Part 9 (1/2)
I do not know, however, that there is any definite evidence as to the exogamy of the Scotch clans, which would have disappeared with their conversion to Christianity. The original Rajput clan may perhaps have lived round the chiefs castle or headquarters and been supported by the produce of his private fief or demesne. The regular Brahman _gotras_ are also few in number, possibly because they were limited by the paucity of eponymous saints of the first rank. The word _gotra_ means a stall or cow-pen, and would thus originally signify those who lived together in one place like a herd of cattle. But the _gotras_ are now exceedingly large, the same ones being found in most or all of the Brahman subcastes, and it is believed that they do not regulate marriage as a rule. Sometimes ordinary surnames have taken the place of clan names, and persons with the same surname consider themselves related and do not marry. But usually Brahmans prohibit marriage between Sapindas or persons related to each other within seven degrees from a common ancestor. The word Sapinda signifies those who partake together of the _pindas_ or funeral cakes offered to the dead. The Sapindas are also a man's heirs in the absence of closer relations; the group of the Sapindas is thus an exact replica within the _gotra_ of the primitive totem clan which was exogamous and const.i.tuted by the tie of living and eating together. Similarly marriage at Rome was prohibited to seven degrees of relations.h.i.+p through males within the _gens_, [178] and this exogamous group of kinsmen appear to have been the body of agnatic kinsmen within the _gens_ who are referred to by Sir H. Maine as a man's ultimate heirs. [179] At Athens, when a contest arose upon a question of inheritance, the proper legal evidence to establish kins.h.i.+p was the proof that the alleged ancestor and the alleged heir observed a common wors.h.i.+p and shared in the same repast in honour of the dead. [180] The distant heirs were thus a group within the Athenian g'enoc corresponding to the Sapindas and bound by the same tie of eating together. Professor Hearn states that there is no certain evidence that the Roman _gens_ and Greek g'enoc were originally exogamous, but we find that of the Roman matrons whose names are known to us none married a husband with her own Gentile name; and further, that Plutarch, in writing of the Romans, says that in former days men did not marry women of their own blood or, as in the preceding sentence he calls them, kinswomen suggen'idac, just as in his own day they did not marry their aunts or sisters; and he adds that it was long before they consented to wed with cousins. [181]
Professor Hearn's opinion was that the Hindu _gotra_, the Roman _gens_ and the Greek g'enoc were originally the same inst.i.tution, the exogamous clan with male descent, and all the evidence available, as well as the close correspondence in other respects of early Hindu inst.i.tutions with those of the Greek and Latin cities would tend to support this view.
75. Comparison of Hindu society with that of Greece and Rome. The _gens_.
In the admirable account of the early const.i.tution of the city-states of Greece and Italy contained in the work of M. Fustel de Coulanges, _La Cite Antique_, a close resemblance may be traced with the main strata of Hindu society given earlier in this essay. The Roman state was composed of a number of _gentes_ or clans, each _gens_ tracing its descent from a common ancestor, whose name it usually bore. The termination of the Gentile name in _ius_ signified descendant, as Claudius, Fabius, and so on. Similarly the names of the Athenian g'enh or clans ended in _ides_ or _ades_, as Butades, Phytalides, which had the same signification. [182] The Gentile or clan name was the _nomen_ or princ.i.p.al name, just as the personal names of the members of the totem-clans were at first connected with the totems. The members of the _gens_ lived together on a section of the city land and cultivated it under the control of the head of the _gens_. The original _ager Roma.n.u.s_ is held to have been 115 square miles or about 74,000 acres, [183] and this was divided up among the clans. The heads of clans originally lived on their estates and went in to Rome for the periodical feasts and other duties. The princ.i.p.al family or eldest branch of the _gens_ in the descent from a common ancestor ranked above the others, and its head held the position of a petty king in the territory of the _gens_. In Greece he was called >'anax or basile'uc. [184] Originally the Roman Senate consisted solely of the heads of _gentes,_ and the consuls, flamens and augurs were also chosen exclusively from them; they were known as _patres_; after the expulsion of the kings, fresh senators were added from the junior branches of the _gentes_, of which there were at this period 160, and these were known as _patres conscripti_ [185]. The distinction between the eldest and junior branches of the _gentes_ may have corresponded to the distinction between the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, though as practically nothing is known of the const.i.tution of the original Kshatriyas, this can only be hypothetical.
