other ways according to traditional rules. Unless the auspices were first taken, no assembly, no meeting of the Senate, no election could be held, neither could war be declared, nor could public business of any kind be transacted. Cicero was made one of the fifteen augurs in 53 B.C. Haruspices from Etruria foretold the future in detail, rather than simple answers "yes" or "no." They were an unofficial guild, consulted in special cases. THE COURTS 41. The Roman courts were in charge of the praetors (34). In cases of minor importance, the praetor either gave the decision himself or referred it to a judge (iudex) or jury. For cases of greater importance, standing courts were established by Sulla, the quaestiones perpetuae, presided over by the praetors. These courts considered cases concerning misgovernment (extortion), murder, forgery, embezzlement, treason, assault, etc. Juries varied in number of men, and were selected by the presiding judge. After 70 B.C. a law provided that they should be taken equally from the senators, the knights, and the tribuni aerarii. Their service was honorary. Trials were first held in the open air at the tribunal of the praetor in the Forum, but after 184 B.C., often in the basilicas around the Forum. From the decisions of the standing courts there was no appeal. (509 B.C.) citizens condemned to death or excessive fine by any magistrate had the right of appeal to the comitia centuriata and tributa respectively. But capital punishment and the flogging of citizens were abolished by the Porcian law (198 B.C.). Imprisonment as a penalty was not known in Rome, though one awaiting trial might be kept in the carcer. The ordinary penalties were a fine (multa), loss of citizenship (infamia), or exile. Exile was either voluntary, or practically imposed by the denial of the use of fire and water (aquae et ignis interdictio). PROVINCES By the Valerian law 42. A Roman province was organized under a charter prepared by the conquering general with the sanction of the Senate. Its government was intrusted to a proconsul when an army was necessary, to a propraetor when the province was quiet. As far as practicable, the freedom of the provincials in local matters was not interfered with. "The tax exacted of a province was a tithe (decuma), or a fixed amount in money (stipendium). Besides the tithe, the Senate might impose the burden of supplying further produce at a fixed price." (Gow.) During the later years of the republic, especially, the provinces were plundered by the governors as well as by the tax farmers. Although charges could be brought in the special court at Rome against the offender, yet in fact such action brought little permanent relief. THE FORUM AND THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS 43. The Forum was the low open space between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills, originally a market place. "It was about two hundred and twenty yards long, sixty yards wide near the Capitoline, narrowing to thirty-five near the Palatine." (Gow.) Adjacent to it on the northwest corner was a small square, the Comitium, used in earlier days as the center of public life. Between the Forum and the Comitium stood the Rostra, the speaker's platform, from which audiences could be addressed on either side. It was from this platform that Cicero's orations to the people were delivered. The Capitoline Hill on the west was famed for its temple of Jupiter. The Palatine Hill on the southeast was the site of many shrines, and of the residences of wealthy citizens. On the north side of the Comitium was the Senate House, the Curia Hostilia, whose site is now marked by the Church of St. Adriano. At the western end of the Forum was the Temple of Concord, built to commemorate the final harmony between the patricians and the plebeians. The Temple of Jupiter Stator, in which Cicero delivered his first oration against Catiline probably stood on the slope of the Palatine, a short distance to the east of the Forum. Among the other buildings of interest about the Forum were the Temple of Vesta, with its sacred fire; the Regia, formerly the palace of the king, later the residence of the pontifex maximus; the basilicae, used for the law courts; and the tabernae, rows of shops. The Forum was therefore the center of the religious, legal, and business interests. On the northwest corner stood the Tullianum or state's prison, which exists to-day, the place of the execution of Catiline's fellow-conspirators (see p. 32). WORKS OF REFERENCE 44. BEESLY, A. H., Catiline, Clodius, and Tiberius. BOISSIER, G., Cicero and his Friends. COLLINS, W. L., Cicero (Ancient Classics for English Readers.) FAUSSET, W. Y., The Student's Cicero. FORSYTH, W., Life of Cicero. FROUDE, J. A., Caesar, a Sketch. OMAN, Ch., Pompey (Seven Roman Statesmen). PLUTARCH, Life of Cicero. STRACHAN-DAVIDSON, J. L., Cicero and the Fall of the Roman Republic. TROLLOPE, A., Life of Cicero. CRUTTWELL, C. T., A History of Roman Literature. MACKAIL, J. W., Latin Literature. MIDDLETON and MILLS, The Students' Companion to Latin Authors. SEARS, L., The History of Oratory. ABBOTT, F. F., Roman Political Institutions. CHURCH, A. J., Roman Life in the Days of Cicero. Gow, J., A Companion to School Classics. GREENIDGE, A. H. J., Legal Procedure in Cicero's Time. GREENIDGE, A. H. J., Roman Public Life. JOHNSTON, H. W., The Private Life of the Romans. HUELSEN, Ch., Forum Romanum. LANCIANI, R., The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome. MIDDLETON, J. H., The Remains of Ancient Rome. NICHOLS, F. M., The Roman Forum. |