Politics, Persuasion, and the People theexerciseofpowerwasitsindividualisticcharacter.^9 Thisaspectmightof
coursehavebeenconfinedtothepursuitofoffice,andmilitaryglory.Butit
waspreciselythesecondhalfofthesecondcenturywhichsawthebreak-up
of the relative (but by no means complete) consensus which had obtained
amongthegoverningclassbefore,andwhichconsequentlyledtothepresen-
tationtothepeopleofpoliticalandconstitutionalpropositionsofstrongly
divergingideologicalcontent.Itiscommonplacetostressthelimitationson
thepeople’spower:theycouldonlyacceptorrejectlawsputtothembyan
office-holder.This,thoughtrue,ignores,firstly,theconflictingopinionsex-
pressedinpublicmeetingsheldbeforealawwasputtothevote;secondly,
the fact that to achieve office a man had previously to have been elected;
and,thirdly,thateffectivelegislativepowerstillresidedwiththosewho,for
whateverreasonandinwhatevernumbers,cametotheForumtovote.
Gelzer’s assertion—and it was no more than that—that the patterns of
personal obligation,which hewas able to illustrate sovividly, actuallyde-
terminedthe political behaviourof thewhole mass of voters, did of course
haveoneveryconvenientcorollary.Itofferedablanketexplanationofvoter
behaviour;orratheritdispensedusfromtroublingwiththeproblemofex-
plainingvoterbehaviouratall,ofexplainingwhocametovoteandwhatsorts
ofreasontheymighthavehadforvotingthewaytheydid.^10 Furthermore,
by silentlyomitting legislation altogether from his portrayal of the politi-
calprocess,heinevitablyobscuredthecrucialdistinctionbetweenelectoral
votingandlegislativevoting.Theprocessofelectiontoofficemaywelloften
havehadlittleornoideologicalcontent.Evenso,anyonewhohadalready
heldpublicofficewillhavehadtheopportunity,ifhewished,toestablisha
publicidentity,andpoliticalposture,whichwouldberelevantwhenitcame
tohisnextoffice:‘‘So,Citizens(Quirites),whenIsetoutfromRomeItook
withmebeltsfullofsilverwhichIbroughtbackemptyfrommyprovince;
asforothers,theamphoraefullofwinewhichtheytookoutwiththemthey
broughtbackfilledwithsilver’’(ORF^3 ,p.).ThisofcourseisGaiusGrac-
chus,speakingabouthisquaestorshipinSardiniain–;inthecontext
ofrepeatedpublicdebatesandaltercationsoverpersonalconductbyoffice-
. Cf.theworksreferredtoinn..
. Nosuchexplanationisofferedinthischapter,anditisnotcleartomewhetherany
is possible. It is, however,worth noting the discussion, relating to a later period, in Lily
RossTaylor’sParty Politics in the Age of Caesar(),chap..Itisinterestingtonotethepre-
suppositionsembodiedinthetitleofthissection,‘‘DeliveringtheVote.’’Ihopetoreturn
tothisquestionelsewhere,inthecontextofthepopularpoliticsofthelastdecadesofthe
Republic.