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THE ROMAN MOB1
I
IN FEBRUARY 56 B.C., PUBLIUS CLODIUS, THE PATRICIAN LEADER OF
theurbanproletariatat Rome,had indictedhis enemy,Titus Annius
Milo, on a chargeof seditiousviolencebeforethepopularassembly.
(Milo had successfullydisputedClodius' controlof the streetsby
hiringgladiatorsand otherbravados.) Pompeyhad undertaken to
appearforMilo at a preliminary hearing.
Pompey spoke [wroteCicero] or intendedto; in fact,as soon as he rose, the
Clodian gang raised a clamour,and throughouthis speech he was interrupted
not onlyby shoutingbut by loud abuse and insults. When he had finished-
in this he certainlyshowed courage; he was not frightenedaway, said his
piece to the end, and now and again secured silence by his authority- up
got Clodius. Our people made such a clamour - we had decided to show
him the same courtesy - that he could not control his mind, tongue or
expression. Pompey had barely finished at noon; this went on till two
o'clock; every kind of insult and the most bawdy verses were shouted at
Clodius and his sister. Livid with fury,Clodius asked his followerswho
was starving the people to death. The gang replied: "Pompey". Who
wanted to go to Alexandria? "Pompey." Whom did they want to go?
"Crassus" .... At about threeo'clock, as if at a signal, Clodius' people began
to spit in unison at ours. A crescendo of anger. They began to shove our
people out. We charged; the gangstersfled; Clodius was thrown off the
platform,and I too took to flight;theremighthave been an accident.2
This was a relativelypeacefulscene in the 5os. In 58, when
Clodiuswas drivingCicerointotemporary exile,a senatorwas killed
in streetfighting.The dayafterCiceroleftRome,beforehe hadbeen
condemnedin law,his houseon thePalatinewas sackedand burned,
and themob marchedoutto treathis Tusculanvillain thesameway.
Later thatyear,Pompeykeptto his housein fearforhis life. In 57
theefforts of Milo and Sestiusas tribunesto restoreCiceroweremet
by violence;Sestiuswas leftfordead in the street;Clodiusbrought
gladiatorsinto the senate-house. Milo and Sestius repelledforce
withforce,untilat lastthegentryand bourgeoisieofall Italycamein
1
Many statementscan readily be verifiedin standard historiesof Rome, or
for the period covered, in Greenidge and Clay, Sources for Roman History
I33-70 B.C., revised by E. W. Gray (Oxford, 1960), or under the year named
in T. R. S. Broughton,?Magistrates of the Roman Republic(New York, I95I).
All dates are B.C. unless otherwisestated. For all mattersconcerningthe rural
plebs and veterans mentioned see my article in Jl. of Rom. Stud., lii (1962),
pp. 7C-86. Before revisingthis paper I could read only parts of Ch. Meier,
Res Publica Amissa (Wiesbaden, 1966), esp. pp. 95-II5. J. W. Heaton, Mob
Violencein thelate RomanRepublic(Illinois Studiesin Soc. Science,xxiii,4, 1939)
is inaccurate in details and superficialin interpretation.
2ad Quintumfratrem,ii. 3. 2.
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4 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 35
II
The truegoverning organof the Roman Republicwas the senate
whichacted throughannual magistrateselectedby the people but
drawnfromitsownranks. The senateitselfwas dominatedbya few
noble familieswhose power reposed on theirwealthand on the
3 T. Rice
Holmes, Rom. Republic (Oxford, 1923), i, pp. 330-3; ii, pp. 54-6I;
esp. Cic., ad Atticum,iv. 3. 2-3. Sacra Via, S. B. Platner, Topograph.Dict. of
Anc. Rome,revised by T. Ashby (Oxford, 1929), pp. 456 ff.
4 For 52 Asconius, 32-3 (Oxf. text); Appian, Civil Wars, ii. 20 ff.; (Cassius)
Dio, xl. 48 ff.; for 44 Appian, ii. 143-8; Dio, xliv. 35-5I; Plutarch,Caesar, 68;
Antony, 14; Brutus, I8; 20. The people were inflamed by the reading of
Caesar's will in which he lefthis gardensforpublic use and a sum of moneyto
everycitizendomiciled at Rome.
