The ''rogatio Aufidia de ambitu'', sometimes referred to as the ''lex Aufidia de ambitu'', was a proposed Roman law, aimed at punishing
electoral bribery, ''
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 ...
''. It is known from a letter 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 ...
to
Atticus, and was put forward by
Marcus Aufidius Lurco
Marcus Aufidius Lurco also known simply as Aufidius Lurco, was a Roman magistrate who lived in the 1st century BC. Lurco was a member of the gens Aufidia, a Roman family of plebeian status, who appeared in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. They ...
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 61 BC. The ''
rogatio
:''See Rogation days for usage pertaining to the Christian calendar of the Western Church.''
In Roman constitutional law, ''rogatio'' is the term (from Latin ''rogo'', "ask, place a question before") for a legislative bill placed before an As ...
'' was passed by 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 ...
, but was not voted on by the Roman people.
Background
Corruption was endemic in Republican Roman politics and many attempts were made to restrict bribery.
Provisions
The proposed law had some extreme suggestions. A candidate who promised money to a
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
but did not pay it was to go unpunished, however, one who did follow through with the bribe was to pay each tribe 3000
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 ...
annually as long as he lived.
See also
*
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...
*
List of Roman laws
This is a partial list of Roman laws. A Roman law (Latin: ''lex'') is usually named for the sponsoring legislator and designated by the adjectival form of his ''gens'' name ('' nomen gentilicum''), in the feminine form because the noun ''lex'' (pl ...
*
Roman Law
Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
References
{{reflist
Roman law
Reform in the Roman Republic
1st century BC in the Roman Republic