Aulus Cluentius Habitus, a wealthy citizen of

Larinum In Roman times, ''Larinum'' (today Larino) was a thriving and large settlement of ancient origin, located in the hills of the hinterland at an altitude of about 400 m, not far (about 26 km) from the coast of the Adriatic Sea, of considerable imp ...

Samnium Samnium () is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the The language of t ...

, and subject of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

cause célèbre A ( , ; pl. ''causes célèbres'', pronounced like the singular) is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning, and heated public debate. The term is sometimes used positively for celebrated legal cases for th ...

''. In 74 BC, he accused his stepfather Statius Albius Oppianicus of an attempt to

poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

him; had it been successful, the property of Cluentius would have fallen to his mother Sassia. Oppianicus was found guilty. This further references: * Editions of Cicero's speech by William Yorke Fausset (1887), W. Ramsay (1883) *

Henry Nettleship Henry Nettleship (5 May 1839 – 10 July 1893) was an English classical scholar. Life Nettleship was born at Kettering, and was educated at Lancing College, Durham School and Charterhouse schools, and gained a scholarship for entry to Corpus Chr ...

, ''Lectures and Essays'' (1885). It is almost certain that both sides attempted to bribe the jury.Cicero, ''In Verrem'' II The case became notorious as an example of a prosecutor obtaining a guilty verdict through his money. In 66 BC, Sassia induced her stepson Oppianicus to charge Cluentius with having poisoned the elder Oppianicus. The prosecutor in the trial was Titus Accius. The defense was undertaken by

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

; his extant speech ''

Pro Cluentio ''Pro Cluentio'' is a speech by the Roman orator Cicero given in defense of a man named Aulus Cluentius Habitus Minor, addressed to the judge Gaius Aquilius Gallus. Cluentius, from Larinum in Samnium, was accused in 69 BC by his mother Sassia ...

'', written up after the trial, is regarded as a model of oratory and Latin prose. Cluentius was acquitted and Cicero subsequently boasted that he had thrown dust in the eyes of the jury "...se tenebras iudicibus offudisse in causa Cluenti gloriatus est". This was reported by

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

, ''Instit.'' ii. 17. 21, who quotes this speech more than any other.

Pro Cluentio

The trial of 66 BC took place before the court of poisonings but the precise legal position is unclear. Most of Cicero's speech concerns the earlier trial and supposed prejudice surrounding it he word "''invidia''" is constantly repeated Cicero claims this is strictly irrelevant to his case. He presents Oppianicus as a monster who killed many members of his own family, Sassia as a stock figure of female wickedness. He then declares that either Cluentius or Oppianicus bribed the earlier court; and having proven that Oppianicus did so, claims that Cluentius was innocent of bribery. The judges who voted for Oppianicus's condemnation did so because they thought he was not going to fulfil his promise to pay them. Cicero deals at length with earlier verdicts quoted against Cluentius, offers a fairly brief rebuttal of the charge of poisoning and finishes with a rousing

peroration is the system used for the organization of arguments in the context of Western classical rhetoric. The word is Latin, and can be translated as "organization" or "arrangement". It is the second of five canons of classical rhetoric (the first be ...

. Throughout, Cluentius is represented as a paragon of honesty and virtue; there is every reason to doubt this.

References

{{Authority control 1st-century BC Romans Cluentius Cluentii People acquitted of attempted murder