Lustrum (54 page)

dictator
a magistrate given absolute power by the senate over civil and military affairs, usually in a time of national emergency

equestrian order
the second-most senior order in Roman society after the senate, the 'Order of Knights' had its own officials and privileges, and was entitled to one-third of the places on a jury; often its members were richer than members of the senate, but declined to pursue a public career

Gaul
divided into two provinces:
Nearer Gaul
, extending from the river Rubicon in northern Italy to the Alps, and
Further Gaul
, the lands beyond the Alps roughly corresponding to the modern French regions of Provence and Languedoc

haruspices
the religious officials who inspected the entrails after a sacrifice in order to determine whether the omens were good or bad

imperator
the title granted to a military commander on active service by his soldiers after a victory; it was necessary to be hailed imperator in order to qualify for a triumph

imperium
the power to command, granted by the state to an individual, usually a consul, praetor or provincial governor

legate
a deputy or delegate

lictor
an attendant who carried the fasces – a bundle of birch rods tied together with a strip of red leather – that symbolised a magistrate's imperium; consuls were accompanied by twelve lictors, who served as their bodyguards, praetors by six; the senior lictor, who stood closest to the magistrate, was known as the proximate lictor

manumission
the emancipation of a slave

Order of Knights
see
equestrian order

pontifex maxiumus
the chief priest of the Roman state religion, the head of the fifteen-member College of Priests, entitled to an official residence on the Via Sacra

praetor
the second most senior magistrate in the Roman republic, eight of whom were elected annually, usually in July, to take office the following January, and who drew lots to determine which of the various courts – treason, embezzlement, corruption, serious crime, etc – they would preside over; see also
urban praetor

prosecutions
as there was no public prosecution system in the Roman republic, all criminal charges, from embezzlement to treason and murder, had to be brought by private individuals

public assemblies
the supreme authority and legislature of the Roman people was the people themselves, whether constitued by
tribe
(the
comitia tributa
, which voted on laws, declared war and peace, and elected the tribunes) or by
century
(the
comitia centuriata
, which elected the senior magistrates)

quaestor
a junior magistrate, twenty of whom were elected each year, and who thereby gained the right of entry to the senate; it was necessary for a candidate for the quaestorship to be over thirty and to show wealth of one million sesterces

rostra
a long, curved platform in the forum, about twelve feet high, surmounted by heroic statues, from which the Roman people were addressed by magistrates and advocates; its name derived from the beaks (
rostra
) of captured enemy warships set into its sides

senaculum
an open space in front of the senate house where it was traditional for senators to assemble before the start of a session

senate
not
the legislative assembly of the Roman republic – laws could only be passed by the people in a tribal assembly – but something closer to its executive, with 600 members who could raise matters of state and order the consul to take action or to draft laws to be placed before the people; once elected via the quaestorship (see
quaestor
) a man would normally remain a senator for life, unless removed by the censors for immorality or bankruptcy, hence the average age was high (
senate
derived from
senex
= old)

tribes
the Roman people were divided into thirty-five tribes for the purposes of voting on legislation and to elect the tribunes; unlike the system of voting by
century
, the votes of rich and poor when cast in a tribe had equal weight

tribune
a representative of the ordinary citizens – the plebeians – ten of whom were elected annually each summer and took office in December, with the power to propose and veto legislation, and to summon assemblies of the people; it was forbidden for anyone other than a plebeian to hold the office

triumph
an elaborate public celebration of homecoming, granted by the senate to honour a victorious general, to qualify for which it was necessary for him to retain his military imperium – and as it was forbidden to enter Rome whilst still possessing military authority, generals wishing to triumph had to wait outside the city until the senate granted them a triumph

urban praetor
the head of the justice system, senior of all the praetors, third in rank in the republic after the two consuls

AFRANIUS, LUCIUS
an ally of Pompey's from his home region of Picenum; a legate in the war against Mithradates; later Pompey's nominee for the consulship

ARRIUS, QUINTUS
a former praetor and military commander, closely allied to Crassus

ATTICUS, TITUS POMPONIUS
Cicero's closest friend; brother-in law to Quintus Cicero, who is married to his sister, Pomponia

AURELIA
mother of Julius Caesar

BIBULUS, MARCUS CALPURNIUS
Caesar's colleague as consul, and his staunch opponent

CAESAR, GAIUS JULIUS
effectively the leader of the populist faction in Rome; six years Cicero's junior; married to Pompeia, with whom he lives along with his mother, Aurelia, and daughter, Julia

CATILINA, LUCIUS SERGIUS
former Governor of Africa, beaten by Cicero for the consulship

CATO, MARCUS PORCIUS
half-brother of Servilia, the great-grandson of Cato the Censor; a stern upholder of the traditions of the Republic

