Royal power in Rome. The state structure of ancient Rome The supreme power in ancient Rome

Reform of Servius Tulia

A powerful blow to the tribal organization of the patricians was delivered in the middle of the 6th century BC. reform of Servius Tullius, the sixth rex in Roman historical tradition. It was carried out as a military reform, however social consequences it went far beyond the limits of only military affairs, having played a decisive role in the formation of the ancient Roman state.

Initially, the Roman army was predominantly patrician. The plebeians were not part of the military organization. There was a discrepancy between the population of Rome and the number of warriors he fielded. And the aggressive policy demanded an increase in troops and spending on warfare. The need to recruit plebeians into military service became obvious. Therefore, the entire population of Rome was divided according to the property qualification into 5 categories, each of which was obliged to put up a certain number of military units - centuries.

Ranks Number of exhibited Property qualification

centurion in yugers in assy

1 80 from 20 100.000
2 20 20 - 15 75.000
3 20 15 - 20 50.000
4 20 15 - 5 25.000
5 30 less than 5 11.000

This is how the central organization looked, depending on the property qualification.

In addition to these centuries, there were 18 centurions of horsemen from the richest Romans, and a qualification of over 100,000 asses (six of them exclusively patrician); as well as five unarmed centuries: two - artisans, two - musicians and one of the poor, who were called proletarians. Thus, there were 193 centuries in total.

The centuries of each of the five categories were divided into two parts: one of them, the old one, which included Romans from 45 to 60 years old, was intended for garrison service; the other - wars from 17 to 45 years old - the youngest, was intended for military campaigns.

To assess the property of citizens, the entire territory of Rome was divided into tribes, which had nothing in common with the previous three tribal tribes. New, territorial tribes were initially created 21: 4 urban and 17 rural. The tribes recruited troops and levied a tax for military needs.

Over time, the army, consisting of centuries, began to take part in resolving issues related not only to war and military affairs. Gradually, the centuriate assemblies passed on the solution of cases that were previously in charge of the assembly of Roman patricians for the curiae. According to tradition, the centuriae met outside the city limits, and curiat meetings were held in the city. There arose the new kind popular assemblies, in which both patricians and plebeians were represented - centuriate meetings.

Each of the 193 centuries had one vote in voting. The richest Romans, mostly patricians, horsemen and centuriates of the 1st category, had 98 votes, which provided them with an advantage in resolving any issues. However, the patricians dominated the centuriate assemblies not as such, by virtue of their ancestral privileges, but as the most wealthy landowners. Therefore, the plebeians could get into these centuries. Consequently, the plebeians emerged from their isolated position in relation to the Roman community.

Thus, the important social significance of the reform of Servius Tullius was that it laid the foundations for a new organization of Roman society, not only along clan lines, but along property and territorial lines.

However, the tribal system has not yet been completely crushed. Moreover, only gradually, centuriate assemblies supplanted the tribal organization. This happened in a bitter struggle between the plebeians and the patricians, which became especially aggravated after the overthrow of the last rex. In the whole process of the formation of the Roman state, a significant place is occupied by wars, military organization population. The creation by Servius Tullius of a new militia, which replaced the tribal squads, served to destroy the ancient patriarchal system and design new orders that were political in nature. Having eliminated the tribal division of the population and dividing the whole society, including the plebeians, into property categories, Servius Tullius thereby deprived the tribal nobility and tribal organization of almost all significance. At the same time, his reform served as the basis for the creation of the Roman army in the form of a slave militia. The army now consisted only of propertied citizens, weapons and character military service which depended on the size of the property. It is important to keep in mind that the centuriate organization was also intended for political purposes, since the centuriate comitia acquired the right to resolve the most important political issues. The centuriate comitia were meetings of the army, in which 98 centuries of the first category already constituted a majority against 95 centuries of all other categories combined. The purpose of such a political organization is quite obvious. It was defined by Cicero: voting in the new comitia was to be in the power of the rich, and not the masses of the people.

Thus, in the VI-V centuries. BC. the property difference in Rome was reflected in its military organization. The participation of one or another citizen in the protection of communal property and in its joint disposal depended on the size of the land plot owned. At this stage, public power was concentrated in the hands of citizens liable for military service.

For registration and approval of the state in Rome great importance had a division of the population according to the reform of Servius Tullius into territorial districts - tribes. According to the territorial tribes, a qualification was held, according to which citizens were enrolled in one or another Servian category, depending on their property status. In addition, the tribes were recruited into the army and a tax was levied on citizens for military needs. The basis of the new division of the population was to satisfy, first of all, the military needs of the state and the organization of state unity, so this can be called a military-administrative division. The supreme command in the army was carried out by the body of the patrician nobility - the senate. The Senate played a huge role in declaring war and all matters related to the conduct of wars, distributing command among the magistrates, rewarding commanders, and allocating funds for waging war.

