A [[Vestal Virgin|Vestal]] named Oppia was put to death in 483 BC, from which it might be inferred that some of the Oppii were patricians, but her name is very uncertain, and all of the other Oppii known to history seem to have been plebeians.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 34 (\"Oppia\" no. 1, \"Oppia Gens\").Broughton, vol. I, p. 23."}},"i":0}}]}"> [lower-roman 5]
An ominous sign that the second decemvirate was not as noble-minded as the first came when the insignia of office were changed. In 451, the ten decemvirs had shared a consul's escort of twelve lictors, each receiving the honour in rotation. But the following year, each of the decemvirs was accorded an escort of twelve lictors; and unlike a consul's, these lictors kept the axes attached to their fasces , symbolizing the decemvirs' power over life and death, even within the pomerium, the sacred boundary of Rome. Since the beginning of the Republic, all lictors had removed the axes upon entering the city, in deference to the sovereignty of the people; only the lictors of a dictator retained the axes within the city. Now the city was crowded with lictors. [35] [36]
The decemvirs did not hesitate to make an example of those who criticized them, subjecting their opponents to beatings and summary execution, and confiscating the property of anyone who offended their dignity. Unlike the first decemvirs, the second college permitted no appeal from their judgment, ignoring the people's right of provocatio. Young men from aristocratic families joined the decemvirs' retinue, and it came to be whispered that the decemvirs had already agreed among themselves not to hold elections for the following year, but to remain in office indefinitely. [36] [37]
The time for elections came and passed, and the decemvirs remained in power. They published two more tables of Roman law, bringing the total to twelve; among the most onerous were those restricting the rights of the plebeians, and in particular one forbidding the intermarriage of patricians and plebeians. [lower-roman 6] When news arrived of incursions by the Sabines and Aequi, the decemvirs attempted to convene the Senate, which assembled only with difficulty, as many of the senators had left the city rather than suffer the decemvirs, or refused to obey their summons, on the grounds that the decemvirs now held no legal office. [38] [39]
When the Senate had gathered, two of the senators openly and vocally opposed the decemvirs. Lucius Valerius Potitus and Marcus Horatius Barbatus argued that the decemvirs' term of office had expired, and that they held no legal authority; the decemvirs were worse than kings; for now the Roman people suffered under ten Tarquins. Claudius' uncle, Gaius, spoke on his behalf, urging that no action be taken against the decemvirs for the time being. Appius ordered one of the lictors to arrest Valerius, but he appealed to the people, and escaped punishment when Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis, the brother of one of the triumvirs, seized hold of Appius, ostensibly to protect him from the crowd, but in fact to distract him. [40] [41]
The Senate appointed a military command to the decemvirs, but they were defeated on both fronts, and their armies quickly retreated behind sturdy defenses. Meanwhile, two crimes occurred which proved to be the decemvirs' undoing. First, a soldier named Lucius Siccius Dentatus, who had proposed the election of new tribunes, and that the soldiers should refuse to serve until the decemvirs were replaced, was murdered on the orders of the decemvirs' commanders, who attempted to cover up the deed by claiming that he had been ambushed and killed by the enemy, despite putting up a brave fight. The truth was discovered when his body was found surrounded only by Romans, with no enemy corpses. [42] [43]
The second, and more famous misdeed concerned a young woman named Verginia, the daughter of a centurion, Lucius Verginius. She was betrothed to Lucius Icilius, tribune of the plebs in 456. Desiring her for himself, Appius sent his servant, Marcus Claudius, to kidnap Verginia, on the pretext that she was Appius' slave. When her plight became known, Appius consented to release her pending a trial of his claim, but maintained steadfastly, and over the objections of Verginia's father and Icilius, that she was his slave. Rather than have his daughter dishonoured by the decemvir, her father seized a knife from a butcher in the marketplace, and stabbed Verginia to death. [44] [45]
Claudius ordered the arrest of Icilius, but the lictor was blocked by Valerius and Horatius; before they could be arrested, the crowd came to their aid, and Claudius fled for his life. The Senate gave the military command to Valerius and Horatius, who were duly elected consuls after the decemvirs were forced to resign. Once the threat from the Sabines and Aequi was dealt with, the decemvirs were brought to trial. Gaius Claudius again pleaded on behalf of his nephew, but Verginius demanded that Appius face justice; according to Dionysius, Appius was said to have hanged himself in prison before he could be tried, but the popular suspicion was that he was put to death at the orders of the plebeian tribunes. Livy reports that Appius killed himself before his trial. The other decemvirs went into exile, except for Spurius Oppius, who was tried, condemned, and put to death on the same day, for the crime of cruelly beating an old soldier. [lower-roman 7] [46] [47] [48]
The entire account in Livy and Dionysius of Claudius's consulship in 471 BC is rejected by Friedrich Münzer, [5] and modern scholarship dismisses his supposed excesses as decemvir as well. These portrayals are part of a later tradition that painted the Claudii as arrogant aristocrats and enemies of the plebs. [49] [50] Theodor Mommsen and T. P. Wiseman argued that the tale of Verginia and other myths about the Claudii were fabricated in the late Republic by the historian Valerius Antias. [51] [52]
The decemviri or decemvirs refer to official 10-man commissions established by the Roman Republic.
