xiv Introduction
found guilty liberty to depart openly, thus inflicting voluntaryexile
onthemselves,ifevenonlyoneofthetribespronouncingtheverdict
hasnotyetvoted.SuchexilesenjoysafetyintheterritoriesofNaples,
Praeneste,Tibur,andotheralliedstates.Againitisthepeoplewhobe-
stowoffice on the deserving, the noblest reward of virtue in a state;
thepeoplehavethepowerofapprovingorrejectinglaws,andwhatis
mostimportantofall,theydeliberateonthequestionofwarandpeace.
Further, in the case of alliances, terms of peace and treaties, it is the
peoplewhoratifyalltheseorthereverse.Thushereagainonemight
plausiblysaythatthepeople’sshareinthegovernmentisthegreatest,
andthattheconstitutionisademocraticone(Polybius,Histories,)AlthoughPolybiusgoesontorecounthoweachofthethreepartsofthe
state(consuls,Senate,people)wasabletocounteractorcooperatewiththe
other parts if it wished, it should be obvious from Polybius’ account that
he believed that no one could understand either the theoryor practice of
Romanrepublicanpoliticsifhisviewdidnotsomehowencompassthepower
oftheRomanpeopleasrepresenteddirectly,if imperfectly,intheirassem-
blies.
But, as Millar notes, the interpretive implications of accepting the fact
thatPolybiuswasright,andmostmodernhistorianshavebeenwrong,about
thetheoryandpracticeofRomanRepublicanpolitics,extendfarbeyondthe
narrativehistoryofthesecondcentury..Republic.Majoreventsinlate
republicanhistory,suchastheSocialWarof..betweenRomeandits
Italian allies, the Sullan counter-revolution of .., the outbreak of the
civilwarsin..,andtheemergenceofthetriumvirs,allneedtobeviewed
inthecontextofpopularpolitics,orcrowdpolitics.
Mostimportantofall,however,Millar’srestorationofthecitizenbodyto
itsrightfulplacewithintheconstitutionalstructureoftheres publicaandits
politicsprovidestheanalyticalframeworkforaverydifferentunderstanding
ofwhathappenedin..thanwemightgatherfromreadingtheAnnales
of Tacitus. Octavian’s alleged restoration of theres publica—or the founda-
tion of the monarchy—was not the seizure of sovereign power from the
SenatebyOctavian,becausetheSenatewasnotthesovereignpowerinthe
firstplace.ItwastothediscretionoftheSenateandtheRomanpeoplethat
Augustuslaterclaimedtohavetransferredtherespublicafromhispower(‘‘rem
publicamexmeapotestateinsenatuspopuliqueRomaniarbitriumtranstuli,’’
Res Gestae,).Moreover,itwastothepopulus Romanusthat theimperium,
andatleastsomeoftheprovincesoftheempire,belongedinconstitutional
theory.That,atanyrate,seemstohavebeenthepointofviewofAugustus