The Roman Republic
theplebsin.Moreover,Publiliuscreatednolineofsuccessorsfromhis
ownfamily,no‘‘plebeianaristocrats’’playinganyroleinthethirdcentury:
oneT.Publilius,perhapsason,isrecordedasbecomingaugurin.
Butthefactthatsomefamiliesplayedapredominantroleintheconsul-
shipisofcoursebeyonddispute.Inpartatleastthatwasafunctionofthe
fact that one consulship, between and , always went to a patrician,
andpatricianfamiliaewererelativelyfew.Itseemsoddtomethatneitherof
these books provides a list of patricianfamiliae,of which only twenty-one
totwenty-threestillexistedin;soP.Ch.Ranouil,Recherches sur le Patri-
ciat – avant J.-C. (), . Nor does either offer any definition of
whatafamiliaoragenswas.Butnevermind;ifonehundredconsulatesper
centurywerealready‘‘reserved’’forwhatevermembersofthesefewpatri-
cianfamiliaewereinevidenceandoftherightstanding,thatalonewillhave
givenasomewhat‘‘aristocratic’’looktotheFasti.Whatwewouldthenneed
isapictureofthe‘‘heritability’’oftheconsulshipamongplebeians,quitea
differentissue.
Butwearebeggingthequestionanyway.Fortheconsulshipwasprimarily
a military office, though certainly consuls could and did consult the Sen-
ate(andintroduceembassiestoit),andputlegislationtothepeoplebefore
going on campaign (a time sequencewhich Polybius sets out with perfect
clarity, , , –).There were other elective offices, a praetor (after ),
thensubsequentlytwo,andfrom,four;apairofcensorseveryfiveyears;
quaestors, military tribunes (of whom morewere progressively subject to
popularelection)andsoforth.Buteveryyeartherewerealsotenelectedtri-
bunes of the plebs,who stayed in Rome all year, sat dailyon theirsubsellia
(benches)besidetheCuriafrontingontheComitium,wereavailabletogive
auxilium(aid),andcouldalsomounttheRostratoaddressthepeopleandto
putforwardlegislation,insomesensealreadybefore,andcertainlyafter
that.Weretheyall,orevencharacteristically,‘‘aristocrats,’’orfromadefinable
socialélite?Hölkeskamp,,speaksof‘‘theplebeianélitewhichcontrolled
thetribunate.’’Howdoweknowthat?Betweenand(say)asimple
calculation will show that well overone thousand men will have held the
tribunate.InspectionofBroughton,MRR,suggeststhatoursourcesreport
(accuratelyorotherwise)thenamesofaboutthirty.Whatdoesitmeanto
saythattheywerean‘‘élite’’except(circularly)thattheyheldthetribunate?
Doesitmeanthattheyalso(someofthem)areknowntohaveheldother
offices?But,tobeprecise,ofthemerethirtyorsowhosenamesareknown,
eight are attested as having held otheroffices. Is this a sign of the absorp-
tionofthetribunateintoawideroffice-holdingélite,leadingtothepolitical
neutralizationoftheoffice?Quitethecontrary,foreitherwecannotinany