449-443 BC

Overview

The period between the codification of the Twelve Tables, the passage of the Lex Valeria Horatia and the Lex Canulaeia and the creation of the office of Censor introduced several significant changes into Roman government:

  • It desacralized (took the law out of the exclusive realm of religion, the sacred) customary law and made knowledge of it available to all citizens
  • It placed written records of Senate and Assembly (laws, decrees and resolutions) into an archive that was managed by Aediles
  • It guaranteed the equal rights of Plebeians and Patricians under the law
  • It saw the passage of laws that preserved the citizen’s right of appeal from all capital judgements by a Roman magistrate
  • It put into place mechanisms and offices (Quaestors, Censors) that smoothed the functioning of the republican machinery of state; military pay, management of the citizen rolls
  • It saw something unique; the repeal of the ban on Plebeian-Patrician marriage
  1. The Second Plebeian Secession

  2. Lex Valeria Horatia Passed

  3. Office of Quaestor Created

  4. Aediles Tasked with Keeping of the State Archives

  5. Lex Canulaeia Passed: Allows Plebs and Patricians to Marry

  6. Office of Censor Created