Gaius Appuleius Decianus was
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 98 BC, known primarily for his connection to politically motivated prosecutions in the Late
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 ...
.
The case against P. Furius
Decianus attempted to prosecute
Publius Furius
Publius may refer to:
Roman name
* Publius (praenomen)
* Ancient Romans with the name:
** Publius Valerius Publicola (died 503 BC), Roman consul, co-founder of the Republic
**Publius Clodius Pulcher (c. 93 BC – 52 BC), Republican politician
* ...
(tribune in 100 or 99 BC), but according to
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 ...
, lost the case because he expressed sorrow over the killing of the radical tribune
Lucius Appuleius Saturninus
Lucius Appuleius Saturninus (died late 100 BC) was a Roman populist and tribune. He is most notable for introducing a series of legislative reforms, alongside his associate Gaius Servilius Glaucia and with the consent of Gaius Marius, during the l ...
. Decianus's commitment to
popularist politics is well-established and consistent. His father was the
Publius Decius (
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 ...
115 BC) who prosecuted
Lucius Opimius
Lucius Opimius was a Roman politician who held the consulship in 121 BC, in which capacity and year he ordered the execution of 3,000 supporters of popular leader Gaius Gracchus without trial, using as pretext the state of emergency declared after ...
for the murder of the popularist leader
Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus ( – 121 BC) was a reformist Roman politician in the 2nd century BC. He is most famous for his tribunate for the years 123 and 122 BC, in which he proposed a wide set of laws, including laws to establish ...
. The formation of the name Appuleius Decianus indicates that he was adopted by a member of the ''
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 ...
Appuleia'' and perhaps even by Saturninus himself. "Tumultuous efforts" were made during the tribunate of Decianus to avenge the deaths of Saturninus and
Servilius Glaucia.
The trial of Furius was politically motivated; no actual charge is even recorded, but may have been ''
ambitus
In ancient Roman law, ''ambitus'' was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate's attempt to influence the outcome (or direction) of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power. The Latin word ''ambitus'' is the origin ...
'' (election irregularities). Furius had originally supported Saturninus, but ultimately broke with him as did the majority of the
tax-collecting equestrian order
The ''equites'' (; literally "horse-" or "cavalrymen", though sometimes referred to as "knights" in English) constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian o ...
who rejected his ''
plebs
In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizenship, Roman citizens who were not Patrician (ancient Rome), patricians, as determined by the capite censi, census, or in other words "commoners". Both ...
''-friendly policies. Growing opposition to Saturninus had compelled
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius (; – 13 January 86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbric and Jugurthine wars, he held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his important refor ...
to renounce him, resulting in his
proscription
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 ...
and death. Furius had proposed a number of post-mortem penalties, such as the confiscation of his property, the destruction of his house, and the rescinding of some of his legislation. The social conflicts that culminated in Saturninus's death continued to play out in the law courts during the 90s. Decianus brought the case against Furius in retaliation, and chose to present it for the judgment of the people (''iudicium populi'') rather than in the court for which ''
equites
The ''equites'' (; literally "horse-" or "cavalrymen", though sometimes referred to as "knights" in English) constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian o ...
'' acted as judges.
Furius was acquitted.
Appian
Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Hadr ...
says that C. Canuleius was the tribune who prosecuted Furius; this may be a
textual error, an additional prosecutor, or a reference to a second trial. A mob, however, took their own revenge on Furius, attacking him and tearing his body to pieces.
The case against L. Valerius Flaccus
Decianus also prosecuted
Lucius Valerius Flaccus (suffect consul 86 BC)
Lucius Valerius Flaccus (died 85 BC) was the suffect consul who completed the term of Gaius Marius in 86BC. In the Roman Republic, Marius had fought a series of civil wars against Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (better known as Sulla), both leade ...
, who had just completed his term as
curule 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 99 BC. Revenge again may be a factor, but less clearly so. Lucius's older
cousin of the same name had been consular colleague in 100 BC when Marius turned against Saturninus. During the 90s and into the mid-80s, the Valerii Flacci tended to be moderate in their political tactics while supporting the popularist Marian-Cinnan faction. Decianus appears to have been unsuccessful in this prosecution as well; Flaccus's career shows no signs of having been hampered.
Tried and convicted
The political ineffectuality of Decianus was underscored when he himself was brought to trial after his term ended. The charges remain unspecified in the historical record, but he is most likely to have been brought before the new ''
maiestas'' tribunal for which members of the equestrian order served as judges. The
Bobbio Scholiast The Bobbio Scholiast (commonly abbreviated ''schol. Bob.'') was an anonymous scholiast working in the 7th century at the monastery of Bobbio and known for his annotations of texts from classical antiquity. He is a unique source for some information ...
notes
[Bobbio Scholiast 94 (Stangl).] that Decianus was condemned for his "seditious and tumultuous tribunate," to which may be compared similar remarks by Cicero on Sextus Titius, a tribune the same year as Furius. Decianus's sorrow at the death of Saturninus was used against him, as was the possession by Titius of a
bust
Bust commonly refers to:
* A woman's breasts
* Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders
* An arrest
Bust may also refer to:
Places
*Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France
*Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically
Media
* ''Bust'' (magazine ...
of the demagogue; these signs of attachment to a
public enemy
"Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe p ...
even after his death were construed as
treasonous
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
.
After his trial, Decianus fled to
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
and sought refuge with
Mithridates VI of Pontus
Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator ( grc-gre, Μιθραδάτης; 135–63 BC) was ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an e ...
prior to the
First Mithridatic War
The First Mithridatic War (89–85 BC) was a war challenging the Roman Republic's expanding empire and rule over the Greek world. In this conflict, the Kingdom of Pontus and many Greek cities rebelling against Roman rule were led by Mithridates ...
.
Although exile and flight was the customary response to condemnation, Decianus took the unusual measure of bringing his young son with him, indicating that he had no intention of trying to regain his place in Roman society.
Gaius Appuleius C. f. Decianus
Decianus' son, who had the same name, lived in Apollonis but retained his Roman citizenship. Cicero accuses both Deciani of participating in depredations against the free ''
civitas
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...
'' of Apollonis with Mithridates. This younger Decianus served as an advisor to the L. Valerius Flaccus who
governed Asia in 62 BC, but he was later one of the prosecutors in the case against Flaccus
[See also ]Decimus Laelius
Decimus Laelius (born late-90s/early 80s BC) was a tribune of the plebs of the Roman Republic in 54 BC. In 59 BC, he was the lead prosecutor in the extortion case against L. Valerius Flaccus, who was defended by Cicero in the speech ''Pro Flacco''. ...
. that is the subject of Cicero's defense speech ''Pro Flacco''.
Selected primary sources
*
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 ...
, ''Pro Flacco'' 51, 70ff. (on father and son); ''Pro
Rabirio Perduellionis Reo'' 24–25.
*
Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' ...
8.1.
*Bobbio Scholiast 94–95 in the edition of
Stangl (1912).
Selected bibliography
*
Gruen, Erich S. "Political Prosecutions in the 90's BC." ''Historia'' 15 (1966) 32–64.
* Kelly, Gordon P. ''A History of Exile in the Roman Republic''. Cambridge University Press, 2006, especially pp. 180–181. Limited previe
online.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Appuleius Decianus, Gaius
2nd-century BC Romans
1st-century BC Romans
Tribunes of the plebs
Ancient Roman exiles
Decianus, Gaius