The only public meetings where Roman politicians might give a speech in front of the people were the Contiones. An office bearer with potestas – a consul, praetor, censor, aedile, quaestor, decemvir, dictator, or plebeian tribune — summoned a contio. The speaker had the authority to invite the speakers and determine the sequence they would talk about and the amount of time each would have to speak. Cotiones played an essential role in the election of new politicians. They permitted candidates to make a public presentation and invite others – mainly prominent personalities and ex-consuls – to endorse them openly. Burial or laudatory contiones were integral to funerary ceremonies and essential in Roman public life. During such occasions, either a family member or an official spoke on behalf of the whole community to publicly praise the departed.
The following events, for example, are an illustration of this type of debate in Libyan history. When the inhabitants of Setia and Norba came to Rome to report the Privernian insurrection and complain about their losses (Spillan 1857). The consuls were Caius Plautius a second time and Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus (Spillan 1857). The victorious army was then marched to Satricum to face the Antians; there, a desperate battle was fought with great slaughter on both sides; and when a storm separated the combatants, hope to incline to neither side, the Romans, undeterred by this indecisive engagement, prepared for battle the next day ((Spillan 1857). The Samnites of Sabellian sought peace with the Romans since, unlike the Campanians (Spillan 1857), they had allied in goodwill with the Roman people rather than in times of sorrow (Spillan 1857). Aemilius, the other consul, razed the enemy’s territory all the way to the seacoast, finding no Samnite camps or troops to oppose him.
The following case of similar conditions before Cicero is described by Livy in his next book. Fabius Maximus’ father pleaded with the Senate to rescue his son, consul Fabius Gurges, from ignominy so that he may serve as his son’s lieutenant (Foster 1926). The Samnite general Gaius Pontius was taken to the triumph and executed. After beating the Sabines, Curius Dentatus won again in the same year (Foster 1926). Castrum, Sena, and Hadria all created colonies (Foster 1926). A three-member board to deal with capital offenses was chosen for the first time.
One more example of the contion of times before Cicero can be given. In 321 B.C., the Samnites beat the Romans at Caudium, and C. Pontius, their captain-general, was their most prominent soldier and commander. ‘Whatever proportion of divine anger we may have experienced as a result of our breach of treaty commitments has now been atoned for,’ he stated (Roberts, Canon 1912). The consuls were T. Veturius Calvinus and Spurius Postumius. “I am prepared to accept any penalty, whether it comes from a country or a single person,” he said (Roberts, Canon 1912). “But if human law provides no rights for the weak to enjoy with the powerful, I may still appeal to the gods, the avengers of unbearable injustice, to direct their anger against those for whom it is not enough to have their own restored to them and to be burdened with what belongs to others” (Roberts, Canon 1912). When a fight is imposed upon them, Samnites, it is reasonable and just, as Livy says “heaven blesses arms when there is no other hope” (Roberts, Canon 1912). All these are vivid examples of conditions before Cicero, a phenomenon that was reflected in the entire history and culture of Rome.
During the Imperial age, political contiones were less critical than during Cicero’s time. This does not, however, imply that they have vanished totally. Instead, they became a platform for the emperors to address Rome’s people directly. According to recorded sources, the emperors1 led the contiones most of the time, while consuls, praetors, and praefecti Urbi also stood before the people. The role of military conscriptions, on the other hand, grew throughout this time.
References
Foster, Benjamin Oliver, trans. “Titus Livius (Livy), the History of Rome, Book 11, Summary W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, Ed.” Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 11, Summary, periocha libri XI, 1926.
Roberts, Canon, trans. “Titus Livius (Livy), the History of Rome, Book 9, Summary W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, Ed.” Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 9, Summary, periocha libri IX, 1912.
Spillan, D., trans. “Titus Livius (Livy), the History of Rome, Book 8, Summary W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, Ed.” Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 8, Summary, periocha libri VIII, 1857.