Rome, Late Roman Republic, Sulla (c.60; fl.106-78 BC): Marcus Livius Drusus 

Lucius ³²Cornelius Sulla Felix (c.60; fl.106-78 BC)

In 98 BC the consuls ¹⁰Caecilius Metellus (c.80; fl.98-55 BC) and Didius (1) carried the lex Caecilia Didia, which (a) forbade the inclusion of two or more wholly unrelated matters within one lex, the object of such ‘tacking’ being induce the acceptance an unpopular proposal because its rejection would at the same time reject a proposal that was welcomed; and (b) enacted a trinundinum, i.e. a period that included three market days (nundinae) that were held every eight days, between the promulgation of a measure and its voting in the assembly to guard the Senate against surprise attacks.

In 95 BC ¹¹Licinius Crassus (49; fl.95-91 BC) and ⁰⁴Mucius Scaevola (fl.106-82 BC) carried the consular lex Licinia Mucia the goal of which was to remove Latins and Italians from the citizen rolls by prosecuting anyone falsely claiming to have Roman citizenship. While Scaevola was proconsul in Asia in 97 BC, his legate ⁰¹Rutilius Rufus had defended the interests of some of the cities there against exploitation from local publicani. This infuriated some members of the equestrian order in Rome, who in 92 BC succeeded in having Rutilius charged with repetundae: he was condemned and went into exile in Smyrna on the west coast of Asia Minor.

• Marcus ⁰⁵Livius Drusus (c.33; fl.91 BC)

In 91 BC the tribune ⁰⁵Livius Drusus attempted to introduce a broad program of reform. Like his father, ⁰⁴Livius Drusus, he was closely aligned with the conservative interests in the Senate. His lex Livia iudiciaria had as its object the readmission of senators to the jury courts by raising three hundred knights to the Senate and drawing the juries for criminal courts from the enlarged Senate; his appeal to the knights was for them to assume a direct share in government responsibility so as to strengthen the power of the oligarchy. He also proposed colonies and land distributions to provide for the poor, and the enfranchisement of all Italians.

Italians flocked to Rome to support Drusus’ franchise bill, but when it became known that he had entertained the Marsic leader Poppaedius Silo (d.88 BC) in his home, the conservative forces began to doubt his loyalty. ¹¹Licinius Crassus maintained the support for Drusus but when the orator died in September the oligarchs led by the consul ⁰⁹Marcius Philippus (c.68; fl.91-c.73 BC), the equites led by ¹¹Servilius Caepio and the Italians fearing they could lose their land under Drusus’ agrarian and colonial schemes, combined against him. His laws that had already been passed were invalidated by the Senate and he was killed by an unknown assassin soon after.