Gaius Licinius Stolo, along with
Lucius Sextius, was one of the two
tribunes of
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...
who opened the
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
ship 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 ...
.
A member of the
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 ...
''
Licinia gens'', Stolo was tribune from 376 BC to 367 BC, during which he passed 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'' ...
'' restoring the consulship, requiring a plebeian consul seat, limiting the amount of public land that one person could hold, and regulating debts.
He also passed a law stipulating that the ''
Sibylline Books
The ''Sibylline Books'' ( la, Libri Sibyllini) were a collection of oracular utterances, set out in Greek hexameters, that, according to tradition, were purchased from a sibyl by the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, and were consulted at ...
'' should be overseen by ''
decemviri
The decemviri or decemvirs (Latin for "ten men") were some of the several 10-man commissions established by the Roman Republic.
The most important were those of the two Decemvirates, formally the " decemvirate with consular power for writing ...
'', of whom half would be plebeians in order to prevent any falsification in favor of the
patricians. The patricians opposed these laws, though they finally were passed. Licinius was then elected consul for 361 BC ().
He was later charged with violating his own laws concerning the ownership of land and was forced to pay a heavy fine.
Although
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 ...
describes the activities of Gaius Licinius in great detail, it is likely that his description is not accurate; much of it is suspiciously similar to events in the age of the
Gracchi two hundred years later, and it is quite possible that the annalist
Licinius Macer invented episodes of his family's activities.
He was married to the youngest daughter of
Marcus Fabius Ambustus. An anecdote frequently told said that Stolo's wife urged him to procure the consulship for plebeians through 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'' ...
'', as she was jealous of the honors of
Servius Sulpicius Praetextatus, the patrician husband of her sister.
As early as the turn of the 19th century, the German historian
Barthold Georg Niebuhr pointed out the historical untrustworthiness and contradictions in this tale.
[ Barthold Georg Niebuhr, ''History of Rome'' vol. iii. pp. 2, 3]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Licinius Stolo, Gaius
4th-century BC Roman consuls
Stolo, Gaius