Gaius Julius Iulus (dictator 352 BC)
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Gaius Julius Iulus was a member of the
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
gens Julia The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician (ancient Rome), patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Roman Republic, Republic ...
, and was nominated
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 tim ...
in 352 BC.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 657.


Family

The Julii Iuli were the oldest branch of the ancient
patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...
Julia gens, and their magistracies span nearly a century and a half leading to Gaius' dictatorship. However, only one other member of the family is recorded following the sack of Rome by the
Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...
in 390 BC: Lucius Julius Iulus, who was consular tribune in 388, and again in 379. As Gaius' filiation has not been preserved, it is uncertain whether he was the son of this Lucius, or perhaps one of his predecessors, such as the
Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from '' Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames ('' praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from ...
who was consular tribune in 401 and 397, or the
Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from '' Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames ('' praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from ...
who was consular tribune in 403, or the Gaius Julius Iulus who was consular tribune in 408 and 405, and censor in BC 393. In any case, he is the last of the Julii Iuli known to have held any magistracy. Whether the family ended with him, or continued on in obscurity, or perhaps under a different
cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...
, is similarly unknown.


Career

Gaius was nominated dictator some fifteen years after the passage of the ''
lex Licinia Sextia The Licino-Sextian rogations were a series of laws proposed by tribunes of the plebs, Gaius Licinius Stolo and Lucius Sextius Lateranus, enacted around 367 BC. Livy calls them ''rogatio'' – though he does refer to them at times as ''lex' ...
'', the law which opened the
consulship A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...
to the
plebeians 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 ...
, by requiring that one of the consuls should be a plebeian. But in the years that followed, the patricians had made every effort to skirt the law, and elect two patricians. Both consuls had been patricians in 355, 354, and 353 BC, and the patricians were determined to elect two of their number once more for 352.Broughton, vol. I, pp. 124–127. 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 o ...
blocked the elections from being held until the senate agreed to put forward candidates in accordance with the Licinian law. Meanwhile, the dictator, Titus Manlius Torquatus, would not permit the elections to be held if plebeian candidates were allowed; thus, the elections could not be held until after the dictator's term of office had expired, and even then an
interrex The interrex (plural interreges) was literally a ruler "between kings" (Latin ''inter reges'') during the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic. He was in effect a short-term regent. History The office of ''interrex'' was supposedly created follow ...
had to be appointed, as the senate and the tribunes could not agree to the terms. Under Roman law, the interrex was required to resign his office after five days, and another was appointed; then another, and another, until eleven interreges had been appointed.Livy, vii. 21. Faced with growing unrest, the senate finally directed the interrex Lucius Cornelius Scipio to observe the Licinian law. As a result, a plebeian,
Gaius Marcius Rutilus Gaius Marcius Rutilus (also seen as "Rutulus") was the first plebeian dictator and censor of ancient Rome, and was consul four times. He was first elected consul in 357 BC, then appointed as dictator the following year in order to deal with an i ...
, who had previously held the consulship in BC 357, was elected alongside the patrician Publius Valerius Poplicola. Vexed by their defeat, the patricians resolved to defy the law once more in the elections for 351, and they nominated Gaius Julius Iulus dictator, on the pretext that twelve
Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...
cities had formed an alliance to oppose Rome. As his magister equitum, Julius nominated Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus.Livy, vii. 22. It soon became apparent that there was no impending hostility from Etruria, as the rumor of an alliance had been false. The dictator was unable to secure the election of two patrician candidates, but the patricians were not yet ready to accept defeat. Following Julius' resignation, Gaius Sulpicius Peticus was appointed interrex; he too failed to procure the desired result, but his successor, Marcus Fabius Ambustus, succeeded, and two patricians were elected in violation of the Licinian law.


See also

*
Julia (gens) The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the ...


References


Bibliography

* Titus Livius (
Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...
), '' Ab Urbe Condita'' (History of Rome).
"C. Julius Iulus" (no. 11)
in the ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...
'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). * T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association (1952). {{DEFAULTSORT:Julius Iulus, Gaius 4th-century BC Romans
Gaius Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People * Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist *Gaius Acilius *Gaius Antonius *Gaius Antonius Hybrida *Gaius Asinius Gallus *Gaius Asinius P ...
Ancient Roman dictators Roman patricians