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

Political Character of the Classical Roman Republic 

acterizedthecenturiata.Thisformofassembly,whosefunctionscoveredthe
electionofcensors,consuls,andpraetors,themakingofwarandpeaceand
(asacourt)capitalcondemnations,wasthus‘‘popular’’inonlyalimitedand
specificsense.Thesameconsiderationsdidnot,however,applytothetribal
assembly,onwhichalllegislationdepended.Nonethelesstheprocedureof
groupvotingbythethirty-fivetribeswillhaveservedtopreventanypos-
sibility that decisions could have been dominated, by simple majority, by
thosewholivedinRomeornearby.
Thattheformofmeeting,theorderofvoting,andthecustomofgiving
eachman’svoteorally,inthehearingofothers,wereindeedallfeltasrestric-
tionsonthelibertyofthepeopleisclearfromthelegislation,proposedor
carriedthrough,ofthefollowinghalfcentury.LiciniusCrassus,astribune
in,tooksomestep,whichremainsnotquiteclear,toshiftthelocation
ofvotingfromtheconfinedspaceoftheancientComitiumtothelargeand
stillunclutteredareaoftheForum^70 —whichwaseasilylargeenough,after
all,toaccommodateaslargeacrowdascouldhaveheardanunaidedhuman
voice.GaiusGracchusissaidtohaveproposedthatthecenturiesofthecen-
turiateassemblyshouldnolongervoteinthefixedorderofthecensusclasses
(classes).^71 Thefourlawswhichestablishedvotingbysecretballot—infor
elections,onpopularcourts,oronlegislation,andontrials
fortreason—werereactionstoaperceivedrestrictiononthelibertyofthe
people,aswasMarius’lawofonthewidthofthe‘‘bridges’’(pontes)along
whichpeoplecameuptovote(Cicero,De leg.,–).Yetthefirstthreeof
theselawsmustthemselveshavebeenpassedbyopenvoting.Theybelong,
likemuchoftheGracchanlegislation,likethelawofsubjectingtheap-
pointmentofthepriestlycollegestoaformofpopularelection,andlikethe
‘‘pirate’’lawfromDelphiandCnidus,toamovementwhichcanberegarded
asanassertionofpopularsovereignty.^72
That was a new phase, closely connected with increased popular pres-
surefortheexploitationoftheempireandtheeffectiveconductofmilitary
operations;^73 thereisagainaparallelwithclassicalAthens.Butifwereturnto
ourperiod,tothefirsthalfofthecentury,weshouldnonethelessnotdismiss
tooreadilythedemocratic,oratleast‘‘popular,’’featureswhichwereinher-

. Cicero,Laelius;Varro,De re rust.,,.SeeL.R.Taylor,Roman Voting Assemblies
(),–.
. [Sall.],Ep.adCaes.,,.SeeC.Nicolet,‘‘‘ConfusioSuffragiorum’.Àproposd’une
réformeélectoraledeGaiusGracchus,’’MEFR():.
. See,e.g.,Serrao(n.),ff.;andL.Perelli,Il movimento popolare nell’ultimo secolo
della Repubblica().
. Cf.E.Badian,Roman Imperialism in the Late Republic^2 (),chaps.–.