The masters received the supreme command from the centuriate comitia (praetors, consuls) or from the senate (dictators). They embodied the institution of supreme command. All the main Roman masters, according to the reform of Servius Tullius, were associated with the military department: the quaestors were in charge of military expenses; censors, conducting the qualification, determined the military and tax service of citizens. Officers were divided into higher and lower. The lower officers were, at the direction of Servius Tullius, commanders of the centuries. They were nominated for this position from ordinary legionnaires and, as a rule, did not reach higher posts. The highest officers were military tribunes, legates, quaestors and chiefs of cavalry. Military tribunes belonged to the senatorial or equestrian class and usually began their service with this service. political career. Each legion had six tribunes. The legates, direct assistants to the commander-in-chief, were appointed by the senate and were themselves senators. They commanded legions or their formations. Citizens aged 17 to 60 who met the property qualification requirement were considered to be liable for military service. Infantrymen who had served for at least 16-20 years (participants - 16-20 campaigns) and horsemen who had served for at least 10 years were exempted from military service. Persons who owned land but were unfit for military service, instead of military service, they paid money for the maintenance of equestrian horses. Recruitment was carried out for each military campaign. During the reform period of Servius Tullius, the army "took" upon itself the performance of a number of important functions, internal and external, economic: supplying the economy with slaves and material values. The growth of magistracies was due to conquests. Thus, the complication of the state apparatus was largely due to the military factor. So at the turn of the VI-V centuries. BC. a slave-owning Roman state was created, which was characterized by a class and territorial division of the population, a special public authority and taxes necessary for its maintenance. It existed in the form of a slave republic. Rome of this period is a city-state in which free citizens jointly owned the state land fund and had private lands. At the same time, they were an association of warriors protecting the lands. The same military organization embodies the main power of the ruling class and plays a leading role within the state. Its elements were the centuriate and tributary comitia, where three types of power are concentrated. The army here acts as an organ of power and coercion at the same time.

Thus, the reform of Servius Tullius was carried out as a military reform, but its social consequences went far beyond military affairs, having a decisive role in the formation of ancient Roman statehood.

It laid the foundations for a new organization of Roman society, not on a tribal basis, but on a property and territorial basis. The result of the class struggle of the plebeians with the patricians was that the tribal system was undermined by the division into classes and replaced state organization, and the plebeians emerged from their isolated position in relation to the Roman community. However, the tribal system has not yet been completely crushed. The organization of power, based on the tribal system, continued to exist alongside the new, and only gradually did the new supplant it. War and organization for war were regular features of public life; public power was concentrated in the hands of citizens liable for military service. The military organization embodied the main power of the ruling class and played a leading role within the state. For the formation and approval of the state in Rome, the division of the population according to the reform of Servius Tullius into territorial districts - tribes was of great importance. The reform also made it possible to create a powerful, trained army. ancient rome to pursue an aggressive policy.

Question 17

During the period of the republic, the organization of power was quite simple and for some time met the conditions that were in Rome at the time of the emergence of the state.

Over the next five centuries of the existence of the republic, the size of the state increased significantly. But this had almost no effect on the structure of the highest organs of the state, which were still located in Rome and carried out centralized administration of vast territories. Naturally, such a situation reduced the effectiveness of management and eventually became one of the reasons for the fall of the republican system. In contrast to the slave-owning democracy in Athens, the Roman Republic combined aristocratic and democratic features, with a significant predominance of the former, which ensured the privileged position of the noble wealthy elite of the slave-owners. This was reflected in the powers and relationships of the highest state bodies. They were the people's assemblies, the senate and the magistracies. Although popular assemblies were considered the organs of power of the Roman people and were the personification of democracy inherent in the policy, they did not predominantly govern the state. This was done by the senate and magistrates - the bodies of real power of the nobility. In the Roman Republic, there were three types of popular assemblies - centuriate, tributary and curate. main role centuriate meetings played, which, thanks to their structure and order, ensured the decision-making of the predominant aristocratic and wealthy circles of slave owners. True, their structure from the middle ||| in. BC. with the expansion of the state and the increase in the number of freemen, it changed not in their favor: each of the five categories of propertied citizens began to put up an equal number of centuries - 70 each, and total number centurii was increased to 373. But the predominance of the aristocracy and wealth still remained, since there were much fewer citizens in the centuries of the highest ranks than in the centuries of the lower ranks, and the poor proletarians, whose number increased significantly, still constituted only one century. The competence of the centuriate assembly included the adoption of laws, the election of the highest officials of the republic (consuls, praetors, censors), the declaration of war and the consideration of complaints against sentences to death penalty. The second type of people's assemblies were tributary assemblies, which, depending on the composition of the inhabitants of the tribes participating in them, were divided into plebeian and patrician-plebeian. At first, their competence was limited. They elected lower officials (quaestors, aediles, etc.) and considered complaints about fines. BC. they also received the right to pass laws, which led to the growth of their importance in the political life of Rome. But at the same time, as a result of the increase in the number of rural tribes to 31 by this time (with the surviving 4 urban tribes, there were a total of 35 tribes), it became difficult for residents of distant tribes to attend meetings, which allowed wealthy Romans to strengthen their positions in these assemblies. Curiat meetings after the reforms of Servius Tullius lost their former importance. They only formally installed persons elected by other assemblies, and, in the end, were replaced by an assembly of thirty representatives of the curia - lictors.

