Caesar

by Adrian Goldsworthy

The consuls were the senior executive officers of the Republic, charged with the most important civil responsibilities or military commands for the twelve months during which they held office. Ten years were supposed to elapse before a man was permitted to hold a second consulship, but Marius was voted into the office for five consecutive years from 104 to 100 BC.

This was both unprecedented and of dubious legality, but did have the desired result, as he defeated the Teutones in 102 BC and the Cimbri in the following year.

In the past the Republic had demonstrated a degree of flexibility, which had helped the Romans to deal with other emergencies. Far more disturbing was the recent tendency for political disputes to turn violent.

In the autumn of 100 BC, a senator called Memmius, who had just been elected to the consulship for the following year, was beaten to death in the Forum by the henchmen of one of the unsuccessful candidates. This man, Caius Servilius Glaucia, along with his associate Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, had employed threats and mob violence before to force through their legislation.

Memmius’ lynching was blatant and prompted a swift backlash. Marius, who up until this point had been content to use Saturninus for his own purposes, now turned against him and responded to the Senate’s call for him to save the Republic.

To protect the Republic, normal law had been suspended and violence was crushed by greater violence. It was a far cry from the, admittedly idealised, picture of the perfectly balanced constitution presented by Polybius, although even he had hinted that Rome’s internal stability might not always endure.

Tradition maintained that Rome had been founded in 753 BC. For the Romans this was Year One and subsequent events were formally dated as so many years from the ‘foundation of the city’ (ab urbe condita).

Near the end of the sixth century BC – the traditional date of 509 BC may well be accurate – internal upheaval resulted in the monarchy being replaced by a republic.

The political system of the Roman Republic evolved gradually over many years and was never rigidly fixed. Resembling more modern Britain than the United States of America, Rome did not have a written constitution, but a patchwork of legislation, precedent and tradition.

literally means ‘the public thing’ and can perhaps best be translated as ‘the State’ or the ‘body politic’. The vagueness ensured that it meant different things to different people....

The looseness of the system permitted considerable flexibility, which for centuries proved a source of strength. At the same time its very nature ensured that any new precedent or law, whether good or bad, co...

At the heart of the system was the desire to prevent any one individual from gaining too much permanent power. Fear of a revival of monarchic rule was widespread and most deeply entrenched among the aristocracy, who monopolised high office. Therefore power within the Republic was vested in a number of different institutions, th...

Magistrates had considerable power, the most senior formally holding imperium, the right to command troops and dispense justice, but this was essentially temporary an...

There were two consuls each year and six praetors holding the next most important magistracy. A man could not seek re-election to the same post until a ten-year interval had elapsed, nor could he stand in the first place until he had reached the age o...

was no division between political and military power and the magistrates performed military or civil tasks as necessary. The most important duties and military commands w...

Most senior magistrates were sent out to govern a province during their year of office. The Senate was able to extend a consul or praetor’s imperium as a pro-magistrate – proconsul...

This was frequently necessary to provide the Republic with the number of provincial governors needed to control a large empire, but it did not alter ...

An extension of more than two years was e...

In contrast the Senate’s importance was based less on its formal functions than its sheer permanence. It consisted of around 300 senators and met when summoned by a magistrate, usually a consul when one was present.

Senators were not elected, but enrolled – and very occasionally expelled – in the Senate by the two censors, who every five years carried out a census of Roman citizens.

However, there were comparatively few offices to hold, and many senators, perhaps half, had never been elected to a magistracy.

Senators had to belong to the equestrian order, the wealthiest property-holding class listed in the census. Their name, equites or ‘knights’, derived from their traditional role as cavalrymen in the Roman army.

However, the vast majority of equestrians never sought to enter public life and the Senate tended to be drawn from an inf...

Debates were dominated by the ex-magistrates, for procedure dictated that the former consuls be asked their opinion first, followed by the former praetors and so on down to the most junior posts.

The Senate did not have the power to legislate, but the decrees resulting from its debates went to the Popular Assemblies for approval with a very strong recommendation.

It also acted as an advisory council for the magistrates when these were in Rome, decided which provinces would be available for each year, and could grant imperium as a pro-magistrate. In addition, it was the Senate that received foreign embassies and despatched ambassadors, and also sent commissioners to oversee administrative arrangements in the provinces, giving it a critical role in shaping foreign affairs.

