Political Character of the Classical Roman Republic annualelections.Thisproducedineachyeartwenty-fourmilitarytribunes,
tentribunesoftheplebs,twocuruleandtwoplebeianaediles,probablyten
quaestors,^48 sixpraetorsfromonwards(sixandfouralternatelyfromper-
haps;Livy,,),andtwoconsuls,nottospeakofminorofficessuch
asthetresviri capitales(threemeninchargeofcapitalcases);thetotal,there-
fore, comes to more than fiftyannuallyelected offices.We have of course
somehintsastofactorswhichwererelevantinproducingsuccessorfailure.
Asemphasizedearlier,descentfromoffice-holdingancestorswasrepeatedly
stressedbeforetheRomanpeople.Itiscleartoothataman’srelativesinhis
owngeneration,abrotheroracousin,wouldlendactivepublicsupportin
anelectoralcampaign.Inadifferentcontext,thatofatrial,Livyrecordsthat
P. Cornelius Nasica, speaking in defence of Scipio Africanus, recalled in a
speech the glories of the Corneliangensin general and of his own branch
(familia)ofitinparticular(,,–,).Beyondthat,Livyimpliesthat
itwassurprisingthatP.CorneliusScipioshouldhavebeenrejectedforthe
consulship for , although not only was his cousin Africanus canvassing
forhim,buttheCornelia genswassupportinghim,andaCornelius(L.Cor-
neliusMerula)wasconductingtheelection(,,).Inthislastpointthere
haslongseemedtolieoneofthekeystotheelectoralprocess;butRilinger’s
study has shown that the role of the person conducting the elections was
severelyrestrictedbyconvention,publicopinion,andtheessentialfactthat
theentireprocesswasconductedinpublic.^49
Whatfactorsweremostimportantovertheentirerangeofannualelec-
tionswedonotknow.^50 Wecan,however,reasonablyacceptthatanimpor-
tant part was played bydescent, by the support of relatives if a man came
from a famous family, gratitude on the part of formerclientesin court, by
reputationasanorator,andbyglorywononthefieldofbattle.Butallthese
factorshadtobere-emphasizedinapublicprocessofcompetitionimmedi-
atelybeforetheelection.Nosourceexplicitlyatteststhataclienswasunderan
obligationtovoteforhispatronus,stilllessforapoliticalallyofhispatronus.
Thatdescentplayedamoreimportantpartthehighertheofficeconcerned
isnotsurprising,andshouldnotof itself leadustocharacterizetheentire
processasnon-democratic.Aristotlehadregardedthedirectpopularelec-
tionofarchonsinSolon’sconstitutionasanaristocraticaspectofit(Pol.,
.W.V.Harris,‘‘TheDevelopmentoftheQuaestorship–B.C.,’’CQ():.
. W.Rilinger,Der Einfluss desWahlleiters bei den römischen Konsulwahlen von bis v.
Chr.().
. For a useful discussion, see A. E. Astin,Scipio Aemilianus(), –, and ,
noteB.