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THE ROMAN MOB 5
numberof theirdependents,and on the prestigetheyderivedfrom
theirpastservicesto thestate. Candidatesforoffice seldomstoodon
programmes,and organized parties did not exist. Men were
returnedto officeoccasionallyforpersonalmerits(talentcould carry
outsiderslike Ciceroto the highestplace), moreoftenby reasonof
theirmunificence and lavishbribes,in generalbecauseoftheirfamily
and connections. Birthand wealthusuallywenttogether. Cicero
describesLucius DomitiusAhenobarbusas a man destinedforthe
consulshipsince he was born; in 49 he could offerfarmsof thirty
acres apiece to some thousandsof soldiers. Such nobles had
numerousdependentsor clientswho were morallyexpectedand
ofteneconomicallycompelledto supportthem.5 They used their
powerto growricherfromthe profitsof war and empire,and to
oppose everymeasureto relievethe poor, the provisionof cheap
grain,the distributionof land or the remissionof debt. Here they
had the backingof the upper class in general,whose spokesman,
Cicero,declaredthatthe primedutyof government was to ensure
"thateverymankepthis own". Andpubliclargesses,whichdid not
infringepropertyrights,could be rejectedon the groundthatthey
were more than the treasurycould bear, the treasuryfromwhich
senatorsdrewhandsomeallowancesforthemselves.6
In theorythepeopleat Romepossessedgreatpower. Theyelected
the magistrates,declaredwar and ratifiedtreaties,passed laws, and
until the creationof standingcourts in the late second century
decidedthemostimportant criminalcases; to theend oftheRepublic
some politicalchargescame beforethem. From the late second
centurytheyvoted by ballot; this naturallydiminishedaristocratic
control.
There was morethanone popularassembly. Of thesethecomitia
centuriatawas timocratically organized. Decisions were taken by
a majoritynot of heads, but of votingunits called centuries;the
well-to-do,if theywere of one mind,could decide the issues; the
citizenswithno property at all,and whoaresaidto haveoutnumbered
all therestputtogether bythetimeofAugustus,formedonlya single
century, whichmightneverevenbe called.7 The ruralpoortherefore
5 H.
Jolowicz,Hist. Introd.to theStudyofRomanLaw, 2nd edn. (Cambridge,
1952), chaptersii and iv, gives an excellentintroductionto the Roman constitu-
tion. For the workingof the political systemsee L. R. Taylor, Party Politicsin
the Age of Caesar (Berkeley, 1949). Domitius: Cic., ad Atticum,iv. 8a, 2.
Caesar, Civil War, i. 17. Clients; see esp. M. Gelzer, Kleine Schriften,i
(Wiesbaden, 1962), pp. 68 ff.
6 de officiis,
ii. cf. Brunt (n. I), pp. 69 ff.
7Dionysius of72-end,
Halicarnassus, Rom. Antiquities,iv. 20. 5; 21. I (based on
personal observation,21. 3, after30 B.C., i. 7. 2).
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6 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 35
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THE ROMAN MOB 7
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8 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 35
III
In the second place, Rome was even by modernstandardsa
populouscity,in whichtherewas no garrisonand no policeto control
the multitude.
To the totalsize of the populationthereis no directtestimony.
But thenumberofrecipients offreegrainhad risento 320,000in the
40s.17 Only adult males were normallyeligible,18 and we therefore
have to estimatethe numberof womenand childrenin this class.
The grainrecipients werepartlyfreeborn,partlyfreedmen. Appian
impliesthatin 133thepoorwereunableto raisechildren.19Abortion
and infanticidewerenotforbidden bythelaw,and manyparentsmust
haveexposedtheirbabies,someofwhommightthenbe broughtup as
slaves by the finders. The infanticide
of femaleinfantsmusthave
been commonevenin thesenatorialclass,amongwhomin Augustus'
reignmenoutnumbered women;if we makethereasonableassump-
tionthatit wasstillmoreprevalentwiththepoor,thebirth-rate
would
also have been depressedby a scarcityof reproductivewomen.20
There is some ground,however,forthinkingthatthe urbanplebs
16Polyb., vi. i6; Livy, v. 2. I4; x. 37. 8 (both texts that reflectlater con-
ditions). Cicero, de legibus,iii. 24 describesthe tribunateas "temperamentum
quo tenuiorescum principibusaequari se putarent". On its role in the middle
Republic see J. Bleicken,Das Volkstribunat der klass. Republik(Munich, I955).
