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<v Speaker 1>Section seventeen of the Groaky Marius and Sulla by A. H. Beasley.

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<v Speaker 1>This librovox recording is in the public domain. Read by Pamelinagami,

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<v Speaker 1>Chapter fifteen, Sullah's reactionary measures. It is difficult to say

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<v Speaker 1>about part of the legislation of this period whether it

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<v Speaker 1>was directly due to Sullah or not, just as some

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<v Speaker 1>of the changes in the army may or may not

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<v Speaker 1>have been due to Marius, but were certainly made about

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<v Speaker 1>his time. The method of gathering all the changes made

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<v Speaker 1>within certain dates, attributing them to one man and basing

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<v Speaker 1>an estimate of his character on them, has a simplicity

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<v Speaker 1>about it, which enables the writer to be graphic and

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<v Speaker 1>spares the reader trouble. But it is an unsatisfactory way

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<v Speaker 1>of presenting history. Enough, however, is known of Sullah's own measures,

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<v Speaker 1>to make their general tendency perfectly plain. His main object

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<v Speaker 1>was to restore the authority of the Senate, and to

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<v Speaker 1>do more than restore it, to give it such power

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<v Speaker 1>as might, if it was true to itself, secure it

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<v Speaker 1>from mob rule on the one hand and tyranny on

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<v Speaker 1>the other. Though he foresaw that his efforts would be futile,

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<v Speaker 1>he was none the less energetic in making them, and

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<v Speaker 1>may reasonably have hoped that they would, at any events,

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<v Speaker 1>last his time and enable him to enjoy himself in

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<v Speaker 1>Campania undisturbed by another revolution. Our acquaintance with his laws

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<v Speaker 1>is only second hand, for none of them survive in

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<v Speaker 1>their original form. They are known as legace cornelie, a

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<v Speaker 1>term which, though applicable to some other lawses, usually apply

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<v Speaker 1>to those of his making. The Senate had originally been

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<v Speaker 1>an advising council. Then it had acquired superior authority and

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<v Speaker 1>issued commands to the magistrates. It was placed by Solah

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<v Speaker 1>in a still higher position. To fill up its exhausted ranks.

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<v Speaker 1>He admitted to it three hundred of the Equestrian order,

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<v Speaker 1>and though it is not certain what its numbers were

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<v Speaker 1>to be, it is probable that they were fixed at

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<v Speaker 1>about five hundred. Then he provided for keeping the list

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<v Speaker 1>full for the future. Hitherto, a man had become a senator,

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<v Speaker 1>either at the Kensor's summons, of which he was practically

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<v Speaker 1>certain if he had been tribune or chwistor, or if

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<v Speaker 1>he had been consul prietor or ideal Sola made the

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<v Speaker 1>choister ship instead of the ideal ship. The regular stepping stone,

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<v Speaker 1>and increased the number of the Chuistors to twenty. He also,

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<v Speaker 1>in all probability, though it is not certain, took away

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<v Speaker 1>from the Kensors their right of conferring or taking away

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<v Speaker 1>senatorial rank. Once a senator, always a senator was therefore

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<v Speaker 1>now the rule, and as the Chuistors, who were the

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<v Speaker 1>main source of supply, were nominated by the committee at Tributta,

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<v Speaker 1>the Senate became a more representative as well as a

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<v Speaker 1>more permanent body than before, and independent of the magistrates. Secondly,

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<v Speaker 1>we have seen that Sullah had given to the Senate

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<v Speaker 1>by law the power which it had previously exercised only

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<v Speaker 1>by custom, of deliberating on a measure before it was

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<v Speaker 1>submitted to the vote of the committee. This was one

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<v Speaker 1>security against any measure being carried against its interests. Before this,

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<v Speaker 1>the practice had been either for the Senate through the Tribunes,

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<v Speaker 1>to submit a measure to the vote, or for the

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<v Speaker 1>tribunes to submit a measure of their own after obtaining

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<v Speaker 1>the Senate's authority to do so. Saturninus, as we have seen,

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<v Speaker 1>had overridden this custom, and the only way in which

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<v Speaker 1>the Senate could maintain its old privileges would have been

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<v Speaker 1>either by proclaiming a eustacium, as it did on that occasion,

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<v Speaker 1>or by picking out some technical informality in the passing

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<v Speaker 1>of the plebiscitum had not. Sullah thus made its previous

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<v Speaker 1>off authorization absolutely indispensable, the tribunes, being deprived of the

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<v Speaker 1>power of proposing a measure at will to the committee.

