The Roman Republic
personalconnections,theprincipleformsofwhichwerepatrociniuminthe
courtsandovercommunities,togetherwithpoliticalfriendshipandfinancial
obligations.These relationships determined the distribution of political power.’’^4
This conclusion, to repeat, goes far beyond what the bodyof the book
contains,namelyilluminatingobservationsonvarioussocialdimensionsof
theexerciseofpower.Itisanexplicitclaimthatthesesocialdimensionscon-
stituteanadequateglobalexplanationofthepoliticalprocess.Moreinsidious
still,however,istheimplicit—andneveropenlyacknowledged—direction
of attention and selection of material which shapes the work as a whole.
Forinstance,theonlycontextinwhichGelzergivesanyattentiontoora-
toryisthatofcasesheardinthecourts.Thereisnoteventhebarestallusion
tooratorydeployedfororagainstthepassingof laws—that‘‘popularkind
oforatory,’’which,asCicerosays,enabledSp.Thoriustogetthroughalaw
relatingtothepublicland(ager publicus)(Brutus),orthatpersonalpres-
ence(auctoritas)andoratoricalpowerwhichenabledMarcusOctaviustohave
C.Gracchus’cornlaw(Lex Sempronia frumentaria)abrogatedbythevotesof
aplenarymeetingofthepeople(Brutus),tobereplacedbysomething
moremoderate.
Thisemphasisonforensicoratoryanditspoliticalfunctionbothimplicitly
ignores one major focus of the political process, legislation, and explicitly
attributes a primary significance to trials: ‘‘political struggles were for the
most part conducted in the courts.’’^5 Moreover, the major trials,which of
course were indeed ‘‘political,’’ are interpreted solely, by careful selection
andemphasis,intermsoftheestablishedconventionsofpersonalobligation
andconnectionamongtheupperclasses.Theseconventionswerenaturally
ofsomesignificance.AsGelzerdulynotes(trans.Seager,pp.–),when
M.Antonius,inthemid-s,defendedNorbanusonachargeofhightreason
(maiestas),heopenlystatedhisobligationtodothisforhisformerquaestor.
Butyouwouldnotguess,fromreadingGelzer,thathehadsaidmuchelse,of
awhollydifferentsort.Yetwehavetheclearestpossibleevidencethathedid.
InDeoratore,–,Antoniusismadetorecallwhathisspeechcontained:
I gathered together all types of civil discords, with their associated
wrongs and dangers, and made the speech a surveyof all the succes-
sivephasesofourres publica,andconcludedbysayingthateventhough
allcivildiscordshadalwaysbeenanaffliction,somenonethelesshad
beenjustandevennecessary....Withoutdissensionamongthenobiles,
thekingscouldnothavebeendrivenfromthisstate,nortribunesof. Gelzer,trans.Seager(n.),(myemphasis).
. Gelzer,trans.Seager(n.),.