CATULUS, QUINTUS LUTATIUS
former consul, member of the College of Priests, one of the most experienced men in the senate, leader of the patrician faction

CELER, QUINTUS CAECILIUS METELLUS
brother-in-law of Pompey (who married his sister), husband of Clodia, brother of Nepos; member of the College of Augurs; praetor; head of the most extensive and powerful family in Rome; a war hero with a powerful military reputation

CETHEGUS, GAIUS CORNELIUS
Patrician senator, one of Catilina's co-conspirators

CICERO, QUINTUS TULLIUS
Cicero's younger brother; senator and soldier; married to Pomponia, the sister of Atticus

CLODIA
daughter of one of the most distinguished families in Rome, the patrician Appii Claudii; the sister of Clodius; the wife of Metellus Celer

CLODIUS PULCHER, PUBLIUS
scion of the leading patrician dynasty, the Appii Claudii; a former brother-in-law of Lucullus; the brother of Clodia, with whom he is alleged to have had an incestuous affair; lieutenant of Murena, the Governor of Further Gaul

CRASSUS, MARCUS LICINIUS
former consul; brutal suppressor of the slave revolt led by Spartacus; the richest man in Rome; a bitter rival of Pompey

GABINIUS, AULUS
a former tribune from Pompey's home region of Picenum, he promulgated the laws that gave Pompey his extended command in the East; rewarded by Pompey with a legateship in the war against Mithradates

HORTENSIUS HORTALUS, QUINTUS
former consul, for many years the leading advocate at the Roman bar, until displaced by Cicero; brother-in-law of Catulus; a leader of the patrician faction; immensely wealthy; like Cicero, a civilian politician and not a soldier

HYBRIDA, CAIUS ANTONIUS
Cicero's colleague as consul, descendant of one of the most illustrious families in Rome, but nevertheless once expelled from the senate for corruption and bankruptcy

ISAURICUS, PUBLIUS SERVILIUS VATIA
one of the grand old men of the senate – 70 years old at the time Cicero becomes consul – a tough and highly decorated soldier, having triumphed twice; a former consul and a member of the College of Priests

LABIENUS, TITUS
a soldier from Pompey's home region of Picenum; a tribune in Caesar's and Pompey's interests

LUCULLUS, LUCIUS LICINIUS
former consul and commander of the Roman army fighting in the East against Mithradates until supplanted by Pompey; haughty, aristocratic and vastly rich, his enemies in the senate have contrived for several years to deny him a triumph and keep him waiting outside Rome; bitterly divorced from one of the sisters of Clodius and Clodia

NEPOS, QUINTUS CAECILIUS METELLUS
brother of Celer and brother-in-law of Pompey, who sends him back from his legateship in the East to stand for the tribuneship and guard his interests in Rome

PIUS, QUINTUS CAECILIUS METELLUS
Pontifex Maximus; sixty-six years old and ailing; the adoptive father of Scipio

POMPEY, GNAEUS
born in the same year as Cicero; the most powerful man in the Roman world; a former consul and victorious general who has already triumphed twice, he has been away from Rome fighting in the East – first against the pirates and then against Mithradates – for four years; married to Mucia, the sister of Celer and Nepos

RUFUS, MARCUS CAELIUS
Cicero's former pupil, the son of one of his political supporters in the provinces

SERVILIA
ambitious and politically shrewd wife of Junius Silanus, a candidate for the consulship; the half-sister of Cato; the long-term mistress of Caesar; the mother of three daughters and a son, Brutus, by her first husband

SERVIUS SULPICIUS RUFUS
contemporary and old friend of Cicero; a former praetor, famed as one of the greatest legal experts in Rome; a candidate for the consulship; married to Postumia, a mistress of Caesar

SILANUS, DECIMUS JUNIUS
married to Servilia, the long-term mistress of Caesar; a member of the College of Priests; defeated once for the consulship and now planning to stand again

SURA, PUBLIUS CORNELIUS LENTULUS
former consul, once expelled from the senate for immorality; married to the widow of Hybrida's brother, and stepfather to the youthful Mark Antony; making a political comeback as urban praetor, and closely allied to Catilina

TERENTIA
wife of Cicero; ten years younger than her husband, richer and of nobler birth; devotedly religious, poorly educated, with conservative political views; mother of Cicero's two children, Tullia and Marcus

TIRO
Cicero's devoted private secretary, a family slave, three years younger than his master, the inventor of a system of shorthand

TULLIA
Cicero's thirteen year-old daughter

VATINIUS, PUBLIUS
junior senator, famed for his ugliness; subsequently a tribune and a close ally of Caesar