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<v Speaker 1>A tributta would also lose the power of prosecuting any

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<v Speaker 1>one before it, and probably lost the right of convening

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<v Speaker 1>meetings in order to address the people. Sulla too provided

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<v Speaker 1>that those who had bidden tribunes should be ineligible to

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<v Speaker 1>other offices, and though the right of the veto seems

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<v Speaker 1>to have been left to them, it is not clear

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<v Speaker 1>that it was left without restrictions, while the abuse of

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<v Speaker 1>it was made a heavily punishable offense. It is likely

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<v Speaker 1>also that he made senators the only persons eligible to

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<v Speaker 1>the tribunate. Positively, therefore, by making the senate's previous consent

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<v Speaker 1>to a law necessary, and negatively, by these limitations of

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<v Speaker 1>the prerogative of the tribunes, legislative power was placed wholly

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<v Speaker 1>in the Senate's hands. Thirdly, the balance in the committee

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<v Speaker 1>of themselves was so adjusted that the voting would be

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<v Speaker 1>mostly in the Senate's interests. Something has already been said

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<v Speaker 1>of Sulla's changes on this head in reverting to the

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<v Speaker 1>servian mode of voting. Some explanation of what this means

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<v Speaker 1>may be given here. Sullah did not abolish the Committee

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<v Speaker 1>a tributta, but the measures just mentioned, as they left

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<v Speaker 1>the practical power of legislation with the Senate, left the

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<v Speaker 1>formal power with the Comittia centuriata. We know the origin

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<v Speaker 1>of the Committia canuriata. We do not know the origin

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<v Speaker 1>of the Committee a tributta, but we do know that

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<v Speaker 1>by degrees the latter obtained the legislative power co ordinate

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<v Speaker 1>with that of the former, and that the plebiscitum became

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<v Speaker 1>as binding on the nation as the leks. There were,

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<v Speaker 1>in short, two parallel bodies in which the people could

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<v Speaker 1>make laws, ranged in the one by tribes and voting

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<v Speaker 1>on measures submitted to them by their tribunes, ranged in

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<v Speaker 1>the other by centuries, and voting on measures submitted to

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<v Speaker 1>them by the consul. But as the state became more

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<v Speaker 1>and more democratic, the Committee a tributa was more used

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<v Speaker 1>than the committea canturiata, in which legislation was gradually confined

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<v Speaker 1>to special matters assigned to them by law or custom.

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<v Speaker 1>Besides these functions, the Committee tributa decided on war or peace,

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<v Speaker 1>elected the tribunes, idles and lesser magistrates, and also usurped

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<v Speaker 1>judicial power, arraigning magistrates for their conduct and office, et cetera.

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<v Speaker 1>The functions of the Committea conturiata were, as we have seen,

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<v Speaker 1>also legislative. They elected to the higher magistracies and exercised

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<v Speaker 1>jurisdiction in capital cases, a function which grew out of

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<v Speaker 1>the Roman citizen's right to appeal. Each century had one vote,

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<v Speaker 1>and as by the Servian arrangement, the first class, though

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<v Speaker 1>containing fewest voters, had nevertheless, owing to its highest assessment

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<v Speaker 1>most votes, it could by itself outvote the other classes.

