Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Exilium: Legal and Historical Issues
- 3 The Journey into Exile: The Early Republic to the Social War
- 4 Exilium from the Social War to the Death of Julius Caesar
- 5 Topics of Exile
- 6 Prosopography of Roman Exiles
- Conclusions
- Appendix I The leges Clodiae Concerning Cicero's Exile
- Appendix II Restoration of Legendary Figures of the Early Republic
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - The Journey into Exile: The Early Republic to the Social War
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Exilium: Legal and Historical Issues
- 3 The Journey into Exile: The Early Republic to the Social War
- 4 Exilium from the Social War to the Death of Julius Caesar
- 5 Topics of Exile
- 6 Prosopography of Roman Exiles
- Conclusions
- Appendix I The leges Clodiae Concerning Cicero's Exile
- Appendix II Restoration of Legendary Figures of the Early Republic
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
CHOOSING A SITE FOR EXILE: AN INTRODUCTION
As we have seen from the discussion of the ius exulare in Chapter Two, once an exile left Roman territory, he was free to resettle wherever he pleased, although there were some advantages to choosing a civitas foederata. While there were no legal constraints on the selection of a new domicile as far as we know, historical and political factors did strongly shape this decision. One factor that remained fairly constant in the selection of a new domicile throughout the Republican period was the presence of clientelae and family connections. Such connections to a locality offered many advantages and certainly facilitated the exile's acceptance into the citizen body of his new state. For example, it seems to have been common for Romans going into banishment to return to provinces where they had held their magistracies. In his defense of L. Licinius Murena, Cicero took this fact for granted when he played upon the pathetic image of a former governor returning as an exile to an area he had recently proudly governed:
ibit igitur in exsilium miser? quo? ad Orientisne partis in quibus annos multos legatus fuit, exercitus duxit, res maximas gessit? at habet magnum dolorem, unde cum honore decesseris, eodem cum ignominia reverti. an se in contrariam partem terrarum abdet, ut Gallia Transalpina, quem nuper summo cum imperio libentissime viderit, eundem lugentem, maerentem, exsulem videat?
Therefore, will this wretched man go into exile? Where? To the East, where he served as legate for many years, led armies and accomplished great deeds?[…]
- Type
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- A History of Exile in the Roman Republic , pp. 69 - 92Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006