The Crowd in Rome in the Late Republic

Archival Summary & Scope

Challenging traditional views of Late Republican Rome, Fergus Millar's *The Crowd in Rome in the Late Republic* redefines its political landscape not as an aristocratic oligarchy, but as a dynamic, often erratic democracy. Millar demonstrates that while the Senate could debate and advise, laws were enacted through direct popular vote in the Forum, where public office was gained by election and open-air oratory held sway. Focusing on the period from Sulla's dictatorship to Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon, this work reveals how the politics of the massive, concentrated voting populace drove the Republic's profound transformations. Millar's original approach rejects interpretations based on client-patron systems or Senate domination, instead emphasizing event narratives to compel a fundamental re-evaluation of Roman power. Fergus Millar is Camden Professor of Ancient History, Oxford University.