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<v Speaker 1>At some time or other, this classification was altered, and

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<v Speaker 1>a new system, based partly on centuries and partly on tribes,

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<v Speaker 1>came into use. Each tribe was divided into ten centuries,

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<v Speaker 1>five of seniors and five of juniors. The first class

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<v Speaker 1>consisted of one of each of these from each tribe,

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<v Speaker 1>so that as there were thirty five tribes, each class

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<v Speaker 1>would consist of seventy centuries. It is said by some

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<v Speaker 1>that the first class included also thirty five centuries or

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen centuries of equitase. If this be true, the first

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<v Speaker 1>class would still have retained the preponderance of votes. In

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<v Speaker 1>any case, it had the best of the voting. For

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<v Speaker 1>even if it was decided by lot, which century of

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<v Speaker 1>all the centuries should vote first, still the first class

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<v Speaker 1>voted second, and the moral effect of the wealthier and

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<v Speaker 1>weightier citizens voting one way or other would naturally influence

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<v Speaker 1>the votes of the other centuries. Moreover, some say that

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<v Speaker 1>the lot was confined to the centuries of the first class.

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<v Speaker 1>Such then was the original and such the modified constitution

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<v Speaker 1>of the Kamytia Kenturiata. Appian expressly states that Sullah reverted

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<v Speaker 1>to the original mode of voting, but he may be

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<v Speaker 1>confusing things and only mean that Sellah took the voting

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<v Speaker 1>power from the committea Tributta and vested it in the

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<v Speaker 1>committea Kentoiata, and this probably is what Sullah did. Fourthly,

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<v Speaker 1>as Sullah weakened the cancership in order to exalt the

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<v Speaker 1>Senate's authority at its expense, so to prevent any individual

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<v Speaker 1>again obtaining undue influence. He ordained that no man should

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<v Speaker 1>be consoled till he had been first kwistor and then pritor,

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<v Speaker 1>and that no man should be re eligible to a

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<v Speaker 1>cur rule offe office till after an interval of ten years. This, however,

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<v Speaker 1>was not enough. It was his object to curtail the

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<v Speaker 1>powers of every magistrate. And therefore, though the Consulate was

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<v Speaker 1>not dangerous to the Senate in the sense that the

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<v Speaker 1>Tribunate was, he laid hands both on it and on

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<v Speaker 1>the pritor ship. The functions of the consuls and priters

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<v Speaker 1>had hitherto been these. The consuls had the general superintendence

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<v Speaker 1>of all except judicial matters at home, and the military

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<v Speaker 1>superintendents in all the provinces except Sicily, Sardinia, and the

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<v Speaker 1>two Spains, in which they only occasionally exercised their imperium.

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<v Speaker 1>One pritor, the pritor urbanus, presided over civil suits between

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<v Speaker 1>Roman citizens. Another, the pritor peregrinus, superintended such suits between

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<v Speaker 1>a citizen and an alien, or between two aliens. The

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<v Speaker 1>other four were over the four above mentioned provinces. Piece

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<v Speaker 1>of need, one man could do the work both of

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<v Speaker 1>the priter urbanus and the prider Peregrinus, leaving his colleague

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<v Speaker 1>free for a military command. Or the consul or prider

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<v Speaker 1>might have his term of office extended, being bound to

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<v Speaker 1>continue in his command till a successor arrived, or one

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<v Speaker 1>consul might manage the ordinary functions of both, and the

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<v Speaker 1>other be similarly left free for some special employment. The

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<v Speaker 1>Senate could in any given year assign as business to

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<v Speaker 1>be superintended by a consul or a priter, some military

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<v Speaker 1>command or judicial commission, and then the consuls or priters

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<v Speaker 1>had to settle by law or by agreement who should

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<v Speaker 1>undertake it. As the state grew greater, these special assignations

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<v Speaker 1>had to be made oftener. There had been eight officials

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<v Speaker 1>for eight offices. Now five new superintendents had to be

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<v Speaker 1>provided for Asia, Africa, Macedonia, Narbo and Silicia, as well

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<v Speaker 1>as one for the Quistio de Repetunda. To enable eight

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<v Speaker 1>men to do the work of fourteen, the Senate made

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<v Speaker 1>prolongation of office for a second year the rule, and

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<v Speaker 1>the officials confined by the nature of these duties to

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<v Speaker 1>the city during these years of office were generally sent

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<v Speaker 1>at the end of it to the transmarine provinces, where

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<v Speaker 1>most money was to be made. Sulla increased the six

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<v Speaker 1>pridors to eight, and made the two years term of

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<v Speaker 1>office the legal term. But if this added to their

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<v Speaker 1>power and appearance, he diminished it in reality by separating

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<v Speaker 1>the civil from the military functions altogether. The consuls and

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<v Speaker 1>priters were to manage the civil business of Rome. The

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<v Speaker 1>pro consuls and proprietors were to command the army. In

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<v Speaker 1>the first year of office, the two consuls had the

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<v Speaker 1>general administration of Rome, and two of the priters its

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<v Speaker 1>judicial administration. The other six presided over the various courts.