Popular assemblies in Rome were convened at the discretion of the highest officials, who could interrupt the meeting or postpone it to another day. They also presided over the meeting and announced issues to be resolved. Participants of the meeting could not change the proposals made. Voting on them was open, and only at the end of the republican period was a secret ballot introduced (special tables for voting were distributed to the meeting participants). An important, most often decisive role was played by the fact that the decisions of the centuriate assembly on the adoption of laws and the election of officials in the first century of the existence of the republic were subject to approval by the senate, but also then, when in the 111th century. BC. "This rule was abolished, the Senate received the right to preliminary consideration of issues submitted to the assembly, which allowed it to actually direct the activities of the assembly.

The senate played an important role in the state mechanism of the Roman Republic. Senators (in the beginning there were 300 of them, according to the number of patrician families, and in the 1st century BC the number of senators was increased first to 600, and then to 900) were not elected. Special officials - censors, who distributed citizens by centuries and tribes, once every five years compiled lists of senators from representatives of noble and wealthy families, who, as a rule, already occupied the highest government positions. This made the Senate an organ of the top slave-owners, virtually independent of the will of the majority of free citizens.

Formally, the Senate was an advisory body, and its resolutions were called senatus-consuls. But the competence of the Senate was extensive. He, as indicated, controlled the legislative activity of the centuriate (and later plebeian) assemblies, approving their decisions, and subsequently preliminary considering (and rejecting) bills. In exactly the same way, the election of officials by the people's assemblies was controlled (at first by the approval of the elected, and subsequently by the candidates).

The circumstance that the treasury of the state was at the disposal of the Senate played an important role. He established taxes and determined the necessary financial expenses. The competence of the Senate included decisions on public security, improvement and religious worship. Importance had the foreign policy powers of the Senate. If war was declared by the centuriate assembly, then the peace treaty, as well as the treaty of alliance, was approved by the senate. He also allowed recruitment into the army and distributed the legions among the commanders of the armies. Finally, in emergency circumstances (a dangerous war, a powerful uprising of slaves, etc.), the senate could decide to establish a dictatorship.

In Rome, magistracies were public positions. As in ancient Athens, in Rome there were certain principles for the replacement of magistracies. Such principles were electivity, urgency, collegiality, gratuitousness and responsibility.

All magistrates (except the dictator) were elected by centuriates or tributary assemblies for one year. This rule did not apply to dictators, whose term of office could not exceed six months. In addition, the powers of the consul who commanded the army, in the event of an unfinished military campaign, could be extended by the Senate. As in Athens, all magistracies were collegiate - several people were elected to one position (one dictator was appointed). But the specifics of collegiality in Rome was that each magistrate had the right to make his own decision. This decision could be overruled by his colleague (right of intercession). The magistrates did not receive remuneration, which, naturally, closed the path to the magistracy (and then to the Senate) for the poor and the poor. At the same time, magistracy, especially at the end of the republican period, became a source of significant income. The magistrates (with the exception of the dictator, censor and tribune of the plebs) upon the expiration of their term of office could be held accountable by the popular assembly that elected them.

It is necessary to note another significant difference between the Roman magistracy - the hierarchy of positions (the right of a higher magistrate to cancel the decision of a lower one).

The power of the magistrates was divided into higher and general. This power belonged to the dictator, consuls and praetors. The dictator had the "supreme imperium", which included the right to sentence to death, not subject to appeal. The consul owned a large imperium - the right to pronounce the death sentence, which could be appealed to the centuriate assembly if it was pronounced in the city of Rome, and not subject to appeal if it was pronounced outside the city. The praetor had a limited imperium - without the right to sentence to death.

Power was vested in all magistrates and included the power to issue orders and impose fines for non-compliance.

Masters were divided into ordinary (ordinary) and extraordinary (extraordinary). Ordinary magistracies included the positions of consuls, praetors, censors, quaestors, aediles

The consuls (two consuls were elected in Rome) were the highest magistrates and headed the entire system of magistracies. Particularly significant were the military powers of the consuls: recruitment and command of the army, the appointment of military leaders, the right to conclude a truce and dispose of military booty. Praetors appeared BC. as assistant consuls. Due to the fact that the latter, commanding the armies, were often absent from Rome, the administration of the city and, most importantly, the leadership of the judiciary, which, by virtue of the imperium they had, made it possible to issue universally binding decrees and thereby create new rules of law, passed to the praetors. At first, one praetor was elected, then two, one of which considered the cases of Roman citizens (the city praetor), and the other - cases involving foreigners (the praetor of the peregrines). Gradually the number of praetors increased to eight.

