but oligarchal and
aristocratic in reality, two hundred and forty-five years after the
foundation of the city, B.C. 510. Historical criticism throws doubt on the
chronology which assigns two hundred and forty-five years to seven
elective kings, and some critics think that a longer period elapsed from
the reign of Romulus to that of Tarquin than legend narrates, and that
there must have been a great number of kings whose names are unknown. As
the city advanced in wealth and numbers, the popular influence increased.
The admission of commons favored the establishment of despotism, and its
excesses led to its overthrow. It would have been better for the commons
had Brutus established a monarchy with more limited powers, for the
plebeians were now subjected to the tyranny of a proud and grasping
oligarchy, and lost a powerful protector in the king, and the whole
internal history of Rome, for nearly two centuries, were the conflicts
between the plebeians and their aristocratic masters for the privileges
they were said to possess under the reign of Tullius. Under the patricians
the growth of the city was slow, and it was not till the voices of the
tribunes were heard that Rome advanced in civilization and liberty. Under
the kings, the progress in arts and culture had been rapid.

(M781) Mommsen, in his learned and profound history of Rome, enumerates
the various forms of civilization that existed on the expulsion of the
Tarquins, a summary of which I present. Law and justice were already
enforced on some of the elemental principles which marked the Roman
jurisprudence. The punishment of offenses against order was severe, and
compensation for crime, where injuries to person and property were slight,
was somewhat similar to the penalties of the Mosaic code. The idea of
property was associated with estate in slaves and cattle, and all property
passed freely from hand to hand; but it was not in the power of the father
arbitrarily to deprive his children of their hereditary rights. Contracts
between the State and a citizen were valid without formalities, but those
between private persons were difficult to be enforced. A purchase only
founded an action in the event of its being a transaction for ready money,
and this was attested by witnesses. Protection was afforded to minors and
for the estate of persons not capable of bearing arms. After a man's
death, his property descended to his nearest heirs. The emancipation of
slaves was dif