0:00:00.175,0:00:01.008 - [Instructor] Talk a little bit about 0:00:01.008,0:00:03.834 the social and political[br]structures of ancient Rome. 0:00:03.834,0:00:06.079 It's important to keep[br]in mind that ancient Rome 0:00:06.079,0:00:08.636 wasn't just this static[br]thing that never changed. 0:00:08.636,0:00:11.047 It existed for over 1,000 years, 0:00:11.047,0:00:14.019 from its period from its[br]founding as a kingdom, 0:00:14.019,0:00:17.263 if you believe the founding myth, 0:00:17.263,0:00:19.763 founded by Romulus in 753 BCE. 0:00:20.601,0:00:23.256 Most historians don't[br]accept that founding myth. 0:00:23.256,0:00:26.947 But then it became they[br]overthrew their last king 0:00:26.947,0:00:29.447 in 509 BCE, Tarquin the Proud, 0:00:30.659,0:00:32.765 and then they established[br]the Roman republic, 0:00:32.765,0:00:35.048 which was eventually then turned into 0:00:35.048,0:00:38.381 an empire by Julius Caesar and Augustus. 0:00:39.339,0:00:41.947 And so, whenever you have[br]something this long lasting, 0:00:41.947,0:00:43.188 you could imagine the social and 0:00:43.188,0:00:46.142 the political structures[br]evolved over time. 0:00:46.142,0:00:50.425 But let's begin with the[br]period when it was a kingdom, 0:00:50.425,0:00:52.460 because even then there were some things 0:00:52.460,0:00:54.785 that were noteworthy and some social 0:00:54.785,0:00:56.314 and political structures that continued 0:00:56.314,0:01:00.821 into the republic period and[br]even when it was an empire. 0:01:00.821,0:01:02.388 So one interesting thing is that 0:01:02.388,0:01:04.428 when we typically think of kings, 0:01:04.428,0:01:08.077 we think of it as being[br]dynastic, that if I am king, 0:01:08.077,0:01:10.712 then my oldest son, or[br]maybe in certain cultures, 0:01:10.712,0:01:13.500 my oldest daughter might[br]become king or queen. 0:01:13.500,0:01:15.492 But turns out, that many of the, 0:01:15.492,0:01:18.549 especially the early kings[br]of the Roman kingdom, 0:01:18.549,0:01:20.601 were actually elected. 0:01:20.601,0:01:24.210 They had a lot of power, all[br]the power resided in them, 0:01:24.210,0:01:26.938 they were the executive, the legislative, 0:01:26.938,0:01:29.871 they were the judicial, they[br]even had religious power. 0:01:29.871,0:01:33.130 But it's interesting to think[br]of the idea of elected kings. 0:01:33.130,0:01:34.812 Now all of them weren't elected. 0:01:34.812,0:01:38.363 Several of them were dynastic[br]but it is an interesting idea. 0:01:38.363,0:01:40.593 Now another idea that emerged during 0:01:40.593,0:01:44.685 the Roman kingdom is[br]this idea of citizenship. 0:01:44.685,0:01:46.270 Now it's important to realize today, 0:01:46.270,0:01:47.623 in a lot of countries, we think of 0:01:47.623,0:01:50.822 oh, everyone who's a formal[br]resident of that country, 0:01:50.822,0:01:52.904 you can view them as a citizen, 0:01:52.904,0:01:55.200 or most of the people, you[br]could think of citizens, 0:01:55.200,0:01:57.020 especially maybe people born in a country. 0:01:57.020,0:01:59.060 But that was not the case in Rome. 0:01:59.060,0:02:01.298 And when we go into this Roman kingdom, 0:02:01.298,0:02:03.111 I'll remind, and I do this in many videos, 0:02:03.111,0:02:06.171 we're not thinking about[br]this sprawling Roman empire 0:02:06.171,0:02:08.515 that we'll see several[br]hundred years later. 0:02:08.515,0:02:11.971 At that time, Rome was really[br]just in control of Rome 0:02:11.971,0:02:14.527 and over time, especially[br]during the republic period, 0:02:14.527,0:02:18.527 it starts to expand and[br]eventually have hegemony 0:02:19.420,0:02:22.753 or dominant power over the Mediterranean 0:02:23.954,0:02:25.754 or parts of the Middle East, I should say, 0:02:25.754,0:02:27.671 and in southern Europe. 0:02:29.137,0:02:30.935 But let's go back to this kingdom period. 0:02:30.935,0:02:33.910 And what I'm about to[br]draw actually stays true 0:02:33.910,0:02:35.905 through most of Roman civilization. 0:02:35.905,0:02:37.183 If this white circle are the people 0:02:37.183,0:02:41.990 who lived under Roman rule,[br]only a subset were citizens. 0:02:41.990,0:02:43.159 So this were the citizens. 