Two censors were elected once every five years to compile lists of Roman citizens, distribute them into tribes and ranks, and to compile a list of senators. In addition, their competence included monitoring morality and issuing appropriate edicts. The quaestors, who were at first assistants to the consuls without special competence, eventually began to be in charge (under the control of the senate) of financial expenses and the investigation of certain criminal cases. Their number, accordingly, grew and by the end of the republic reached twenty. The aediles (there were two of them) observed the public order in the city, trade in the market, organized festivities and spectacles.

The colleges of the "twenty-six men" consisted of twenty-six men who were part of five colleges in charge of overseeing prisons, minting coins, clearing roads, and some court cases.

A special place among the masters was occupied by the plebeian tribunes.

Their right played a big role in the period when the struggle of the plebeians for equality was completed. Then, as the role of the Senate increased, the activity of the plebeian tribunes began to decline, and the attempt of Gaius Gracchus in the 11th century. BC. strengthen it ended in failure. Extraordinary magistracies were created only in emergency circumstances threatening the Roman state with particular danger - a difficult war, a great uprising of slaves, serious internal unrest. The dictator was appointed at the suggestion of the Senate by one of the consuls. He had unlimited power, to which all magistrates were subject. The right of a plebeian tribune did not apply to him, the orders of the dictator were not subject to appeal, and he was not responsible for his actions.

True, in the first centuries of the existence of the republic, dictatorships were introduced not only in emergency circumstances, but to solve specific problems, and the powers of the dictator were limited to this task. Outside it, ordinary magistracies operated. During the heyday of the republic, almost no resort was made to dictatorship.

The term of the dictatorship was not to exceed six months.

At the same time, during the crisis of the republic, this rule was violated and even life-long dictatorships appeared (Sulla's dictatorship "for issuing laws and organizing the state").

Extraordinary magistracies can also include commissions of decemvirs, formed during one of the upsurges in the struggle of the plebeians for their rights for the preparation of Laws X11 tables, created

18th question

Gradually, the power of the emperors increased. The need for its camouflage by republican institutions and the influence of republican traditions, manifested in intermittent conflicts between the emperor and the senate, are a thing of the past. By the end of the II century. the senate is finally removed from government. It passes to the bureaucratic and military apparatus, headed by the emperor. At the end of the III century. the monarchy is approved in its pure form Chernilovsky Z.M. Reader on the general history of state and law. M. 1999. .

The period of the empire is usually divided into two stages: 1) principate (I century BC - III century AD), from "princeps-senatus" - the first senator. This title was first received from the Senate by the founder of the empire, Octavian Augustus, who was placed first on the list of senators and received the right to be the first to speak in the Senate, which made it possible to predetermine the decisions of the latter; 2) dominat (III-V centuries), from "dominus" - lord, lord, which testified to the final recognition of the absolute power of the emperor.

Principate. The transfer of government to the princeps occurred due to the granting of the supreme power of the imperium, the election to the most important positions, the creation by him of a bureaucracy separate from the magistracies, provided by the formation of the princeps' own treasury, and the command of all armies. Octavian already received imperium, which included, in addition to the traditional command of the army (he took command of all the armies), the right to declare war, conclude peace and international treaties, maintain his own guard (praetorian cohorts), the right of the highest criminal and civil court, the right to interpret laws. The decrees of the princeps are beginning to be regarded as having the force of law, and by the end of the principate it will be generally accepted that "what the princeps decides has the force of law." The princeps are elected consuls, censors and tribunes of the people at the same time, in violation of republican traditions (Octavian was elected consul 13 times, 3 times censor and 37 times tribune of the people). As a consul, he could, using the right of intercession, cancel the decision of any magistrate, as a censor - to form a senate from his supporters, as a tribune - to veto a decision of the senate or a decision of a magistrate. In addition, Octavian received the title of pontiff - the high priest in charge of religious worship. Initially, the power of the princeps was not hereditary. Legally, he received power by decision of the senate and the Roman people, but he could designate his successor (usually a son or adopted), whom the senate elected princeps. At the same time, there were more and more cases of the overthrow of princeps and the appointment of new ones as a result of palace coups made with the help of the army. Octavian's successors began to use the same powers, gradually increasing the power of the princeps, although at first they sometimes had to overcome the opposition of the senate. The competence of the Senate changes significantly. Since only tributary assemblies have survived from the people's assemblies, which, moreover, were convened less and less, from the 1st century. resolutions of the Senate - Senate-consultants receive the force of law. But the right of the princeps to appoint senators and the "purges" of the senate periodically carried out by the princeps led to the fact that from the 2nd century. the senate practically only approved the proposals of the princeps. Almost the same thing happened with the right to elect and control magistrates, transferred from the popular assembly to the senate - some of them could be elected only from candidates proposed by the princeps. The rights of the Senate to manage public finances and manage provinces are limited. His competence in the military and foreign policy areas is completely lost Karavaev A.K. History of Ancient Rome. M. 2000.

