Titus Accius was a Roman jurist and knight. Accius was a native of

Pisaurum Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

. In 66 BC he stood as

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

in the murder trial of

Aulus Cluentius Habitus Aulus Cluentius Habitus, a wealthy citizen of Larinum in Samnium, and subject of a Roman ''cause célèbre''. In 74 BC, he accused his stepfather Statius Albius Oppianicus of an attempt to poison him; had it been successful, the property of Cluenti ...

, accused of killing Oppianicus the elder with poison.

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 ...

was Cluentius's sole defender, and composed his famous 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 ...

'' for the occasion. Accius was a pupil of

Hermagoras of Temnos Hermagoras of Temnos (, fl. 1st century BC) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek rhetorician of the Rhodes, Rhodian school and teacher of rhetoric in Rome, where the Suda states he died at an advanced age. He appears to have tried to excel as an o ...

, and is praised by Cicero for his accuracy and fluency.

, ''

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was reta ...

'' 23; ''

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 ...

'' 23, 31, 57

References

Ancient Roman jurists People from Pisaurum 1st-century BC Romans Accii {{AncientRome-law-bio-stub