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

• 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"
      • Less demeaning to client
  • 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

• 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