CIcero Flashcards
They were the aristocratic and ruling class of Rome. They were the descendants of Rome’s earliest families, often claiming to be the founders of the city itself. This class was relatively small, consisting of families who, by birthright, held the most power and influence, especially during the early days of the Roman Republic.
Patricians
They were the common people of Rome. This class was much larger and included a diverse group ranging from wealthy merchants and artisans to poor laborers and farmers. Unlike the patricians, they had no noble ancestry and initially had very limited political rights.
Plebeians
(plural of nobilis) They were members of the Roman aristocratic families who had a history of holding high political office, particularly the consulship. This term emerged in the later Republic to describe families whose ancestors had achieved the highest ranks of political success, thereby granting the family ongoing prestige and influence in Roman society.
Nobiles
(literally “new man”) was a man who was the first in his family to reach the Roman Senate and achieve high political office, especially the consulship. Unlike the nobiles, who inherited their status through family lineage, a blank rose to prominence through personal achievement and political success.
Novus Homo
It was widespread and deeply embedded in the economy, political system, and social life. Roman blank were not confined to any specific race or ethnicity; they came from conquered territories, criminal convictions, or were born into slavery.
Slavery/Servi
They were a former slave who had been granted freedom. They occupied a unique place in Roman society: while they were no longer slaves, they were not considered full Roman citizens either. They existed in an in-between state, with certain rights and responsibilities that distinguished them from both slaves and free-born citizens.
Freedmen (Liberti)
A social group below the patricians but above the plebeians. They were initially cavalrymen in the Roman army but later became a wealthy and influential class, particularly in commerce and finance. They often served as publicans (tax collectors) and wielded considerable influence in economic affairs. Cicero’s own family background was tied to this class, and he often sought to balance the interests of the equites with those of the senatorial aristocracy.
Equites (Equestrian Class)
Composed primarily of patricians and nobles, was central to Cicero’s vision of Roman governance
Senate
He (106 BCE – 43 BCE) was one of ancient Rome’s most influential figures—renowned as a statesman, orator, philosopher, and writer.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
He was born into a wealthy but not aristocratic family in the town of Arpinum, about 100 kilometers southeast of Rome. His family was part of the equestrian order, a class just below the patricians. This background gave him access to a good education, but he lacked the noble lineage that many of his political rivals had.
Cicero/ Marcus Tullius Cicero
Cicero was highly educated in both Greek and Roman traditions. He studied rhetoric, philosophy, and law under some of the best teachers of the time, including the philosopher and rhetorician
Apollonius Molon
The (63 BCE) was a significant political crisis in the late Roman Republic, involving a plot led by Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline) to overthrow the Roman government. The conspiracy has become one of the most infamous episodes in Roman history due to the eloquent orations of Cicero, who served as consul at the time and played a key role in uncovering and quelling the plot.
Catiline Conspiracy
He was a Roman senator of patrician descent who, frustrated by his failure to achieve political success through legal means, plotted to overthrow the Roman Republic. Catiline had twice unsuccessfully run for the consulship, the highest office in Rome, and his inability to gain political power fueled his ambition to seize control by force
Lucius Sergius Catalina
Cicero’s series of speeches know as blank exposed the plot and led to the execution of several conspirators. This episode solidified Cicero’s reputation as a defender of the Republic but also earned him enemies who accused him of overstepping legal boundaries by executing Roman citizens without trial.
Catalinarian Orations
What controversial action taken by Cicero after the Catiline Conspiracy in 63 BCE led to significant political enemies and ultimately contributed to his exile?
execution of the conspirators without a trial
He was a radical populist politician and a member of the populares faction, was a key figure behind Cicero’s exile. He had a personal vendetta against Cicero due to previous conflicts, including Cicero’s testimony against him in a scandal involving the desecration of religious rites.
Publius Clodius Pulcher
Clodius introduced a law that retroactively criminalized the execution of Roman citizens without trial—a direct attack on Cicero for his role in the execution of the Catiline conspirators.
Lex Clodia
