Gaius Terentilius Harsa

Gaius Terentilius Harsa or Arsa[lower-alpha 1] was a Tribune of the Plebs of the Roman Republic in 462 BC.

Life

Terentilius agitated for a formal code of laws in the early days of the Roman Republic. He took advantage of the fact that the consuls were away on a campaign against the Volsci to pressure the Roman Senate, controlled by patricians, for the code.

The patricians made a show of making peace with Terentilius, but in fact had no intention of codifying the laws at his request. The later Florentine writer Niccolò Machiavelli commented that this was similar to the Florentine 'Ten of War' that was eventually reinstated once the people realized it was the excessive abuse of authority that was despised, not the title or function of the office itself.[2]

The story of Terentilius comes to us from one source, Book III of Livy's History.

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See also

Notes
  1. His name appears as Terentius in Dionysius.[1]

References

Citations
  1. Arnold, Thomas (1838), History of Rome, p. 227.
  2. Machiavelli, The Discourses, translated by Walker and Richardson, 209.

Bibliography


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