Marcus Livius Drusus the Younger

The younger Marcus Livius Drusus (* around 124 BC; † 91 BC ), son of the older Marcus Livius Drusus , was a politician of the late Roman Republic .

Life

He was born around 105 BC. BC Military tribune , around 102 BC BC Quaestor and around 94 BC BC Aedile . For the year 91 BC He was elected tribune of the people . He was considered a Senate candidate because of his connections and origins . There was not only a friendship with L. Licinius Crassus , C. Aurelius Cotta and P. Sulpicius Rufus , his father, M. Livius Drusus the Elder, tribune of the people of the year 122, had interceded against C. Gracchus and was already viewed as an optimate . Via Crassus, in turn, there was a connection to M. Antonius Orator and Q. Mucius Scaevola .

Its first laws were on grain and land supplies. The grain law was a typical popular project, as it had already been put forward by Appuleius Saturninus at the beginning of his term in office in order to win the support of the plebs . The land law was intended to redistribute Italian land, presumably the establishment of colonies was also planned. This legislative package also included a judge and a coin law. With the first, 300 new members were to be elected from the equestrian order of the Senate and the courts of justice were to be given sole senatorial supervision. The second allowed an eighth bronze in a silver coin. The last project of the tribune, the granting of citizenship to the allies, led to the final failure of the reforms. After the repeal of his laws, Drusus' position was weakened and violence broke out on the day of the scheduled vote. Drusus was fought very hard by all groups in Rome. He lost not only the support of the Senate but also that of the equites , as well as that of the people of Rome, who do not see their Italian neighbors as citizens, and of the wealthy landowners who did not want to lose their land. Either on that day or shortly afterwards Drusus was murdered, suspicion fell on Q. Servilius Caepio . The civil rights issue was unsolved and the war of allies broke out.

Judgment on the reforms

Parts of the research assume that Drusus wanted to implement his laws in consensus with Marcus Aemilius Scaurus and Marcus Licinius Crassus in order to give the Senate more power. The character of Drusus was possibly unpleasant, he is described in part as cocky, ambitious, arrogant and lavish, and perhaps also contributed to the failure of the tribune. The majority of the research, however, regards Drusus as one of the few who recognized the problem situation in the republic and was willing to solve it. The situation was confusing, however, so that his plan failed. He underestimated the adherence of his peers, the knights and the people to tradition. They lacked awareness of the crisis. Only Sulla sat planned by Drusus reforms in many areas.

Remarks

^ Cicero , de orat. 1.24; Livy Per. 70.

↑ Liv. As of 71; Viris Illustribus 66.4.

↑ Vir. ill. 66.4 and 66.10; Vell. 2.13.2.

↑ Pliny the Elder, Nat. 36.46.

^ Vell. 2.14.1.

↑ Florus epit. 2.5.7-9.

↑ Vir. ill. 66.12; Plin. nat. 28.148.

↑ Vir. ill. 66.1-3; Vell. 2.13.3.

↑ Sallust describes the situation in Catil. 38. Research: Ursula Hackl : The importance of the popular method from the Gracchen to Sulla as reflected in the legislation of the younger Livius Drusus , in: Gymnasium 94, 1987, pp. 109–127; Christian Meier : Res publica amissa , Frankfurt 1980, pp. 211 ff .; Leonhard Burckhardt : Political strategies of the optimates in the late Roman Republic , Stuttgart 1988, pp. 256–267.

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literature

Leonhard Burckhardt : Political strategies of the optimates in the late Roman republic. Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-515-05098-1 (Partly also: Dissertation Basel 1985).
Jochen Martin : The Populars in the History of the Late Republic. Dissertation, Freiburg i. Br. 1965.
Christian Meier: Res Publica Amissa. A Study of the Constitution and History of the Late Roman Republic. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1966 (3rd modified edition. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1997, ISBN 3-518-57506-6 ).
Lukas Thommen : The people's tribunate of the late Roman Republic (= Historia . Individual writings 59). Steiner, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-515-05187-2 (also: Basel, University, dissertation, 1987).