Carbo's Tribunate of 129 and the Associated Dicta Scipionis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3937343 |
|---|---|
| Authors | J Lea Bene, J Lea Beness (0000-0003-3470-4201, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 63 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 60-72 |
| Publication date | 2009-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Phoenix (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8299 • E-ISSN: 1929-4883 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/phx.2009.0018 |
| OpenAlex | W2265348982 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
A lmost fifty years ago A. E. Astin argued that two dicta of Scipio Aemil ianus' later years should be placed in 131 b.c. (or possibly at the end of 132 b.c.).1 The first dictum, the statement that Tiberius Gracchus might be deemed to have been justly slain {jure caesum videri), uttered in the context of Scipio's opposition to the tribune Gaius Papirius Carbo's bill to legalize iterative tribunates (and in response to a question put to Aemilianus by Carbo eliciting his opinion on Gracchus' killing), was clearly apropos to the issue raised by the bill. The second, Astin argued, followed directly upon the public uproar created by the iure caesum videri statement, with Aemilianus responding to the crowd in contione that he was not afraid of them for whom Italy was a stepmother (noverca). With regard to the context of the two dicta, namely the tribunate of C. Papirius Carbo and more specifically the public discussion of his bill on reiteration of the tribunate, I am in agreement with Astin. It is, however, the contention of this paper that a passage of Cicero indicates that Carbo's secret ballot law, and consequently his tenure of the tribunate, which is conventionally placed on precarious grounds in either 131 or 130 b.c., should be placed instead in 129 b.c. (or to be more precise the year which fell between December 10th, 130 b.c. and December 9th, 129 b.c.). The dating of Carbo's tribunate to 129 necessitates the dating of the two remarks of Scipio to that same term of office. My argument hinges upon my reading of Laelius de amicitia 40-41, the text of which I provide below, along with my own translation
Cicero · Context (archaeology) · Opposition (politics) · Political science · Politics · Statement (logic) · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Studies and Legal History · Classics · History · Law · Philosophy
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |