Skepticism and Stoicism. Although the formalities of religion in so far as they concerned public life were still scrupulously observed, there was an ever increasing skepticism with regard to the existence and power of the gods of the Graeco-Roman mythology. This was especially true of the educated classes, who were influenced to a certain extent by the rationalism of Euhemerus, whose work on the origin of the gods had been translated by Ennius, but much more by the pantheism of the Stoic philosophy. The Stoic doctrines, with their practical ethical prescriptions, made a strong appeal to the Roman character and found an able expositor in Panaetius of Rhodes who taught under the patronage of Scipio Aemilianus.
Public festivals. Of great importance in the life of the city were the annual public festivals or games, of which six came to be regularly celebrated by the middle of the second century, each lasting for several days. Five of these were celebrated by the aediles, one by the city praetor. A fixed sum was allotted by the state to defray the expenses of these exhibits, but custom required that this must be largely supplemented from the private purse of the person in charge. In this way the aedileship afforded an excellent opportunity to win public favor by an exhibition of generosity. To the original horse and chariot races there came to be added scenic productions, wild beast hunts, and gladiatorial combats, in imitation of those exhibited by private persons. The first private exhibition of gladiators was given at a funeral in 264 B. C., and the first wild beast hunt in 186 B. C. These types of exhibitions soon became the most popular of all and exercised a brutalizing effect upon the spectators.
The city Rome. The growth of Rome in population and wealth brought about a corresponding change in the appearance of the city. Tenement houses of several stories and high rentals reflected the [pg 124]influx into the capital. Public buildings began to be erected on a large scale. The Circus Flaminius dates from the end of the third century, and several basilicas or large public halls, suitable as places for transacting business or conducting judicial hearings, were erected by 169 B. C. A new stone bridge was built across the Tiber, a quay to facilitate the unloading of ships was constructed on the bank of the river, a third aqueduct brought into the city, and stone paving laid on many streets. Many temples were erected, adorned with votive offerings, mainly spoils of war from Greek cities. But no native art or architecture arose that was worthy of the imperial position of Rome.
CHAPTER XII
THE STRUGGLE OF THE OPTIMATES AND THE POPULARES: 133–78 B. C.
Civil war and imperial expansion. The century which began with the year 133 B. C. is characterized by a condition of perpetual factional strife within the Roman state; strife which frequently blazed forth into civil war and which culminated in the fall of the republican system of government.
The question at issue was the right of the Senate to direct the policy of Rome, and this right was challenged by the tribunate and the Assembly of Tribes, by the equestrian order, and by the great military leaders who appeared in the course of civil and foreign wars.
For in spite of these unceasing internal disorders this century marks an imperial expansion which rivalled that of the era of the Punic and Macedonian Wars. In Gaul the Roman sway was extended to the Rhine and the Ocean; in the east practically the whole peninsula of Asia Minor, as well as Syria and Egypt, was incorporated in the Empire. With the exception of Mauretania (i. e. modern Morocco, which was really a Roman dependency) the Roman provinces completely encircled the Mediterranean.