17 Suetonius, Caesar, 41; cf.Dio, xliii. 21. 4.
18
Trajan included some children,and Augustusmade moneygiftsto children
(Pliny, Panegyricus,26; Suetonius, Aug., 4I); these seem exceptional, contra
D. van Berchem,Les distributions de ble et d'argenta la plebe rom.sous l'empire
(Geneva, 1939), pp. 32 ff.
19Civil Wars, i. 7.
20 T. Mommsen, Rom. Strafrecht(Leipzig, I899), pp. 617-20; 637; Dio,
liv. i6. 2.
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THE ROMAN MOB 9
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IO PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 35
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THE ROMAN MOB II
IV
The thirdfactorin the turbulenceof the citypopulationmaybe
foundin themiseryand squalorin whichtheylived,whichnaturally
made themresponsiveto politicianswho promisedto improvetheir
conditions
and engendered hostility to theupper
(ifonlyintermittent)
classeswho showedlittlecare fortheirinterests.30
29
Cic., pro C. Rabirio,22 (IOO); in Catilinam,i. II; ii. 5; iii. 5; pro Murena,
52; cf. Sail., Cat., 26. 4; 30. 7; 50. 4 (63). Cicero was accused of using armed
slaves but claims to have mobilized in December all the upper classes, and all
true citizens, indeed "omnis ingenuorum multitudo, etiam tenuissimorum"
(implausible), Phil., ii. 16; cf. in Cat., iv. I5 f.; theytook a militaryoath, Dio,
xxxvii.35. Rice Holmes, Rom. Rep., ii, p. 60 (57); Cic., ad Quinturn fr.,i. 2. i6
(59); ii. 3. 4 (56); Holmes, ii, p. 167 (52).
30In this section where references are omitted, the texts are cited
by
J. Carcopino, Daily Life in Anc. Rome(London, I94I), mainlybased on imperial
evidence; in the Republic things were worse. Z. Yavetz, Latomus, xvii
(I958), pp. 500 ff.gives furtherdetails forRepublic (e.g. on fearfulconditions
createdby plagues); his referencesand interpretation of textsare not all reliable.
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12 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 35
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THE ROMAN MOB I3
connectedwiththepublicsewers. We mayfairlysupposethatmost
of the inhabitants of Rome lived in appallingslums. They offered
shelter,but littlemore. As forfurniture, Cicerospeaksof thepoor
manas havingno morethana stooland a bed wherehe lived,worked
and slept.33
From such tenementsmen like Cicero drewas landlordsa good
income. Cicero's propertyon the Aventineand in the Argiletum,
probablytwo lowerclass districts, was in 44 bringinghimin 80,000
HSS, enoughto havepaid 6o legionaries fora yearundertheratesthat
had obtaineduntilrecently;he appropriated it to the allowancefor
hisundergraduate sonat Athens,and was anxiousto havetenantswho
would pay on the nail.34 Perhapsthatwas not so easy to ensure.
Then, as later,it is probablethatthereturnon investment in house-
property was highpreciselybecausetheriskwas great.35
In the40s therewas a prolongedagitationabout urbanrents. In
48 thepraetor,MarcusCaelius,whoproposeda year'sremission, was
drivenoutofthecitybytheconsul,butonlyafterbloodshed. Caesar,
however,grantedthe remissionin the same year, and perhaps
extendedit in 47, afterfurthertumults,whenbarricadeswereraised,
soldierscalledin and eighthundredrioterskilled. It appliedto rents
up to 2,000 sestercesin Rome,and 500 elsewhere,an indicationthat
the cost of livingin Rome was exceptionally high.36 (A generation
earlier,Cicerogave the dailywage foran unskilledlaboureras three
sesterces;obviouslyhe couldnothaveafforded 2,000fora year'srent.
We cannotsaywhetherwageshad risenin theinterim, or whether the
remissionwas intendedto benefit peopleat a ratherhigherlevel,such
as shopkeepers.) Cicero'scommentis characteristic."There is no
equityin abolishingor suspendingrents. Am I to buyand buildand
repairand spend,and you to have the benefitagainstmywill? Is
thisnot to takeawaythe propertyof some and giveto otherswhat
does not belong to them ?"37
How did the people of Rome live? Rome was never a great
industrialcity;indeedthereneverwas anylarge-scaleindustry
in the
ancientworldofthekindfamiliarsincetheindustrial revolution:the
33 Cic., in Catilinam,iv.
34Cic., ad Att., xii. 32. 2;17.
xv. I7. I; 20. 4; xvi. I. 5.
