Gaius Fidiculanius Falcula (fl. around 70 BCE) was a

senator 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 ...

of 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 ...

, of the ''gens'' Fidiculania. He is known only from the speeches 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 ...

. In 74 BCE, Falcula was one of the judges at the trial of Statius Albius Oppianicus, who was accused of attempting to poison his stepson,

Aulus Cluentius Habitus Aulus Cluentius Habitus, a wealthy citizen of Larinum in Samnium, and subject of a Roman ''cause célèbre''. In 74 BC, he accused his stepfather Statius Albius Oppianicus of an attempt to poison him; had it been successful, the property of Cluent ...

. Falcula was involved in the general indignation that attended the conviction of Oppianicus. The majority of judges who condemned Oppianicus was very small. Falcula was accused by the tribune, Lucius Quintius, of having been illegally balloted into the ''concilium'' by Gaius Verres, at that time city

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 ...

, for the express purpose of convicting Oppianicus, of voting out of his proper '' decuria'', of giving sentence without hearing the evidence, of omitting to apply for an adjournment of the proceedings, and of receiving 40,000

sesterces The ''sestertius'' (plural ''sestertii''), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The na ...

as a bribe from the prosecutor, Cluentius. He was, however, acquitted, since his trial did not take place until after the excitement that followed Oppianicus's verdict, the ''Judicium Albianum'', had in some measure subsided. But eight years later, in 66 BCE, Falcula was again brought to public notice by

, in his defence of Cluentius, ''

Pro Cluentio ''Pro Cluentio'' is a speech by the Roman orator Cicero given in defense of a man named Aulus Cluentius Habitus Minor. Cluentius, from Larinum in Samnium, was accused in 69 BC by his mother Sassia of having poisoned his stepfather, Statius Abbiu ...

''. After recapitulating the circumstances of the ''Judicium Albianum'', Cicero asks, if Falcula were innocent, who in the ''concilium'' at Oppianicus's trial could be guilty? This equivocal plea inferred, without asserting, the guilt of Falcula, in 74 BCE. In his defence of A. Caecina, in 69 BCE, Cicero ushers in the name of Falcula, a witness against the accused, with ironical pomp, and proceeds to point out gross inconsistencies in Falcula's evidence. Great uncertainty is thrown over the history of Falcula by the circumstance that it suited Cicero to represent at different times, in different lights, the ''Judicium Albianum''. When Cicero was pleading against Verres, Oppianicus was unjustly condemned, and Falcula was an illegal corrupt judge. When he defended Cluentius, it was necessary to soften the details of the ''Judicium Albianum''. But when he spoke for Caecina, it was his interest to direct public feeling against Falcula.Cic. Clu. 37, 41, pro Caecin. 10; Pseudo-Ascon. in Act. I. Verr. p. 146; Schol. Gronov. in Act. I. in Verr. p. 396. ed. Orelli. (cited by Donne)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Falcula, Gaius Fidiculanius 1st-century BC Romans Senators of the Roman Republic