The Indo-European Origins of Roman Society and the Structural Basis for the Roman Civitas
The Romans were a people of Indo-European origin (Dumezil 1996), as were the Greeks and a good number of peoples who inhabited modern-day Europe in the pre-Roman era. Thus, from the outset Roman society was structured in the same way as that of other peoples of the same sociolinguistic group, according to a gentilicium-based family scheme featuring a pyramidal structure.[59]
3.2.1 Gentilitates, Curiae and Tribus
It seems that the family structure based on the gens, also constituted the basis of Roman society.
The Latin word gens referred to a group of families who had, initially, lived in a area, in a given territory, and considered themselves descendants of a common ancestor, therefore, sharing certain religious practices. It is possible that at an early stage, the gens was an independent political unit. In fact, some vestiges of this primitive condition still persisted in the early days of the Republic; we know through Titus Livius that in the years 479-477 NC the gens Fabia, with the Roman Senate’s permission, led a war against the Etruscan city of Veii (Livius 2002, 2.48).[60] It is impossible, however, to know what the gens’ internal organization was like during this period. Chances are that the gens was a loose association of families who chose a common chief, only to deal with emergencies. Whatever their original nature, what is certain is that in the Republican period membership in the gens was mainly devoid of legal significance, although there were exceptions. Thus, any person belonging to a gens had a right to seize the property of any other member who died without heirs. Membership in a gens also entitled one to claim the guardianship of a minor or unfit individual belonging to the same gens who did not have relatives.In Rome, as in other Indo-European societies, it appears that the different gentes ended up comprising higher social groups, the best known being the curiae and tribus.[61] Unfortunately, little is known of these tribus of the archaic period, except that they were nothing at all like the local “tribus” which would appear later (Taylor 1960). Subsequently, however, in historical times, it is undeniable that said Indo-European structure was reflected in Roman society, specifically in two Republican assemblies: the comitia curiata and the comitia tributa.
3.2.2 The Popular Assemblies as the Basis of the Roman
Republic
Ancient peoples did not conceive the idea of delegating the power to pass laws and decide on policy issues to assemblies of elected representatives. Basically, this was because it was unnecessary, as the political and legal system was manageable directly by the citizens gathered in assemblies within the territorial limits of the old city-state. Rome was no exception. Since the beginning of the Republic, the people of Rome exercised their power through assemblies.
The first Roman assemblies were the comitia, electoral meetings and acts held on a mandatory basis, on specific days, by order of the magistrate in power (Wolff 1995, 39-42). All adult male citizens could participate in them. The oldest were the comitia curiata,[62] although these were not the most important, as they would be followed by the comitia centuriata[63] clearly of military origin, which had more relevant functions. At the end of the Republic appeared the comitia tributa.[64] whose essential purview was to appoint the representatives who would ultimately form the most important Roman popular assemblies: the plebeian councils (concilia plebis), which undertook intensive legislative work during the Republican period,[65] especially in the field of private law.
Upon this Indo-European basis Rome developed, between the sixth century BC and the first century AD, its own version of the polis: the Republic.
3.3