They elected all magistrates, passed laws and had formally to ratify declarations of war and the peace treaties concluding a conflict.

All adult male citizens were able to vote if they were present, but their votes were not all of equal value. In the Comitia Centuriata, which elected the consuls and had a number of other important functions, the people were divided into voting units based upon their property as registered in the most recent census.

Inevitably there were fewer members in the most senior voting units or centuries, simply because there were fewer rich than poor.

Each century’s vote was supposed to carry equal weight, but those of the wealthier classes voted first and it was often the case that a decision had already been reached before the poorest centuries had had their say.

Other assemblies were based on tribal divisions, again determined by the census, and here the inequalities were similarly great i...

Therefore in most respects the opinion of the more prosperous citizens had a far greater impact on the outcome of all votes than that of the more numerous poor.

None of these assemblies provided an opportunity for debate. Instead they simply chose from a list of candidates or voted for or against a particular proposal. Assemblies were summoned by a magistrate, who presided over them and dictated their business.

Compared to the Assembly of Athens in the later fifth century BC, the democratic elements within the Roman system might seem tightly controlled, but that does not mean that they were unimportant. The outcome of v...

Only those registered as equestrians in the highest property class in the census were eligible for a political career. Reaching the magistracies depen...

and each candidate for office competed as an individual. Only rarely did they advocate specific policies, although commenting on issues of current importance was more common. In the main, voters looked more for a capable individual who once elected could do whatever the State required.

Past deeds stood as proof of ability, but where these were lacking, especially at the early stages of a career, a candidate paraded the achievements of earlier generations of his family.

The Romans believed strongly that families possessed clear character traits and it was assumed that a man whose father and grandfather had fought successful wars against Rom...

Aristocratic families took great pains to advertise the deeds of their members, past and present, so that their names sparked recognition amongst the voters. The combination of their fame and wealth allowed a comparatively small number of families to domina...

The number of each college of magistrates declined with seniority, so that the struggle for office became even harder as a man progressed up the ladder. By simple arithmetic, only one-third of the six praetors elected each year could hope to become consul. This fierce competitiveness ensured that long-term political groupings were rare, and permanent parties unimaginable, for no one could share a magistracy.

In many ways the system worked well, providing the Republic each year with a new crop of magistrates, all eager to do great deeds on Rome’s behalf before their twelve months of office expired.

The formal power of imperium lasted only for this time, but a man’s successes would great...

for it combined authority, reputation and influence with sheer importance or status. Auctoritas endured after an office was laid down, though it could be diminished by a man’s subsequent behaviour or eclipsed by that of other senators. It determined how often and how early a man’s opinion would be sought by the magistrate pr...

In 90 BC the distinguished former consul and censor, and current senior senator (princeps senatus), Marcus Aemilius Scaurus was accused of taking bribes from a hostile king. His prosecutor was the undistinguished Quintus Varius Severus, who, although a Roman, had been born in the city of Sucro in Spain.

As the key to his defence, Scaurus turned to the court and the watching crowd and asked a simple question. ‘Varius Severus of Sucro claims that Aemilius Scaurus, seduced by a royal bribe, betrayed the imperium of the Roman people; Aemilius Scaurus denies the charge.

Competition did not stop when a man won the consulship. His subsequent status depended on how well he performed in the office in comparison with other consuls.

Leading an army to victory over an enemy of the Republic was a great achievement, especially if it was acknowledged by the award of a triumph on his return to Rome.

In this ceremony the victor rode in a chariot through the centre of the city as part of a procession including his captives, the spoils won and other symbols of success, as well as his own soldiers parading in their finest equipment. The general was dressed in the regalia of Rome’s most important deity, Jupiter Optimus Maximus, even to the...

Most men had won and completed their first consulship by the time they were in their mid forties, and could expect to live on and remain active in the Senate for decades. Their continued prominence in public life depended on their auctoritas, and in time might further add to this.

Competition was at the heart of Roman public life, senators struggling throughout their careers to win fame and influence for themselves, and prevent others from acquiring too much of the same things.