First And New Men?

[Guest Nox Draco]

I am reading The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough, and I am confused as to what it means exactly to be a "first man" and a "new man" in Rome. Could anyone explain these titles to me?

[Primus Pilus]

A new man represented the first member of a family to reach the Senate or to reach the Consulship. For Marius both definitions applied.

[P.Clodius]

Reminds me a of a passage I read this morning during my daily study (commute).

At the begining of 66 the tribune Gaius Manilius proposed to extend Pompey's command of the Mithridatic War and to grant him the right of declaring war, concluding peace and making treaties. In a word, the settlement of the whole eastern question was put in his hands. Since the restoration of the tribunate, the senate could no longer withstand the strength of such a movement. The senatorial leaders, Catulus and Hortensius, were fighting for a lost cause: on the occasion four consulars of their own persuasion, including men of note such as Publius Servilius Isauricus and Gaius Scribonius Curio, swam with the tide.

 

Political opportunities of a kind which Sulla had won for himself as an outlaw in civil war were now placed on Pompey's lap by public authority. Those who did not wish to be crushed by the foreseeable new order had to humour their new master. Caesar was faced with this bitter necessity. But, since it had to be, he was not content to be a mere time-server; rather, he became an enthusiastic supporter of the bill, rivalled only by the praetor of this year, Marcus Tullius Cicero. He too could not act otherwise, if he ever wished to see the great wish of his life fulfilled, for, despite his equestrian birth, he was aiming at the consulship on the strength of his oratory. Although sincerely impressed by the glorious past of noble rule, under the existing senatorial regime he could not as a new man hope for the consulship. In the eyes of these high and mighty gentlemen he could count himself lucky that they had let him rise as far as the praetorship. M Gelzer. Caesar.

Edited January 24, 2006 by P.Clodius

[Primus Pilus]

With Clodius' post I just realized that I only answered one question. 'The First Man in Rome' was not a title or position as it may seem in McCullough's books. The 'princeps senatus' was considered the first man in the Senate... essentially an honorific position without magisterial power, but that doesn't appear to be the context in which McCullough is driving at. She seems to indicate it more as a position of power (such as dictator) or perhaps public dignitas (reputation, family honor, etc.).

[P.Clodius]

I guess from my post you could find information for both first man, and new man. I made the post from the perspective of the new man. The elitism and snobery of the senate at this time was something I find abhorant. I guess that's the working class englishman coming out of me!