qselby

Where did the Great Fire start? I have found some sources stating that it actually started in Regio I, by the Capena Gate. This was only a short hop from the eastern side of the Circus Maximus. Tacitus refers to the east side of the CM but the market area clustered around the gate actually fell in this area even though the CM was consigned to the regio XI.

Good assessment. The cloaca maxima ITSELF ran from the forum boarIum up between the Capitol and THE Palatine and would naturally only have been an option for people fleeing in that area. I truly feel the other channels would have been too small to support large numbers fleeing and agree with you about opting to flee on foot.

Something struck me; there is no mention by either Tacitus, Dio, or Suetonius regarding the cloaca maxima during the great fire. Naturally, Robert Taylor knew about it and used it to escape the flames in the flick Quo Vadis. By 64 the great sewer was enclosed. It's my assumption that during the inferno the place was filled with fumes and wasn't a serviceable escape route. It was too thin, too, unlike the flick which has it resembling a NY subway lane. Any ideas?

Although Gaul became a vital and integral part of the Empire, there were revolts from the young and the restless throughout its imperial history. I'm trying to zero in on two revolts that happened before Claudius' reign. Probably in the 20's. Can anybody help me? I think one revolt took plaCE IN 25 ad.

That was the whole brilliant thing on his part. No office at all and he controlled the state! I just wondered where that legal Roman mind came up with the precedent. Note how J. Caesar was accused of behaving more like a tribune when serving as consul. Everyone knew where the power rested. According to Scullard, the TP was given to Augustus to keep him in touch with the body politic. But that's Scollard's precedent, not the Romans of the time.

I can find no legal precedent for granting Augustus tribunicia potestas in 23 BC. Yes, I know he gave up the consulship as part of the bargaining chip in the 2nd Settlement, but the Romans, always legally minded, had to have some precedent legally speaking for granting Augustus the powers of a people

This, at Wikipedia: Publius Cornelius Dolabella, born 70 BC, was a Roman general, by far the most important of the Dolabellae, a plebian family of the patrician Cornelii. He married Cicero's daughter Tullia Ciceronis. Could someone explain to me "a plebian family of the patrician Cornelii". Either one was a plebe or one wasn't, right? Or was it a subfamily attached or something? I know WikiP isnt always the most reliable so I thought I'd run it by here...

How would you describe the situation in Rome after Sulla

I don't understand your objection. The list does include Caius Cassius Longinus as taking sides against Caesar in Jan 49. As far as I know, the list is comprehensive, but it isn't speculative. Figures with no known loyalty are not included. The original list that did not divide patricians and plebeians did not, as far I could see, include Cassius. I went over it several times. The new list breaking things down between the two social classes does. No objection meant...

I've been checking the sources and, aside from Caesar being backed by Piso and Pompey, can't find how they managed to give Caesar an extended five year term as proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum (and then Transalpine Gaul). By law it was one year, right? I know this deal was pulled off again during the consulship of Crassus and Pompey. How was this pulled off?

Thanks so much both for this detailed input. I find the entire period with Cato and Cicero and Caesar really confusing. But then again the Republic was in its death throes and the period wasn't very clear cut in its historic thread. at least not until Caesar crossed the Rubicon and the swords started to cross. I do know that our own Founding Fathers highly respected Cato. I don't think he's always portrayed in a sympathetic light. When exactly did plebeians start becoming eligible for the Senate?

was Cato the Younger a member of the Senate? You see him as such in movies but I find no mention of it. How could he not be if he was the voice of trhe conservatives? wasn't he of plebeian rank? Was Cato the Elder ever a member of the Senate?

I know the Senate wasn't a legislative body during the Republic, but I'm a little stymied by what assembly or comitia made the laws in Rome. Were several used at first? I ask because of the following I found: Initially the Plebeian Council had the power to pass laws (plebiscite) that were binding on all common people, though not on the entire Republic. Then: As such, it eventually became the favored legislature of the Republic, so much so that in 287 BC, plebiscites gained the full force of law and became binding on the entire Republic.