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<v Speaker 1>In the second, the ten exercised the anas imperium in Sicily, Sardinia,

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<v Speaker 1>the two Spains, Asia, Africa, Macedonia, Silicia, and the two Gauls,

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<v Speaker 1>and none of them might stay in his province beyond

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<v Speaker 1>thirty days after his successor's arrival, or under penalties for treason,

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<v Speaker 1>might leave his province during his term, or attack a

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<v Speaker 1>foreign power without express leave from home. The effect of

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<v Speaker 1>all this is plain. Whereas formerly the magistrates directly elected

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<v Speaker 1>in the committee and might combine civil and military authority,

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<v Speaker 1>now the military authority could only be held by those

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<v Speaker 1>whose term of office was prolonged by the Senate's pleasure,

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<v Speaker 1>For though the practice became invariable, it remained at the

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<v Speaker 1>Senate's discretion to break through it when it chose. Fifthly,

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<v Speaker 1>having thus lessened the power of the cansors, consuls, priters,

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<v Speaker 1>and tribunes, he, by way of compensation, a serio comic compensation,

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<v Speaker 1>it must have seemed to his shrewd yet so superstitious mind,

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<v Speaker 1>restored the right of co optation to the sacred colleges

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<v Speaker 1>of augurs and pontiffs, and increased their numbers, thus multiplying

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<v Speaker 1>harmless objects of rivalry analogous to the ribbons and garters

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<v Speaker 1>of modern courts. Sixthly, he took away from the equitase

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<v Speaker 1>and restored to the Senate the eudykia. The udykia have

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<v Speaker 1>been often mentioned, and something may be said about them here.

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<v Speaker 1>In civil suits, the priter, as we have seen, had

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<v Speaker 1>the superintendence. Sometimes he decided a case at once. Sometimes,

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<v Speaker 1>if he thought the case should be tried, he appointed

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<v Speaker 1>a udex, giving him certain instructions by which, after the investigation,

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<v Speaker 1>he must decide the case. His action here would be

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<v Speaker 1>something like one of our judge's charges, but given before

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<v Speaker 1>hearing the evidence, there is nothing to prove that a

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<v Speaker 1>udex of this kind was at this time taken from

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<v Speaker 1>any special class, or that Salah interfered with the established

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<v Speaker 1>mode of procedure. It was about the constitution of the

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<v Speaker 1>criminal courts that the long struggle had raged between the

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<v Speaker 1>Senate and Equitas, and here he made great changes. He

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<v Speaker 1>found some permanent criminal courts, for example, the kuistio de repetundus,

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<v Speaker 1>or court for investigating cases of extortion in the provinces,

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<v Speaker 1>already in existence. He instituted or settled others. But it

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<v Speaker 1>cannot be ascertained how many of the following which were

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<v Speaker 1>in existence after his time were due to him. There

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<v Speaker 1>were at least nine of these permanent courts quistiones perpetui,

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<v Speaker 1>the kuistio may estates deui des sicariis, and et cetera,

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<v Speaker 1>de wenefiki es de perichidio de falso de repetundus, peculatus ambitus,

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<v Speaker 1>or courts for trying cases of treason, violence, assassination, poisoning, parricide, forgery, extortion, embezzlement,

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<v Speaker 1>and and there may have been more, for example de

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<v Speaker 1>adulteries and de plagiis for trying cases of adultery and

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<v Speaker 1>the enslavement of freemen. His object in consolidating them was

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<v Speaker 1>to take from the Committea the settlement of criminal cases,

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<v Speaker 1>and to obviate the necessity for appointing special commissions, for

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<v Speaker 1>there was no appeal from the Christio, and the special

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<v Speaker 1>commission was seldom requisite when so many courts were available.

