The

Forum

The Forum
 The Forum 2

From above it may have not looked like much, a collection of buildings in the center of a

city, some of the structures were adorned with gleaming colonnades and ivory trimmings,

others were plain and pragmatic. They were strewn about in a seemingly haphazard

manner, no discernable pattern or planning could be gleaned from their composition, but

amongst this eclectic architecture beat the heart of a great nation.

In the northeast near the temple of Janus two men sat, their patrician features and good

breeding were plain to see, one was old and wizened but a great defiance could be seen to

live behind his faded eyes. The other, in his middling years was of a stout constitution

and jovial countenance. The older man returned from his daydreaming and spoke.

Cato - “I hear the war in the east goes well, Pompey shows himself to remain a fine

general”.

Silanius - “ Pompey could be as clever as Odysseus and as strong as Hercules in the flesh

and this war would still not go well”.

Cato - “ Oh yes you Populares don’t support the war do you? You would rather we cow

to foreign aggression until our enemies are at the very gates of Rome.”

Silanius -“ And you Optimates would see us bankrupt and destitute to prevent the

supposed besmirching of our Roman honor. Pontus is on the other side of the Aegean,
The Forum 3

they barely threaten us and yet we send an army to crush them on the merit of hearsay

and rumor.

Cato - “ King Mithradates has invaded our allies in the past and remains an obstacle to

our trading interests in the region. Dissident elements of his kingdom wear upon the

fabric of our culture identity, upon the tradition of our ancestors!”

Silanius - “ Would our ancestors even recognize the Republic today? We hold vast

overseas territory, we subjugate the people of other races and the consuls have near

tyrannical power.”

Cato - “ Mithradates is a tyrant who suppresses his own people just as the Roman kings

of old did, if not for the sake of our own security then for the liberation of the people of

Pontus.”

Silanius - “ Once we depose him what then? Who shall rule over his people once his

brutal regime no longer keeps the nation together? That entire region is a quagmire, our

war machine would become bogged down in the constant turmoil of that land.”

Cato - “ Then we will annex that land to become part of the Republic if it comes to that,

our Roman values will give the people order, virtue and tradition, the bedrock of any

stable government”.
 The Forum 4

Silanius - “ How can we remain a republic when we constantly expand beyond our ethnic

borders? When we subjugate the people of other nations for our own financial and

military gain?

Cato - “ Our Republic has been embroiled in foreign wars since it’s birth, this one is no

different than any of the others, Rome has an enemy and goes to meet them on the

battlefield.”

Silanius - “ King Mithradates is no peaceful ruler that is certain, but is not his brutal order

preferable to no order at all? The senate miscalculates the resources it will take to fully

fund this war to completion.”

Cato - “ Roman arms and tactics will subdue the external threat and restore order to the

region as it always has, observe and you will see this to be the truth.”

Silanius - “Yes, let us wait and see then.”

North across the holy way near the shops and the shrine of Venus Cloacina gathered a

group of equites, merchants, artisans skilled laborers and the like. One of them stood

upon a crate and shouted to the rest, a crowd soon gathered growing larger and larger by

the minute.
The Forum 5

Publius - “ Brothers, fellow citizens, we live under a regime that despises our very being,

the patricians in the senate tax us to our graves and wish us to be thankful!”

Soon another man spoke up in the crown to challenge him.

Sallust - “ Surely you are mad, why would our own elected officials wish to destroy us?”

Publius - “ We are the middle citizens, between the entitled and the destitute. We labor

each day to bring profit and prosperity to the republic. The senate and privileged few at

the top fear our numbers and influence growing large enough to oppose them!”

Sallust - “ You must be joking, it lies in the best interests of the senate to rule over a

prosperous republic. We are in no danger of ruin as long as we labor accordingly and

spent prudently.”

Publius – “ We equites are the true backbone of the republic, not the administration as

the senate believes or the army as the plebs believe. It is by our industry and cultivation

that our nation has achieved greatness. Those of old and noble houses would legislate all

of our profits away in order to return us to virtual servitude!”

At this time another voice arose, a young man with soft features and an air of dignity.
 The Forum 6

Atticus - “ This talk of economic subjugation is absurd, it is thoroughly un-Roman, if our

lot in life was to be changed it would be done clearly and in the open as all the matters of

the republic are.”

Publius - “ I see then that you are blind as well, the optimates, composed of those same

patricians seek our financial bondage!”

Sallus - “ But the populares advocate for us in the senate surely! They wish to see all

level of citizen on equal footing; they wish to reform the republic in our interest.

Atticus - “ These so called “Reforms” would be the first death of the spirit of tradition,

free bread for the masses would make us complacent and impotent. It is but another form

of slavery to be so dependent on the populares in the senate for our livelihood.

Publius – “ Optimate or populare both parties truly advocate only for their fellow

patricians, we represent a unique occurrence in the history of the world, an independent

middle class in control of it’s own destiny. If we do not gain a voice in the senate then we

will be returned once and for all to the plebian hordes from which we arose”.

On a hill overlooking the forum a group of workers labored to repair the broken remains

of a once magnificent villa. As they worked one spoke up,

The Forum 7

Decimus - “ If the populares are supposed to be reformers of the people then why do their

reforms never benefit us?”

Another worker, his brow damp with sweat addressed him.

Oppius - “ Cease this rambling Decimus, we have a task to accomplish before the master

of the house returns.”

Decimus - “ I do not ramble, if we live in a republic where each citizen is equal then why

do only the affluent and entitled stand for office? Is that not a misrepresentation of the

will of the people?”

Oppius - “ The patricians are great and learned men, they know what is best for us and

the best way to achieve it.”

Decimus - “ But if we be ignorant of their methods and practices then how can we assure

ourselves that they do indeed have our best interests in mind?”

Oppius - “ You go beyond yourself Decimus, a day laborer questioning the leading men

of Rome, what do you know of statecraft or the constitution?”

Decimus - “ I know little of those topics, but I am confident in my opposition to being

excluded as a citizen of the Roman republic to the direction of my life.”

 The Forum 8

Oppius - “Then run for tribune if you desire office and to see beyond the veil of poverty.”

Decimus - “ A man of our lot cannot choose to run, he lacks the funds, learning and

connections, he is chosen to run by one of a better lot in life. His career as tribune is the

equally as unfairly dictated to him.”

Oppius - “ Then we are forever doomed to a life of noble toil, is that so bad? You could

be a freedman or worse yet a slave.”

Decimus - “Perhaps we already are.”