The Roman Republic
Intermsofwidersocialrelations,whetherlateral,asbetween(approxi-
mate)socialequals,orvertical,towardsclientesorotherprotégésorfollowers,
everythinghasbeenthrownintoanentirelybeneficialstateofconfusionby
thetwofundamentalchaptersinP.A.Brunt’sThe Fall of the Roman Republic
(),namelychapter,‘‘Factions,’’andchapter‘‘Clientela.’’Studentsofthe
lateRepublichavehardlybeguntoabsorbtheeffectsofthesedemonstrations
thatourevidencedoesnotallowustosaythateitherlateralconnectionsor
verticalformsofdependencecanlegitimatelybedeployedtoexplainpoliti-
cal behaviourand political developments. Once more,we need to start all
overagain.Brunt’smajorworkis,ofcourse,alludedtoinCAH^2 IX(whose
bibliographycontainsitemsupto),butthefundamentalnatureofthe
problemofhowtounderstandRomanpoliticsishardlybroughtout.
Onewaytoapproachtheissueistolookatformsofpersonalandsocial
influenceastheyappearincontemporaryevidence,aboveallinthelettersof
Cicero.ThattaskhasbeencarriedoutnowbyÉlizabethDeniaux,Clientèles
et pouvoir à l’époque de Cicéron(),anexemplarystudyofCicero’slettersof
recommendation(and,likethebookbyBonnefond-Coudry,athèsesuper-
vised by Claude Nicolet). It shows that written interventions in favourof
eithercommunities or individuals played an immensely important role in
thefunctioningoftheres publica—butdoesnothing(andcouldhavedone
nothing)tosupportthequitemisleadingnotionthatmassvotingbyclientes
everaffectedthemakingofdecisions,thatistosay,thepassingof lawsby
theassemblies.
Instead,farmorespaceneedstobegiventotheoperationofmagnificence
andlargess(magnificentiaandmunificentia)directedtothepeopleatlarge,in
theformofvotivegames,gladiatorialshows,buildings,dinners,ordistribu-
tionsofbenefitsincashorkind.Butthattopicwouldtakeustothewider,
andextremelydifficult,problemofwhattheRomanpeoplewas.
TheUrbanPlebsandtheRomanPeople
Ifwestart,asCAH^2 IXdoes,frompoliticalhistory,thefirstandmostim-
portantthingthattheRomanpeople‘‘was’’waswhoeverturnedupatpublic
meetings,ortomeetingsofthetribalassembly,intheForumRomanum.The
configurationofthisprimarypublicspaceisthusthefirstthingthatneeds
to be understood.Which is another wayof saying that F. Coarelli’sIl foro
romanoI–II(–)isnotanantiquarianorarchaeologicaladjuncttothehis-
toryoftheRepublic,butthecontextfromwhicheverythinghastostart.For,
ifwearetoexplainanything,wehavetobeginfromthepropositionthat,
withtheexceptionofmeetingsoftheSenate,everythinghappenedoutof