Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

 The Roman Republic

Cicero’sPro lege Maniliaitself,aliteraryversionofapublicspeechdelivered
byCicerotothepeople,isourbestevidenceofthat.Oneshouldnoteespe-
ciallytheelaborateargumentsfromhistoricalprecedent,and,asalways,the
fearoftheeffectsinRomeoflosingtherevenuesofAsia.Particularsignifi-
canceattachestothequotationof Hortensius’speechagainstthislaw:ifall
powerweretobegrantedtooneman,Hortensiushadsaid,Pompeywasthe
mostworthy;butitwasnotpropertograntallpowertooneman.^38
Ofcoursepoliticaldecisionswerenotmadesolelyonthebasisofreasoned
public argument about past precedent and present necessity.The complex
machinery of the Roman constitution could be invoked to crush opposi-
tion;in,whenanothertribune,Trebellius,waspersuadedtovetothelaw
aboutPompey’scommand,Gabiniushadcalledinthethirty-fivetribesone
by one to vote on his deposition. Only when seventeen tribes had voted,
andtheeighteenthwasgoingto,didhegivein.^39 Inthesameyearanother
tribune,Cornelius,raisedtheissueofprofiteeringbythemediumofloans
beingmadetoforeignambassadorspresentinRome;thisquestiontoobe-
came a constitutional issue,when he proposed that the steps taken by the
Senatewere inadequate, and that law passed by the peoplewas required.^40
Theattempttopassthelawledtoavetobyanothertribune;thisvetohad
theeffectofstoppingthescribefromreadingoutthetextofthelawtothe
people;soCorneliustookthetext(codex)andreaditouthimself.Notethat
custom required that thewhole text of the law should be read out before
thepeople—andthatnoonehadestablishedwhetheronetribunecouldveto
anotheractinginperson.Whentheconsuldeclaredpubliclythatavetoof
thistypewasimproper,hewasgreetedwithabusebythepeople;whenhe
orderedhislictorstoarrestsomeofthem,theirfasces(rods)werebroken,and
stoneswerehurledfromthebackofthecrowd.^41
Thisissuewasintheendsettledbyacompromise.Butitinvolvedbasic
questionsastowhomightprofitfromthepowerconferredbyEmpire,and
wheresovereigntylay.Theatmosphereoftheyearis,however,perhaps
bestrecapturedinanotherincidentwhichCiceroretailselevenyearslaterin
hisspeechindefenceofSestius.Gabinius,astribunein,haddisplayedto
thecrowdapictureofavilla,withtheobjectofbringingaprominentcitizen

.Man..
. Asconius,ed.Clark.
. Imakenoattemptinthiscontexttogointothecomplexseriesofeventsassociated
withthistribunate.See,e.g.,M.Griffin,‘‘TheTribuneC.Cornelius,’’JRS():.
. Asconius–,ed.Clark.