Political participation and the identification of politicians in the Late Roman Republic

Abstract

The engagement of Roman citizens in politics has been a much debated issue. Scholars have tried to measure it by calculating the number of people who voted, or who attended the contiones. However, with the state of the sources, quantification can be unreliable or, in some cases, an educated guess. This paper proposes a possible alternative way of identifying popular interest in Late Republican politics. Did Roman people usually recognise politicians physically or by name? Cicero was shocked when, back from what he thought a glorious quaestorship in Sicily, his name was not recognised. A citizen who attended assemblies or who went to the Forum would in theory be able to identify some politicians, especially the most prominent ones. After his consulship, did Cicero walk around the city without being identified? Or Caesar? What about second- or third-rate politicians? Cases of misidentification of politicians also clarify this issue. Popular verses criticising first-rate or even second-rate politicians helped to spread their names across the city. In sum, recognition of politicians, either by their features or by their names, represents a way to understand and gauge non-elite implication into politics.