These rogations were a great gain for the poorer classes. It gave them an opportunity for labor which had previously been performed mostly by slaves. They were less burdened by debts, and had some prospect of becoming solvent. But most of all, since the office of Consul was open to them, they felt that their interests were now more likely to be protected. The temple of CONCORDIA in the Forum was dedicated by Camillus as a mark of gratitude for the better times that these rogations promised.
The plebeians, however, did not stop until all the offices, except that of Interrex, were thrown open to them. First they gained that of Dictator, then those of Censor and of Praetor, and finally, in 286, by the law of HORTENSIUS, the plebiscita became binding upon all the people without the sanction of the Senate and Comitia Centuriáta. After 200 the sacred offices of PONTIFEX and AUGUR also could be filled by plebeians.
Thus the strife that had lasted for two centuries was virtually ended; and although the Roman patricians still held aloof from the commons, yet their rights as citizens were no greater than those of the plebeians.
To recapitulate:—
Full citizenship comprised four rights, viz.: that of trading and holding property (COMMERCIUM); that of voting (SUFFRAGIUM); that of intermarriage (CONNUBIUM); and that of holding office (HONORES).
The first of these rights the plebeians always enjoyed; the second they obtained in the establishment of the COMITIA TRIBÚTA; the third by the CANULEIAN BILL; the fourth by the LICINIAN and subsequent bills.
CHAPTER IX. EXTERNAL HISTORY.
The first authentic history of Rome begins about 400. The city then possessed, possibly, three hundred square miles of territory. The number of tribes had been increased to twenty-five. Later it became thirty-five.
In 391 a horde of Celtic barbarians crossed the Apennines into Etruria and attacked CLUSIUM. Here a Celtic chief was slain by Roman ambassadors, who, contrary to the sacred character of their mission, were fighting in the ranks of the Etrurians. The Celts, in revenge, marched upon Rome. The disastrous battle of the ALLIA, a small river about eleven miles north of the city, was fought on July 18, 390. The Romans were thoroughly defeated and their city lay at the mercy of the foe. The Celts, however, delayed three days before marching upon Rome. Thus the people had time to prepare the Capitol for a siege, which lasted seven months, when by a large sum of money the barbarians were induced to withdraw.