The Roman Republic
showed,andHölkeskampdulyrecognizes,therecordofrepresentationalart,
portrayingcontemporaryindividualsandtheirdeeds,beginning(ifwere-
jectsomelegendaryitemsfromthefifthcenturyorearlier)inthesecondhalf
ofthefourthcentury,isasgoodevidenceaswehavefortheemergenceof
politicsasasphereof individualactivitywhichwouldbedemonstratedin
permanentformbeforethepeople,sometimeswiththesanctionofspecific
votesbythem.Enniuswastoexpressthiswithperfectsuccinctness:‘‘somany
statueswilltheRomanpeoplevote,somanycolumns,whichwillspeakof
yourdeeds’’(Vahlen,VariaII;Skutsch,Annales,p.,fr.iv).
Seen in this light, the institution of the funeral oration, which in the
secondcenturyatleastwasdeliveredtothepeopleintheForumfromthe
Rostra, falls into the same pattern: the celebration of distinctive political
andmilitaryrolesbeforethecommunity.Thebestevidenceisofcoursethe
much-quotedfuneralorationof..,deliveredbyQ.CaeciliusMetel-
lusonthedeathof hisfather,L.CaeciliusMetellus,consulinand.
ThecompetitivepresuppositionsofthespeechassummarizedbyPlinythe
Elder(NH,–),havebeenstressedrecentlybyT.P.WisemaninRoman
Political Life, B.C.–A.D. (),–:‘‘outstanding...the best...the
bravest...thegreatestdeeds...thegreatestdistinction...thegreatest
wisdom,theforemostsenator...the mostcelebratedinthestate.’’Itgoes
alongwiththatfinalemphasisonpopularfamethatheshouldhavebeenre-
cordedasthefirsttoleadelephantsinatriumph,tohavehadastatuerecord-
inghisserviceserectedontheCapitol(Dionysius,,),andhavebeen
voted,bytheRomanpeople,therighttouseacurrus(chariot)torideinon
hiswaytotheCuria(Pliny,NH,).AsPlinyexplicitlystates,thepeople
had neverconferred such a right on anyone else. A secure domination by
asociallyandpoliticallyunified‘‘patrician-plebeiannobility’’?Itisperhaps
worthstressingthatonthelaterdefinitionofnobilis(whateverthatwas)—
whichwehaveabsolutelynoreasontosupposewasinuseintheperiodcon-
cerned—L.CaeciliusMetellusmaynotevenhavebeenone;itisnomore
than a possible reconstruction that the consul(?) of may have been his
father.AtalleventsnosecurelyattestedCaeciliusMetellusisknowntohave
heldofficeinRomebeforethetriumphatorwhowastoberenownedforhis
displayofelephants.
As confessed already, what has been said here is not so much a review of
thesetwobooksasareactiontothem.Theproposalmadehereisthreefold.
Firstly,thatitishopelesstowork‘‘forward’’fromthelegendarybeginnings
of Rome—what were patricians? How did theplebs‘‘originate’’? Or even
toaskdetailedquestionsabouttheholdersofofficeinthefifthandearlier