Lucius 02Appuleius Saturninus (fl.104-100 BC)
In the third century BC, Ostia was primarily a naval base. In 267 BC the quaestor Ostiensis was located there in charge of the fleet. In the second century BC Ostia gradually changed to a commercial harbour, and the role of the quaestor became to supervise the import of grain. In 104 BC the position was held by Saturninus, but he was removed by the Senate (an unusual occurrence) and replaced by 13Aemilius Scaurus (cos.115 BC), one of the chief members of the optimates. It seems it was the apparent injustice of his dismissal that drove Saturninus to join with the populares.
In 104 BC the tribune 03Domitius Ahenobarbus failed in two prosecutions, one against 08Junius Silanus on a charge of misconduct on his campaign against the Cimbri five years earlier, and the second against 13Aemilius Scaurus whom he accused of neglecting his sacral duties. Cicero says that the motive behind each of the attacks was personal: Silanus having wronged or offended a Gaulish friend of Domitius; Scaurus, chief of the Senate, was an augur and his influence in that role caused the rejection of Domitius.
In 104 BC Domitius now proposed and carried the lex Domitia de sacerdotiia which changed the method of filling vacancies in principal sacred colleges. Hitherto, new members were co-opted by the existing members but from now they would be elected by seventeen of the thirty-five tribes chosen by lot to avoid a popular election. 31Cornelius Sulla later repealed this law and 04Julius Caesar had it re-enacted.
As tribune in 103 BC, Saturninus supported by his colleague Gaius Norbanus (1) (fl.103-82 BC), launched an attack on 08Servilius Caepio and Gaius Mallius for their responsibility for the disaster at Arausio. After disturbances, Caepio was convicted and imprisoned but later allowed to go into exile.
Saturninus now with his lex Appuleia de maiestate minuta populi secured the establishment of court to try cases of treason, i.e. the ‘lessening the majesty of the Roman people’. He carried the lex Appuleia de coloniis Africam, a measure to provide allotments of one hundred iugera in North Africa for Marius’ veterans, which secured him the backing of Marius and the equites in his struggle against the optimates. The fate of his lex Appuleia frumentaria (corn) in 100 BC is uncertain.
In 102 BC Marcus Antonius (1) was appointed to combat the piracy problem in the eastern Mediterranean. The sources are meagre, but he apparently raided towns and cities from a base at Side in Pamphylia. After losing his prefect Marcus Gratidius, possibly in a naval battle, he returned to Rome where he had a triumph and was elected consul for 99 BC.
Saturninus had annoyed the optimates enough for 09Caecilius Metellus (cos.109 BC) as censor, to try to prevent his inclusion on the roll of the Senate and to expel Saturninus’ friend 09Servilius Glaucia. But Saturninus had sufficient influence with the urban plebs to summon a mob and deter Metellus from his purpose. In 101 BC Glaucia helped to get Saturninus elected for the following year: the details are not clear but to bring this about Aulus Nonius, one of the regular candidates, was murdered to make room for Saturninus.
In 101 BC envoys of Mithridates VI of Pontus (69; r.120-63 BC) arrived in Rome with a large sum of money with which to bribe the senators. Saturninus, seeing this as an opportunity to attack the Senate, insulted the envoys who then complained to the Senate. As the infringement of the inviolability of ambassadors was a capital offence, Saturninus was put on trial for his life, but he again stirred up the mob and was acquitted.
In 100 BC, when Glaucia was praetor, Saturninus proposed his lex Appuleia de coloniis Siciliam, Achaiam, Macedoniam, which provided for allotments in Sicily, Greece and Macedonia. Since not many Romans would have been willing to sacrifice their citizenship by joining them, the colonists must have been drawn largely from the Latins and allies.
A lex de piratis had been passed (c.101 BC) to supplement the efforts of Antonius against the pirates in the eastern Mediterranean. The law contained a sanctio, a clause that fixed a penalty for its violation. This was not an unusual feature, but Saturninus broke new ground when to protect his agrarian law against repeal he appended to it a sanctio under which all the senators, in pain of exile, should swear to maintain it.
Marius said that the senators should take the oath to observe the law insofar as it was valid, but if it was rescinded because it had been passed by violence or against the auspices the oath would fall with it and they would be absolved. Marius himself took the oath and all the other senators followed suit, except for Metellus who spurned this subterfuge and went into exile in preference to taking the oath.
This law benefited veterans and neglected the poor, who became so hostile to Saturninus that many volunteered to fight for Metellus if he chose to resist. At the elections for 99 BC, Saturninus secured a third tribunate, with Lucius Equitius (who claimed to be the son of Tiberius Gracchus), as his colleague. Glaucia, already a tribune and praetor in successive years, now illegally stood for the consulship of 99 BC. To improve his chances he and Saturninus hired agents to murder Glaucia’s principal rival Gaius Memmius (1).
In the ensuing riot Saturninus, Glaucia and others took refuge on the Capitoline Hill. Military law (SCU) was passed, forcing Marius to take action against his former colleague, forcing their surrender when he cut off their water supply and promised them a fair trial. He imprisoned them in the Senate House, but the mob climbed on top of the building and pelted them to death with tiles torn from the roof.
This marked a serious setback for the populares and the downfall of Marius’ political career. Now regarded with hostility by his former friends and also by the senatorial aristocracy because of his previous political record, in 98 BC he went off to Asia and into (temporary) retirement.
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