The Roman Republic
holders,itisahighlypoliticalstatement.Hewas,afterall,soontoproposeto
thepeoplelegislationtakingtheextortioncourtoutofthehandsofsenators.
Itis,however,primarilyastatementabouthimself,addressedtoacrowd
ofcitizens.Theunconsciousfictionofthecollectiveparliamentaryruleof
theSenatehasobscuredthecentralityofthismuchmoreimportantrelation-
ship,thatis,oftheonetothemany,oftheindividualoratorand/oroffice-
holderandthecrowd.^11
Inthelongertermitisonlyifwebrushasidethefictionofsenatorialgov-
ernmentthattheRomanrevolutionbecomesintelligible.Itwasbypopular
laws, against thewill of most senators on most occasions, that power was
given successively to individuals like Pompey and Caesar. Once we allow
ourselvestothinkofrepublicanRomeasasystemhavingsignificantdemo-
craticfeatures,asPolybiussaw,wemightthenattachrathermoreimportance
to a passage in which Polybius discusses howa democracy breaks down.^12
Troublearisesthroughtheinordinateambitionofpoliticians:
Settingouttoseekpower,andunabletogaintheirobjectivesbytheir
own resources and through their own qualities, they dissipate their
property, using every means to bribe and corrupt the masses. Then
again, when they have rendered the many receptive and greedy for
largessethroughtheirinsaneappetiteforprestige,theessentialchar-
acter of democracy is destroyed, and it evolves into a state of vio-
lenceandgovernmentbyforce.Thepopulace,onceitisaccustomedto
feedoffthepropertyofothers,andexpectstoliveoffthepropertyof
theirneighbours,andwhenitfindsachampionwhoisambitiousand
daring,butisexcludedbypovertyfrompoliticalrewards,bringsthe
ruleofforcetocompletion,andgatheringtogether,carriesoutmur-
ders,exiles,andredistributionsofland—until,havingcometolivein
themannerofbeasts,itfindsonceagainamasterandmonarch.Toexplainallthat,wewouldindeedhavetohavesomeaccesstovoterbehav-
iour,whichofcoursewedonot.Allwecanrecaptureis,firstly,something
oftheformsofself-representationandofpersuasionwhichwereaddressed
tothevoters;and,secondly,something—incertaincasesratheralot—ofthe
actualcontentandwordingofthelawswhichthepeoplepassed.
. Thereismuchtobelearnedfromtheanalysesoftherelationoftheindividualand
thepeopleinZ.Yavetz,Plebs and Princeps().
. Polybius,,–.IamverygratefultoJohnNorthforpointingouttomeincon-
versationthatthispassagecanbereadasanimplicitpredictionofthecourseofeventsin
thelastcenturyoftheRepublic.