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<v Speaker 1>To preside in these courts, there were six priters, but

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<v Speaker 1>as there were more courts than priters, a senator called

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<v Speaker 1>udex Chistionis was appointed annually for each court where a

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<v Speaker 1>president was wanting something, after the fashion by which one

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<v Speaker 1>of our judges, sometimes impressive business, appoints a barrister as

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<v Speaker 1>his deputy to clear off the cases. The priter or

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<v Speaker 1>udex Christionis presided over the judges in each court, and

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<v Speaker 1>the uticase returned a verdict by by a majority of votes,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes given by ballot, sometimes openly. In choosing these uticase,

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<v Speaker 1>this was the process. The whole number available was, it

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<v Speaker 1>is said, three hundred, divided into three de curii. In

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<v Speaker 1>any given case, the priter named the decuria from which

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<v Speaker 1>the jurymen were to be taken, and then drew from

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<v Speaker 1>an urn containing their names the number assigned by law

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<v Speaker 1>for the case to be decided. Each side could then

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<v Speaker 1>challenge a certain number, and fresh names were drawn from

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<v Speaker 1>the urn in place of those challenged. What Sullah did

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<v Speaker 1>was to supply these d kurii from the senators instead

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<v Speaker 1>of the Equitaise. One of the permanent courts found by

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<v Speaker 1>Salah already existing was that of the Kentumwiri, who had

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<v Speaker 1>jurisdiction over disputed inheritances. The members of it were elected

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<v Speaker 1>by the tribes, three by each tribe, one hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>five in all. Though it was directly elected by the people,

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<v Speaker 1>Sullah could apprehend no danger from such a court and

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<v Speaker 1>did not meddle with it. Other measures as attributed to

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<v Speaker 1>Sullah on evidence more or less probable, such as the

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<v Speaker 1>suppression of gratuitous distributions of corn, the abolition of the

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<v Speaker 1>right of freedmen to vote and of the reserved seats

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<v Speaker 1>appropriated to the equitase at public festivals, the re establishment

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<v Speaker 1>in Asia of fixed taxes instead of the farming system,

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<v Speaker 1>the extension of Italy proper from the Isis to the Rubicon,

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<v Speaker 1>and the conversion of Cisalpine Gaul into a province. It

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<v Speaker 1>may be considered certain that he did all that he

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<v Speaker 1>could to humiliate the equitase, but the settlement of Italy

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<v Speaker 1>was probably not due to him. Other minor laws of

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<v Speaker 1>which he was the author, dealt with specific criminal offenses

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<v Speaker 1>or social matters. One, as we have seen, specified the

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<v Speaker 1>penalties for all sorts of assassination and poisoning. Another dealt

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<v Speaker 1>with forgery, another with violence to the person or property,

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<v Speaker 1>another with marriage and probably adultery. Another was a sumptuary law,

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<v Speaker 1>which is said to have limited the price of certain luxuries.

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<v Speaker 1>If this was the case, it was even sillier than

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<v Speaker 1>other sumptuary laws, for it would have encouraged, instead of

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<v Speaker 1>checking gluttony. Lastly, there was a law for the settlement

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<v Speaker 1>of his colonies through Italy and at Aleria in Corsica.

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<v Speaker 1>Selah had, for the moment undone by his legislation the

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<v Speaker 1>work of ages. He gagged free speech by the disabilities

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<v Speaker 1>attached to the tribunet. He kept the government within a

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<v Speaker 1>close circle. By his process of recruiting the Senate, he

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<v Speaker 1>made the magistrates subordinate to the Senate. He filled Italy

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<v Speaker 1>and Rome with his own partisans, and therefore with those

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<v Speaker 1>of the Senate, and he gave back to the Senate

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<v Speaker 1>that coveted possession of the Eudikia for which it had

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<v Speaker 1>struggled so long with the equities. But a system which

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<v Speaker 1>could endure only by the repression not only of hostile interests,

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<v Speaker 1>but of the ambition of his own adherents, carried in

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<v Speaker 1>itself the seeds of early dissolution. Almost before the reaction

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<v Speaker 1>was complete, a counter reaction had begun. Abdication only revealed monarchy,

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<v Speaker 1>and the broad road which Sullah had laid over the

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<v Speaker 1>breakers and quicksands of revolution, in reality paved the way

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<v Speaker 1>to a throne. When he abdicated, he offered to render

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<v Speaker 1>account to anyone for his acts, and there is a

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<v Speaker 1>story that one young man thereupon followed him to his home,

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<v Speaker 1>loading him with abuse, which Sullah listened to with meekness.

