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Populares
''Optimates'' (, ; Latin for "best ones"; ) and ''populares'' (; Latin for "supporters of the people"; ) are labels applied to politicians, political groups, traditions, strategies, or ideologies in the late Roman Republic. There is "heated academic discussion" as to whether Romans would have recognised an ideological content or political split in the label. Among other things, ''optimates'' have been seen as supporters of the continued authority of the senate, politicians who operated mostly in the senate, or opponents of the ''populares''. The ''populares'' have also been seen as focusing on operating before the popular assemblies, generally in opposition to the senate, using "the populace, rather than the senate, as a means or advantage. References to ''optimates'' (also called ''boni'', "good men") and ''populares'' are found among the writings of Roman authors of the 1st century BC. The distinction between the terms is most clearly established in Cicero's '' Pro S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus ( – 121 BC) was a reformist Roman politician and soldier who lived during the 2nd century BC. He is most famous for his tribunate for the years 123 and 122 BC, in which he proposed a wide set of laws, including laws to establish colonies outside of Italy, engage in further land reform, reform the judicial system and system for provincial assignments, and create a subsidised grain supply for Rome. The year after his tribunate, his political enemies used political unrest – which he and his political allies had caused – as an excuse to declare martial law and march on his supporters, leading to his death. After his death, his political allies were purged in a series of trials, but most of his legislation was undisturbed. His brother was the reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. Both, known together as the Gracchi brothers, were the sons of the Gracchus who was consul in 177 and 163 BC. Background Gaius Gracchus was born i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pro Sestio
was an oration given by the Roman orator and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero in defence of Publius Sestius for charges of public violence (''vis'') in February or March 56 BC. Sestius was a friend of Cicero's, and had been instrumental in Cicero's recall from exile in 57. Cicero argued that Sestius should not be punished because his actions were not only in self-defence but also in the interest of the republic. The defence was successful: Sestius was acquitted unanimously by the jury on 14 March 56 BC. The speech is important in the study of Roman politics due to its seeming opposition of ''optimates'' and ''populares'' as labels for politicians standing for order and demagoguery, respectively. Whether this is actually what Cicero meant in his use of the words ''optimates'' and ''populares'', and especially to what extent they reflected contemporary political realities, is debated. Summary Cicero starts the speech by speaking of the troubled nature of Roman po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Rome (Mommsen)
''The History of Rome'' () is a multi-volume history of ancient Rome written by Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903). Originally published by Reimer & Hirzel, Leipzig, as three volumes during 1854–1856, the work dealt with the Roman Republic. A subsequent book was issued which concerned the provinces of the Roman Empire. In 1992, a further book on the Empire, reconstructed from lecture notes, was published. The initial three volumes won widespread acclaim upon publication; indeed, "The ''Roman History'' made Mommsen famous in a day." Still read and qualifiedly cited, it is the prolific Mommsen's most well-known work. The work was specifically cited when Mommsen was awarded the Nobel Prize. Genesis Writing the ''History'' followed Mommsen's earlier achievements in the study of ancient Rome. He had not himself designed to write a history, but the opportunity presented itself in 1850 while at the University of Leipzig where Mommsen was a thirty-two-year-old special Professor of Law. " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiberius Gracchus
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (; 163 – 133 BC) was a Roman politician best known for his agrarian reform law entailing the transfer of land from the Roman state and wealthy landowners to poorer citizens. He had also served in the Roman army, fighting in Africa during the Third Punic War and in Spain during the Numantine War. His political future was imperilled during his quaestorship when he was forced to negotiate a humiliating treaty with the Numantines after they had surrounded the army he was part of in Spain. Seeking to rebuild that future and reacting to a supposed decline in the Roman population which he blamed on rich families buying up Italian land, he carried a land reform bill against strong opposition by another tribune during his term as tribune of the plebs in 133 BC. To pass and protect his reforms, Tiberius unprecedentedly had the tribune who opposed his programme deposed from office, usurped the senate's prerogatives over foreign policy, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sallust
Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (, ; –35 BC), was a historian and politician of the Roman Republic from a plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became a partisan of Julius Caesar (100 to 44 BC), circa 50s BC. He is the earliest known Latin-language Roman historian with surviving works to his name, of which ''Conspiracy of Catiline'' on the eponymous conspiracy, ''The Jugurthine War'' on the eponymous war, and the ''Histories'' (of which only fragments survive) remain extant. As a writer, Sallust was primarily influenced by the works of the 5th-century BC Greek historian Thucydides. During his political career he amassed great and ill-gotten wealth from his governorship of Africa. Life and career Sallust was probably born in Amiternum in Central Italy,.. though Eduard Schwartz takes the view that Sallust's birthplace was Rome. His birth date is calculated from the report of Jerome's '' Chronicon''.. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Publius Clodius Pulcher
