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

 The Roman Republic

most important subject of oratory—and the most important fundamental
rightexercisedbywhoevercametovote—waslegislation.Yetthegreatest
ofalltheextraordinarydistortionswhichhavebeenimposedonourcon-
ceptionofrepublicanpoliticsinthetwentiethcenturyisthattheprocessof
legislationandthecontentofthelegislationpassedbythepeoplehaveboth
ceasedtobecentraltoit.Withthatwehaveceasedtolistensufficientlyto
theactualcontentoforatoryaddressedtothepeople,totheargumentsfrom
rights, from the necessities of the preservation of theres publica, from his-
toricalprecedents,bothRomanandnon-Roman,andfromsocialattitudes
and prejudices. In the second centuryabove all,we can see how the pres-
tigewhichtheoffice-holdingclassderivedfromfamilydescentandpersonal
standingontheonehandwasmatchedontheotherbypopulardemandsfor
appropriateconduct,andbypopularsuspicionsofprivateluxury,ofprofi-
teering from the conduct of public affairs, and of improper collaboration
withwrongdoersbothathomeandabroad.
ThosewhospoketothepeopleintheForum,fromoneorotherofthe
two main stages used for the purpose—the Rostra and the podium of the
templeofCastorandPollux—couldusethesepopularprejudicesandsuspi-
cionsagainsteachother,justastheycouldplayonthecrowd’sknowledgeof
theindividualsconcerned.Forapublicmeeting(contio)wasindeedastage
performance;thisideaisexpressedbyCiceroinwordswhichheputsinto
the mouth of Laelius inDe amicitia: ‘‘on stage, that is at acontio.’’ The
Forum itself was a stage on which there steadily encroached monuments
representingindividuals,orrecallingtheirachievements,orassociatedwith
theirnames.BeforethemiddleofthesecondcenturytheForumareawas
alreadylinedwithstatuesof individuals,andintheSenatedecreedthe
removalofthosewhichhadnotbeenvotedbySenateandPeople(Pliny,NH
,,fromtheAnnalesofL.Piso).InL.CaeciliusMetellusrestoredthe
templeofCastorandPollux.Sevendecadeslater,defendingMetellus’grand-
son, Scaurus, in a case in the Forum, Cicero could remind the jurors: ‘‘his
grandfatherappearstohaveestablishedthemostholygodsinthattemple,in
yoursight,sothattheycanpleadforthesafetyofhisgrandson’’(Pro Scauro
). After Marius’ victoryover the Cimbri, Cimbrian shields hung as tro-

rived much from all these studies, as also from L. Perelli,Il movimento popolare nell’ultimo
secolo della Repubblica().None,however,hassharedtheparticularstresswhichIwould
liketoputontheelementoforatoricalpersuasionaddressedtothecrowd.Note,however,
C.Nicolet,‘‘LapolémiquepolitiqueaudeuxièmesiècleavantJésus-Christ,’’inC.Nicolet,
ed.,Demokratia et Aristokratia(),.