Special Victims Unit

10/19/23 • 59 min

In this episode we tackle the years 413 and 412 BCE. These years come hard on the back of the murder of the patrician Postumius. Rome is facing challenges that seem to be bound up in the spolia in times of war and the broader annalist focus on the idea of the Struggle of the Orders which has been the defining feature of the early republic in Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus. To catch up on the unfortunate fate of Postumius, check out Episode 142 – A Wrongheaded Man.

Episode 143 – Special Victims Unit

Onwards and Upwards?

Murder is not something to be overlooked lightly, especially when the victim is a Roman patrician. It might be time for an investigation! And not just any investigation, but a special taskforce is assembled to consider all the evidence and follow the clues wherever they lead.

Livy mentions this group as a quaestio perpetua, but there’s good reason to be suspicious of this classification for the investigators. Strong evidence for the quaestio perpetua doesn’t emerge until the second century BCE over 250 years on from 413 BCE!

Agrarian Reform

Will Rome find a way to reform its practices around conquered land? This topic comes back to the fore as we have the name for a of the tribunes of plebs. Roman conquest of new lands also brings this thorny subject back into the public discourse. How historical could the issue be at this point in the early republic? And will the patricians finally offer the plebeians something on this matter? Time will tell!

Issues with the Volscians

Rome’s perennial tousle with their neighbours, the Volscii, continues in 413 BCE. The Hernicians seek Rome’s aid against the Volscian forces and Rome is happy to oblige. The city of Ferentinum comes to our attention through this situation. We learn about the location of Ferentinum as likely corresponding with modern Ferentino, which is to the southeast of Rome, and likely part of the territory of the Hernicians at this time. What happens next to the city of Ferentinum? Tune in to find out!

Is that Ferentinum way down to the southeast of Rome in the territory of the Hernicii? It surely is! Source: https://www.heritage-history.com/

The Return of the Icilii

Perhaps Rome’s most famous plebeians gens at this point in early republican history is the Icilii. And in 412 BCE, we see another member of the Icilii gens come into the role of tribune of the plebs. Famously, the Icilii are connected with the Lex Icilia de Aventino Publicando which our annalist tradition places as early as 456 BCE. Looking to brush up on this? Check out our Episode 104 – Aventine, Aventine. Another Icilius is also connected with the second decemvirate on account of being engaged to Verginia. To revisit Verginia’s tale, see Episode 114 – The Tale of Verginia.

Things to Listen Out For

Ancient sources? What sources?
Leniency for those found guilty
Land redistribution in Bolae?
Does Rome even have ager publicus to redistribute???
Volero returns!?
The introduction of later sources Florus and Zonaras
The Latin League
Is Rome entering an expansionist phase?
A history of the Icilius gens
Pestilence!
The Hernician Federation

Our Players 413 BCE

Consuls

Aulus (or Marcus) Cornelius – f. – n. Cossus (Pat.)
Lucius Furius (L. f. Sp. n.?) Medullinus (Pat.)

Interrex

Quintus Fabius Vibulanus (Pat.)

Our Players 412 BCE

Consuls

Quintus Fabius – f. – n. Ambustus Vibulanus (Pat.)
Gaius Furius – f. – n. Pacilus (Pat.)

Tribune of the Plebs

Lucius Icilius

Our Sources

Dr Rad reads Livy 4.51.1-4.52.1
Dr G reads Diodorus 13.43.1, 14.54.1; Florus 1.17.1-2; Zonarus 7.20
Broughton, T. R. S., Patterson, M. L. 1951. The Magistrates of the Roman Republic Volume 1: 509 B.C. – 100 B.C. (The American Philological Association)
Cornell, T. J. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC) (Taylor & Francis)
Ogilvie, R. M. 1965. A Commentary on Livy: Books 1-5 (Clarendon Press).