, the Romans put an end to monarchy. For the first fifty years after they had expelled the Etruscan king, the Roman aristocrats progressively directed their look away from Etruria and towards their tribal relatives, the Latins. Rome became an important member of the Latin League of city states. It is believed that the members of this league shared a form of communal citizen rights, the ‘Latin rights’, since the beginning of the fifth century. These Latin rights granted all the occupants of the league’s member states the right to conduct trade with one another and to marry partners from all the member states.

Figure 12.3 A silver coin (denarius) from 54 bc, minted at Rome. The obverse shows the head of Libertas (a personification of ‘Freedom’), the reverse the consul Lucius Junius Brutus walking between two lictors, each carrying an axe over his shoulder, and preceded by an assistant.

Source: Photo © CNG Coins.

Note: According to Roman tradition, Lucius Junius Brutus expelled the last king and established the republic (509 bc).

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