In parallel with the republican magistracies, an imperial bureaucracy was created, at the top of which stood the council and the office of the princeps, which included several departments with a staff of officials. The council included prefects, "friends" of the emperor, heads of departments of the office. The chancellery included the departments of finance, petitions, official correspondence, personal property of the emperor, the imperial court, etc. The members of the council, which performed advisory functions, and the heads of departments of the chancellery were appointed by the princeps himself from among his entourage. Freedmen of the emperor, and even his slaves, began to receive bureaucratic positions. The senior officials, appointed from senators and horsemen, included the prefect of the praetorium, who commanded the imperial guard, the prefect of the city of Rome, in charge of police cohorts, the prefect of Egypt, the prefect in charge of food supply, etc.

There was a reorganization of the administration of the provinces, which became the constituent parts of the Roman state. They were divided into imperial and senatorial. The former were ruled by legates appointed by the princeps, who exercised military and civil power with the help of their own council and office, the latter by proconsuls and propraetors appointed by the senate, who were elected from among the senators by lot and were in double subordination - the senate and the princeps. The created bureaucracy did not represent a coherent system and was, especially in the first centuries of the empire, relatively small in number. But in comparison with the republican one, it ensured more effective management of the expanded state due to the emerging centralization and hierarchy of bureaucracy. The division of the provinces into imperial and senatorial had another important consequence. Revenues from the Senate provinces went to the state treasury, which was controlled by the Senate, while revenues from the imperial provinces went to the treasury of the princeps - a fix. Since the first included a few (11 out of 45) provinces long conquered and, therefore, plundered by Rome, the treasury of the senate was permanently meager, and sometimes empty. The imperial provinces were relatively recently conquered, and their plunder was just beginning, which gave the princeps enormous income, increased by proceeds from the imperial estates and the widely practiced proscriptions. The Senate was sometimes compelled to borrow money from the princeps. Gradually, the power of the princeps extended to the senatorial provinces, and by the 3rd century. they all became imperial.

Army. The right to command the army and the ability to support it at the expense of not only the state, but also their own treasury, allowed the princeps to turn it into a powerful support for personal and state power. Moreover, the army is turning into an influential political force, on which the fate of the princeps himself sometimes depended. If under the republic the unity of political power and military force was personified by the centuriate assembly of citizens liable for military service and the senate in charge of the army, now this unity was personified by the princeps. In Rome, a single military-bureaucratic organization of management arises. After the transition to a professional army, it turns into a corporate organization. Octavian reorganized it, dividing it into three parts. A privileged position was occupied by the Praetorian Guard. Her cohorts under Octavian numbered 9,000 men. Praetorians were recruited from Roman citizens of Italian origin and received a salary of 3.5 times more than legionnaires, served 16 years and, after retirement, had solid property and joined the ranks of the ruling class. The main part of the army (under Octavian 300,000 people) were legionnaires recruited from citizens of the Roman provinces. They served 20 years and received a salary that allowed them to start a small slave-owning economy after retirement and join the provincial nobility. The third part of the army was made up of auxiliary troops (numbering up to 200,000 people), recruited from residents of the provinces who did not have the rights of Roman citizens. And although their salary was three times less than that of the legionnaires, and the term of service was 25 years, and the discipline was tougher and the punishments more severe, service in the auxiliary troops still attracted the opportunity to obtain Roman citizenship, and for the poor, save some money. After the aforementioned edict of Caracalla, which gave Roman citizenship to all free empires, the social difference between legionary and auxiliary units disappears, the corporate spirit of the army grows, which further increases its political role.

Dominat. Already in the period of the principate, the slave system in Rome began to decline, and in the II-III centuries. its crisis is brewing. The social and class stratification of the free is deepening, the influence of large landowners is increasing, the importance of colonial labor is growing and the role of slave labor is decreasing, the municipal system is falling into decay, the polis ideology is disappearing, Christianity is replacing the cult of traditional Roman gods. The economic system based on slave-owning and semi-slave-owning forms of exploitation and dependence (colonates) not only ceases to develop, but also begins to degrade. By the 3rd century slave uprisings, almost unknown to the initial period of the principate, become more and more frequent and widespread. Columns and the free poor join the rebellious slaves. The situation gets worse freedom movement peoples conquered by Rome. From wars of conquest, Rome begins to move to defensive ones. The struggle for power between the warring factions of the ruling class sharply escalates. After the reign of the Sever dynasty (199-235), a half-century era of "soldier emperors" begins, brought to power by the army and ruling for half a year, a year, at most five years. Most of them were killed by the conspirators. The principate suppressed the spirit of citizenship among the Romans, republican traditions are now a thing of the distant past, the last stronghold of republican institutions - the senate finally submitted to the princeps. From the end of the 3rd century starts new stage the history of the empire - the dominance, during which Rome turned into a monarchical state with the absolute power of the emperor.