36 Gellius, xv. I. 3. But F. Schulz, Classical Roman Law (Oxford, I95I),
pp. 542 ff.shows how the law favouredownersagainsttenants.
38 Caesar, Civil Wars, iii. 20 f.; Dio, xli. 37 f.; Appian, ii. 48 (Caelius); Dio,
xlii. 29-33 (riotsof 47). The Fasti Ostienses under 48 recorda year's remission
of rents; Dio, xlii. 51 puts remissionin 47; other details in Suetonius, Caesar,
38; 42.
37 Cicero, pro Rosciocomoedo, 28; de officiis,
ii. 83 f.
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I4 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 35
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THE ROMAN MOB I5
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I6 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 35
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THE ROMAN MOB 17
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i8 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER35
V
The progressof violencemaynow be sketched. In 133 Tiberius
Gracchusproposedto redistribute amongthepoorpubliclandswhich
the richhad occupied. His colleague,Octavius,interposeda veto;
Gracchushad himdeposedbyvoteoftheassembly, an unprecedented
act whichset aside the mostimportant of the constitutional
checks.
His bill was then carried. Actual violencewas not used, but the
menacingattitudeof the peasantrywho had flockedin to back
GracchusmayexplainwhyOctaviusdid notdareto vetothemotion
for his own deposition. Later in the year the senatorscharged
Gracchuswithaspiringto tyranny and lynchedhimin public. The
firstopenactofillegalpoliticalviolencecamefromthenobility.
In I23-2 Gaius Gracchusas tribunecarriedmanyanti-senatorial
measures. (In 123no othertribunehad thewillorcourageto oppose
him; he had the backingof both urbanand ruralplebs and of the
richmenoutsidethesenate,on whomhe conferred
equites, important
benefits;he did not need to use force.) But eventuallyhe lost
popularfavourand office, and as a privatepersonin 121 armedhis
54 M. Rostovtzeff, vii (I9IO), pp. 126 if., who like
Paulys Realencyclopddie,
all writers(esp. Toynbee, Hannibal's Legacy,ii, pp. 296 ff.;pp. 585 if.) unduly
depreciates the continuanceof cereal cultivationin Italy; I hope to show this
elsewhere.
55 modii(about 41 litres) a month. Cato gave his slaves 3-4-, accordingto
5
the heaviness of theirwork: de agric.,56.
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THE ROMAN MOB 19
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20 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 35
58 Cicero, de imperioCn. Pompeii,31-5; 44, cf. Rice Holmes i, pp. 167 ff.
59 Cicero, in Catilinam,iii. 15; 21; 25;iv. 17; Sallust, Catiline,48. 2.
60Ch. Wirszubski,Libertas as a Political Idea at Rome (Cambridge, 1950),
pp. 24-7; 55-61; Rice Holmes, i, pp. 82 f. Cicero's unpopularity,ad Att.,
i. i6. II; ii. 3. 4; viii. II D. 7; Asconius, 37 (Oxf.); in Phil., vii. 4 he refersto
himself as a well-known adversary of the multitude. Temple of Liberty,
Plutarch,Cic., 33.
61
Plutarch,Cato Minor, 26-9.
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THE ROMAN MOB 21
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22 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 35
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THE ROMAN MOB 23
71Digest,xlvii. 22. 4.
72
Asconius, 7; 45; 59 f.; 75 (Oxf.); Cic., pro Murena, 71. If the Com-
mentariolum Petitionisis by Q. Cicero, or at least well-informed,the suppression
must be laterin 64; cf. sect. 30. Clodius' law: e.g. Ascon., 8; Cic., Sest., 33 f.;
55; de domo, 54; in Pisonem,8-II. Caesar's army, Sest., 40 f.; dom., I3I;
cf. E. Meyer, Caesars Monarchieu. das Principatdes Pompeius(Stuttgart,I922),
3rd edn., p. 94. Consuls' soldiers, dom., 55; II9.
