The History of Rome, vol 5 | Page 4

and confused mass of an opposition which was not agreed
either as to end or means, and, having no head, was broken up into a
hundred fragments. Only it was necessary that it should be determined
to maintain its position, and should bring at least a spark of that energy,
which had built the fortress, to its defence; for in the case of a garrison
which will not defend itself, the greatest master of fortification
constructs his walls and moats in vain.

Want of Leaders Coterie-Systems
The more everything ultimately depended on the personality of the
leading men on both sides, it was the more unfortunate that both,
strictly speaking, lacked leaders. The politics of thisperiod were
thoroughly under the sway of the coterie-system in its worst form. This,
indeed, was nothing new; close unions of families and clubs were
inseparable from an aristocratic organizationof the state, and had for
centuries prevailed in Rome. But it was not till this epoch that they
became all-powerful, for it was only now (first in 690) that their
influence was attested rather than checked by legal measures of
repression.
All persons of quality, those of popular leanings no less than the
oligarchy proper, met in Hetaeriae; the mass of the burgesses likewise,
so far as they took any regular part in political events at all, formed
according to their voting-districts close unions with an almost military
organization, which found their natural captains and agents in the
presidents of the districts, "tribe- distributors" (-divisores tribuum-).
With these political clubs everything was bought and sold; the vote of
the elector especially, but also the votes of the senator and the judge,
the fists too which produced the street riot, and the ringleaders who
directed it--the associations of the upper and of the lower ranks were
distinguished merely in the matter of tariff. The Hetaeria decided the
elections, the Hetaeria decreed the impeachments, the Hetaeria
conducted the defence; it secured the distinguished advocate, and in
case of need it contracted for an acquittal with one of the speculators
who pursued on a great scale lucrative dealings in judges' votes. The
Hetaeria commanded by its compact bands the streets of the capital,
and with the capital but too often the state. All these things were done
in accordance with a certain rule, and, so to speak, publicly; the system
of Hetaeriae was better organized and managed than any branch of state
administration; although there was, as is usual among civilized
swindlers, a tacit understanding that there should be no direct mention
of the nefarious proceedings, nobody made a secret of them, and
advocates of repute were not ashamed to give open and intelligible
hints of their relation to the Hetaeriae of their clients. If an individual

was to be found here or there who kept aloof from such doings and yet
did not forgo public life, he was assuredly, like Marcus Cato, a political
Don Quixote. Parties and party-strife were superseded by the clubs and
their rivalry; government was superseded by intrigue. A more than
equivocal character, Publius Cethegus, formerly one of the most
zealous Marians, afterwards as a deserter received into favour by
Sulla,(4) acted a most influential part in the political doings of this
period--unrivalled as a cunning tale-bearer and mediator between the
sections of the senate, and as having a statesman's acquaintance with
the secrets of all cabals: at times the appointment to the most important
posts of command was decided by a word from his mistress Praecia.
Such a plight was only possible where none of the men taking part in
politics rose above mediocrity: any man of more than ordinary talent
would have swept away this system of factions like cobwebs; but there
was in reality the saddest lack of men of political or military capacity.
Phillipus Metellus, Catulus, the Luculli
Of the older generation the civil wars had left not a single man of
repute except the old shrewd and eloquent Lucius Philippus (consul in
663), who, formerly of popular leanings,(5) thereafter leader of the
capitalist party against the senate,(6) and closely associated with the
Marians,(7) and lastly passing over to the victorious oligarchy in
sufficient time to earn thanks and commendation,(8) had managed to
escape between the parties. Among the men of the following generation
the most notable chiefs of the pure aristocracy were Quintus Metellus
Pius (consul in 674), Sulla's comrade in dangers and victories; Quintus
Lutatius Catulus, consul in the year of Sulla's death, 676, the son of the
victor of Vercellae; and two younger officers, the brothers Lucius and
Marcus Lucullus, of whom the former had fought with distinction
under Sulla in Asia, the latter in Italy; not to mention Optimates like
Quintus Hortensius (640-704), who had importance only as a pleader,
or men like Decimus Junius Brutus (consul