Sheltered by Caecilia
Before the trial, Roscius was sheltered by Caecilia, [1] probably Caecilia Metella Balearica.
Sextus Roscius (often referred to as Sextus Roscius the Younger to differentiate him from his father) was a Roman citizen farmer from Ameria (modern day Amelia) during the latter days of the Roman Republic. In 80 BC, he was tried in Rome for patricide, and was successfully defended by the 27-year-old Cicero in the extant Pro Roscio Amerino , Cicero's first major litigation. The case involved some risk for Cicero, since he accused Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus, a freedman of Sulla, the former dictator of Rome, of corruption and involvement in the crime.
Before the trial, Roscius was sheltered by Caecilia, [1] probably Caecilia Metella Balearica.
Sextus Roscius was accused of patricide, killing his own father (also called Sextus Roscius), who was murdered in the streets of Rome after a dinner.
Sextus Roscius, like Cicero a native of the Roman countryside, was from Ameria, a municipality in Umbria. When his father was murdered in Rome sometime in late 81 BC, the Roscii family estates were added to the proscription list by Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus, a powerful freedman of the dictator Sulla. It seems this was done illegally, since the official end-date for the proscriptions (1 June 81 BC) had already passed. At the public auction that followed, Chrysogonus himself bought the family estates, reportedly worth over 6 million sesterces , for a meagre 2000 sesterces. Soon after (at least according to Cicero), Chrysogonus conspired with two relatives of the deceased, Titus Roscius Capito and Titus Roscius Magnus, to accuse the younger Sextus Roscius of his father's murder.
Erucius, the prosecutor, formed his case around the cui bono principle: since Sextus Roscius stood to profit the most from murdering his father, he must be the most likely candidate, and must have hired someone else "to do the deed for him" (without naming other possible suspects). [2] In his first major litigation, Cicero entirely turned the trial around: he claimed that the two Amerian relatives, Capito and Magnus, murdered Sextus' father and then partnered with Chrysogonus to acquire the estates illegally through the proscription list. [3] However, the argument for the defense would likely be considered doubtful by today's standards. [4]
Cicero argued that those who chose to align themselves with Chrysogonus in the belief that they were supporting the nobility were wrong to do so, since his corruption was a stain on the Republic. "For the cause will be rendered more splendid by resisting every worthless man. The worthless favourers of Chrysogonus, who think that his cause and theirs are identical, are injured themselves by separating themselves from such splendor." [5]
Eventually, Sextus the younger was acquitted of the murder charges; it is likely that he did repossess his land.
Quintus Roscius was a Roman actor. The cognomen Gallus is dubious, as it appears only once as a scholia in a manuscript of Cicero's Pro Archia.
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Proscription is, in current usage, a 'decree of condemnation to death or banishment' and can be used in a political context to refer to state-approved murder or banishment. The term originated in Ancient Rome, where it included public identification and official condemnation of declared enemies of the state and it often involved confiscation of property.
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Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger was a senator of the Roman Republic.
Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus was a Greek freedman of Lucius Cornelius Sulla whom Sulla put in charge of the proscriptions of 82 BC. He purchased the property of the proscribed Sextus Roscius Amerinus, worth 250 talents, for 2,000 denarii. Chrysogonus then accused Roscius's son, Sextus Roscius, of murdering his father. In 80 BC Chrysogonus was in turn accused of corruption by Marcus Tullius Cicero, who was defending Sextus Roscius during his trial. Very little is known of Chrysogonus after the trial.
The political career of Marcus Tullius Cicero began in 76 BC with his election to the office of quaestor, and ended in 43 BC, when he was assassinated upon the orders of Mark Antony. Cicero, a Roman statesman, lawyer, political theorist, philosopher, and Roman constitutionalist, reached the height of Roman power, the Consulship, and played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. A contemporary of Julius Caesar, Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
The writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero constitute one of the most renowned collections of historical and philosophical work in all of classical antiquity. Cicero was a Roman politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, philosopher, and constitutionalist who lived during the years of 106–43 BC. He held the positions of Roman senator and Roman consul (chief-magistrate) and played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He was extant during the rule of prominent Roman politicians, such as those of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Marc Antony. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
Pro Roscio Amerino is a defence speech given by Marcus Tullius Cicero on behalf of Sextus Roscius, a Roman citizen from the municipality of Amelia accused of murdering his father. Delivered in 80 BC, it was Cicero's first major public case. It is also his second-earliest surviving speech.
Caecilia Metella was a Roman matron of the first century BC, who belonged to the powerful family of the Caecilii Metelli. She was possibly the mother of Clodius.
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The gens Caecilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned in history as early as the fifth century BC, but the first of the Caecilii who obtained the consulship was Lucius Caecilius Metellus Denter, in 284 BC. The Caecilii Metelli were one of the most powerful families of the late Republic, from the decades before the First Punic War down to the time of Augustus.
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The gens Roscia, probably the same as Ruscia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned as early as the fifth century BC, but after this time they vanish into obscurity until the final century of the Republic. A number of Roscii rose to prominence in imperial times, with some attaining the consulship from the first to the third centuries.
The proscription of Sulla was a reprisal campaign by the Roman proconsul and later dictator, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, to eliminate his enemies in the aftermath of his victory in the civil war of 83–82 BC.