76. The clients.
Within the _gens_, and living in the household or households of its members, there existed a body of slaves, and also another cla.s.s of persons called clients. [186] The client was a servant and dependant; he might be a.s.signed a plot of land by his patron, but at first could not transmit it nor hold it against his patron. It is probable that originally he had no right of property of his own, but he gradually acquired it. First he obtained a right of occupancy in his land and of its devolution to his son if he had one. Finally he was given the power of making a will. But he was still obliged to contribute to such expenses of the patron as ransom in war, fines imposed by the courts, or the dowry of a daughter. [187] The client was considered as a member of the family and bore its name. [188] But he was not a proper member of the family or _gens_, because his pedigree never ascended to a _pater_ or the head of a _gens_. [189] It was inc.u.mbent on the patron to protect the client, and guard his interests both in peace and war. The client partic.i.p.ated in the household and Gentile sacrifices and wors.h.i.+pped the G.o.ds of the _gens_. [190] At first the people of Rome consisted of three cla.s.ses, the patricians, the clients and the plebeians. In course of time, as the rights and privileges of the plebeians increased after the appointment of tribunes, their position, from having originally been much inferior, became superior to that of the clients, and the latter preferred to throw off the tie uniting them to their patrons and become merged in the plebeians. In this manner the intermediate cla.s.s of clients at length entirely disappeared. [191]
These clients must not be confused with the subsequent cla.s.s of the same name, who are found during the later period of the republic and the empire, and were the voluntary supporters or hangers-on of rich men. It would appear that these early clients corresponded very closely to the household servants of the Indian cultivators, from whom the village menial castes were developed. The Roman client was sometimes a freed slave, but this would not have made him a member of the family, even in a subordinate position. Apparently the cla.s.s of clients may have to a great extent originated in mixed descent, as the Indian household and village menials probably did. This view would account satisfactorily for the client's position as a member of the family but not a proper one. From the fact that they were considered one of the three princ.i.p.al divisions of the people it is clear that the clients must at one time have been numerous and important.
77. The plebeians.
Below the clients came the plebeians, whose position, as M. Fustel de Coulanges himself points out, corresponded very closely to that of the Sudras. The plebeians had no religion and no ancestors; they did not belong to a family or a _gens_. [192] They were a despised and abject cla.s.s, who lived like beasts outside the proper boundary of the city. The touch of the plebeian was impure. [193]
”When tribunes were created a special law was necessary to protect their life and liberty, and it was promulgated as follows: 'It is forbidden to strike or kill a tribune, as if he was an ordinary plebeian.' It would appear then that a patrician had the right to strike or kill an ordinary plebeian, or at least that he was amenable to no legal punishment for doing so.” [194] Similarly in the ancient Greek cities the citizens were known as >agajo'i or good, and the plebeians as kako'i or bad. This latter cla.s.s is described by the poet Theognis as having had aforetime neither tribunals nor laws; they were not allowed even to enter the town, but lived outside like wild beasts. They had no part in the religious feasts and could not intermarry with the proper citizens. [195]
This position corresponds exactly with that of the Sudras and the existing impure castes, who have to live outside the village and cannot enter or even approach Hindu temples.
M. de Coulanges considers that the plebeians were to a large extent made up of conquered and subjected peoples. An asylum was also established at Rome for broken men and outlaws from other cities, with a view to increasing the population and strength of the state. Subsequently the cla.s.s of clients became absorbed among the plebeians.