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<v Speaker 1>If the story be true, the incident was probably a

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<v Speaker 1>prearranged part of the ceremony of abdication, which, in everything

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<v Speaker 1>except the fact that Sellah slipped off the cares of government,

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<v Speaker 1>was of course a farce. His funeral showed what his

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<v Speaker 1>real power continued to be. And if another anecdote be true,

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<v Speaker 1>just before his death he had a magistrate of Puteoli

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<v Speaker 1>strangled because he had not collected in time his town's

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<v Speaker 1>subscription to the restoration of the capital. He had, in

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<v Speaker 1>fact done mischievously what the Groki would have done beneficently,

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<v Speaker 1>and greedy swordsmen occupied the soil which the tribunes would

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<v Speaker 1>have divided peaceably among peaceable men. The civil wars and

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<v Speaker 1>the triumvirates are the best vindication of the policy of

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<v Speaker 1>the Graki, unless we can bring ourselves to fancy that

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<v Speaker 1>the Graki created, instead of attempting wisely to satisfy the

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<v Speaker 1>demands of the age, by an orderly intermixture of Italians

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<v Speaker 1>and foreigners with the corrupt body of Roman citizens, new

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<v Speaker 1>life might have been infused into the old system, and

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<v Speaker 1>something foreshadowing modern representative government have been established without proscription

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<v Speaker 1>or prietorian rule. As it was, the vices of society

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<v Speaker 1>only became aggravated at Inns era of violence, and the

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<v Speaker 1>sharpest remedies failed to stay the creeping paralysis by which

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<v Speaker 1>it was assailed. The gradual depopulation of Italy has already

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<v Speaker 1>been described. In spite of Sullah's colonies. The ruin of

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<v Speaker 1>the country must have been vastly accelerated by his civil

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<v Speaker 1>wars and those which followed them. And while the honest

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<v Speaker 1>country class was dying out, the town class was ever

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<v Speaker 1>plunging deeper into frivolity and voluptuousness. To defray the cost

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<v Speaker 1>of the sumptuous life of the capital, the fashionable spendthrift

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<v Speaker 1>was forced to resort to extortion in the provinces, which,

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<v Speaker 1>as we have seen, became so crying and evil that

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<v Speaker 1>a permanent court existed for dealing with it. Before the

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<v Speaker 1>time of Sullah, the greedy throve in usury or involving

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<v Speaker 1>the state in war to fill their own persons. The

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<v Speaker 1>fortunes amassed by an aquilius o veras Seleucullis spoke as

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<v Speaker 1>eloquently of Rome's rapacity abosd Rod as did those of

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<v Speaker 1>Crassus or Sullah in Italy. Such being the state of

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<v Speaker 1>things under the government which Sullah strove to perpetuate. His

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<v Speaker 1>character as a statesman deserves as strong reprobation as his

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<v Speaker 1>conduct as a man. To lay down power from a

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<v Speaker 1>sense of duty is one thing, cynically to shrink from

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<v Speaker 1>responsibility as another. The misery of the following half century

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<v Speaker 1>must be laid chiefly at Sulla's door. The inevitable goal

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<v Speaker 1>to which everything was tending, was as patent in his

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<v Speaker 1>time as in the time of Augustus. Whatever may have

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<v Speaker 1>been for the interest of the Roman aristocracy monarchy was

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<v Speaker 1>by this time for the interest of the Roman world.

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<v Speaker 1>End of Section seventeen, read by Pamela Nagami, MD, in Encino, California,

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<v Speaker 1>November twenty twenty one. End of the Groci, Marius and

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<v Speaker 1>Sullah by A. H. Beasley