The final transition to dominance dates back to 284 and the coming to power of Diocletian, who ordered to call himself Dominus. The titles of the emperor - Augustus and Dominus emphasized the unlimited nature of his power. As a rule, emperors were deified, and some of them after death were declared gods with their religious cults. The population of the empire turned from citizens into subjects of the emperor, who began to be regarded even as his slaves - serfs. The council of the princeps that existed under the principate is transformed into state council- consistorium. There is a developed apparatus of officials, divided into ranks, with a defined hierarchy and rules for promotion. With the separation of civil power from the military, civil and military officials appear. The third group of officials stands apart - the courtiers, headed by the manager of the emperor's palace, who plays a large role. In contrast to the principate, the old republican institutions have lost all national significance. Rome began to be ruled by a prefect appointed by the emperor and subordinate to him. The Senate became the council of the city of Rome, and the magistrates became municipal officials. The military organization has also changed. In connection with the mass uprisings of slaves and conquered peoples, as well as the increased need to protect the borders of the state from the invasion of Germanic, Slavic and Asia Minor tribes, the army is divided into mobile (to suppress uprisings) and border troops. "Barbarians" get wide access to the army, sometimes the armed forces of their tribes are also used. The Praetorian Guard, which played an important role in the era of the "soldier emperors", was transformed into a palace guard, which, however, sometimes also determined the fate of the emperors. The general imperial police was headed by the head of the imperial office (in Rome - by the prefect of the city), the developed secret police - by the prefect of the praetorium. Of great importance for the future fate of the empire were the reforms of Diocletian, enshrined and developed in the legislation of Constantine. Diocletian carried out economic, military and administrative reforms. In the economic field, Diocletian tried to stop the depreciation of money as a result of the issuance of coins with a low content of the precious metal. He issued full-fledged gold and silver coins, but they soon disappeared from circulation, and he had to return to the issuance of low-grade coins. Tax reform proved to be more effective. Most of the taxes began to be collected not in kind, but in money. In order to ensure the receipt of taxes, a periodically repeated population census was introduced. The basis of taxation in rural areas was the size of land ownership and the number of persons cultivating the land. Poll taxes were introduced in the cities. Since landowners and city officials were responsible for paying taxes, the reform contributed to attaching the bulk of the rural and urban population (colons and artisans) to their place of residence and profession. Military reform, which consolidated the formation of border and mobile troops, introduced, in addition to the existing set of volunteers in the army, a recruiting set. Landowners, depending on the size of the landholding, were required to supply a certain number of recruits from the columns and agricultural workers. Diocletian's administrative reform had the most far-reaching consequences. Difficult domestic political situation, difficult foreign policy situation of the empire, far advanced processes of economic isolation of the provinces, and endless coups d'état the times of the "soldier emperors" that preceded the coming to power of Diocletian, forced him in 285 to appoint a co-ruler - Caesar. A year later, Caesar was declared Augustus, with the same authority as Diocletian's to manage part of the empire. The empire was divided into two parts - western and eastern. True, the legislation still remained unified, since the laws were issued on behalf of both emperors. Each of them appointed a co-ruler - Caesar. As a result, a tetrarchy arose, consisting of four parts, including 100 provinces. Rome was singled out as a special 100th province, but the city of Rome ceased to be the capital of the empire. The capital of the Western Empire was moved to Mediolan (Milan), and then to Ravenna. Nicomedia, located on the eastern shore of the Sea of Marmara, became the capital of the Eastern Empire. After the twenty-year reign of Diocletian and the subsequent struggle for power between his successors, the period of the thirty-year reign of Constantine (306-337) begins, again restoring the unity of power. Constantine continued the economic reforms of Diocletian. The new monetary reform turned out to be more successful and led to the stabilization of monetary circulation. The streamlining of taxation further strengthened the attachment of columns and artisans to land and profession. By the edicts of Constantine, the craft colleges were turned into hereditary ones, and by the decree (constitution) "On the runaway columns" of 332, the runaway columns returned to their plots and had to work in chains like slaves. Those who sheltered the runaway columns, as a punishment, had to pay taxes for them. In the military field, the profession of a warrior became hereditary. Barbarians began to be widely recruited into the army, receiving Roman citizenship and the opportunity to advance through the ranks up to the highest positions. The administrative reform of Diocletian was also completed. Although the tetrarchy was abolished, two prefectures were formed in each of the two parts of the empire, governed by prefects with civil power. The military power in the prefectures belonged to the military masters - two chiefs of infantry and two chiefs of cavalry. The prefectures were divided into dioceses (6 in the western part of the empire and 7 in the east), headed by vicars, dioceses - into provinces, which were ruled by rectors, provinces - into districts with district administration. If these events of Constantine were a continuation of the work begun by Diocletian, then in matters of religious policy the former moved to positions opposite to Diocletian. Diocletian saw in the Christian church an organization autonomous from the state and, therefore, preventing the establishment of autocracy, and therefore he forbade the administration of Christian religious rites, the destruction of churches, and the persecution of Christians. Constantine, on the other hand, grasped that Christianity, from the religion of the poor and the oppressed, as it was in the period of its inception, has turned into a religion that can strengthen the state system by ideological means. He saw in the Christian church a strong support for the absolute power of the emperor, which led to a sharp turn in religious policy. In 313, by an imperial edict, Christianity was recognized as equal in rights with other religions that existed in the empire, and then, after the baptism of Constantine in 337, it was recognized as the state religion. The army, bureaucracy and the Christian church become the three main pillars of the dominance - military, political and ideological. Finally, given that the eastern part of the empire was relatively less than the western, subjected to attacks by barbarian tribes and was economically more developed, Constantine moved his capital there - to ancient greek city Byzantium, giving it the new name of Constantinople. In 330, Constantinople was officially proclaimed the capital of the empire. The transfer of the capital to Constantinople consolidated the process of the empire's disintegration into two parts, which in 395 led to its final division into the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The economic isolation and political division of the empire coincided with a period of further deepening of the general crisis of the slave system and was its manifestation and result. Chapter united state objectively, it was an attempt to prevent the death of this system, which was destroyed by a fierce political and ideological struggle, uprisings of conquered peoples, invasions of barbarian tribes, from which the Western Roman Empire especially suffered. In 476, the commander of the imperial guard, the German Odoacer, overthrew the last Roman emperor from the throne and sent the signs of imperial dignity to Constantinople. The Western Roman Empire ceased to exist.

