citizen-this was the division into Classes, which were subdivided into Centuriae. Classis anciently denoted an army; and the division into Classes and Centuries was, in one point of view, a military organization, the whole people being regarded as an Exercitus. The Cavalry (equites) were divided into eighteen Centuriae. The Infantry (pedites) were divided into five, or, according to some, into six Classes. One-half of the Centuriae of each Classis were Iuniores, that is, men between the ages of seventeen and forty-six, and therefore liable to be called upon for active military service; the other half were Centuriae of Seniores, men above the age of forty-six. Each class included all who possessed a certain amount of fortune, and the style of equipment was regulated by their means. Thus, those in the first class had a full suit of defensive armour, helmet, large round shield, cuirass, greaves (galea, clypeus, lorica, ocreae), all of bronze, their offensive weapons being a long spear (hasta) and a sword (gladius). Those in the second class carried a lighter oblong shield (scutum), and had no cuirass. Those in the third class had no greaves. Those in the fourth class had no defensive armour, and bore merely a long spear (hasta) and a light javelin (verutum). Those in the fifth class were provided with slings and stones only (fundas lapidesque missiles gerebant). The following scheme approaches, in all probability, nearly to the truth: EQUITES, copper, 18 Centuries. Ima. CLASSIS.-Fortune not less than 100,000 Asses or pounds of 80 Centuries. IIda. CLASSIS.—Fortune not less than 75,000 Asses, 22 Centuries. IIItia CLASSIS.-Fortune not less than 50,000 Asses, 20 Centuries. IV CLASSIS.-Fortune not less than 25,000 Asses, 22 Centuries. Vta CLASSIS.-Fortune not less than 12,500 Asses, 30 Centuries. 1 Centuria Proletariorum et ta. Capite Censorum, In all 193 Centuries. } 1 Century. The Proletarii were equipped at the expense of the state. The citizens included in the five classes were comprehended under the general name of Assidui, or (at a later period) Locupletes, in opposition to the Proletarii and Capite Censi. Those again who belonged to the first class, and had property valued at not less than 125,000 asses, were styled emphatically Classici; and hence the phrase classic authors, i. e., writers of pre-eminent worth, and so Aulus Gellius (XIX, 8.)-Classicus assiduusque aliquis scriptor non proletarius. D The fact ought to be deeply impressed upon the young scholar, that while the division into tribes was purely local, so the distribution into classes depended upon fortune alone, and that, in so far as the local tribes and the classes were concerned, Patricians and Plebeians were, from the first, placed side by side without distinction; the great object kept in view by Servius Tullius having evidently been the establishment of political equality among the different orders of the state. Rise and Progress of the Equites.-In the earlier ages of Rome the term Equites was employed exclusively in a military sense to denote the cavalry of the army. We are told that Romulus levied one hundred cavalry in each of the three original tribes, ten out of each Curia. These three hundred horsemen or tres centuriae equitum were divided into ten squadrons (Turmae) of thirty men each; each Turma was subdivided into three Decuriae of ten men each, and at the head of each Decuria was a Decurio. The three Centuriae bore the names of the three tribes from which they were raised, and were designated respectively Ramnes-Tities-Luceres; and the squadrons were formed in such a manner that each contained ten Ramnes, ten Tities, and ten Luceres. The body collectively was termed Equites s. Celeres s. Trossuli s. Flexumines, and the commander of the whole Tribunus Celerum. Tullus Hostilius doubled the number of the Equites, the number of Centuriae remaining the same, so that each Centuria now contained twenty Turmae and two hundred Equites. Tarquinius Priscus again doubled the number of Equites, dividing them into six Centuriae; but he was forbidden by the augur, Attus Navius, to introduce new names, and therefore the Centuriae were now distinguished as Priores and Posteriores s. secundi; thus, there were the Ramnenses priores and the Ramnenses posteriores. Servius added to the six Centuriae twelve new Centuriae of two hundred each, selected from the leading men, without reference to Patricians or Plebeians. There were now altogether 3,600 Equites divided into eighteen Centuriae. Census Equester.-The Equites, from the commencement, were selected from the wealthiest of the citizens. The fortune necessary for admission into the first class was, as we have seen, at least 100,000 asses-the equestrian fortune was probably at least 125,000, which placed the holder among the Classici. Equus Publicus.-Each of the Equites, in the eighteen Centuriae, received from the public treasury a sum of 10,000 asses for the purchase of a horse (aes equestre), and hence the phrases equo publico merere, equum publicum assignare; he was further allowed an annual sum of 2,000 asses for its maintenance (aes hordearium). Period of Service.-During the most flourishing epoch of the republic, the period of service required from an Eques was ten years, after which he was no longer obliged to take the field, but might, if he thought fit, give up his public horse and retire from the Centuriae of the Equites. Once in five years the censors made a strict and solemn review of the Equites (equitatum recognoscere— recensere―censum equitum agere), who passed before them on foot, in single file, each leading his horse forward as his name was called over by the public crier. Those who were approved of were desired to pass on (traducere equum-traduc equum), those whose horse and equipments were in bad order, or who, from any other cause, were deemed unworthy, the censor removed from the body (equum equiti adimere), by pronouncing the words Vende equum. Equitum Transvectio.-Altogether different from this review was the procession called Equitum Transvectio, which took place annually on the Ides of July, in commemoration of the aid afforded to the Roman arms, at the battle of the lake Regillus, by the twin brethren Castor and Pollux. On the day named, the Equites, mounted on their steeds and dressed in their robes of state (trabeati), rode from the temple of Honos, outside the Porta Capena, through the Forum to the Capitol, passing on their way the temple of the Dioscuri. Equites equo privato.