#Tarpeian rock gaius julius caesar pro
#Tarpeian rock gaius julius caesar trial

The last time the SCU had been invoked it was to sanction a mass slaughter of an advocate of reform, the tribune Saturninus, and his followers. Text #9672 Editorial comment by Laura Knight-Jadczyk A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. The Early History of Rome: Books I – V of the Ab Urbe Condita. Perduellio became the designation for a particularly odious type of maiestas. Its offenses were covered by the law of maiestas which included a broader range of crimes. The prosecution was led by tribunes or aediles.īy the late Republic, the archaic perduellio had become largely obsolete, though it could still be used (see Gaius Rabirius). The judgement of the duumviri was subject to appeal, which generally was tried by the comitia centuriata unlike in Horatius’ trial. Later on during the Republic they were proposed by the consuls and formally appointed by the comitia ( comitia curiata or comitia centuriata).

#Tarpeian rock gaius julius caesar trial

The trial was conducted by the duumviri perduellionis, who during the Monarchy were appointed by the king. However, Horatius’ father had to perform expiatory rites and Horatius himself was forced to pass under the yoke.” (Livy, 1.26)īut over time with the expansion of the rights of Roman citizens, the use of corporal punishment lessened until the time of Augustus when conviction only carried with it the punishment of aquae et ignis interdictio (exile). The dread formula or the law ran thus: ‘Let the duumvirs pronounce him guilty of treason if he shall appeal from the duumvirs, let the appeal be tried if the duumvirs win, let the lictor veil his head, let suspend him with a rope from a barren tree let scourge him either within or without the pomerium.’ Even though the duumvirs found Horatius guilty, Horatius was allowed to appeal (to the people) and by them was acquitted. And so, drawing his sword and at the same time angrily upbraiding her, he ran her through the body…The king…said: “In accordance with the law I appoint duumvirs to pass judgment upon Horatius for treason. “It enraged the fiery youth to hear his sister’s lamentations in the hour of his own victory and the nation’s great rejoicing. In the Ab Urbe Condita, Livy recorded the first instance of both a trial of perduellio and appeal: This included such things as losing an army, violating the rights of the tribunes of the plebs, or usurping a function of the State (as in case of Horatius). Their families were not allowed to mourn them and their houses were razed.Īs the concept of national sovereignty took hold in Rome, perduellio also came to mean an offense which “injured or brought into danger the dignity, supremacy, and power of the commonwealth ”. Under the terms of this law, those convicted of perduellio were subject to death either by being hanged from the arbor infelix (a tree deemed to be unfortunate) or by being thrown from the Tarpeian Rock. “The Law of the Twelve Tables orders that he who has stirred up an enemy or who has handed over a citizen to the enemy is to be punished capitally.” (Marcianus, D. It was set down plainly in the Law of the Twelve Tables as thus:

In the early days of Ancient Rome, perduellio was the term for the capital offense of high treason.

#Tarpeian rock gaius julius caesar pro

The defense was taken by Marcus Tullius Cicero, consul at the time the speech is extant: Pro Rabirio reo perduellionis.Ī nephew, Gaius Rabirius Postumus was also defended by Cicero.Ĭicero, Pro Rabirio, ed.

Caesar’s object having been attained, the matter was then allowed to drop. Rabirius was condemned, and the people, to whom the accused had exercised the right of appeal, were on the point of ratifying the decision, when Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer pulled down the military flag from the Janiculum, which was equivalent to the dissolution of the assembly. The obsolete accusation of perduellio was revived, and the case was heard before Caesar and his cousin Lucius Julius Caesar as commissioners specially appointed (duumviri perduellionis). Caesar’s real objective was to warn the Senate against interference by force with popular movements, to uphold the sovereignty of the people and the inviolability of the person of the tribunes, at the time of the conspiracy of Lucius Sergius Catilina. Titus Labienus, a Tribune of the Plebs whose uncle had lost his life among the followers of Saturninus on that occasion, was urged by fellow Senator and patron Julius Caesar to accuse Rabirius of participating in the murder. Gaius Rabirius was a Roman senator who was involved in the death of Lucius Appuleius Saturninus in 100 BC. Text #9602 'Gaius Rabirius', in Wikipedia.