73See e.g. Sest., 6; 27; 34; 38; 53; 57; 59; 65; 75; 78; 8i f.; 84 f.; 89; 95;
Io6; II2; I26 f.; de domo,5-7; 13; 45; 53 f.; 75; 79; 89 f.; 92; 129; in Pisonem,
8-II. Clodius' funds, de haruspicumresponsis,28. Runaways, W. Buckland,
Rom. Law of Slavery (Cambridge, 1908), pp. 257 ff. Dionysius, iv. 24. 5
atteststhe practiceof liberatingthugs; Augustus was to bar such freedmenfrom
citizenship or fromliving within Ioo miles of Rome. For riots ascribed to
slaves, freedmenand hirelings before 58, cf. Ascon., 45; 66; Cic., ad Att.,
i. I. I3; I4. 5; ii. I. 8.
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24 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 35
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THE ROMAN MOB 25
VI
Violencewas actuatedby manydifferent aims. The clientsofthe
greathousesused it simplyin theirpatrons'interest,
thefollowersof
popularleaderssometimesmerelyfromloyaltyto theirleaders. But
theywereattachedto the"demagogues"becausethedemagogues were
active for theirwelfare. Countrypeople, includingthe veterans,
usuallysoughtland distributions.The burdenof rent,indignation
at arbitrarypunishments, proposalsto redistribute
freedmen among
all thetribescouldsometimes raisean urbanmob. But in 75, 67, in
the heydayof Clodius' ascendancyand again in 41 and 39 hunger
seemsto havebeenthechiefmotiveforce.7
When Cicerowas banished,therewas a scarcity;his sarcasmthat
the bandswho pulled downhis housewerenotgoingto satisfytheir
appetite on tiles and cement implies that they were hungry.80
Clodius' grainlaw mayhave increasedthe effective demand,which
certainlyoutranthesupply. In July57 therewas a foodriot. A few
dayslater,whenthesenatevotedforCicero'srestoration, thepriceof
grain providentiallysank. It was but a temporaryimprovement.
For daystogetherthe senatedebatedthe cornsupply. Cicerogave
threepossibleexplanations fortheshortage:exporting provinceshad
no surplus,or theysent it elsewhereto get higherprices,or the
suppliersheld grainin storein theexpectationof faminerates. On
the 5th Septemberhe boastedthatplentyhad returnedwithhim.
This was an illusion. Prices continuedto oscillate (a familiar
phenomenonin manyages). On the nexttwo daystheywentsky-
high,and themobrose; Ciceroacknowledged thattherewas suffering
and hunger. He and othersdid not ventureto the senate-house.
But a dayor twolaterhe riskedattendance;thestreetswereevidently
78 Pro
Flacco, 18; ad Att.,i. I6. II; I9. 4; ii. I. 8. "Egentes" and "perditi",
e.g. de domo,45.
79The locust plague in Africain I25 (Orosius, v. II. 2) may also have paved
the way for Gaius Gracchus; for hungerin the Gracchan period: cf. Lucilius,
fragment214 (Loeb edn.). In the 40S too the rent-burdenmust have been the
greater,as Africawas under Pompeian controland grain must have been scarce
and dearer,leaving less moneyto pay the rent.
80De domo, 61. For what follows see de domo, 9-17 with Asconius, 48;
Cic., post reditumin senatu,34; ad Quirites,I8; ad Att., iv. I. 6; ad Quintum
fratrem,ii. 5. I; de hartspicumresponsis,31.
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26 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 35
VII
If we look beyondthe ambitionsand machinations of the great
figuresofthelateRepublic,themaincauseofitsfallmustin myview
be foundin agrariandiscontents;it was the soldiers,who were of
peasantorigin,whosedisloyalty to theRepublicwas fatal. The r6le
oftheurbanmobwas morerestricted. Still,it was theirclamourthat
gavePompeyhis extraordinary commandin 67 and setin motionthe
eventsthatled to his alliancewithCaesar in 59. And the violence
in thecityfrom58 to 52, whichwas itselfone resultof thatalliance,
producedsuchchaosthatit finally broughtPompeyand thesenatorial
leaderstogetheragain,andhelpedto severhisconnection withCaesar;
hencethecivilwarsin whichtheRepublicfoundered.
Popular leaders sometimesproclaimedthe sovereigntyof the
people. But thepeoplewhocouldactuallyattendmeetingsat Rome
were not trulyrepresentative and were incapableof governingan
empire. The onlyworkablealternative to thegovernment ofthefew
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THE ROMAN MOB 27
82
Wirszubski(n. 59), pp. 47 ff. Cf. Sallust,Jug. War, 3I: "sane fueritregni
paratio plebi sua restituere".
83
Ann., i. 5; cf. Augustus' Res Gestae,5.
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