Popular Politics at Rome publicassembly,theForum,playedamajorpart.Inthiscontextalso,research
isonlynowbeginningtoexamineformsofleadershiporpoliticalinfluence
whichmightbebroughttobearwithinthecontextofalargecity,madeup
ofdifferentquarters(vici),inordertobringlargecrowdstotheForumor
theCampusMartius.^64 Astowhathappenedwhenacrowddidassemble,itis
crucialtorecallthattherewasnoorganisedforceonwhichelectedofficials
coulddepend.AsWilfriedNippelhasshown,theverylimitedlevelofforce
whichcouldbeexercisedbythelictorswhoaccompaniedtheconsulswas
hardlymorethansymbolic,anddependedforitseffectivenessoncommunal
deference.^65 Whenthatdisappeared,thewaywasopentomobviolence,or
totheorganisedgangsofClodiusandMilo.Timeandplacewereall;acrowd
occupyingtheForummightpassalawthere,andbesucceededwithinthe
samedaybyadifferentcrowdprotesting.So,in,onetribunebyoccupy-
ingtheForuminadvancegotalawpassedtogivelong-termcommandsto
PompeyandCrassus;asthecrowdwasdeparting,anothertribuneappeared,
showedthepeopleoneofhiscolleagueswhohadbeeninjured,and‘‘bysay-
ingthosethingswhichwouldhavebeenexpected,profoundlystirredtheir
feelings.’’^66 In the sameyear, afterVatinius and others had been elected as
praetors with the aid of force, to serve for that sameyear, thosewho had
votedforthemlefttheCampusMartius.Thenatribunecalledapublicmeet-
ing there,which was addressed by Cato,who told the peoplewhat would
comefromthedominationofPompeyandCrassus.Plutarchclaimsthathe
wasthenescortedhomebyalargercrowdthanhadaccompaniedanyofthe
electedpraetors.^67
Theseviolentanderraticfluctuationsarewellknown,andindeedhavean
establishedplaceinpicturesofthebreakdownoftherepublicansystem.All
thatIwishtoemphasiseisthattheyarethemselvesaproductofwhatone
cannotquitecalldemocraticpolitics,andcertainlynotaclassstruggle;butit
wasamatterofpopularpolitics,orcrowdpolitics,anditwasaboutthepass-
ingoflawsandmeasurestodowiththeempire.Foritisabsolutelycrucial
toemphasisethataRomancrowdoccupyingoneoftheestablishedcentres
ofpoliticalactivitywas—orcouldbe—somethingfundamentallydifferent
from the ‘‘urban mob’’ familiar from many periods of history. For such a
crowd, as soon as it was organised into its voting units,whether tribes or
. SeenowP.J.J.Vanderbroeck,Popular Leadership and Collective Behaviour in the Late
Roman Republic (ca. –..)(),avaluableworkfromwhichthereismuchtolearn.
. W.Nippel,‘‘PolicingRome,’’JRS():,andAufruhr und ‘‘Polizei’’ in der rö-
mischen Republik().
. Dio,.
. Plut.,Cato Min..