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Tarquinius Superbus |
Playing safe
Servius Tullius was the sixth of the Roman kings. At first he had his own daughters married to the two sons of
Tarquinius, in the hope to prevent a similar fate as Tarquinius.
He reinforced his position by winning a war against Veii and bringing
home a lot of spoils.
The census
Next he instituted a tax system
called census. Every man had to have his properties taxed by one of the
two censors. Depending on their estimated property people were divided
into classes.
Based on these classes their place in the Roman army was also
determined.
Centuries of the first class
Who owned more than 100,000 asses was to serve in one of the eighty
centuries of the first class.
40 centuries held seniors (46-60yrs) and 40 juniors (17-45yrs).
They had to bring their own armament: helmet,round shield, greaves, a
coat of mail, a spear and a sword.
Two centuries of unarmed carpenters, who were to work the engines of
wars, were added to the first class.
Second class
Similar twenty centuries of the second class were enrolled with men who owned between 75,000 and 100,000 asses. They
a to bring the same equipment without the chain mail and a buckler
instead of a shield.
Third class
Identical were formed twenty centuries of the third class for those who owned at
least 50,000 asses. The equipment was equal to the second class.
Fourth class
Who owned at least 25,000 asses was divided into one of the 25
centuries of the fourth class.
Their armament consisted of a spear and
a short javelin.
Fifth class
The fifth class consisted
of 27 + 3 centuries for supernumeraries , horn blowers and
trumpeters. They were armed with slings and stones.
One had to own a property worth 11.000+ to be divided in one of these
centuries.
ProletariansEveryone who owned less, was exempted from military services and was divided into one single century.
Cavalry
The cavalry was expanded to 18
centuries en enrolled with high ranking men. The horses were paid for
by the state and a group of widows had to pay for the maintenance of
the horses.
Stone wallHe expanded the city and is said to have built the stone wall around Rome, though the remains of thewall arer of later date
Regicide
After several years the Tarquinius' son incited by his wife, Servius'
daughter, murdered Servius and seized power. He would become
the seventh king of Rome: Tarquinius
Superbus