The 'Servian reforms' and the decline of the curiate assembly
According to Roman historical tradition, the military and political organisation of the Roman citizen body underwent an important change during the reign of king Servius Tullius (c.
578-535 BC). The early Roman army consisted of the infantry (pedites) and the cavalry (equites or celeres), the latter being drawn from among the wealthiest citizens. Each of the three Roman tribes supplied a thousand foot-soldiers (a hundred from each curia) and a hundred horsemen (ten from each curia). In battle the Roman soldiers fought not so much as an organised body but as individuals, often entering into heroic contests with enemy soldiers. Servius enlarged the army and, drawing upon Etruscan and Greek models, introduced new battle tactics in order to improve its effectiveness. The reformed army was based on a heavily armed and well-disciplined infantry (hoplites), whose members fought in a regular line of battle according to the principles of the Greek phalanx?6 The army was organised, further, into centuries, or groups of a hundred soldiers (there were 193 centuries in all). In order to recruit and equip these units the entire citizen body was divided into five classes on the basis of wealth, with each class supplying a set number of centuries. The first class, which was made up of the wealthiest citizens - those who could equip themselves with horses and heavy armour - provided most of the centuries.[170] [171] [172] These developments led to the gradual decline of the role of the comitia curiata and the formation of a new political body based upon the division of citizens into classes and centuries. This new body, known as comitia centuriata, became Rome's chief popular assembly during the republican period. An account of the constitution and main functions of this assembly will be offered in chapter 4 below.face="Times New Roman">Another significant change that appears to have taken place in the same period was the replacement of the three original tribes (the Tities, Ramnes and Luceres) with a number of purely territorial tribes.
The city was divided into four districts, or urban tribes (tribus urbanae),6* and the remainder of the Roman territory into sixteen rural tribes (tribus rusticae)m Those who owned land were enrolled in the rural tribes or districts in which their property was situated, while the landless citizens were included in the four urban tribes.[173] Both patricians and plebeians were included in these tribes. With the establishment of the new system mere domicile in a geographical tribe, not membership in a curia, became the basis of Roman citizenship, which was extended to many immigrants attached as clients to various patrician households.[174] [175]
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- The decline of the state: 1975-
- Creveld Martin van.. The Rise and Decline of the State. Cambridge University Press,1999. - 447 p., 1999
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- Williamson C.. The laws of the Roman people: public law in the expansion and decline of the Roman Republic. University of Michigan,2005. — 535 p., 2005
- Introductory
- The comitia curiata
- INDEX