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chapter six Convergence: The City of Rome h toward the end of the civil war of the 80s, a tribune revealed the secret name of Rome. Soon thereafter the tribune died, to the satisfaction of his contemporaries , expiating his transgression with death. The episode draws attention to the importance of the many unspoken associations and attachments that Rome held for her people. This sometimes mystical respect for Rome probably explains much of the power and functioning of the Romans’ most fundamental institutions, whose integrity was inextricably bound up with an intense focus on Rome. Citizens throughout Italy looked to Rome for the central events of community life. Statewide religious ritual, civic performances, and decisions affecting the entire state transpired chiefly in Rome. Among these was the passage of laws in public lawmaking assemblies. The fate of the loquacious tribune suggests that the image of Rome shared by many Romans went far beyond what can be explained by any general discussion of changing patterns of economic, ritual, social, and political life of the city. Nevertheless such a discussion does provide, in however overly simplified a manner, an appreciation of the importance of the structure and function of the city to a Roman population totaling in the millions, by 50, and the central role it played in the strength of Roman institutions. The legitimacy of all Roman institutions, particularly public lawmaking assemblies, is related to the degree to which they were embedded 239 in the life of the city of Rome. An understanding of the manner in which Rome functioned within the Roman system and the attractions of Rome to Romans, Italians, and foreigners is essential to any effort at understanding the vital role of public lawmaking assemblies in that same system.1 The patterns of economic, social, and religious life in the city of Rome during the fourth century, as the Romans begin the process of expanding throughout Italy, form my starting point in this chapter. The unique conditions of Roman expansion, in place by the third century, and the developing attractions of the city of Rome produced a city population that ebbed and flowed with the movement of citizens and foreigners. At this time the city’s chief attraction was its role as the hub of an imperial system of religion, administration, and justice. In the second and first centuries, the special attractions of Rome combined with the breakdown in traditional ties and access to resources to produce permanent and nonpermanent migration to Rome. The result was a city whose population was at least three times larger than the total population of the next largest city in the ancient Mediterranean basin. The role that public lawmaking played in the growth of Rome concludes my examination. rome, ca. 300 Boasting walls unmatched by any fortifications in Italy at the time, Rome in 300 was well on the way to becoming an urban center on a unique scale. Living and working within the walls was a large and cosmopolitan population. Romans and Latins dwelled cheek-by-jowl with slaves, drawn at this point mostly from defeated neighbors, and with indeterminate numbers of other Italians, attracted willingly to the city. The diversity of this population was increased further by the immigration of people from outside Italy. The topography of Rome’s neighborhoods (vici) and archaeology confirm the extent of foreign habitation.2 The vicus Tuscus , “Etruscan Way,” a street running between the Forum and the Circus Maximus , was home to Etruscans at an early date (fifth century).3 The presence of a shrine to Carna on the Caelian hill supports Etruscan settlement here, too.4 Greeks may have lived on vicus Sandalarius, “Sandal Makers’ Row,” and Carthaginians in several locations.5 To some extent Rome’s diverse population reflects the customary movement among regions and towns in Italy, particularly that between Etruria and Latium. It is also clear, however, that the high visibility of resident foreigners, in particular Carthaginians and Greeks, reflects the city’s extensive trading connections both within and outside Italy. Indeed, Rome’s primary attraction at this time was its function as the hub of a wheel of trade and movement in all directions.6 The Tiber River and the 240 the laws of the roman people wide plains of southern Etruria and Latium provided the chief means of access from the sea to the mountainous interior of Italy and from north to south. Although Rome was not a seaport, her location on the Tiber made her the most important...

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