One of greatest civilizations ancient world rightfully considered the Great Roman Empire. Before its heyday and for a long time after the collapse, the Western world did not know a more powerful state than Ancient Rome. In a short period of time, this power was able to conquer vast territories, and its culture continues to influence humanity to this day.

History of Ancient Rome

The history of one of the most influential states of Antiquity began with small settlements located on the hills along the banks of the Tiber. In 753 B.C. e. these settlements merged into a city called Rome. It was founded on seven hills, in a swampy area, in the very epicenter of the constantly conflicting peoples - Latins, Etruscans and ancient Greeks. From this date began the chronology in ancient Rome.

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According to ancient legend, the founders of Rome were two brothers - Romulus and Remus, who were the children of the god Mars and the vestal Remy Sylvia. Once at the center of the conspiracy, they were on the verge of death. From certain death, the brothers were saved by a she-wolf, who fed them with her milk. Growing up, they founded a beautiful city, which was named after one of the brothers.

Rice. 1. Romulus and Rem.

Over time, perfectly trained warriors emerged from ordinary farmers who managed to conquer not only all of Italy, but also many neighboring countries. The management system, language, achievements of the culture and art of Rome spread far beyond its borders. The decline of the Roman Empire came in 476 BC.

Periodization of the history of ancient Rome

The formation and development of the Eternal City is usually divided into three important periods:

Royal . The most ancient period of Rome, when the local population consisted mostly of fugitive criminals. With the development of crafts and the formation of the political system, Rome began to develop rapidly. During this period, the power in the city belonged to the kings, the first of which was Romulus, and the last - Lucius Tarquinius. Rulers received power not by inheritance, but were appointed by the Senate. When manipulation and bribery began to be used to obtain the coveted throne, the Senate decided to change the political structure in Rome and proclaimed a republic.

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Slavery was widespread in ancient Greek society. The slaves who served the masters in the house enjoyed the greatest privileges. The slaves had the hardest time, whose activities were once associated with exhausting work in the fields and the development of mineral deposits.

Republican . During this period, all power belonged to the Senate. The boundaries of Ancient Rome began to expand due to the conquest and annexation of the lands of Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, Corsica, Macedonia, the Mediterranean. The Republic was headed by representatives of the nobility, who were elected at the people's assembly.
The Roman Empire . Power still belonged to the Senate, but a single ruler appeared on the political arena - the Emperor. For that period of time, Ancient Rome increased its territories so much that it became more and more difficult to manage empires. Over time, there was a split of the state into the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern, which was later renamed Byzantium.

Urban planning and architecture

The construction of cities in ancient Rome was approached with great responsibility. Every major locality It was built in such a way that two roads perpendicular to each other intersected in its center. At their intersection there was a central square, a market and all the most important buildings.

Culture of Ancient Rome

The deeds worthy of a true Roman were philosophy, politics, agriculture, war, civil law. This was the basis of the early culture of Ancient Rome. Particular importance was given to the development of sciences and various kinds of research.

Ancient Roman art, in particular painting and sculpture, had much in common with art Ancient Greece. A single ancient culture gave rise to many excellent writers, poets, playwrights.

The Romans were very fond of entertainment, among which gladiatorial fights, chariot races and hunting wild animals were in the greatest demand. Roman spectacles have become an alternative to the incredibly popular Olympic Games in ancient Greece.

Rice. 3. Gladiator fights.

What have we learned?

When studying the topic “Ancient Rome”, we briefly learned the most important thing about Ancient Rome: the history of its emergence, the features of the formation of the state, the main stages of development. We got acquainted with ancient Roman art, culture, architecture.

