Political Character of the Classical Roman Republic Whenthevictoriousimperatorhimselfreturned,itwasagainthecustom
thatheshouldaddressthepeople;orsoLivyreportsinrecordingthepublic
speech (contio) given to Aemilius Paullus by the tribunes of (, , ).
ItwasinthisspeechthatAemiliusrecalledhisprayerthatanymisfortunes
whichthreatenedtheRomanpeoplemightfallonhisownhouse—ashad
justhappened,withthedeathsofhistwosons.^12
Aemilius’triumph,inwhichoneofthesonshadappeared,onlytodiea
fewdays later, had been the subject of violent public debate. Normally, as
Polybius records (, , –), it was the Senate on whom theimperatorwas
dependentforhistriumph,aprocesswhichwasacrucialmeansofcollec-
tive control in an age of great individual victories.^13 But on this occasion
(atleast)abillwasalsorequired,toallowPaullus,AniciusGallus,andCn.
Octavius to retain theirimperiumon the dayof the triumph. A tribune of
theplebsputthebilltothepeoplemeetingontheCapitol.Heretoo,Livy
says,theopportunitywasgivenforprivateindividualstospeak,andamili-
tary tribune, Servius Sulpicius Galba, an enemy of Paullus, spoke against.
M.Servilius,consulof,intervenedafterthefirsttribeshadvotedagainst
Paullus;andCato,ignoredbyLivy,alsospoke.HereLivy’snarrativebreaks
off;butthetriumphwasofcourseheld.^14
TheissueinthiscasehadbeenthelackofgenerositywhichPaullushad
showntohissoldiers,whothemselveswerepresentinforceatthevoting.
Moreoftentheimperatorafterhisreturnfacedaccusationsofcorruptionover
thevastsumswhichnowbecameavailableasbooty.Onceagain,thesere-
peatedaccusations,whichcertainlyservedthefunctionofpreventingabrief
eminenceinthefieldfrombeingtranslatedintoacontinueddominanceat
home,arequiteinadequatelyinterpretedinmodernaccountsasrepresent-
ingsimplypersonalorfactionalstrugglesamongsenators.Theywerepublic
accusations,enactedonpublicstages—whichiswhattheForumandCam-
pusMartiuswere—andvotedonbytheassemblies.Inconsideringthemwe
shouldrecallthefrequentprosecutionsofgenerals(strategoi)intheAthenian
democracy.Likethem,iflessoften,theRomanimperatorfacedtheprospect
of accusation in a popularcourt after his return home. Hence for instance
Cato’sspeechrecordinganddefendinghisconductinSpainasconsulof;^15
ortheprosecutionbroughtagainstAciliusGlabriobeforethepeoplebytwo
. Val.Max.,,ORF^3 ,(p.).
. SeeJ.S.Richardson,‘‘TheTriumph,thePraetorsandtheSenateintheEarlySecond
CenturyB.C.,’’JRS():.
. Livy,,–,.Cato’sspeech:AulusGellius,NA,ORF^3 ,CatoXLIII.
.ORF^3 ,CatoIV,F.–*.