The Roman Republic
awayasthePoValley.^60 Inelections,allmightthusdependonwhichgroups,
fromwhichareas,mightfeeltheenthusiasm,orbepersuaded,tomakethe
journey in to Rome to vote. Defending Plancius in , Cicero points out
thatitwaspreciselybecausehecamefromaratherobscureplace,Atina,that
everyoneinthatneighbourhoodhadcomeintovoteforhiminhiscam-
paignfortheaedileship;sohadlargenumbersfromthesmalltownsnearby,
Arpinum,Sora,Casinum,Venafrum,Allifae.InTusculum,fromwherehis
defeatedrivalcame,theprospectofalocalmanreachingtheaedileshipwas
commonplace,andofnointerest.^61 Thesesmallplaceswhichhadsupported
PlanciuslayoverkilometresfromRome;butforaparticularreason,when
alocalmanwasstanding,itwaspossibleto‘‘getoutthevote’’fromthere.
But this was an election, happening at a more or less predictable time,
andsupportcouldbepreparedinadvance.Thevariousfactorsandinfluences
whichwererelevanttoRomanelectionshaveoftenbeenstudied.Toooften
indeed;forwehaveallowedouroverallpictureoftheRomanpoliticalpro-
cess to be determined by that.The consulate, for instance,was dominated
bynobiles,thedescendantsofoffice-holders.^62 Doesthatofitselfprovethat
inpoliticaltermstheres publicawas,orcouldbe,runbyanoligarchyforits
ownbenefit?No:firstly,publicofficewas,asindicatedearlier,conceivedof
asafavourconferredbythepeople.Secondly,andmoreimportant,inthe
caseofthetwoannualconsuls,weshouldrememberwhatCicerosaid:the
people, in electing consuls,were choosingimperatores(generals). Only sec-
ondarily, and in particular circumstances, might people look to rhetorical
ability:‘‘[then]aconsulissoughtwhobyspeakingmaysometimesrepressthe
furorofthetribunes,turnasidetheexcitedpeople,resistlargess.’’^63 Fourfun-
damentalpointsarerelevanthere;firstly,electionstotheconsulshiptellusa
lot,butnoteverything,aboutRomanpoliticallife.Secondly,otheroffices,
andaboveallthetribunate,werealsoreflectionsofpopularsupport,andve-
hiclesofpopularpolitics;thirdly,theuseofwords,oratory,beforethepeople,
wascentraltothepoliticalprocessinRome;andfourthly—themostimpor-
tantthingofall—thecentralfocusofpoliticswasnotelectiontoofficebut
conflictaboutlaws.
Heretoothegrossdiscrepancybetweenthetotalnumberofvotersand
therelativelysmallnumberswhodid,orevencould,voteinthetraditional
. L. R.Taylor,Party Politics in the Age of Caesar(), chap. . See, e.g.,Comm. Pet.
–;Cic.,Att.,,.
. Cic.,Planc.–.
. Foracleardemonstrationofthis,seenowE.Badian,‘‘TheConsuls,–B.C.,’’
Chiron():.
. Cic.,Mur.;.