Gaius Antius Restio () was a politician of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

. He is principally known for the ''lex Antia sumptuaria'', a law against luxury he passed as

tribune of the plebs Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman Republic, Roman state that was open to the plebs, plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most importan ...

in 68 BC. This law forbade

magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

from attending banquets, in an attempt to contain

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, in ...

. One of the few sources on Restio's life is a poem of his contemporary

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...

, telling that he was an enemy of

Publius Sestius Publius Sestius (d. after 35 BC) was a Roman politician and governor in the 1st century BC. He first appears as quaestor for the consul Gaius Antonius Hybrida and served in the campaign to put down the second Catilinarian conspiracy. He serve ...

, a politician and good friend of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

Life

Restio was a ''

homo novus ''Novus homo'' or ''homo novus'' (Latin for 'new man'; ''novi homines'' or ''homines novi'') was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as consul. When ...

'' ("new man"), the first of his family to enter the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. He belonged to an obscure

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same Roman naming conventions#Nomen, nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (p ...

'', which only emerged in the second half of the second century BC, with a Marcus Antius Briso, tribune of the plebs in 137. Like several other Roman families inventing mythical origins, the Antii claimed descent from

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

through his son

Antiades In Greek mythology, Antiades (Ancient Greek: Ἀντιάδης) was the Thespian son of Heracles and Aglaia, daughter of King Thespius of Thespiae. Mythology Antiades and his 49 half-brothers were born of Thespius' daughters who were impregnated ...

. Modern scholars have suggested they came from

Minturnae Minturno is a city and ''comune'' in the southern Lazio, Italy, situated on the north west bank of the Garigliano (known in antiquity as the Liris), with a suburb on the opposite bank about from its mouth, at the point where the Via Appia cross ...

, or

Lanuvium Lanuvium, modern Lanuvio, is an ancient city of Latium vetus, some southeast of Rome, a little southwest of the Via Appia. Situated on an isolated hill projecting south from the main mass of the Alban Hills, Lanuvium commanded an extensive view ...

, both

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

cities south of Rome.

''Lex Antia'' (68 BC)

Between 82 and 80, the conservative

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had ...

amended the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

of the

, notably by curtailing the powers of the

tribunes of the plebs Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of ...

. In 70, the consul

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

restored the tribunes' former prerogatives, which they used to push for radical legislation, especially against

and malpractices. Restio was elected tribune in this context, and took office on 10 December 69. During his office, Restio passed the ''Lex Antia sumptuaria'', the last of a long list of

sumptuary laws Sumptuary laws (from Latin ''sūmptuāriae lēgēs'') are laws that try to regulate consumption. ''Black's Law Dictionary'' defines them as "Laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expendi ...

passed during the

.Lintott, "Electoral Bribery", p. 6. The terms of the law are not known except that it forbade magistrates from accepting invitations to attend banquets.Syme, "Ten Tribunes", p. 59. This ban closed a loophole in the previous legislation, which still permitted

to use friends as surrogate organisers of political banquets. The law was likely directed at politicians who campaigned through extravagant banquets at the time, such as

Quintus Hortensius Quintus Hortensius Hortalus (114–50 BC) was a famous Roman lawyer, a renowned orator and a statesman. Politically he belonged to the Optimates. He was consul in 69 BC alongside Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus. His nickname was ''Dionysia'', ...

(consul in 69) and Lucius Lucullus (consul in 74), whose private luxury was proverbial. Restio then refused to attend any banquet in order to stay true to his beliefs.Ryan, "Two Persons in Catullus", p. 88.

In ''Catullus 44''

, a friend of

, is described by

in one of his

poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

as having made a violent speech against Restio, while the latter was said to be a ''petitor''. This word can be translated as a candidate for an election, or a plaintiff during a trial, although the former meaning is favoured in modern publications. If the second meaning (''petitor'' as plaintiff) is considered true, it would likely mean that Restio sued Sestius for breaking the ''lex Antia''. Sestius is also described as hosting lavish banquets, hence his enmity towards Restio. The modern historian Francis Ryan suggests that Restio is the one described running for election in 54 or 53 in a letter of Cicero. As he is mentioned alongside his political allies

Marcus Porcius Cato Marcus Porcius Cato can refer to: *Cato the Elder (consul 195 BC) *Cato the Younger (praetor 54 BC) *Marcus Porcius Cato (consul 118 BC) * Marcus Porcius Cato (consul 36) *Marcus Porcius Cato (father of Cato the Younger) *Marcus Porcius C ...

and

Marcus Favonius Marcus Favonius (c. 90 BC – 42 BC) was a Roman politician during the period of the fall of the Roman Republic. He is noted for his imitation of Cato the Younger, his espousal of the Cynic philosophy, and for his appearance as the Poet in William ...

