Late Roman Republic, Pompeius Magnus (fl.82-48 BC): Government [3/3]; Tribunate, Provinces [2/2], Prosecutions, Grain Dole

Government [3/3]

• Tribunate

In 78 BC the tribunes asked the consuls to restore tribunate power but were met with a straight refusal. In 75 BC the consul ⁰⁴Aurelius Cotta passed the lex Aurelia which restored to the tribunes the right from which Sulla had excluded them in 81 BC, to progress to the magistracies. In 73 BC the tribune ¹⁵Licinius Macer obtained the support of Pompey for the full restoration of tribunician power. In 70 BC tribunate power was fully restored by the passing of the lex Pompeia Licinia by the consuls Pompey and ¹³Licinius Crassus.

• Provinces [2/2]

During the 70s BC, Rome had taken several provinces in the East: Cilicia (west) in 78 BC; Bithynia in 74 BC; and Crete with Cyrenaica (Cyrene had been bequeathed to Rome on the death of her ruler Ptolemy Apion (r.116-96 BC)) forming Creta et Cyrenaica also in 74 BC. After Pompey’s eastern success, the Romans took Gordyene (or Corduene), part of Armenia, in 66 BC; Pontus with Bithynia forming the province of Bithynia et Pontus, and Syria all in 64 BC; and Cyprus with Cilicia forming the province of Cilicia et Cyprus in 58 BC.

• Prosecutions

As a preliminary to entering on the official career ladder, ambitious young Roman nobles demonstrated their abilities and got themselves known by prosecuting Roman magistrates and governors for various kinds of official wrongdoing.

In 77 BC ⁰⁴Julius Caesar prosecuted ³⁷Cornelius Dolabella (cos.81 BC) for extortion while governing Macedonia (80-78 BC). Dolabella was defended by the outstanding orator of the time, ⁰³Hortensius Hortalus (64; fl; 95-50 BC), and was acquitted by the jury of senators. But Caesar’s prosecution speech was much admired and he was seen as a new rising star. In 76 BC he prosecuted ⁰⁴Antonius Hybrida on the charge of plundering in Greece. Caesar’s speech proved so effective that Antonius had to bribe his way out by the veto power of a tribune.

Late in 75 BC ²²Claudius Pulcher (cos.54 BC) brought charges of extortion in Asia against ⁰⁵Terentius Varro, who was defended by Hortensius. The trial was postponed to the next year, and Varro’s acquittal was apparently obtained through bribery of the jury and with the connivance of a praetor of that year, ⁴¹Cornelius Lentulus (51; fl.81-63 BC).

• Grain Dole

The Gracchan frumentatio (the distribution of corn) provided the needy with a monthly allowance of corn at a set price. In 81 BC Sulla abolished the frumentatio, but in 73 BC it was restored by the consuls ⁰⁴Terentius Varro and ⁰⁵Cassius Longinus Varus with their lex Terentia Cassia. In 62 BC the lex Porcia by ⁰⁷Porcius Cato the Younger (49; fl.72-46 BC) expanded the number of recipients, and in 58 BC the lex Clodia by the tribune ⁰¹Clodius Pulcher (c.41; fl.68-52 BC) made the distribution free and extended entitlement, but in 46 BC Caesar reduced the number to one hundred and fifty thousand.