Final Decree of the Senate

senatus consultum de re publica defendenda

The senatus consultum ultimum initiated by Cicero against Catiline was a necessary action for the preservation of the status quo, but was not justified as it violated the constitution of the Roman Republic. The core purpose of the republic in ancient Rome was to protect against the rule of a foreign government. By issuing senatus consultum ultimum the Senate gives the ultimate power, unchecked, to a single individual, Cicero, who may as well be acting as a foreign ruler by his membership in the aristocracy. The checks that remain in the standard republican rule of Rome, specifically the power of the tribunes, which had in fact been reduced by Sulla prior to Cicero’s ascension to the consul, are intended to protect the proletariat against the aristocracy. The institution of martial law necessarily prevents any but the elite from making a change within the government. Further, the elimination of the opposition can only lead to a greater divide between the aristocracy and the proletariat. The opposition is necessary for the advancement of the state in the direction which is for the good of the nation. Any action which is conducted against the core principles of the republic and is given legal precedent allows for the same action to be taken later without the consent, or issuing of legality, from the state, as Julius made so abundantly clear in his speech to the senate on the topic of the war with Catiline.

Plinius, Reddo Humanitae

Plinius, Reddo Humanitae

Pliny the Younger (Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus) was an author and philosopher of first century C.E. Rome.  He is the nephew of Pliny the Elder, who is best known to us as having penned the Historiae Naturalis, the first true attempt at an all-inclusive encyclopedia of the natural world.  The majority of the Younger’s work comes to us from his compilation of letters.  The letters are arranged throughout ten books in chronological order.  However, the individual letters are not kept in any particular order as seen by his letter to Speticius Clarus: “I have now made a collection, not keeping to the original order as I was not writing history, but taking them as they came to my hand” (Pliny 1).  It is believed by many that Pliny’s letters are the first attempt at the intentional publishing of letters for public reading.  Many of his letters are merely asides between acquaintances, however there are portions of his letters which show the true history and culture of the Roman civilization throughout Pliny’s lifetime.  Much of what is known of Roman architecture of this time period is what has been learned through the letters.  Further