Factio Metelli in the Opposition to Caius Marius in 104 B.C.

Łukasz Schreiber

Abstract


In the years 121–109, the representatives of the Caecilii Metelli family reached a dominant position in the Republic, gaining a number of honours. At the same time, this period was the consolidation of the status of the houses of the old aristocracy. Gaius Marius broke the monopoly of nobiles by winning consulate in 107 B.C., and three years later he was granted it again in absentia.

The attack on the senators associated with factio Metelli lasted for 104 years. The plebeian tribunes were the first to be activated, and three of them were against factio Metelli or the prerogatives of the Senate. The most important role among them was played by Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, who carried out a reform that changed the way in which pontiffs were appointed, and transferred this right from the collegium to the people.

Opponents of Marius decided to use the courts in political struggle. A number of trials that took place in the years 106–101 confirm this thesis. A particularly important role was played here by princeps senatus, Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, who after the death of Pontifex Maximus, Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmaticus, also became an informal leader of the entire faction.

The key to Marius’s weakening in later years was to take control of the strategic issue of the supply of grain to Rome and the provinces where the grain was delivered. Assuming that the primary objective of the house of the Caecilii Metelli in 104 was political survival, they certainly achieved their goal. But Marius, reelected as consul, also strengthened his position. The final decision was to be taken as late as in the year 100, which goes beyond the scope of that article.


Keywords


Caecilii Metelli; Gaius Marius; Marcus Aemilius Scaurus; social history of Roman Republic

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/rh.2019.48.11-36
Date of publication: 2019-12-23 08:28:47
Date of submission: 2017-10-09 01:09:08


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