Background
What is the difference between Optimates and Populares?
Optimates (‘the best ones’) - The dominant group in the senate. tried to uphold the oligarchy.
Populares (‘populists’) - Sought popular support against the dominant oligarchy, either in the interests of the people themselves or in furtherance of their own personal ambitions.
Who (Caesar, Pompey or Crassus) had the most influence with the Optimates in 61 BCE and why?
Crassus had become very influential with politicians and businessmen as he had made loans to both Optimates and Populist leaders, Many people owed him.
Describe the nature of the First Triumvirate.
The name is misleading because the First Triumvirate was an unofficial alliance between the three and was secretive in nature.
What threat was the senate making to Caesar while he was in Gaul?
A candidate for the consulship for 55, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, declared that if he were elected he would initiate a move to have Caesar recalled from Gaul and prosecuted for the illegal acts of his consulship.
Give two reasons why Pompey and Crassus didn’t get along.
They had both raised an army on their own in support of Sulla – Crassus was more successful than Pompey but Sulla rewarded Pompey more.
They had both been involved in defeating Spartacus – Crassus did most of the work and Pompey swept in at the end and took the credit.
What did Caesar want in 61-60 BCE?
Caesar hoped to stand for the consulship for 59 BCE, with the view to gaining a lucrative proconsular command to earn some money. To stand for election, he needed to dismiss his army and return to Rome as a private citizen to nominate himself. Caesar was also due to celebrate a triumph for his successes in Spain so needed to retain control of his army. He wrote to the senate to request to stand for the consulship in absentia but they said no.
What were the aims and conditions of the First Triumvirate?
If Crassus and Pompey could join forces to get Caesar elected to the consulship, Caesar would make sure that their bills and requests were passed when he was consul.
What was decided at the Conference of Luca in 56 BCE?
Pompey and Crassus would stand for their second joint consulship. As consuls, they would gain an extension for Caesar’s command, giving him continued immunity for another 5 years. Cicero would be told to drop the matters of the lex Campania and Caesar’s recall.
What happened to Caesar during Sulla’s dictatorship?
Caesar was tied to the Marian faction by marriage (his uncle and father-in-law) but not by action. During his dictatorship and proscriptions, Sulla said he would allow Caesar to live if he divorced Cornelia. According to Suetonius, Sulla said “for in this Caesar there is more than one Marius”. Caesar refused and left Rome for a few years until Sulla’s death. He served on the staff of the governors of Asia and Cilicia and became friendly with the King of Bithynia.
What did Pompey want in 61-60 BCE?
Acquire land to settle his veteran soldiers (those who were due to retire after the Mithridatic Wars).
Have the senate ratify (authorise) his Eastern Settlements (decisions) - Reorganisation of provinces to create a continuous ring around the coast. Promoted client-states which were independent but loyal to Rome because the rulers owed their positions and land to Pompey.
What did each of the three partners bring to the partnership?
Pompey – loyal veteran soldiers
Crassus – money
Caesar – the support of the plebs.
Describe the gang problem in Rome at this time.
Clodius’ gang had been harassing Pompey and Crassus was probably financing them. Pompey put together his own private gang under Titus Annius Milo. There was open violence in the streets between these and other gangs. This was Pompey vs Crassus by proxy.
Describe 3 ways in which Caesar gained the support of the people in his early career.
He lived in the Subura (the poorest district) and acted as a legal advocate for the poor.
He stirred up public support for the Marians (and hence himself) during Julia’s funeral.
He supported the popular Pompey’s commands to restore trade and the food supply in the Mediterranean.
As Aedile, he spent huge amounts putting on lavish spectacles.
He was a generous General in Spain, sharing the spoils of war with his troops and treating them fairly.
What did Crassus want in 61-60 BCE?
Crassus had become the spokesperson for the equestrian tax collectors in the province of Asia. Due to the Mithridatic Wars, the tax collectors had not been able to recover costs. They requested a rebate from the senate. Crassus’ motives for helping them are not clear – perhaps he had investments.
What problems did Caesar encounter during his consulship and how did he overcome them?
The Senate refused to listen to any of his bills and Bibulus vetoed them. He brought Pompey out to show the people that he supported the bills and then brought some of his veterans into the forum. The veterans supposedly threatened Bibulus, Cato and Lucullus.
What problems was Cicero causing Caesar while Caesar was away in Gaul
He tried to separate Pompey from Caesar by arranging for Pompey to have another extraordinary command (Curator of the Grain Supply with total controls over “all ports and trading centres … for five years” (Plutarch)). This gave Pompey the support of the Optimates and the appreciation of the plebs which made Caesar and Crassus jealous. This appointment “made Pompey once again virtually the master of all Roman possessions by sea or land” (Plutarch).
Cicero also attacked Caesar’s lex Campania in the senate.
Describe 3 key events in Caesar’s political career between his return to Rome after Sulla’s death up to the First Triumvirate.
Caesar was elected as a military tribune in 71 BCE (aged 29) and advocated for the restoration of the rights of the tribunes that had been taken by Sulla. The rights would be restored the next year during Pompey and Crassus’ consulship.
In 69 BCE, he was elected as Quaestor, beginning his rise up the cursus honorum. In the same year, both his aunt Julia and wife Cornelia died and Caesar gave eulogies at both public funerals, displaying pictures of Marius and stirring up public support.
In 65 BCE, the 35-year-old Caesar was elected as aedile and staged lavish games, drawing attention to himself.
Caesar received imperium for the first time in 63 BCE when he was elected as Praetor.
He was elected as Pontifex Maximus (chief high priest) in the same year.
For his propraetorship, Caesar was appointed to govern Hispania Ulterior (Southern Spain). He was deeply in debt due to his campaigns and offices and needed a military victory to restore funds. He campaigned in northwestern Spain (an area not previously controlled by Rome) and was hailed imperator by his troops.
Name the three leaders of the Optimates who were causing problems for Caesar, Pompey and Crassus.
Metellus Celer, Cato and Lucullus.
They had personal beef with Pompey (Pompey had divorced his wife Mucia who was Metellus’ half-sister. Pompey had tried to marry Cato’s niece but Cato had refused because he thought it was a form of bribery. Lucullus had originally been in command of the Mithridatic Wars but Pompey had replaced him).
Cato and Metellus Celer spoke against Crassus’ proposal (fair enough because it was outrageous).
The senate refused Caesar’s request, believing he would never give up the opportunity for a triumph. That’s exactly what he did.
Why was all the legislation Caesar passed in his consulship technically illegal?
Bibulus (Caesar’s consular colleague) had proclaimed that the remaining days of the year were a sacred period which meant no public business could be done. He then withdrew to his house for the remainder of the year saying that he would be taking the auspices. Caesar then governed alone and passed the legislation during a sacred period.
Identify two pieces of legislation Caesar passed during his consulship.
Lex Campania - The last of the public lands in Italy were divided into 20 000 allotments and distributed to the urban poor and Pompey’s veterans.
Legalised collegia (gangs).
A German chief was recognised as a ‘Friend of Rome’. Ptolemy Auletes was recognised as the King of Egypt.
A patrician, Clodius Pulcher, changed his status to plebeian (with the help of Caesar as Pontifex Maximus) so that he could be elected as tribune.