0:02:43.159,0:02:47.326 These were male landowners,[br]citizens right over here. 0:02:48.221,0:02:51.292 And within the citizens,[br]they were further divided 0:02:51.292,0:02:52.875 between patricians, 0:02:54.777,0:02:57.127 and you can think of them as the nobility, 0:02:57.127,0:02:59.682 these were people and[br]they became patrician 0:02:59.682,0:03:01.401 based on what family they were born into. 0:03:01.401,0:03:02.730 And it's based on this idea and the word 0:03:02.730,0:03:05.347 literally comes from this[br]idea that you are descended 0:03:05.347,0:03:08.568 from the founding fathers of Rome. 0:03:08.568,0:03:11.892 And then all the other[br]citizens were the plebians. 0:03:11.892,0:03:15.475 So all of the other[br]ones were the plebians, 0:03:17.241,0:03:18.683 right over here. 0:03:18.683,0:03:21.910 And, as we'll see, over the patricians 0:03:21.910,0:03:24.375 held most of the power[br]and most of the wealth 0:03:24.375,0:03:25.952 for a significant amount of time. 0:03:25.952,0:03:27.457 But as we go through the republic period, 0:03:27.457,0:03:30.444 the plebians start to gain[br]more and more and more power 0:03:30.444,0:03:32.771 and many plebians also[br]start to accrue wealth 0:03:32.771,0:03:35.821 and some patrician[br]families do end up poor. 0:03:35.821,0:03:37.735 But, for the most part, the patricians, 0:03:37.735,0:03:38.833 they're the nobility, 0:03:38.833,0:03:41.868 they're associated with the[br]aristocracy, but the plebians, 0:03:41.868,0:03:44.661 some of them become wealthy[br]and powerful as well. 0:03:44.661,0:03:45.708 Now you're probably saying what about 0:03:45.708,0:03:47.321 all of these other people? 0:03:47.321,0:03:49.960 Well, you could imagine[br]non-landholding males, 0:03:49.960,0:03:53.579 you could imagine women,[br]you could imagine slaves. 0:03:53.579,0:03:56.620 And even though we aggrandize Rome 0:03:56.620,0:04:01.232 and there were many very[br]interesting things about Rome, 0:04:01.232,0:04:03.982 one of the legacies that[br]Rome had, which maybe 0:04:03.982,0:04:08.149 as the historians reflect a[br]little bit more negatively on, 0:04:09.163,0:04:12.604 is that Roman society was[br]built on the idea of slaves. 0:04:12.604,0:04:17.339 And most of the slaves were[br]people that they subjugated 0:04:17.339,0:04:19.137 people that they conquered in other lands. 0:04:19.137,0:04:21.380 They might have been people who at least 0:04:21.380,0:04:24.148 the authorities thought they[br]committed a crime of some kind. 0:04:24.148,0:04:27.092 But the society was built on slavery. 0:04:27.092,0:04:29.761 So you had a large[br]segment of the population 0:04:29.761,0:04:33.626 that had no rights, that[br]were considered slaves. 0:04:33.626,0:04:36.387 Later on, they start to[br]gain some very, very basic, 0:04:36.387,0:04:39.490 rudimentary rights, but you[br]can imagine, as a slave, 0:04:39.490,0:04:41.990 close to no rights whatsoever. 0:04:43.019,0:04:45.534 Now, other institutions that developed 0:04:45.534,0:04:47.480 during the time of the Roman kingdom were 0:04:47.480,0:04:49.462 an institution that developed at the time 0:04:49.462,0:04:53.629 of the Roman kingdom was the[br]Senate, was the Roman Senate. 0:04:55.479,0:04:58.889 And under the king, the[br]king had most of the power, 0:04:58.889,0:05:01.724 but once the Roman[br]republic gets established, 0:05:01.724,0:05:05.646 it's actually the Senate where[br]most of the power resides. 0:05:05.646,0:05:08.469 Now, this right over here, is a depiction, 0:05:08.469,0:05:10.954 that came much later, of the Roman Senate. 0:05:10.954,0:05:12.160 And it's important to realize that 0:05:12.160,0:05:14.283 the Senate was not the only institution 0:05:14.283,0:05:18.083 or the only position[br]within the Roman republic. 0:05:18.083,0:05:19.916 The consuls were there 0:05:21.262,0:05:24.463 and you could view the[br]consuls as the executives, 0:05:24.463,0:05:27.315 or if you think of a system[br]like the United States, 0:05:27.315,0:05:30.654 the executive power[br]resides in the President, 0:05:30.654,0:05:32.944 so it's analogous to the President. 0:05:32.944,0:05:34.473 They are running the government. 0:05:34.473,0:05:38.163 They are also commander[br]in chief of the military. 0:05:38.163,0:05:40.444 Now, consuls, even[br]though it was considered 0:05:40.444,0:05:43.737 a very high title, their[br]power was very limited. 0:05:43.737,0:05:46.306 There was two of them at any given time, 0:05:46.306,0:05:48.284 so I just drew the two consuls. 0:05:48.284,0:05:51.250 They could veto each[br]other at any given time 0:05:51.250,0:05:54.073 to keep any one consul[br]from getting too powerful 0:05:54.073,0:05:56.719 and they only had a one year term. 0:05:56.719,0:05:59.029 And during that one year,[br]they would alternate 0:05:59.029,0:06:02.558 on a monthly basis on who[br]was the more senior consul. 