Читать книгу Why Rome Fell - Michael Arnheim - Страница 26

The last century of the Roman Republic was marked by confrontations between two groupings within the ruling oligarchy, one of which championed the cause, and depended on the support, of the lower classes, and the other, of a more “conservative” mindset, bent on the continued dominance of the senatorial elite. The terms “Populares” and “Optimates”, used by Cicero in Pro Sestio in 56 BCE to describe these two groups, tend now to be rejected by historians. However, here I agree with Lintott that, “As for optimates and populares, even though they came from the same social class with its framework of individual and family connexions, this is no reason to deny the divergence of ideology highlighted by Cicero,” with programs and leaders going back generations. Even if popularis politicians “…pursued their own interests more than those of the men they claimed to represent,….the mere possession of personal ambition does not disqualify a man from advancing the interests of others.” (Lintott, A., p. 52 f.)

The long-smouldering antagonism between the plebs urbana (the urban masses, not to be confused with the original plebeians involved in the so-called Conflict of the Orders) and the dominant elements in the Roman oligarchy eventually burst into flames over the radical agrarian reforms proposed by Tiberius Gracchus with popular support.