1. First Man in Rome

Home > Historical > 1. First Man in Rome > Page 62
1. First Man in Rome Page 62

by Colleen McCullough


  4

  When Lucius Appuleius Saturninus was elected a tribune of the plebs, his gratitude to Gaius Marius knew no bounds. Now he could vindicate himself! Nor was he completely without allies, as he soon discovered; one of the other tribunes of the plebs was a client of Marius's from Etruria, one Gaius Norbanus, who had considerable wealth but no senatorial clout because he had no senatorial background. And there was a Marcus Baebius, one of the ever-tribuning Baebius clan who were justly notorious for their bribe taking; he might be bought if it proved necessary. Unfortunately the opposite end of the tribunes' bench was occupied by three formidably conservative opponents. On the very end of the bench was Lucius Aurelius Cotta, son of the dead consul Cotta, nephew of the ex-praetor Marcus Cotta, and half brother of Aurelia, the wife of young Gaius Julius Caesar. Next to him sat Lucius Antistius Reginus, of respectable but not spectacular background, and rumored to be a client of the consular Quintus Servilius Caepio, therefore faintly smeared with Caepio's odium. The third man was Titus Didius, a very efficient and quiet man whose family had originally hailed from Campania, and who had made himself a considerable reputation as a soldier. Those in the middle of the bench were very humble tribunes of the plebs, and seemed to think that their chief role throughout the coming year was going to be keeping the opposite ends of the bench from tearing each other's throats out. For indeed there was no love lost between the men Scaurus would have apostrophized as demagogues and the men Scaurus commended for never losing sight of the fact that they were senators before they were tribunes of the plebs. Not that Saturninus was worried. He had swept into office at the top of the college, followed closely by Gaius Norbanus, which gave the conservatives notice that the People had lost none of their affection for Gaius Marius and that Marius had thought it worthwhile to spend a great deal of his money buying votes for Saturninus and Norbanus. It was necessary that Saturninus and Norbanus strike swiftly, for interest in the Plebeian Assembly waned dramatically after some three months of the year had gone by; this was partly due to boredom on the part of the People, and partly due to the fact that no tribune of the plebs could keep up the pace for longer than three months. The tribune of the plebs spent himself early, like Aesop's hare, while the old senatorial tortoise kept plodding on at the same rate. "All they'll see is my dust," Saturninus said to Glaucia as the tenth day of the month of December drew near, the day upon which the new college would enter office. "What's first?" asked Glaucia idly, a little put out that he, older than Saturninus, had not yet found the opportunity to seek election as a tribune of the plebs. Saturninus grinned wolfishly. "A little agrarian law," he said, "to help my friend and benefactor Gaius Marius." With great care in his planning and through the medium of a magnificent speech, Saturninus tabled for discussion a law to distribute the ager Africanus insularum, reserved in the public domain by Lucius Marcius Philippus one year before; it was now to be divided among Marius's Head Count soldiers at the end of their service in the legions, at the rate of a hundred iugera per man. Oh, how he enjoyed it! The howls of approbation from the People, the howls of outrage from the Senate, the fist that Lucius Cotta raised, the strong and candid speech Gaius Norbanus made in support of his measure. "I never realized how interesting the tribunate of the plebs can be," he said after the contio meeting was dissolved, and he and Glaucia dined alone at Glaucia's house. "Well, you certainly had the Policy Makers on the defensive," said Glaucia, grinning at the memory. "I thought Metellus Numidicus was going to rupture a blood vessel!" "A pity he didn't." Saturninus lay back with a sigh of content, eyes roaming reflectively over the patterns sooty smoke from lamps and braziers had made on the ceiling, which was badly in need of new paint. "Odd how they think, isn't it? Even breathe the words 'agrarian bill' and they're up in arms, yelling about the Brothers Gracchi, horrified at the idea of giving something away for nothing to men without the wit to acquire anything. Even the Head Count doesn't approve of giving something away for nothing!" "Well, it's a pretty novel concept to all right-thinking Romans, really," said Glaucia. "And after they got over that, they started to yell about the huge size of the allotments ten times the size of a smallholding in Campania, moaned the Policy Makers. You'd think they'd know without being told that an island in the African Lesser Syrtis isn't one tenth as fertile as the worst smallholding in Campania, nor the rainfall one tenth as reliable," said Saturninus. "Yes, but the debate was really about so many thousands of new clients for Gaius Marius, wasn't it?" asked Glaucia. "That's where the shoe actually pinches, you know. Every retired veteran in a Head Count army is a potential client for his general especially when his general has gone to the trouble of securing him a piece of land for his old age. He's beholden! Only he doesn't see that it's the State that is his true benefactor, since the State has to find the land. He thanks his general. He thanks Gaius Marius. And that's what the Policy Makers are up in arms about.'' "Agreed. But fighting it isn't the answer, Gaius Servilius. The answer is to enact a general law covering all Head Count armies for all time ten iugera of good land to every man who completes his time in the legions say, fifteen years? Twenty, even? Given irrespective of how many generals the soldier serves under, or how many different campaigns he sees." Glaucia laughed in genuine amusement. "That's too much like good sound common sense, Lucius Appuleius! And think of the knights a law like that would alienate. Less land for them to lease not to mention our esteemed pastoralist senators!" "If the land was in Italy, I'd see it," said Saturninus. "But the islands off the coast of Africa? I ask you, Gaius Servilius! Of what conceivable use are they to these dogs guarding their stinking old bones? Compared to the millions of iugera Gaius Marius gave away in the name of Rome along the Ubus and the Chelif and around Lake Tritonis and all to exactly the same men currently screaming! this is a pittance!" Glaucia rolled his long-lashed grey-green eyes, lay flat on his back, flapped his hands like a stranded turtle his flippers, and started to laugh again. "I liked Scaurus's speech best, though. He's clever, that one. The rest of them don't matter much apart from their clout." He lifted his head and stared at Saturninus. "Are you prepared for tomorrow in the Senate?" he asked. "I believe so," said Saturninus happily. "Lucius Appuleius returns to the Senate! And this time they can't throw me out before my term in office is finished! It would take the thirty-five tribes to do that, and they won't do that. Whether the Policy Makers like it or not, I'm back inside their hallowed portals as angry as a wasp and just as nasty."

 

‹ Prev