Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 May 2014
This paper revisits the political history of the Roman Republic in the third decade of the first century b.c. Its central contention is that the dominant feature of the period was neither a reshuffle of alliances within the ‘Sullan’ senatorial nobility nor the swift demise of Sulla's legacy. Attention should be focused instead on some crucial policy issues which attracted debate and controversy in that period: the powers of the tribunes, the corn supply of Rome, the rôle of the Senate, the revival of the census, and the full inclusion of the Allies into the citizen body. The political strategy of M. Aemilius Lepidus (cos. 78 b.c.) and its medium-term repercussions also deserve close scrutiny in this connection.
Aspects of the argument of this paper were presented to audiences in Glasgow and Milan in March and April 2013 respectively. I am very grateful for the questions and reactions that I received on those occasions. I should also like to thank very warmly Jeremy Paterson, Alexander Thein, and the Journal's Editor and readers for their comments and observations on various drafts of this article.
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