Triumvirate and Principate A major public episodewas the petition of the married women (matronae)
totheTriumvirsoveranimpositionofatax,recordedbyValeriusMaximus
(,,)andAppian(BC,–/–):sincenoneofthemenwouldoffer
theiradvocacy,Hortensia,thedaughterofHortensius,‘‘pleadedthewomen’s
causebeforetheTriumvirsfirmlyandsuccessfully:imitatingherfather’selo-
quence, she obtained the remission of the greater part of the money de-
mandedfromthem.’’AccordingtoAppianthescenetookplacebeforethe
tribunaloftheTriumvirsintheForum,andtheyfirsthadthewomendriven
off bytheirlictors,andthenannouncedareductioninthetaxonthenext
day.
Itisnotanaccidentthattheepisodeconcernsthedemandforabenefac-
tionwhichisgrantedbythesimplepronouncementoftheTriumvirs,orthat
indescribingthepetitionValeriusMaximusresortstothetypicalvocabulary
ofthelawcourt.Forpreciselyoneofthecharacteristicsofmonarchyisthe
blurring of the distinction between the issuing of decisions and giving of
legaljudgementsbytheholder,orholders,ofpower.AsMommsennotes,^59
Quintilianalludestothisdevelopmentinjustthisperiodindiscussingthe
occasionsandfunctionsof‘‘pleasformercy’’(deprecationes)—‘‘Pleasformercy,
whicharenotinanysenseamethodofactualdefence,canrarelybeused,
andonlybeforejudgeswhoarenotlimitedtosomepreciseformofverdict.
EventhosespeechesdeliveredbeforeGaiusCaesarandtheTriumvirsonbe-
halfofmembersoftheoppositeparty,althoughtheydoemploysuchpleas
formercy,alsomakeuseoftheordinarymethodsofdefence.’’Hecontinues
directlytothesituationofspeakingbeforetheprinceps—‘‘Butifwhenplead-
ingbeforetheprincepsoranyotherpersonwhohaspowereithertoacquit
orcondemn,itisincumbentonustourge....’’^60
Summary,semi-judicialproceduresfordisposingofenemiestakeninthe
fieldareamplyattestedfortheTriumviralperiod,^61 rightdowntoOctavian’s
hearings in and .^62 These are of course a crucially important instance
ofthearbitraryexerciseofpowerinthisperiod.Butinthelongterm,for
thefundamentaltransformationoftheRomanstate,thedevelopmentofa
routinepersonaljurisdictionbytheholderof individualpowerisofmuch
greater importance. The complexities of this development, which can be
.Strafrecht,,n..
. Quintilian,Inst.Orat.,,–(Loebtrans.).
. Theevidenceiscollectedanddiscussedonly,sofarasIknow,byH.Volkmann,Zur
Rechtsprechung im Principat des Augustus^2 (),–.
. Val.Max.,,;Plut.,Ant;Dio,,–;,,.