Dr. Lauren Kaplow, Assistant Professor
Department of Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics
In the Late Republic, both politicians who promoted the rights of the non-elite citizens and politicians who sought to preserve the privileges of the senatorial class appealed to history and tradition to justify their positions. Cicero lists several historical figures that were, in his own day, used by his political opponents (who he called populares, men of the people), one of whom was L. Cassius Longinus Ravilla, a prominent politician of the 2nd century BCE. By examining the way he and his legislation were remembered in family traditions and in coinage, I present an example of the way in which Late Republican politicians can invoke their ancestors to justify their actions.
Republican populares created and legitimated their own political ideology.
This talk is presented by the Concordia Classics Student Association.