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CICERO, PRO MURENA 47 AND 85

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2014

Andrew R. Dyck
Andrew R. Dyck*
Affiliation:
Los Angeles
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Extract

Cicero is narrating various proposals advanced by Servius Sulpicius Rufus in an attempt to save his failing consular campaign of 63. In addition to the lex Tullia de ambitu discussed in the preceding section, he mentions this proposal that was blocked in the senate. The text printed is that of Clark, who compares [Sall.] 2.8.1, citing a law promulgated by C. Gracchus in his tribunate: ut ex confusis quinque classibus sorte centuriae vocarentur. On this basis Clark suspected that the transmitted praerogationum conceals a reference to the praerogativa (centuria), the first to vote in the comitia centuriata, traditionally chosen by lot from the centuries of the first class and the twelve classes of equites, and thus highly influential. Certainly this is more plausible than Mommsen's perrogationem (‘the successive asking for opinions’: OLD s.v. perrogatio), which is not attested in any classical author.

Type
Shorter Notes
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 64 , Issue 1 , May 2014 , pp. 417 - 418
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 2014 

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References

1 Vishnia, R. Feig, Roman Elections in the Age of Cicero: Society, Government, and Voting (New York and London, 2012)Google Scholar, 136, places the law within the history of such legislation; it provided, however, no definitive solution; cf. Riggsby, A.M., Crime and Community in Ciceronian Rome (Austin, 1999)Google Scholar, 152. Cicero complains of violations of his law at Sest. 133 and Vat. 37.

2 Cf. Staveley, E.S., Greek and Roman Voting and Elections (London, 1972), 154–5Google Scholar; C. Meyer, RE Suppl. 8, 567.44 (s.v. Praerogativa centuria).

3 Ryan, F.X., ‘Cicero, Mur. 47: text and meaning’, Gymnasium 101 (1994), 481–2Google Scholar. For the short-lived Manilian law (invalidated by the senate the day after its enactment), cf. Rotondi, G., Leges publicae populi Romani (Milan, 1912)Google Scholar, 375. For the possible relation of Servius to the tribune of 88, cf. Münzer, RE 4A1, 851.62–4.

4 The noun renovatio is used by Cicero in a variety of contexts, though not with reference to legislation (r. doctrinae: Brut. 250, r. timoris: Fam. 11.18.3, r. mundi: Nat. D. 2.118, etc.). That renovare can be used with reference to public institutions is clear e.g. from Balb. 34: tum est cum Gaditanis foedus vel renovatum vel ictum; Liv. 3.55.6: … ipsis quoque tribunis, ut sacrosancti viderentur, cuius rei prope iam memoria aboleverat, relatis quibusdam ex magno intervallo caerimoniis renovarunt …

5 I would like to thank the journal's readers for helpful advice and the Editor for his patience.