Alascanus Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 My apologies if this isn't in the correct sub-forum. I wanted to get the views of other lovers of classical history on a comparative view of citizenship in the Roman Republic, and citizenship in modern republics or parliamentary democracies. As many of you may have read in the news lately, the United States killed a rather noisome instigator of terror, and an accessory to murder by the name of Anwar Al-Awlaki. The thing about him is that he's no loyal son of the republic, he is indeed a citizen. Whether the comparison is superficial or not, I immediately thought of the illegal execution of Sextus Pompey in 35BCE. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I and many others have been kind of waiting for this eventuality in the war on terror: when active terrorists are killed by their governments without trial. A quick google search shows some comparisons between Sextus Pompey and Awlaki before he was even killed recently. Now, circumstances are never the same, especially between Rome and the modern world. Like I said, the comparison is superficial. There is no ceteris paribus here, without a wild leap into the kind of what-if counterfactual history many of you might not find very appetizing. However, what endlessly fascinates me, as I'm sure it does many of you, is the analysis of the constitutional transformation from the Oligarchic Republic of the 2nd Century BCE into the early Principate. Was the illegal execution of Sextus Pompey an unremarkable crime against the Republic because it was in a sea of other, great crimes committed since the time of the Gracchi? Or did it directly contribute to a certain laesa maiestas that built up around the sovereignty of Rome being invested solely in the judgment of the Caesars? That is to say, did Romans wake up one day and find themselves capable of being offed by Octavian, without any legal ramifications - and was Sextus Pompey the definitive precedent? Was any Caesar after Augustus suddenly in hot water for whacking an enemy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 Providing responses to this topic remain within the context of Republican Rome/ Early Principate there is no obvious objection to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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