When ninety-seven centuries-a majority of the whole number had declared for one side, and had thus secured a majority to it, the count was closed and thus the public could not learn officially the opinion of those groups which had not yet recorded their votes. No report was made of the number of persons voting for either side in any century; and there was no legalized method of ascertaining the opinion of the majority of the people.

The system of Roman timocratic groups was the most unequal method of taking a vote of all freemen ever adopted by a great nation. And, at first, the action of the centuries was not final in any part of the governmental business. The war or peace authorized by them could not officially be declared without a subsequent order of the senate. The bill prepared for and submitted to them, after approval by them, went back to the senate for final enactment. The consul elected by them could not take his office until he was installed by order of the clan assembly, though this installation was never denied and soon became an empty formality.

The centuriate assembly could not be called together for any purpose save that of voting, nor could they assemble at the call of any person save the presiding magistrate, nor when assembled could they be addressed by any person except him or some person appointed by him; and the exceptions were rare. The vote on a bill or on a proposition of war, peace, alliance, or law, was called a ‘questioning," or rogation, to which the people were requested to make a simple reply of "aye" or "no," without the privilege of discussing, amending, offering a substitute, or laying over for further consideration.

The place for the meeting of the centuriate assembly was not in a building within the city, but in the open air

outside of the walls on the parade ground; and there the vote of each group was counted in a pen bounded usually by stakes and ropes. Until the close of the war with Hannibal, the votes were given by voice, but a few years later the ballot was introduced.

Besides the assemblies of the people for the purpose of voting on the propositions of the senate, there were also meetings (conciones) called by the magistrates on other days for the purpose of discussing measures to be submitted to vote. On such occasions the magistrate who issued the call presided and designated the speakers. The main reason why the discussion was on one day and the decision on another was that the counting of votes was a tedious process; and it occasionally required a whole day. Those who heard the argument were often only a small proportion of those who rendered the decision.

SEC. 430. Roman Army.-Her military system was an important part of the constitution of Rome. She was pre-eminently a conquering state, nay, the conquering state. During the first four centuries of her republican government, all her leading citizens were soldiers, who had each served in as many as fifteen campaigns. Her army was the school in which her young men were trained for political life. The city was a permanent camp. Ten years of military service were generally considered indispensable to qualify a man for the lowest magistracy.

The maintenance of an efficient army was one of the chief purposes of the state. Every freeman between the ages of seventeen and sixty was subject to military duty; but until the decline of the republic, men without property were not enrolled as regular soldiers. The man of suitable age, and able to provide himself with arms, was

assigned to a squad, company, and legion, was required to attend regular drills, and might be ordered into the field at an hour's notice. Those soldiers between the ages of forty-five and sixty, called seniors, were reserved for duty near home, or in garrisons, unless, as many did, they demanded permission to participate in campaigns. Men more than sixty years of age, those who had served in twenty campaigns, state officials, priests, army contractors, and members of certain colonies, could claim exemption from military duty.'

The main original features of the military system of the Romans were the combination of the javelin and sword for offense, the large size of the regiment (or legion), the fortification of the camp every night, and the establishment of strongly fortified military colonies in conquered territory. Their defensive armor did not differ in any notable respect from that of the Greeks, and, therefore, requires no description here. Instead of a Greek spear, from seven to ten feet long, or a Macedonian spear, twenty feet long, to be kept in the hand during the charge, the Roman soldier had two javelins, six feet long, to be thrown from a distance not exceeding twenty steps, and when he closed with the enemy, his only weapon was a short, heavy sword, two feet long, including the hilt, and about two and a half inches wide, with cutting edges. The soldier was taught to rely chiefly on the point of the sword for execution; and dependence upon it taught him to seek the closest contact with the enemy, and, after a little experience, gave him that confidence which is the greatest aid to victory. Since the introduction of long-range firearms into armies, the sword and shield have lost all their value, and drill has decreased greatly in importance. In their arms the Romans were

superior to all other ancient nations; in their tactics they were superior to all except the Spartans.

The javelin, or pilum, as the Roman called it, had a wooden shaft an inch and a half thick, and an iron head, the whole weighing about two pounds and a half. The point was soft, so that if it struck hard metallic armor it would bend and thus be unfit to be thrown back. In many cases the javelin was cast to fasten it in the wooden shield, which was thus loaded down so that it became unserviceable. The enemy, unable to draw out the javelin in the midst of the battle, and unwilling to fight without his shield, usually fled. For the purpose of using the javelin advantageously the ranks were open. The first rank having thrown their missiles stepped back to let the second rank deliver their fire, and then the third; and finally, drawing their swords and closing their ranks, they rushed upon the foe. By no other army well known to us was the javelin used with so much efficiency as by that of Rome."

SEC. 431. The Legion.-The legion, or regiment, in early times comprised four thousand two hundred, and in the late republic, six thousand men. These were divided into ten cohorts, each of which had three companies; and a company was divided into two half companies, each commanded by its captain or centurion. The legion had sixty captains, of whom no two held the same rank. Every cohort, each company, and each half company was numbered, and the centurion in the first half company, in the first company in the first cohort, outranked all the other centurions in his legion. He had served in all the inferior captaincies of his legion, and was a member of the military council. Usually, in historical times, at least, the centurions were plebeians, and did not expect to ob

tain any higher command. They were appointed by the consul or general. The regimental staff of the legion consisted of six military tribunes, who were usually selected from nobles who had served in the ranks through at least five campaigns. In the early republic they were appointed by the consuls; in later times some were elected by the people and others appointed.

The Roman legion had what may be called a regimental organization, but was much larger than any other regiment known to us, except the Macedonian phalanx. Its number implied a considerable population and a policy of conquest. It included some cavalry and in this respect resembled a modern army corps more than a regiment, but in most of its features it was the equivalent of the latter body.

There were various changes in the arms of the legions, but their history is not well known. Until the time of Marius, who gave javelins to every man, one-third of the men in each legion carried spears eight feet long. According to Sallust, Cæsar, who is the best of authorities, said the Romans copied the arms of the Samnites; whereas another report says they adopted the Spanish sword in the second Punic War.

Great importance was attached to the encampment. An engineer, sent in advance, selected the site and marked off the lines of the walls, streets, and lots. An established system fixed the relative positions of the headquarters of every legion, every company, and every half company, of the camp followers, artillery, pack animals, and baggage. The same system prescribed the duties of every man when going into, and when leaving, camp, and for many of these duties well-known signals were given by trumpet.