Republican magistracies question

[eigenvector]

Hello,

This is actually a bit of a propographical question: I got the impression that during the late Republic the tribunate and the cursus honorum were in effect two different carrer paths, so that people who stood for one were not usually expected to pursue the other later.

Am I surmising a correct trend? Are there counterexamples?

Thanks!

[John W Davison]

Felix,

I think you are referring to a specific provision in the Sullan constitution regarding the tribunes of the plebs. Sulla wanted to reduce the power of the plebeian tribunes so he changed the law so that a former holder of the office would not be able to hold another office, to prevent ambitious men from using it as a platform for future advancement.

Pompey and Crassus dismantled most of Sulla's reforms under the "First Triumvirate". Ultimately the office must have regained its prestige as Augustus himself held the powers of a tribune (not the office, he was a patrician) after 27BC when he was undisputed master of the Romam state.

The evolution of the status and powers of the military tribunate from the Republic through to the Principate, on the other hand, is another (equally complex) story!

Regards,

[eigenvector]

Hi John,

Thanks a lot for the speedy and lucid answer. As good answers go, it raises more questions:

1. Which examples of ambitious men using the tribunate as a springboard to other offices could Sulla have had in mind?

2. Is it true to say that while Sulla's law was formally repealed, it continued to operate in practice as a sort of custom?

3. Do you know of a unified treatment of this special kind question in the historical literature?

Many thanks & regards,
Felix

[John W Davison]

Hi Felix,

In response to (1), I would say that the most prominent individuals would be the Gracchi.

Regarding (2), on the one hand, Caesar and Pompey are sometimes regarded as using tribunes as their (one could almost say) "henchmen" in Rome after the death of Crassus, and one coudl argue that this is indicative that the office was of less prestige in the post-Sullan era, although I am sure one could write a PhD on the question without concluding one way or the other!

Clodius seemed to have used the office as someone of considerable ambition, and he had himself adopted into a plebeian family so that he could hold the office:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Clodius_Pulcher

The office had considerable legislative power, and one has to remember that Caesar's spectacular military career in Gaul was all about advancing his political career in Rome. City politics mattered to the Roman elite, and so the tribunate remained very important, and to Clodius, I would say it was indeed "prestigious".

Clodius seems to be mainly remembered as Milo's rival in the street violence of the time, and Milo's career as tribune does seem is indicative of less political ambition, but the office was clearly a prize worth possessing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Annius_Milo

In response to (3), I am not aware of anything specific. You might try the relevant volume in the Cambridge Ancient History if you have access to a university library, or maybe just start with a general history of the fall of the Republic and look at the references.

The following is pretty recent with a cheaper paperback appearing soon (still on my list to read):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Breakdown-Ro...7&sr=1-1#_

In addition, the relevant volume in the new Edinburgh History of Rome series is due out in the not too distant future:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/07486...ROKL5A1OLE

Good luck with your researches!

Regards,

[eigenvector]

Hi John,

Thanks again. The example of Milo is a good one. You didn't name him, but indicated enough for me to recall that Labienus is another one! It might be interesting though to note that both hadn't reached the consulship.

Apropos, the reason I'm asking is that I'm working on a board game set in Rome and would like to introduce a rule that tribunes cannot take cursus honorum positions later (come to think of it, Sulla Felix beat me to it . Such a rule would facilitate gameplay but I want to retain as much historical accuracy as possible, Hence the questions.

Once again, thanks, your answers have been very helpful.

Felix.

[john m roberts]

Cato the Younger was a Tribune between the offices of Quaestor and Praetor. He only failed to win the consulship because he refused to resort to bribery. The elder Curio likewise held all the cursus offices plus that of Tribune, and his son did the same but died in Africa before he could stand for the consulsip. Aulus Gabinius was also Tribune before election to the praetorship. In the late republic the tribuneship was in many ways the most powerful of public offices because of its power of veto and the introduction of lgislation in the popular assemblies. The great politician/warlords of the era always tried to have a few of each years' Tribunes in their service, to push their own agendas and do their rivals a nasty turn now and then. Some men stood for Tribune to frustrate the actions of Tribunes of rival factions. It was typical of the Republican policy of division of powers to create a non-cursus, plebeian office that could overrule the actions of imperium-holding officials.