History Forum / General / General Topics / March 2004

No, but there was a ban on carrying weapons inside the city walls in
peactime. Walking around under the protection of arms - the bodyguard of
lictors with the fasces and the axe - was the privilege of public officers,
first the (etruscan) kings, then the consuls etc. AFAIK the carrying of
weapons inside the city in peacetime was also not customary (I don't know if
it was unlawful) in greek Athens; or else to permit Peisistratos to have a
bodyguard of 80 men with clubs would not have been so remarkable.

They either served in the legions or as auxiliaries. I know of no "disarmed"
peoples under roman rule. Maybe there were, though.

Such a ban was upheld also under republican periods. It was not a result of
dictatorship, but of pride in the rule of law rather than the rule of
violence in the life of a city state. Perhaps something to be learned from
the ancients.

T