Episode 104 – Aventine, Aventine

We return to the City of Rome in 456 BCE and follow the ongoing domestic struggles that Rome faces in defining herself in terms of transparency at law.

Episode 104 – Aventine, Aventine

With a new crop of tribunes come some important consequences. While in previous years the tribunes have focused on the goal of ensuring that there is a clear and public way for any Roman citizen to access the laws in order to understand them, with new tribunes comes a shift in thinking.

A Return to Redistribution of Public Land

After a long hiatus, the issue of public land returns to the tribunician agenda. It’s safe to say that things are about to get messy in Rome.

If there’s one thing the patricians never seem to want to budge on, it’s negotiating the fair use of public land.

Ten Tribunes Means Twice the Representation!

Not only are there new tribunes but there are now plenty more of them representing the plebeians. We’ll get a taste of what can happen with a larger group of tribunes. That’s a lot of bodies to protect the interests of citizens and we’ll see how that magisterial privilege can be deployed.

The Lex Icilia de Aventino Publicando

We delve into the nitty gritty of the law passed in this year which is unusual for a number of reasons.

The Players

Consuls

• Marcus Valerius M’. f. Volusi n. Maxumus Lactuca (pat)
• Spurius Verginius A. f. A. n. Tricostus Caeliomontanus (pat)

Tribunes

• Lucius Icilius
• Lucius Alienus

Sources

Dr Rad read Livy Ab Urbe Condita 3.31
Dr G reads Dionysius of Halicarnassus Roman Antiquities 10.31-32

J. M. W. Turner c.1820s-1836. Rome, from Mount Aventine.
Finding a painting that could do justice to the early Republican Aventine was tough, so we opted for this gorgeous, though much later view back onto nineteenth century Rome instead.

Sound Credits

• Sound Effects courtesy of BBC Sound Effects (Beta), Pond5, and Lewi Pilgrim
• Final credits: Excerpt from ‘Ancient Arcadian Harp’ by Cormi

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