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Until 510 BC, when the inhabitants expelled the last king Tarquinius the Proud from the city, kings ruled Rome. After that, Rome became a republic for a long time, power was in the hands of officials elected by the people. Every year, from the members of the Senate, which included representatives of the Roman nobility, the citizens chose two consuls and other officials. The main idea of such a device was that one person could not concentrate too much power in his hands. But in 49 BC. e. Roman commander Julius Caesar (top left), using the support of the people, led his troops to Rome and seized power in the republic. A civil war began, as a result of which Caesar defeated all rivals and became the ruler of Rome. The dictatorship of Caesar caused discontent in the Senate, and in 44 BC. e. Caesar was killed. This led to a new civil war and the collapse of the republican system. Caesar's adopted son Octavian came to power and restored peace in the country. Octavian took the name Augustus and in 27 BC. e. proclaimed himself "princeps", which marked the beginning of imperial power.

In the symbol of the law

The symbol of the power of the magistrate (official) was the fascia - a bunch of rods and an ax. Wherever the official went, his assistants carried behind him these symbols, which the Romans borrowed from the Etruscans.

Did you know?

Roman emperors did not have crowns like kings. Instead, they put laurel wreaths on their heads. Previously, such wreaths were awarded to commanders for victories in battles.

In honor of August

The marble "Altar of Peace" in Rome glorifies the greatness of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. This bas-relief depicts members of the imperial family.

Town Square

The center of any Roman settlement or city was the forum. It was an open square, on the sides of which stood public buildings and temples.

Elections and court hearings were held at the forum.

Faces in stone

On relief images in layered stone, the so-called cameos, portraits were often carved famous people. This cameo depicts the emperor Claudius, his wife Agrippina the Younger and her relatives.

Roman society

In addition to citizens, there were people in ancient Rome who did not have Roman citizenship. The citizens of Rome were divided into three classes: rich patricians (one of them is depicted here with busts of his ancestors in his hands), wealthy people - horsemen and ordinary citizens - plebeians. In the early period, only patricians could be senators. Later, the plebeians also received representation in the Senate, but in the imperial era they were deprived of this right. The "non-citizens" included women, slaves, as well as foreigners and residents of the Roman provinces.

Initially, it was very archaic: it was headed by kings, whose power still resembled the power of a leader. The kings led the city militia, served as the supreme judge and priest. played an important role in the administration of ancient Rome. the senate council of tribal elders. Full-fledged inhabitants of Rome- patricians - gathered at popular meetings, where kings were elected and decisions were made on the most important issues life cities. In the VI century. BC e. plebeians received some rights - they were included in the civil community, were allowed to vote and were given the opportunity to own land.

At the end of the VI century. BC e. in Rome, the power of the kings was replaced by an aristocratic republic, in which the patricians played a leading role. Despite the fact that the state structure of Rome was called republic, that is, the "common cause", real power remained in the hands of the most noble and wealthy part of Roman society. During the period Roman Republic know was called noblemen.

Citizens of ancient Rome - nobles, horsemen and plebeians - formed a civil community - civitas. The political system of Rome during this period was called a republic and was built on the principles of civil self-government.

Comitia (highest power)

Supreme power belonged to the people's assembly - comitia. The composition of the people's assemblies included all citizens who had reached the age of majority. The comitia adopted laws, elected collegiums of officials, made decisions on the most important issues of life states and societies such as the conclusion of a peace or a declaration of war, exercised control over the activities of officials and, in general, over life states imposed taxes, granted civil rights.

Masters (executive branch)

The executive power belonged magistracy. The most important officials were two consul who headed the state and commanded the army. Below were two praetor who were in charge of the judiciary. censors they conducted a census of the property of citizens, that is, they determined belonging to one or another class, and also exercised control over the rights. People's tribunes, elected only from among the plebeians, were obliged to protect the rights of ordinary citizens of Rome. People's tribunes often put forward draft laws in the interests of the plebeians and, in this regard, opposed the senate and nobles. An important tool of the people's tribunes was the right veto - a ban on the orders and actions of any officials, including consuls, if, in the opinion of the tribunes, their actions infringed on the interests of the plebeians. There were also other magistracies in which master-you engaged in a variety of ongoing activities.

Senate

AT state system In the Roman Republic, a very important role was played by the senate - a collective body, which usually consisted of 300 representatives of the highest Roman aristocracy. The Senate discussed the most important issues public life and made decisions for the approval of the people's assemblies, heard the reports of officials, took foreign ambassadors. The value of the Senate was great, and in many respects it was he who determined the internal and foreign policy Roman Republic.

Principate

After the establishment of imperial power in Ancient Rome in the first, early period Roman Empire she became known principate.

Dominat

After Crisis of the Roman Empire Diocletian took over as emperor. The unlimited monarchy established by him was called dominance.

AT late Roman Empire more and more weakened the central government. The change of emperors often took place by force - as a result of conspiracies. The provinces were getting out of the control of the emperors.