Servius Tullius
historical figure · 2 works · 4 mentions · 6 anchored passages
Servius · Tullius · the Servian census/classes
in the texts
On the Commonwealth
Sixth king of Rome, of servile birth, who devised the centuriate assembly balancing wealth and voting power
"For after him Servius Tullius is reported first to have reigned without the command of the people;
But when Tarquinius had perished by the treachery of the sons of Ancus, and Servius, as I said before, had begun to reign not by command but by the will and concession of the citizens—because, when Tarquinius lay sick of his wound and was falsely said to be alive, Servius, having administered justice in the royal array, and freed debtors with his own money, and showing great courtesy, made it appe …
Then, separating a great number of knights from the whole sum of the people, he distributed the remaining people into five classes, and divided the elder from the younger, and so arranged them that the votes should be in the power not of the multitude, but of the wealthy;
Institutes of Roman Law
Roman king associated with a great epoch of legal and social reform, particularly concerning plebeian rights to hold and transfer property.
This change must have preceded or accompanied the great epoch of reform which is associated with the name of Servius Tullius.
If we believe that the Servian census was intended to create liability to service for Plebeians.
This seems shown by the continuance of the use of the word assidui for the members of the Servian Classes.