Hello, and welcome to the history of Rome.

We ended last week with the plebs finally being granted nominal political rights, or at least

defenders within the political arena, with the creation of the Office of Tribune.

This stopped plebian agitation for a while, but as the years passed a new generation came

of age and demanded further protection from the ever-present threat of patrician tyranny.

It was not enough to be protected from an abuse of the law, because, at the time, nobody

knew exactly what the law was.

The legal framework of Rome was a nebulous body of oro and written traditions, with precedence

and sub clauses hiding all over the place, in official decrees, letters, pronouncements,

and, most dangerously, in the minds of old patrician lawyers.

Who was to say a man was being treated unjustly if no one knew exactly what justice was?

This new generation of plebian agitators would ultimately win a great victory for themselves

and the rule of law, giving the Romans a set of written precepts that would be memorized

by every child and recited by every adult, the twelve tables of Roman law.

This official codification of the law occurred around 451 BC, but before we get to that point

in our story, I want to give a brief account of what Rome dealt with in the 40 odd years

between the inception of the Tribune and the creation of the twelve tables.

Internally, Rome was full of tension, but, as I said, for the first 20 years or so, nothing

boiled over too much to disrupt the day-to-day, year-to-year operations of the city.

The consuls and senate still held a lion's share of the power, though they were now

checked somewhat by the tribunes.

The Romans were held together by an unceasing series of wars against their neighbors to

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