Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

Political Power in Mid-Republican Rome 

anycitizen,includingapatricianmagistrateexercisingmilitaryorpolitical
functions?Ifso,thatmightindeedexplainwhy,verysoonafter,itwastothe
tribuneoftheplebs,Aelius,thatthepeopleofThuriipubliclyerectedastatue
inRome;PlinytheElder(NH,),inreportingthis,seemstoimply,but
doesnotexplicitlystate,thatthiswasthefirststatueinRometobevotedbya
foreigncommunity.TheydidsobecauseAeliushadhadalawpassedagainst
theLucanianStheniusStallius,whohadtwiceattackedThurii.Thispublic
honour,accompaniedbyagoldcrown,willsurelynothaverelatedtosome
mereexpressionofhostility.ThevotepassedbyAeliusclearlycommanded
actionagainsttheLucanians,whichdulyfollowed,perhapsalreadyinor
(LivyPer.ad fin.:‘‘itcontainstheexploitsagainsttheVulsiniensesand
theLucanians,againstwhomithadseemedrighttogivehelptothepeople
ofThurii’’),butdefinitivelyinunderC.Fabricius,towhomtheThurini
alsovotedastatue(Pliny,NH,).
Unlesswefindsomereasontorejectthestoryaltogether,wehavetoac-
ceptthatthepeopleofThuriiknewwhocouldhaveabindinglawpassedin
Rome,inspheresincludingthoseofforeignrelations.Pliny’sreportisthus
precioustestimonytothesovereignpowersofthepeople,shownagain,ina
differentway,in,whentheconsuls,againstthewilloftheSenate,suc-
cessfullypersuadedthepeople,withmomentousconsequences,tosendaid
totheMamertiniinMessene(soPolybius,,–).
Thesefactsrepresentonereasonwhytheentirepictureoftheevolution
oftheRomanstateaspresupposedbyHölkeskamp,followingalongtradi-
tion,canbecalledinquestion.Itshouldnot,forinstance,simplybeasserted
thattheSenatewasthecentral‘‘governingbody’’oftheres publica().More
problematicstillisthedefinitionofthe‘‘aristocracy’’intermsofitsalleged
monopolyof office, quoted,with approval, from Christian Meier: ‘‘Who-
everplayedapartinpoliticsbelongedtothearistocracy,andwhoeverbe-
longedtothearistocracyplayedapartinpolitics’’(Hölkeskamp,).But
thisdefinitioniscircular;ifwewishedtosaythatanaristocracycontrolled
officeandtheexerciseofactivepoliticalfunctions,wewouldhavetobeable
todefinethataristocracyintermswhichwereindependentoftheiroccupa-
tionofoffice.Furthermore,thewholepicturedependsinpartontheiden-
tificationoftheoccupationoftheconsulshipwith‘‘Politik.’’Ofcourse,the
same families reappear frequently in the consulship, though Hölkeskamp’s
ownanalysisshowsnewfamiliesarrivingandthendroppingoutagain.Was
Q.PubliliusPhilo(consul,,,,dictator,censor,andsoforth)
an‘‘aristocrat’’?Wecouldsaythatonlyifwehadindependentevidenceof
thefamily’sestablishedroleandstandingintheearlierperiod.Butwehave
not:attheverybestadubioustraditionrecordsaQ.Publiliusastribuneof