Page:Cicero And The Fall Of The Roman Republic.djvu/19

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and saved Rome in this her first conflict with the German race.

Along with the full Roman franchise the Arpinates now enjoyed a considerable measure of local self-government. They were an organised community, capable of deciding local questions for themselves, and with their local politics and parties. We get an interesting glimpse of Arpinum in the second century B.C. from a passing notice which Cicero gives of his family two generations back. "Our grandfather showed great qualities in the administration of this borough, opposing throughout his life his brother-in-law Gratidius, who wished to introduce elections by ballot. For Gratidius raised storms in a sauce-boat, as the saying goes, just as his son Marius did on the high seas. When the matter was reported to the consul Scaurus, he remarked to our ancestor: 'Such principles and such firmness, Marcus Cicero, should have a field for their exercise by our side in the imperial politics of the capital rather than in the local politics of your borough.'" The contrast here marked between the central unity of Rome and the local life of the township, is a characteristic feature of these Italian "municipia." Arpinum was one of the earlier of these