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

Introduction xiii

key to understanding the political process in Rome. The citizen body of
Romewastoolargeforsuchasystemtohaveoperatedeffectively,andour
evidence also reveals that those who aspired to office in Rome competed
forpopularfavor.Mostimportant,however,weneedtorememberthatthe
Romancitizenbodyvoteddirectlyonlegislation,electedalltheannualhold-
ersofpoliticalandmilitaryoffice,andjudgedcasesinpopularcourtscon-
stitutedbythecenturiateassembly(comitia centuriata)andthetribalassembly
(comitia tributa).
Ifwebelievethatsovereigntyresideswithinthoseinstitutionswhichhave
the power to legislate or judge capital cases, then the sovereign power in
RomeduringtheRepublic—whoseimperium(militaryandlegaljurisdiction)
wasextendedthroughoutItalyandtotheprovincesinthecourseoftheRe-
public—wasultimately,atleastintheory,theRomancitizenbody.More-
over,accordingtoMillar,atthecenterofthepracticeofRomanpoliticswas
nottheRomanpatron(patronus),imposinghiswilluponaclient,butrather
the orator, addressing the crowd in the Roman Forum. As Millar has put
it (in chapter , ‘‘The Political Characterof the Classical Roman Republic,
–..’’),somepeoplemadespeechesandotherpeoplevoted.
Insum,Polybius,theGreekpoliticianfromMegalopolis,whowroteforty
booksofHistoriesexplainingRome’srisetopowertoaGreek-readingaudi-
enceafter..,wasrightabouttheroleoftheRomanpeopleintheformal
structureoftheres publicaandhismoderncriticsarewrong,whenhewrote:

Afterthiswearenaturallyinclinedtoaskwhatpartintheconstitu-

tionisleftforthepeople[δήμῳ],consideringthattheSenatecontrols

alltheparticularmattersIhavementioned,and,whatismostimpor-

tant,managesallmattersofrevenuesandexpenditure,andconsidering

too that the consuls have uncontrolled authority as regards prepara-

tionsforwarandoperationsinthefield.Butneverthelessthereisapart,

andaveryimportantpartleftforthepeople.Foritisthepeoplewhich

alonehastherighttoconferhonorsandinflictpunishment,theonly

bondsbywhichkingdomsandstatesandinawordhumansocietyare

heldtogether.Forwherethedistinctionbetweentheseisoverlooked

orisobservedbutillapplied,noaffairscanbeproperlyadministered.

Howindeedisitpossiblewhengoodandevilmenareheldinequal

estimation?Itisbythepeoplethen,inmanycases,thatoffensespunish-

ablebyfinearetried,especiallywhentheaccusedhaveheldthehighest

office; and theyare the onlycourt which may trycapital charges. As

regardsthelattertheyhaveapracticewhichispraiseworthyandshould

be mentioned.Their usage allows those on trial for their lives when