Servius was one of Rome’s last kings before the formation of the Roman Republic, and he ruled from 575 to 535 BCE. He famously did away with the existing class system in Rome, which was based on tribal affiliations, and instead divided the Roman people into different classes based on wealth. He also redesigned the comitia system in parallel with these new class distinctions, giving the most power (and military responsibility) to the wealthy and the least to the poor. In Book IV, Rousseau argues that Servius’s system was effective, if imperfect, and that it laid the foundation for popular sovereignty to emerge in Rome.
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Servius Character Timeline in The Social Contract
The timeline below shows where the character Servius appears in The Social Contract. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 4, Chapter 4: The Roman Comitia
...Republic was the Roman army, which was divided into “tribes” and other subgroups. The king Servius reorganized these tribes to prevent “future inequality,” and because the Romans honored rural people and...
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Servius re-divided Rome into six classes, based on wealth. The wealthiest, least populous classes got the...
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...against the Senate, but it also let wealthy patricians pay “clients” to persuade the people. Servius replaced this with a comitia based on his class system, which meant that the single...
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