Julius Caesar and the foundation of the Roman imperial system . citizenship to the Italians, the true interestsof the mass of the governed were in the minds ofthe more thoughtful of the leaders of this party,and guided their policy steadily in one direction, inspite of checks and back-currents. When Caesar was growing towards manhood, andbeginning to understand politics, under the influence,as we may suppose, of his hero Marius, a new ques-tion arose in which the convictions of both parties, notunadulterated by personal aims, came into such vio-lent collision that civil war at once broke out a
Julius Caesar and the foundation of the Roman imperial system . citizenship to the Italians, the true interestsof the mass of the governed were in the minds ofthe more thoughtful of the leaders of this party,and guided their policy steadily in one direction, inspite of checks and back-currents. When Caesar was growing towards manhood, andbeginning to understand politics, under the influence,as we may suppose, of his hero Marius, a new ques-tion arose in which the convictions of both parties, notunadulterated by personal aims, came into such vio-lent collision that civil war at once broke out afresh. The two parties, forced into a temporary unionby the death-struggle of the Social war, had, as wesaw, combined to bestow the full citizenship uponall Italians who chose to claim it within sixty daysof the passing of the bill. But the Senate had beenstrong enough to introduce a provision which greatlymodified the practical effect of this resolution. Allnew citizens were to be enrolled, not in the thirty-five tribes into which the whole Roman population. < o O 13 82 ] Boyhood during the Civil Wars. 2 J was divided, but in eight new tribes ; and as allquestions were decided, not by a majority of thewhole citizens, but by a majority of tribe-votes, theirinfluence both in legislation and in elections wouldbe comparatively small. | It was an insult to menwho had fought so splendidly for the coveted privi-lege, and who had been for generations servingbravely in the Roman armies, to deal with them inthis niggardly spirit; and in 88 the Marian partyput up Sulpicius, a tribune of extraordinary elo-quence, to propose the abolition of the new eighttribes, and the distribution of the new citizens in theold thirty-five. The result of this, and of a simulta-neous proposal to give Marius the command againstMithridates, was that the aristocratic consul Sullamarched on Rome with his army and broke thepower of the Populares at a single blow. Sulpiciuswas murdered, Marius fled i
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, booksubjectcaesarjulius, booksubjectgenerals
