The Roman Republic
expectedofhim,hemadeclearthathewouldrestorethepowersofthe
tribunes,therearoseinresponseanoiseandacontentedmurmuron
thepartofthecrowd.Butwhenhehimselfinthesamespeechhadsaid
thattheprovinceswerebeingravagedandharried,andthecourtsbe-
comingashameanddisgrace—thiswassomethingwhichheintended
toprovideforandtakestepsabout;thenindeed,notwithamerenoise,
butwithamightyshouttheRomanpeoplemadeknowntheirwill.Time and again in the orations against Verres, Cicero alludes to the force
of popularopinion in Rome, as it bore on the conduct of the courts, and
emphasisesthehostilityoftheRomanpeopletoVerres.Alawtransferring
controlofthecourtshadindeednotyetbeenpassed;thatwaspreciselythe
threatwhichhewasholdingovertheheadsofthesenatorialjurors.‘‘What
can we sayagainst that praetor [L. Aurelius Cotta] who dailyoccupies the
templum[i.e.,theRostraintheForum]andwhosays[i.e.,inspeechestothe
people]thattheres publicacannotstandunlessthecourtsaretransferredto
theequestrianorder?’’^28
Thusthevariouselementsofapoliticalsystembasedonpopularpower
anddirectedtopopulargratificationhadeithersurvivedtheSullanregime
or, by , been restored after it. Cicero can allude casually in theVerrine
orationstothefactthat‘‘inourres publica’’peoplegainofficebylargitio,by
largessetothevoters.^29 Theseriesofgamesandshowsofferedtothepeople
hadevenincreasedinthisperiod.ThesummerinwhichCicerowasspeaking
wastakenupnotonlybythetraditionalRomanGames,butbytheVictory
GamesestablishedbySullahimself,andtheVotiveGamesgivenbyPompey
asconsul.^30 Cicerohimselfcouldlookforwardtothepowerandpublicrole
which he would enjoy as aedile in ; if Verres were not condemned, he
wouldbeable,asaedile,toaccusehimbeforeapopularcourt.^31 Moreim-
portant,occupationofthisofficewillgivehimacentralroleinthelifeof
thecity:theconductofgamesinhonourofthegods,thecareofthesacred
buildings,thecareofthewholecity.^32
Immediatelyafter,andtherestorationoftherightofthetribunesto
proposelegislationtothepeople,thecourseofpopularpoliticsdulyresumed
thepatternwhichithadshownuntiltheyear.Withinacoupleofyears
lawsputtotheassemblybytribunesbecamethemeansbywhichprovincial
. E.g.,Verr. II,;.
.Verr. II,.
.Verr.,.
.Verr. II,.
.Verr. II,–.