Publius Clodius Pulcher ( – 18 January 52 BC) was a Roman politician and demagogue. A noted opponent of Cicero, he was responsible during his plebeian tribunate in 58 BC for a massive expansion of the Roman grain dole as well as Cicero's exile from the city. Leader of one of the political mobs in the 50s, his political tactics – combining connections throughout the oligarchy with mass support from the poor plebs – made him a central player in the politics of the era. Born to the influential patrician gens Claudia, he was embroiled early in his political career in a religious scandal which saw him develop a rivalry with the orator Cicero and become a plebeian in order to be eligible for the plebeian tribunate. He successfully stood as tribune of the plebs for 58 BC and passed six laws to restore Rome's collegia (private guilds and fraternities), expand the grain dole (making it free rather than subsidised while also using those collegia as means for distribut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil war, a civil war. He subsequently became Roman dictator, dictator from 49 BC until Assassination of Julius Caesar, his assassination in 44 BC. Caesar played a critical role in Crisis of the Roman Republic, the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. In 60 BC, Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, Crassus, and Pompey formed the First Triumvirate, an informal political alliance that dominated Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass political power were opposed by many in the Roman Senate, Senate, among them Cato the Younger with the private support of Cicero. Caesar rose to become one of the most powerful politicians in the Roman Republic through a string of military victories in the G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language in the Italian Peninsula and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire. It has greatly influenced many languages, Latin influence in English, including English, having contributed List of Latin words with English derivatives, many words to the English lexicon, particularly after the Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England, Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons and the Norman Conquest. Latin Root (linguistics), roots appear frequently in the technical vocabulary used by fields such as theology, List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names, the sciences, List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes, medicine, and List of Latin legal terms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tribune Of The Plebs
Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () was the first office of the Roman Republic, Roman state that was open to the plebs, plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of the Roman Senate and Roman magistrate, magistrates. These tribunes had the power to convene and preside over the ''Plebeian Council, Concilium Plebis'' (people's assembly); to summon the senate; to propose legislation; and to intervene on behalf of plebeians in legal matters; but the most significant power was to veto the actions of the Roman consul, consuls and other magistrates, thus protecting the interests of the plebeians as a class. The tribunes of the plebs were typically found seated on Tribune bench, special benches set up for them in the Roman Forum. The tribunes were sacrosanct, meaning that any assault on their person was punishable by death. In Roman Empire, imperial times, the powers of the tribunate were granted to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Catilinarian Conspiracy
The Catilinarian conspiracy, sometimes Second Catilinarian conspiracy, was an attempted coup d'état by Catiline, Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline) to overthrow the Roman consuls of 63 BC – Cicero, Marcus Tullius Cicero and Gaius Antonius Hybrida – and forcibly assume control of the state in their stead. The conspiracy was formed after Catiline's defeat in the consular elections for 62, held in early autumn 63. He assembled a coalition of malcontents – aristocrats who had been denied political advancement by the voters, dispossessed farmers, and indebted veterans of Sulla – and planned to seize the consulship from Cicero and Antonius by force. In November 63, Cicero exposed the conspiracy, causing Catiline to flee from Rome and eventually to his army in Etruria. In December, Cicero uncovered nine more conspirators organising for Catiline in the city and, on advice of the senate, had them executed without trial. In early January 62 BC, Antonius Battle of Pisto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucius Opimius
Lucius Opimius was a Roman politician who held the consulship in 121 BC, in which capacity and year he ordered the execution of 3,000 supporters of popular leader Gaius Gracchus without trial, using as pretext the state of emergency declared after Gracchus's recent and turbulent death. He was censured in 116 BC by a tribunal investigating illicit bribes taken from Jugurtha, king of Numidia, by his commission tasked with dividing territory between the king and his brother. He then left Rome to Dyrrhachium in exile where he later died. Biography He is first mentioned for crushing the revolt of the town of Fregellae in 125 BC. He was elected consul in 121 BC with Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus, and while Fabius was campaigning in Gaul, he took part in perhaps the most decisive event of Roman history to that point. When Gaius Gracchus and M. Fulvius Flaccus were defeated for re-election by Opimius and Fabius, Gracchus organized a mass protest on the Aventine Hill. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio (182 or 181 – 132 BC) was a Roman politician. He is most well known for mobilising the mob which killed Tiberius Gracchus, who was at the time attempting to stand for re-election as plebeian tribune in 133 BC. He was Roman consul, consul in 138 BC and served as pontifex maximus, from possibly 141 through to his death in 132 BC. Career Nasica's first known public office was that of military tribune, which T.R.S. Broughton provisionally dated to 149 BC in ''Magistrates of the Roman Republic''. If he held that office, he would have been an officer during the Third Punic War and the Siege of Carthage (Third Punic War), siege of Carthage. Alexander Yakobson, writing in the ''Encyclopedia of Ancient History'', tentatively identifies this Scipio with the one who committed a Political gaffe, gaffe when, during a canvass for the aedileship, he asked whether a farmer with rough hands had a habit of walking on his hands. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
