Towards the end of 62, news of a juicy scandal broke. A man was caught at the rites of Bona Dea (the Good Goddess), which were for women only, disguised as a woman. The man in question was Publius Clodius Pulcher, a young patrician (a descendent of the original Roman aristocracy) and the leader of a gang of street toughs who broke up public meetings that attempted to pass legislation Clodius disagreed with. His motive for sneaking into the rites of Bona Dea was said to be that he was in love with Pompeia, the wife of Julius Caesar, at whose house they were being held. Whether or not anything had happened between Clodius and Pompeia, Julius Caesar divorced her with the famous phrase that the wife of Caesar must be above suspicion. Clodius was charged with sacrilege, and at his trial he put forward an alibi that he was in Interamna, some 90 miles from Rome, that day. Cicero broke Clodius' alibi with evidence that he had met Clodius in Rome only three hours before the incident. Although Clodius was acquitted through wholesale bribery and intimidation of the jury, he never forgave Cicero.
Four years later, Clodius had his chance. In 59 he renounced his patrician status and had himself adopted by a plebeian (i.e., a non-patrician). He was now eligible for election as a tribune of the plebs, a post open only to plebeians. He was elected, and in 58 brought in a law that anyone who had put Roman citizens to death without a trial should be exiled. This was of course specifically aimed at Cicero's execution of Lentulus and the other Catilinarians. This was the time when Crassus, Caesar, and Pompey were the unofficial rulers of Rome in the league usually called the first triumvirate. When they first united they had invited Cicero to join them, but he refused, so they were in no mood to help him now.
Cicero went into voluntary exile and Clodius had a vote passed that no-one should give Cicero shelter within 500 miles of Italy. Despite this, many communities helped Cicero on his way to Greece. Although Cicero had said on his previous sojourn in Athens after his defence of Roscius that he would be perfectly happy staying there studying philosophy if he could not have a public career, now that the opportunity to live a life of study had arisen, it turned out that he could not wait to get back to Rome.
 |
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Bingley's Ancient Rome: Politicians topic, please visit the Discussions page.