Politics, Persuasion, and the People courseincludeLiviusDrusushimself,whohadbeenmurderedinOctoberof
;norapparently,didtheyincludetheagedAemiliusScaurus,whomVarius
summoned separately before the people and accused of having incited the
Italians to arms; but he rebutted the accusation bya direct demand to the
citizenstobelievehisword(AsconiusC).Popularopinioncouldalwaysbe
swayedbyaneffectivepersonalplea.ButwhenDrusus’opponent,thecon-
sulMarciusPhilippus,denouncedtheSenatetothepeople;whenCottalost
thetribunatethroughrancour;andwhenVariuscouldpersuadethepeople
tovotealawtoinvestigateandpunishthosewhohadbetrayedthemfrom
abovebyencouragingtheItaliansinthehopeofsharingtheirrights—allthat
wassurelyasclearademonstrationaswecouldpossiblyhaveofthepower
ofpopularpolitics,andthestrengthofpopularfeelingfortheretentionof
thepeople’sexclusiverightstotheexerciseofpoliticalpower:‘‘he[Crassus]
didnot[liveto]seeItalyablazewithwar,theSenateinflamedwithpassion,
theleadingcitizensarraignedforanefariouscrime’’(Deor.,,Loebtrans.).
Withinafewmonthsthewarforcedthepeopletopassthefirstofthelaws
bywhichtheywereafteralltosharethoserightswiththeItalians.Withthat
therebegananewphaseinthenatureoftheRomanpoliticalsystem,onein
whichmilitaryforceandorganizedviolenceweretoplayapartinawayun-
knownbefore,andinwhichanycrowdwhichgatheredintheForumbore
an even more erratic relationship to thevastly increased numberof quali-
fiedvoters.Itwasalsotobethegreatestageof Romanoratory,muchof it
directedtothepeopleatpublicmeetings.Persuasionwasstillvital;andthe
votesofthosefewwhodidvoteplayedacrucialpartinthelastdecadesof
republicanhistory.