0:06:02.558,0:06:05.168 So you could imagine the consuls 0:06:05.168,0:06:07.583 were limited in many, many, many ways. 0:06:07.583,0:06:09.195 And even though the Senate officially 0:06:09.195,0:06:10.994 was supposed to advise the consuls, 0:06:10.994,0:06:13.547 in practice, what the Senate told 0:06:13.547,0:06:17.581 the consuls to do, the[br]consuls actually did. 0:06:17.581,0:06:20.256 So another question is,[br]well, who gets to be a consul 0:06:20.256,0:06:22.340 and who gets to be a Senate? 0:06:22.340,0:06:23.709 Well, in the early days, the Senate 0:06:23.709,0:06:27.717 was mainly or it was[br]patrician, and over time, 0:06:27.717,0:06:29.899 as plebians start to[br]exert more and more power, 0:06:29.899,0:06:32.394 especially as we go into[br]the mid and later republic, 0:06:32.394,0:06:34.000 Roman republic, you start to have 0:06:34.000,0:06:36.217 more wealthy plebians in the Senate. 0:06:36.217,0:06:39.880 But in general, the Senate is[br]composed of the aristocracy. 0:06:39.880,0:06:44.047 So wealthy and influential[br]men of Rome are in the Senate. 0:06:46.028,0:06:48.661 How are they selected for the Senate? 0:06:48.661,0:06:50.707 Well, in the early days,[br]it was actually the consuls 0:06:50.707,0:06:52.189 who selected the Senators. 0:06:52.189,0:06:54.381 Later on, or shortly thereafter, 0:06:54.381,0:06:56.929 and for most of the[br]republic period of Rome, 0:06:56.929,0:06:59.846 it was a position called the censor 0:07:01.518,0:07:05.685 that decided who got to[br]actually serve in the Senate. 0:07:07.694,0:07:08.894 Now another question you might say 0:07:08.894,0:07:11.203 is well, who's deciding[br]who gets to be a consul, 0:07:11.203,0:07:12.189 who gets to be a censor, 0:07:12.189,0:07:14.730 and there's many other of[br]these executive positions 0:07:14.730,0:07:16.884 that are generally called magistrates, 0:07:16.884,0:07:19.559 and that came from one[br]of the assemblies of 0:07:19.559,0:07:23.726 the Roman republic, in particular,[br]the Centuriate assembly. 0:07:26.460,0:07:28.127 Centuriate assembly, 0:07:30.149,0:07:33.754 which elected consuls,[br]the senior executives, 0:07:33.754,0:07:35.020 the senior magistrates, 0:07:35.020,0:07:38.453 is one way that you could think[br]about it, they elected them. 0:07:38.453,0:07:41.332 And who was in the Centuriate assembly 0:07:41.332,0:07:43.630 and why did they call it[br]the Centuriate assembly? 0:07:43.630,0:07:47.149 Well, it started off as citizen soldiers 0:07:47.149,0:07:51.278 being grouped into groups of[br]100 and on a particular issue, 0:07:51.278,0:07:54.182 including who should be elected consul, 0:07:54.182,0:07:55.555 this group of 100 would vote, 0:07:55.555,0:07:58.430 whatever the majority would[br]be, then their representative 0:07:58.430,0:08:00.314 to the assembly would vote that way. 0:08:00.314,0:08:01.874 So they wouldn't just[br]select a representative 0:08:01.874,0:08:04.516 and that representative[br]could do anything they want. 0:08:04.516,0:08:07.217 They would tell that[br]representative how to vote, 0:08:07.217,0:08:09.096 but that's why it was called[br]a Centuriate assembly, 0:08:09.096,0:08:11.398 because you had these groups of 100. 0:08:11.398,0:08:14.469 And a lot of their power was[br]in electing these consuls 0:08:14.469,0:08:16.523 and these other senior magistrates. 0:08:16.523,0:08:18.599 But that wasn't the only assembly. 0:08:18.599,0:08:21.923 You also had the tribunal assembly. 0:08:21.923,0:08:25.451 This is breaking up the Roman population, 0:08:25.451,0:08:27.951 the Roman citizenry, by tribe. 0:08:29.721,0:08:33.721 And this had both plebians[br]and patricians in it. 0:08:35.446,0:08:37.413 So this is the tribunal assembly. 0:08:37.413,0:08:41.580 You also have the Plebian[br]Council, this was only plebians. 0:08:43.522,0:08:47.120 You also have the Plebian Council. 0:08:47.120,0:08:50.939 And even though, all of these,[br]and they evolved over time. 0:08:50.939,0:08:53.396 Over time, the plebians started[br]to get more and more power, 0:08:53.396,0:08:56.829 the general idea, especially[br]during the Roman republic, 0:08:56.829,0:08:59.493 is that the Senate is[br]where the important debates 0:08:59.493,0:09:02.568 on foreign policy happened,[br]the important debates 0:09:02.568,0:09:05.912 on what Rome should become as a society, 0:09:05.912,0:09:09.495 as a republic, and[br]eventually as an empire.