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Pro Sestio

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Pro Sestio was an oration given by the Roman orator and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero in defence of Publius Sestius for charges of public violence (vis) in 56 BC. Sestius was a friend of Cicero's, and had been instrumental in Cicero's recall from exile in 54. The defence was successful, and Sestius was acquitted by the jury unanimously.[1][2]

The speech is important in the study of Roman politics due to its seeming opposition of optimates and populares as labels for politicians standing for order and demagoguery, respectively. Whether this is actually what Cicero meant in his use of the words optimates and populares, however, is debated.

Summary

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Cicero starts the speech by speaking of the troubled nature of Roman politics in the 50s BC. He then defends Sestius' character and career, giving an overview of his good deeds for the community – such as during the Catilinarian conspiracy – and towns across Italy.[3] He then gives an overview of his exile at the hands of his enemies: the tribune Publius Clodius Pulcher and the consuls of 58 BC (Aulus Gabinius and Lucius Calpurnius Piso). Associating his exile with the poor state of Roman politics – and justifying his departure in terms of preserving peace among the people – Cicero then discusses how Sestius opposed his enemies and supported Cicero's return from exile amid an unprecedented outpouring of grief for Cicero's fate.[4]

The core defence given for Sestius' organisation of a group of armed men is not to deny its happening but rather than justify it was necessary for the defence of his sacrosanct life as a plebeian tribune and of the state as a whole.[5] He further justifies this by noting the support for Titus Annius Milo (who also had such organised men) from the optimates and that application of the law had been wholly unsuccessful in bringing Clodius (known also to have such organised men) to trial.[6]

Answering a question as to who the optimates are, Cicero divides politicians into two categories: those who seek the popularity from the crowd as populares and those who seek the approval of all the best men (whether they be senators, businessmen, or even freedmen).[7] Cicero then defines the goal of the best men as "peace with dignity", upholding public religion, the rule of law, the advice of the senate, the traditions of the Roman people and state, the good faith of the Roman people, and the defence of the state and its fiscal health.[8]

He then lambasts the populares as demagogues attempting to win popularity among a disorderly and temporary minority which does not have the interest of the whole community in mind.[9] To emphasise this point, Cicero associates the whole Roman people with the label optimates due to their opposition to the hired crowds around Cicero's enemies, contrasting Clodius from previous populares such as the Gracchi brothers who had won genuine popularity rather than merely hired it.[10]

Cicero then continues by issuing a call for politicians to put the country before their own advancement. He then associates Sestius' actions to support him as a defence of the state. The argument that Cicero concludes on is essentially that Sestius should not be punished for two reasons. The first is that he was doing what upstanding citizens everywhere (Cicero's optimates) believed was necessary. The second is that Sestius' actions were themselves necessary, motivated by patriotism, to defend the state from a minoritarian mob.[11]

Interpretation

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Further information: Optimates and populares

The modern division of Roman politicians into two types or parties, optimates and populares, in part emerges from Pro Sestio.[7] Whether these modern labels denoted any real division which would have been comprehensible to a Roman audience is hotly debated.[12]

Transmission

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Alexander 1990, p. 132 (Trial 271).
  2. ^ Robb 2010, pp. 42–44.
  3. ^ Robb 2010, p. 44.
  4. ^ Robb 2010, pp. 45–47.
  5. ^ Robb 2010, pp. 52–53.
  6. ^ Robb 2010, pp. 53–54.
  7. ^ a b Robb 2010, p. 55.
  8. ^ Robb 2010, pp. 55–56.
  9. ^ Robb 2010, pp. 57–59, 60–62, 66–67.
  10. ^ Robb 2010, p. 58.
  11. ^ Robb 2010, p. 64.
  12. ^ Corke-Webster 2020, p. 100. "[T]wo-party view of optimates and populares that is the subject of heated academic discussion".

Bibliography

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  • Alexander, Michael Charles (1990). Trials in the late Roman republic, 149 BC to 50 BC. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-5787-X. OCLC 41156621.
  • Cicero, Marcus Tullius (1958). Cicero: Pro Sestio. In Vatinium. Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 309. Translated by Gardner, Robert. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-99341-9. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  • Corke-Webster, James (2020). "Roman history". Greece and Rome. 67 (1): 94–103. doi:10.1017/S0017383519000287. ISSN 0017-3835.
  • Robb, M A (2010). Beyond populares and optimates: political language in the late republic. Steiner. ISBN 978-3-515-09643-0.
  • Robb, M A (2018). "Optimates, populares". Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah20095.pub2.
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