72Chapter 4
in a dozen ways and affect its implementation by the
magistrates when it passed.
The power of such networks was augmented by
their tendency to combine within the Senate. There
were no political parties as such, but the senators
grouped themselves into factions or cliques associated
with five great historic clans—the Fabii, Claudii, Cor-
nelii, Aemelii, and the Valerii. At this level, cohesion
was maintained in large part through friendship or
agreement on policy. Able men of relatively humble
parentage might also attach themselves to a senatorial
clan and be carried by this informal sort of clientage to
the highest levels of the state. In many ways, the orga-
nization of senatorial cliques mirrored that of society as
a whole.
Factions of this sort could wield enormous power at
every level of society. When they could agree on a pol-
icy, which was not unusual because they all came from
the same social and economic group, their combined
influence was overwhelming. The Senate’s constitu-
tional role as a mere advisory body was therefore an
illusion. By controlling the informal mechanisms
through which business was done, the Senate remained
the heart of the Roman state.The Wars with Carthage
The new constitutional order was put to the test in less
than a generation. In 264 B.C. Rome embarked upon a
mortal struggle with Carthage that threatened its exis-
tence and ended only after more than a century of bit-
ter conflict (see document 4.6). The former Phoenician
colony had become the dominant naval power in the
western Mediterranean. Like their ancestors, the
Carthaginians were great merchants and colonizers, but
unlike them, they gradually assumed direct control of
the colonies they had planted in western Sicily, Spain,
Sardinia, Corsica, and the Balearic islands. Theirs was a
true empire, financed by trade with three continents
and defended by a magnificent fleet. Because Rome was
still an agrarian state with few commercial interests, the
Carthaginians did not regard it as a threat. For centuries
the two powers had enjoyed a cordial if somewhat dis-
tant relationship.
The conflict known as the First Punic War (punicis
the adjectival form of the Roman word for Phoenician)
started in Sicily. A nest of pirates and mercenaries, the
Mamertines, had established themselves at MessanaDOCUMENT 4.5
The Roman Constitution
Polybius (c. 200–c. 118 B.C.) was a Greek who wrote the
history of Rome’s wars with Carthage and Macedon. He was
also fascinated by the Roman system of government. The fol-
lowing is an excerpt from The Historicsdescribing it as a
mixed constitution with monarchic, aristocratic, and democ-
ratic elements.The consuls, before leading out the legions, re-
main in Rome and are supreme masters of the ad-
ministration. All other magistrates, except the
Tribunes, are under them and take their orders.
They introduce foreign ambassadors to the Senate;
bring matters requiring deliberation before it; and
see to the execution of its decrees. If, again, there
are any matters of state which require the autho-
rization of the people, it is their business to see to
them, to summon the popular meetings, to bring
the proposals before them, and to carry out the de-
crees of the majority....
The Senate has control of the treasury and
regulates receipts and disbursements alike....
Similarly, all crimes committed in Italy requiring a
public investigation such as treason, conspiracy,
poisoning, or willful murder, are in the hands of
the Senate. Besides, if any individual or state
among the Italian allies requires a controversy to
be settled, a penalty to be assessed, help or protec-
tion to be afforded,—all this is the province of the
Senate. Or again, outside Italy, if it is necessary to
send an embassy to reconcile warring communi-
ties, or to remind them of their duty, or sometimes
to impose requisitions upon them, or to receive
their submission, or finally to proclaim war upon
them, this too is the business of the Senate.
After this, one would naturally be inclined to
ask what part is left for the people.... Again, it is
the people who bestow offices upon the deserving,
which are the most honorable rewards of virtue. It
also has the absolute power of passing laws; and,
most important of all, it is the people who deliber-
ate on the question of peace and war.
Polybius. “The Histories.” In The Histories of Polybius,vol. 1,
trans. Evelyn S. Shuckburgh. London: Macmillan, 1889.