Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current, 1940-03-20
CHAPTER Is

We are all of us familiar with
the expression The Roman Repub-
lie There was indeed, for a few
centuries. something which wa, call
ed . res publICa Il commonwealth
Of Rome but 1t only flnctiOncd
more or less successfully. rs long a.
Rome va small village. hundreds
Of miles removed from the enter
0t cIvIlIzatIOn
And II ceased to function as such
thu moment IT had grown import
al enough to assume the leader
IMP over all the people OF central
ItalY. Then 1t atIll retained the name
81 4 Republic but the government
had become monopoly Of hand
ill Of rich families. and the senate
II which the repre- 5entatiyeS of these
clans met wa not IN any way re-
'ponSblc to the mass Of the COM
mon people.
As for those common people. their
rame shoWs what their Wcll-to-do
neighbor5 thought Of them. They
We're called the prolotariat.
TIL" Latin word probes means Off
eprlng. The proletariat therefore
were those who, owning no property
Of their own. were only of value
IA the tate on account of their pro-
hfic OffSDrlnE-On account of the
rumb"r Of children they produced
to provide the real rulers of the
cltY with an ample supply of cam
non fodder.
W. usually think Of Rome as a
cltv Of magnificent palace and
temple and public edficeS, which
even in their ruined state impress
the visitor with the grandeur of the
tnlv Clty that could ever really call
Itself the worlds capital
But during the heydaY Of its glory,
when Rome had over million in
habtants II was very much Ink"
a modern American city. A few
noble streets IN the midst of end
Joss Slums and allcyWays lined BY all
,ortS of nOndcScript and ramShacklc
buildings. reserved for the pro-
!ctarlat" and just as in our modern
towns when there was not any room
left for the rapidly increasing num-
bers Of the unWantcd multltudc5.
the houses began to shoot up in the
ar and interruptions contractors
erected shOddv tenement houses. six
and even stories high, to take care
OF the ever increasing masses OF
supcrfluOuS humanity.
The old Rome had been essen
tlally a peasant state and her wars
had been fought by sturdy boys from
the farms. who being injured
against every sort of physical hard
dap lad easily been able to over
como the difficulties of their end
less campaigns amidst the trackleeS
iungloS of northern Europe and
aero IS the ScorchIn2 deserts of Af-
rICa.
But the children of the profess
sIonal proletarlat brought up on
the dole lacked all the physical
qualities necessary for that sort of
pioneering and IN the end Rome
had gon" to pieces for lack of suit
able recruits.
Her rulers had thereupOn been
Obliged to hire mcrCcnaricS from
among tnDSe WHO ItntDnlC iflDrS
who until then had nc""r been al
lowed to set foot on Roman terri
tory
And those hIrclingS. as soon as
they had lost their awe before the
very name Of "UncOnqucrablr Rome"
and had ."ngrd the inherent weak
ncea OF tho government which en-
plpycd them had quite naturally re-
iusrd 10 b" trratrd any longer as
subject race" and had INSISTED
that th"y be- recognized a. lull-
il"dGcd CItIZCnS
That account for the ClHm II
St raIl that aS Il Roman citizen
hc bad Il right to bring his ease
arinrr a Roman tribunal.
Many people, if ever they give the
matter Il arCund thought. wonder
Low Il jewish tentmakrr from the
hsatIC city of TarSuS could possibly
claIm Roman citizenship.
II was really very simple Either
lie himself or his father had bought
thai cItIzrn1hlp, as hundreds OF
Thousands Of other foreigners had
doGc on account Of the privileges
~ which II entitled them after they
Lad acquired their paper.
And in this way, thC Roman Re-