78. The binding social tie in the city-states.
Thus the gradation of society in the city-states of Greece and Italy, the account given above being typical of them all, is seen to correspond fairly closely with that of the Hindus, as exemplified in the Hindu cla.s.sics and the microcosm of Hindu society, the village community. It is desirable, therefore, to inquire what was the tie which united the members of the _gens_, the _curia_ or _phratry_, and the city, and which distinguished the patricians from the plebeians. On this point M. Fustel de Coulanges leaves us in no doubt at all. The bond of union among all these bodies was a common sacrifice or sacrificial meal, at which all the members had to be present. ”The princ.i.p.al ceremony of the religion of the household was a meal, which was called a sacrifice. To eat a meal prepared on an altar was, according to all appearance, the first form of religious wors.h.i.+p.” [196] ”The princ.i.p.al ceremony of the religion of the city was also a public feast; it had to be partaken of communally by all the citizens in honour of the tutelary deities. The custom of holding these public feasts was universal in Greece; and it was believed that the safety of the city depended on their accomplishment.” [197]
M. de Coulanges quotes from the _Odyssey_ an account of one of these sacred feasts at which nine long tables were set out for the people of Pylos; five hundred citizens were seated and nine bulls were slaughtered for each table. When Orestes arrived at Athens after the murder of his mother, he found the people, a.s.sembled round their king, about to hold the sacred feast. Similar feasts were held and numerous victims were slaughtered in Xenophon's time. [198] At these meals the guests were crowned with garlands and the vessels were of a special form and material, such as copper or earthenware, no doubt dating from the antique past. [199] As regards the importance and necessity of being present at the Gentile sacrificial feast, the same author states: ”The Capitol was blockaded by the Gauls; but Fabius left it and pa.s.sed through the hostile lines, clad in religious garb, and carrying in his hand the sacred objects; he was going to offer a sacrifice on the altar of his _gens_ which was situated on the Quirinal. In the second Punic war another Fabius, he who was called the buckler of Rome, was holding Hannibal in check; it was a.s.suredly of the greatest importance to the Republic that he should not leave his army; he left it, however, in the hands of the imprudent Minucius; it was because the anniversary day of the sacrifice of his _gens_ had come and it was necessary that he should hasten to Rome to perform the sacred rite.” In Greece the members of the _gens_ were known by the fact that they performed communal sacrifices together from a remote period. [200] As already seen, a communal sacrifice meant the eating together of the sacred food, whether the flesh of a victim or grain.
79. The Suovetaurilia.
The Roman city sacrifice of the Suovetaurilia, as described by M. de Coulanges, is of the greatest interest. The magistrate whose duty it was to accomplish it, that is in the first place the king, after him the consul, and after him the censor, had first to take the auspices and ascertain that the G.o.ds were favourable. Then he summoned the people through a herald by a consecrated form of words. On the appointed day all the citizens a.s.sembled outside the walls; and while they stood silent the magistrate proceeded three times round the a.s.sembly, driving before him three victims--a pig, a ram and a bull. The combination of these three victims const.i.tuted with the Greeks as well as the Romans an expiatory sacrifice. Priests and attendants followed the procession: when the third round had been accomplished, the magistrate p.r.o.nounced a prayer and slaughtered the victims. From this moment all sins were expiated, and neglect of religious duties effaced, and the city was at peace with its G.o.ds.
There were two essential features of this ceremony: the first, that no stranger should be present at it; and the second, that no citizen should be absent from it. In the latter case the whole city might not have been freed from impurity. The Suovetaurilia was therefore preceded by a census, which was conducted with the greatest care both at Rome and Athens. The citizen who was not enrolled and was not present at the sacrifice could no longer be a member of the city. He could be beaten and sold as a slave, this rule being relaxed only in the last two centuries of the Republic. Only male citizens were present at the sacrifice, but they gave a list of their families and belongings to the censor, and these were considered to be purified through the head of the family. [201]