The Roman Republic
managementofitsaffairs.And,secondly,thatalltheseissueswerepresented
beforethepeopleatlargethroughthemediumofspeeches.Itwas,afterall,
thepeoplewhovoted.
It was also the same Calpurnius Piso Frugi himself who made a point
ofappearinginpersontocollectthefixed-pricecornmadeavailabletothe
peoplebytheLexFrumentariaofGaiusGracchus,whichhehadopposed:‘‘I
wouldprefer,Gracchus,thatitwerenotyourpleasuretodistributemyprop-
ertytoindividuals[viritim];butifyoudoit,Iwillseekmyshare’’(Cicero,
Tusc.,).^13 Thatagainwasapublicexpression,beforethecrowd,ofapoliti-
caljudgementabouttheresourcesofthestate.Therewasalsoanotherdimen-
siontothisquestion,thefearofdomination(dominatio).Justasaccusationsof
aspiringtotyrannyorkingshiphadbeenbroughtagainstTiberiusGracchus,
soitmayhavebeenGaiusFannius,theconsulof,whoargued,against
GaiusGracchus,thatby‘‘largess’’(largitio)Peisistratus,Phalaris,andDionysius
ofSyracusehadcorruptedthecitizensandsoughtdomination.Thusthese
and other precedents from Greek history have considerable significance.^14
EvenafterGracchus’deathitwaspossibleforatribune,byuseoforatorical
persuasion,tocauseacrowdedpopularassemblytoabrogatehislawforcorn
distribution,andreplaceitwithsomethinglessradical.
Thequestionsofthepublicfunds,ofpublicpropertyanditspossibledis-
tribution,oftherightformofmanagementofpublicrevenues,alltherefore
involvedissuesofprinciple;buttheyalsoexhibitedfluctuationsandincon-
sistenciesinpopularattitudes—or,atanyrate,inthewaythatthosepeople
wouldvotewhoturneduponanyoneoccasion.Thesubjectmatterofpoli-
ticsalsokeptwithincertainbounds.Almosteveryaspectofthestateitself
wassubjecttolegislativevotesinthisperiod,andinparticularitlayinthe
natureoflaws(leges)thattheysetdownrulesfortheholdersofoffice.Laws
might also, but less characteristically, define criminal offences with which
ordinarypeoplemightthenbecharged.Hence,ofcourse,thefamousdis-
tinction made in the advice of Servilius Glaucia to the people on how to
listenwhenlawswerereadout.Ifthelawsbegan‘‘Dictator,consul,praetor,
magisterequitum...,’’theyneednotbeconcerned.Butiftheyheardthe
words‘‘Whoeverthepassageofthislaw...,’’theyshouldtakenote,incase
. SeenowP.GarnseyandD.Rathbone,‘‘TheBackgroundtotheGrainLawofGaius
Gracchus,’’JRS():.
.ORF^3 ,pp.–.SeeJ.-L.Ferrary,‘‘ÀproposdedeuxfragmentsattribuésàC.Fan-
nius,cos.,’’inC.Nicolet,ed.,Demokratia et Aristokratia(),,arguingthatthequo-
tationsarenotcontemporary,butcomefromlaterdeclamationsonthesubjectofGaius
Gracchus.