Politics under the Republic
No political parties
- No political parties with clear platforms/membership
- Candidates would states their views on important issues if necessary, but did so individually
- Most of the time there weren't such issues
- Voters probably voted for non-ideological reasons
Populares vs. optimates
- Ancient sources speak of strife of later Republic in terms of populares vs. optimates
- Populares are those who assert rights of "Roman People" as a whole against the narrow interests of the senate/senatorial oligarchy
- Sometimes this means supporting the equestrians against the senate
- control of law courts
- unnatural division amongst sections of the wealthiest
- Sometimes this means supporting poorer citizens
- land distribution
- cancellation of debts
- championing economic interests of poor against wealthy
- No fixed platform
- Ad hoc issues
- Tend to oppose senate on principle
- Populares simply magistrates who choose to oppose senate
- Members of senatorial class who advance selves through opposing senate
- Not normally from lower classes
- Career move in early career
- Young tribunes from nobility often follow popularis line
- The higher the office held, the less likely someone is to maintain popularis line
- Optimates (from Latin for "best men") support the senate
- Support status quo
- Instinctively oppose the sorts of things populares like
- Uphold privileges of senate
- The leading families in senate often equate the interests of the senate with their own
Regular Electoral Politics
Reasons why voters voted as they did:
- Social bonds with candidate or his supporters
- Clientela
- Nature of the system disputed
- Associates social superior (patron) with social inferior (client)
- Patron gets presige from helping out client, who's beholden to him
- Can be hereditary
- Marius was "hereditary client" of Metelli
- Out of politeness, Romans often spoke of the relation in terms of "friendship"
- Vote for "hometown" boy
- From same area or voting tribe, not necessarily same town
- Preference for voting for sons of prominent families
- Political issues a consideration only on special occasions
- Dissatisfaction with course of a campaign
No statistics
There are no overal voting statistics
- No total votes known
- Only on rare occasions are the votes of the centuries or tribes known
- Allusions in Cicero and other sources allow an impressionistic sense of electioneering
- Careers of Gracchi, Saturninus show conflict between rural and urban plebs (poor(er) people)
- No sign of this after enfranchisement of Italian allies
Breakdown of System
- System seemingly functions in 70's, 60's
- Effect of enfranchisement of allies not clear
- Rich voters travel to Rome
- Seemingly poor citizens at distance don't
- Lots of "new men" from the ruling classes of the Italian cities
- Such men become prominent senators under Early Empire
- Electoral system collapses in late 60's, '50s
- Widespread use of bribery
- Frequent domination of assemblies through violence
Back to CLASS 282 Reading Schedule