—both known for their asceticism like him—Restio either aimed at becoming the colleague of Cato as

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

in 54, or that of Favonius as

aedile ''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enf ...

in 54 or 53. Restio apparently lost the elections, perhaps against Marcus Aufidius—a former tribune of the plebs elected alongside Favonius—who received the ''cognomen'' Lurco ("glutton" in Latin), a striking contrast with Restio's austerity. It was probably during this campaign between Restio and Lurco that Sestius' speech against Restio was pronounced. Restio had a son, also named Gaius, who was ''triumvir monetalis'' in 47 and minted

denarii The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very sm ...

bearing a portrait of his father. Restio's son was also a supporter of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

during the

Civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

against Pompey, but was later caught in the

proscriptions Proscription ( la, proscriptio) is, in current usage, a 'decree of condemnation to death or banishment' (''Oxford English Dictionary'') and can be used in a political context to refer to state-approved murder or banishment. The term originated ...

of the

Second Triumvirate The Second Triumvirate was an extraordinary commission and magistracy created for Mark Antony, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Octavian to give them practically absolute power. It was formally constituted by law on 27 November 43 BC with a ...

in 43.Crawford, ''Roman Republican Coinage'', pp. 92, 470.

References

Ancient sources

Modern sources

Bibliography

Ancient sources

Gaius Valerius Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...

, ''

Poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

'' (

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

Wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually rep ...

). *

Marcus Tullius Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

, '' Letters to Atticus'' (

Evelyn Shirley Shuckburgh Evelyn Shirley Shuckburgh (12 July 1843 – 10 July 1906) was an English academic and schoolmaster, known as classical scholar and translator. Life Born at Aldborough, Norfolk on 12 July 1843, he was the third and eldest surviving son in the fa ...

on Wikisource).

Modern sources

* T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association, 1951–1952. *

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian. Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' an ...

, ''Roman Republican Coinage'', Cambridge University Press, 1974, . * J. A. Crook,

Andrew Lintott Andrew William Lintott (born 9 December 1936) is a British classical scholar who specialises in the political and administrative history of ancient Rome, Roman law and epigraphy. He is an emeritus fellow of Worcester College, University of Oxford ...

Elizabeth Rawson Elizabeth Donata Rawson, FBA (13 April 1934 – 10 December 1988''The Cambridge Ancient History'' (Cambridge University Press, 1994), vol. 9, preface, p. xvii.) was a classical scholar known primarily for her work in the intellectual history of ...

(editors), ''

The Cambridge Ancient History ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' is a multi-volume work of ancient history from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press. The first series, consisting of 12 volumes, was planned in 1919 by Irish historian J. B. Bury ...

, vol. IX, The Last Age of the Roman Republic, 146-43 B.C.'', Cambridge University Press, 1992. * David B. George,
Catullus 44: The Vulnerability of Wanting to Be Included
, ''The American Journal of Philology'', Vol. 112, No. 2 (Summer, 1991), pp. 247–250. *

Erich S. Gruen Erich Stephen Gruen ( , ; born May 7, 1935) is an American classicist and ancient historian. He was the Gladys Rehard Wood Professor of History and Classics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught full-time from 1966 until 2008 ...

,
Reviewed Work: ''New Men in the Roman Senate, 139 B.C.-14 A.D.'' by T. P. Wiseman
, ''The Classical Journal'', Vol. 69, No. 3 (Feb. – Mar. 1974), pp. 251–253. *

,
Electoral Bribery in the Roman Republic
, ''

The Journal of Roman Studies The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (The Roman Society) was founded in 1910 as the sister society to the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. The Society is the leading organisation in the United Kingdom for those intereste ...

'', Vol. 80 (1990), pp. 1–16. * David Mulroy (editor), ''The Complete Poetry of Catullus'', University of Wisconsin Press, 2002. * Chester Louis Neudling, ''A Prosopography to Catullus'', Oxford, 1955. * Francis X. Ryan, "Two Persons in Catullus", ''Giornale italiano di filologia'', 48, 1996, pp. 85–91. *

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

,
Ten Tribunes
, ''The Journal of Roman Studies'', 1963, Vol. 53, Parts 1 and 2 (1963), pp. 55–60. {{DEFAULTSORT:Restio, Gaius Antius 1st-century BC Romans Populares Senators of the Roman Republic Tribunes of the plebs Antii