The gens Claudia, sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician houses at ancient Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic. The first of the Claudii to obtain the consulship was Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis, in 495 BC, and from that time its members frequently held the highest offices of the state, both under the Republic and in imperial times.
Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis or Inregillensis was the legendary founder of the Roman gens Claudia, and consul in 495 BC. He was the leading figure of the aristocratic party in the early Roman Republic.
The gens Verginia or Virginia was a prominent family at ancient Rome, which from an early period was divided into patrician and plebeian branches. The gens was of great antiquity. It frequently filled the highest honors of the state during the early years of the Republic. The first of the family who obtained the consulship was Opiter Verginius Tricostus in 502 BC, the seventh year of the Republic. The plebeian members of the family were also numbered amongst the early tribunes of the people.
The gens Sicinia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens occur throughout the history of the Republic, but only one of them obtained the consulship, Titus Sicinius Sabinus in 487 BC. Throughout the long Conflict of the Orders, the Sicinii were celebrated for their efforts on behalf of the plebeians.
Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus was a Roman statesman and general who served as consul six times. Titus Quinctius was a member of the gens Quinctia, one of the oldest patrician families in Rome.
The lex Publilia, also known as the Publilian Rogation, was a law traditionally passed in 471 BC, transferring the election of the tribunes of the plebs to the comitia tributa, thereby freeing their election from the direct influence of the Senate and patrician magistrates.
The gens Laetoria was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members appear regularly throughout the history of the Republic. None of the Laetorii ever obtained the consulship, but several achieved lesser offices of the Roman state.
Gaius Julius Iullus was a Roman statesman, who held the consulship in 482 BC. After a contentious election, he was chosen to represent the more moderate faction in Roman politics, while his colleague, Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, was elected by the aristocratic party. Both consuls led a Roman army against Veii, but withdrew when the Veientes refused to confront them. Thirty years later, in 451, Julius was chosen a member of the first decemvirate, alongside several other ex-consuls and other respected statesmen. Julius proved himself a man of good judgment and integrity, and helped to draw up the first ten tables of Roman law.
The Lex Trebonia was a law passed in 448 BC to forbid the tribunes of the plebs from co-opting colleagues to fill vacant positions. Its purpose was to prevent the patricians from pressuring the tribunes to appoint colleagues sympathetic to or chosen from the aristocracy.
Gaius Claudius Ap. f. M. n. Sabinus Regillensis, was a member of the great patrician house of the Claudii at Ancient Rome. He held the consulship in 460 BC.
Lucius Sergius Esquilinus was a Roman politician, and member of the Second Decemvirate in 450 and 449 BC.
Titus Genucius Augurinus was a Roman politician in the 5th century BC, consul and decemvir in 451 BC.
Titus Antonius Merenda was a Roman politician, and decemvir from 450 to 449 BC.
Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis was a Roman politician and member of the Second Decemvirate in 450 and 449 BC.
Spurius Oppius Cornicen was a Roman politician and member of the Second Decemvirate in 450 and 449 BC.
Quintus Poetelius Libo Visolus was a Roman politician, and member of the Second Decemvirate in 450 and 449 BC.
Caeso Duillius Longus was a Roman politician, a member of the Second Decemvirate in 450 and 449 BC.
Appius Claudius Crassus Inregillensis was a Roman politician and general. According to the historian Livy, he delivered a speech to the senate in 368 BC unsuccessfully opposing the proposal to open the executive office of consul to plebeians. In 362, after the plebeian consul of that year had been killed in battle, Claudius was nominated dictator and campaigned against the Hernici, obtaining some successes but with heavy losses of his own. He died shortly after taking office as consul in 349.
According to Roman tradition, it was a Decemvirate that drew up the Twelve Tables of Roman law.