Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla was a Roman politician. He served as

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 thro ...

in 127 BC and censor at the following

lustrum A lūstrum (, plural lūstra) was a term for a five-year period in Ancient Rome. It is distinct from the homograph ''lustrum'' ( ): a haunt of wild beasts (and figuratively, a den of vice), plural ''lustra'' ( ).Oxford Latin Desk Dictionary (2 ...

in 125 BC. His first recorded office was that of

tribune of the plebs Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () 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 important check on the pow ...

in 137 BC. As a tribune of the plebs, he successfully proposed in the ''concilium plebis'' a law to introduce secret ballot for all trials before the Assemblies except those related to ''perduellio'' (treason); the bill was supported by

Scipio Aemilianus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus (185 BC – 129 BC), known as Scipio Aemilianus or Scipio Africanus the Younger, was a Roman general and statesman noted for his military exploits in the Third Punic War against Carthage and durin ...

but opposed by the then-consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Porcina and his tribunician colleague Marcus Antius Briso. He served in the praetorship some time before 130 BC, and was elected to the consulship for 127 BC with

Lucius Cornelius Cinna Lucius Cornelius Cinna (before 130 BC – early 84 BC) was a four-time consul of the Roman republic. Opposing Sulla's march on Rome in 88 BC, he was elected to the consulship of 87 BC, during which he engaged in an armed conf ...

. After his consulship, he was elected as censor for 125 BC with Gnaeus Servilius Caepio; during their censorship, they constructed the Aqua Tepula and named Publius Cornelius Lentulus as ''

princeps senatus The ''princeps senatus'' ( ''principes senatus''), in English the leader of the senate, was the first member by precedence on the membership rolls of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the ''cursus honorum'' and possessing no ''imperium ...

''. He was renowned for severity as a

iudex A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

and gained fame for formulating the question "

Cui bono ''Cui bono?'' (), in English "to whom is it a benefit?", is a Latin phrase about identifying crime suspects. It depends on the fact that crimes are often committed to benefit their perpetrators; especially financially. Use The phrase is a dou ...

?" ("Who benefits?") as a principle of criminal investigation. In 113 BC, he was appointed special prosecutor in the case of three

Vestal Virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals (, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty from several s ...

s accused of unchastity under a law passed by one of the tribunes that year. He condemned and put to death two of them – who had been acquitted by the pontifex maximus, Lucius Caecilius Metellus Delmaticus – as well as the men involved; doing so, however, incurred for him some suspicion of political bias.

References

Sources * * * * Ancient Roman jurists 2nd-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman censors Ravilla, Lucius {{AncientRome-law-bio-stub