—In B.C. 403, in consequence of the reverses sustained by the army before Veii, a number of persons possessed of equestrian fortune, but who had not been chosen into the eighteen Centuriae, came forward and offered to serve as cavalry without receiving a horse from the state, or the usual allowance for its maintenance. Their proposal was eagerly accepted. In this way a body of Equites arose, who received larger pay than the infantry, and whose period of military service was limited to ten years, but who received neither aes equestre nor aes hordearium, and who were not admitted into the eighteen Centuriae Equitum. Ordo Equester.—When the cavalry was composed chiefly of allies and auxiliaries, a class of rich men was rapidly formed, who were not ambitious of public distinction, but who sought to increase their means by embarking in mercantile enterprises. We hear of such for the first time as government contractors during the course of the second Punic war; and they subsequently found ample occupation in farming the public revenues, and accumulated vast wealth. This body of monied and influential men held an intermediate, but ill-defined, position between the nobility and the humble classes. Hence, the democratic party perceived how much they might gain by securing the hearty co-operation of these great capitalists, and this object they effected by the bold measure of C. Gracchus, who, in B.C. 122, carried the Lex Sempronia Iudiciaria, conveying to those possessed of the Census Equester, i. e., 400,000 sesterces, the right of acting as jurors upon criminal trials, which had hitherto been enjoyed by the senators exclusively. In this manner a definite form was given to the body-now, for the first time, called Ordo Equester, in contradistinction to Ordo Senatorius; and all necessary connection between the term Equites and the idea of military service ceased. Insignia of the Equites.-The outward marks of distinction enjoyed by the Equites and the Ordo Equester were the 1. Annulus aureus.—Golden rings were worn by senators as early as B.C. 321. During the second Punic war they were worn not only by senators, their wives and children, but also by Equites equo publico. According to Pliny, the greater number of the members of the equestrian order, who acted as jurors, wore, in the time of Augustus, an iron ring only. 2. Angustus clavus.-Senators alone had the right of wearing a tunic with a broad vertical stripe of purple (latus clavus) in front, the garment being hence called Tunica Laticlavia, while the tunic of the Equites was distinguished by a narrow stripe, and hence called Tunica Angusticlavia. When the Senate, as a mark of sorrow, changed their dress, they laid aside their official garb, i. e., the Laticlavia, and assumed that of the Equites, i. e., the Angusticlavia, while the magistrates threw off their purple edged cloak (Toga praetexta), and appeared in the mantle of ordinary senators. 3. Quatuordecim Ordines.-In B.C. 67, L. Roscius Otho, at that time tribune of the Plebs, passed a law (Lex Roscia theatralis), by which fourteen rows of seats in the theatre, immediately behind those occupied by the senators, were appropriated to the Ordo Equester. From this time forward, the phrases-sedere in quatuordecim ordinibus—in equite spectare—in equestribus sedere—sedere in pulvino equestri-are used to indicate a member of the equestrian order. This ordinance did not embrace the Circus, in which places were not set apart for the Senate and the equestrian order until the reign of Augustus. Equestrian Order under the Emperors.-The equestrian order had now become inundated with liberated slaves and others who had acquired the requisite sum for admission to that body. Augustus sought to obviate this evil by introducing an upper class among the Equites themselves. With this intention he set apart, under the name of Equites illustres, or Equites splendidi, those who were of distinguished descent. These he regarded as forming a sort of nursery for the Senate. Some of these he sent out as cadets under the chief generals, so as to acquire a practical knowledge of the military profession. The head of this select corps was styled Princeps Iuventutis, an ancient term for the Equites under the republic. Now, however, the title of Princeps Iuventutis was, in the first instance, restricted to two individuals, Caius and Lucius Cæsar, the grandsons of the emperor; and from this time it was generally bestowed upon the heir to the imperial dignity. Origin of the Senate.-The Senatus was a deliberative body, the members of which (Senatores) held their office for life, established for the purpose of advising the kings. The name is connected with the word Senex, and indicates those matured by age and long experience. The title of respect by which the members were usually designated was Patres, i. e., Fathers of the State. Patres and Patricii are, however, used, in many cases, as absolutely synonymous. Early History of the Senate.-It is agreed by all, that Romulus chose a Senate consisting of one hundred members. The prevailing tradition declared further that one hundred additional members were added when a union was formed with Titus Tatius and the Sabines. Finally, Tarquinius Priscus increased the number to three hundred. We are further told, that the senators added by Tarquinius were styled Patres Minorum Gentium, in contradistinction to the original senators, who were now termed Patres Maiorum Gentium. The number of three hundred, in whatever manner made up, seems long to have remained the standard. We are expressly told, that at the time of the expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus, the Senate had been so reduced in numbers by his cruelty, that it became necessary to select one hundred and sixty-four new members to make up the proper amount of three hundred (ut expleret numerum senatorum CCC). These, taken from the most distinguished of the Equites (primoribus equestris gradus lectis), and therefore in part Plebeians, were styled Conscripti, as being enrolled along with those to whom, as Patricians, the title Patres properly belonged. Hence, the united body was at first described as Patres et Conscripti, whence the title of Patres Conscripti, employed almost invariably, in later times, in addressing the Senate. From this time forward we have no definite information with regard to the number of senators. We are told that Sulla recruited the Senate, which had been greatly diminished during the civil war, by adding three hundred chosen from the Equestrian order, and in the time of Cicero the number must have been upwards of four hundred and fifteen. Julius Cæsar (B.C. 45) swelled the number to nine hundred ; and when Augustus was censor (B.C. 28) there were one thousand. |