SYMPATHY WITH THE ALLIES? ABUSIVE MAGISTRATES AND POLITICAL DISCOURSE IN REPUBLICAN ROME

Over the course of the 2nd century B.C.E., relations between Rome and her Italian allies increasingly deteriorated. Amongst the principal causes of allied dissatisfaction, historians regularly cite Roman magistrates' abusive behaviour towards Italian communities. The key ancient source of information on this subject is the fragment of a single speech by C. Gracchus (ap. Gell. NA 10.3.2-5), delivered to a Roman political assembly in support of allied enfranchisement, in addition to two passages in Livy's History for the year 173 B.C.E. (42.1.6-12; 42.3). I offer a novel, closely contextualised reading of this evidence. My discussion culminates in the argument that, whilst sometimes representing genuinely pro-allied sentiments, episodes of abuse by Roman magistrates were primarily important as effective rhetorical topoi in the polital discourse of the 2nd century B.C.E. Here, they enjoyed paradigmatic currency in an increasingly competitive and adversarial political climate. From a methodological point of view, this article assigns a significant role to contextual analysis in the use of literary and oratorical fragments in the study of ancient history.