Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/651

Rh RABIRTUS. vived the old <accusation of perduellio, which had been discontinued for some centuries, since persons found guilty of the latter crime were given over to the public executioner and hanged on the accursed tree. In accusations of perdueljio, the criminal was brought to trial before the Duumviri Ferduellio7iis, who were specially appointed for the occasion, and who had in former times been nominated by the comitia, first of the curiae and afterwards of the centuries. On the present occasion, however, but on Avhat ground we are not told, the duumviri were appointed by the praetor. They were C. Caesar himself and his relative L. Caesar. With such judges the result could not be doubtful ; Ra- birius was forthwith condemned ; and the sentence of death would have been carried into effect, had he not availed himself of his right of appeal to the people in the comitia of the centuries. The case excited the greatest interest ; since it was not Bimply the life or death of Rabirius, but the power and authority of the senate, which were at stake. The aristocracy made every effort to save the ac- cused ; while the popular leaders, on the other hand, u?ed every means to excite the multitude against him, and thus secure his condemnation. On the day of the trial Labienus placed the bust of Satur- ninus in the Campus Martius, who thus appeared, as it were, to call for vengeance on his murderers. Cicero and Hortensius appeared on behalf of Ra- birius ; but that they might not have much oppor- tunity for moving the people by their eloquence, Labienus limited the defence to half an hour. Cicero did all he could for his client. He admitted that Rabirius had taken up arms against Saturninus ; but denied that he had killed the tribune, who had perished by the hands of a slave of the name of Sceva. The former act he justified by the example of Marius, the great hero of the people, as well as of all the other distinguished men of the time. But the eloquence of the advocate was all in vain ; the people demanded vengeance for the fallen tribune. They were on the point of voting, and would in- fallibly have ratified the decision of the duumvirs, had not the meeting been broken up by the praetor, Q. Metellus Celer, who removed the military flag which floated on the Janiculum. This was in ac- cordance with an ancient custom, which was in- tended to prevent the Campus Martius from being surprised by an enemy, when the territory of Rome scarcely extended beyond the boundaries of the city ; and the practice was still maintained, though it had lost all its significance, from that love of preserving the form at least of all ancient institu- tions, which so particularly distinguishes the Ro- mans. Rabirius thus escaped, and was not brought to trial again ; since Caesar could have had no wish to take the old man's life, and he had already taught the senate an important lesson. (Dion Cass, xxxvii. 26—28 ; Suet. Jul. 12 ; Cic. pro C. Rabir. passim, in Pis. 2, Orai. 29.) The previous account has been taken from Dion Cassius, who relates the whole affair with great minuteness. Niebuhr, however, in his preface to Cicero's oration for Rabirius, has questioned the accuracy of the account in Dion Cassius ; urging that Cicero speaks (c. 3) of the infliction of a fine by Labienus, which could have nothing to do with a trial of perduellio ; and also that Labienus com- plained of Cicero's having done away with the trial for perduellio (" nam de perduellionis judicio, quod a me sublatum esse criminari soles, meum crimen RABIRIUS. 6;J9 est, non Rabirli," c. 3). Niebuhr, therefore, thinks that the decision of the duumviri was quashed by the consul and the senate, on the ground that the duumviri were appointed by the praetor, contrary to law ; and that the speech of Cicero, which is extant, was delivered before the people, not in de- fence of Rabirius on an accusation of perduellio, but to save him from the payment of a heavy fine, in which Labienus attempted to condemn hirti, despairing of a more severe punishment. But, in the first place, the strong language which Cicero employs throughout this speech would be almost ridiculous, if the question only related to the im- position of a fine ; and in the second place the ob- jections which Niebuhr makes to the account of Dion Cassius, from the language of Cicero, can hardly be sustained. With respect to the former of the two objections, it will be seen by a reference to the oration (c. 3), that Labienus proposed to in- flict two punishments on Rabirius, a fine on account of the offences he had committed in his private life, and death on account of the crime of perduellio in murdering Saturninus : to render the vengeance more complete, he wished to confiscate his property as well as take away his life. Cicero most clearly distinguishes between the two. As to the latter objection, that Labienus said that Cicero had done away with trials for perduellio, it is probable that these words only refer to the resolution of Cicero to defend Rabirius, and to certain assertions which he may have made in the senate respecting the il- legality or inexpediency of renewing such an anti- quated form of accusation. (Comp. Drumann, Geschichte Roms., vol. iii. p. 163 ; Merimee, E'tudes sur PHistoire Romaive, vol. ii. p. 99, &c.) C. Rabirius had no children of his own, and adopted the son of his sister, who accordingly took his name. As the latter was born after the death of his father, he is called C. Rabirius Postumus. This Rabirius, whom Cicero also defended, in B. c. 54, is spoken of under Postumus. RABI'RIUS. Velleius Paterculus, after enu- merating the distinguished literary characters who lived in the last years of the republic, in passing on to those who approached more nearly to his own age, uses the words " interque (sc. ingenia) proximi nostri aevi eminent princeps carminum Virgiliiis, Rabiriusque," where some critics have unjustifiably sought to substitute " Variusque " or " Horatiusque " for " Rabiriusque.'' Ovid also pays a tribute to the genius of the same individual when he terms him " magnique Rabirius oris " {Ep. ex Pont. iv. 16. 5), but Quintilian speaks more coolly, " Rabirius ac Pedo non indigni cogni- tione, si vacet " (x. L § 90). From Seneca {De Benef. vi. 3), who quotes with praise an expression placed in the mouth of Antonius, Hoc liabeo quod- cunque dedi I we are led to conclude that the work of Rabirius belonged to the epic class, and that the subject was connected with the Civil Wars. No portion of this piece was known to exist until among the charred rolls found at Hercu- laneum a fragment was decyphered which many believe to be a part of the poem of Rabirius. It was first printed in the Volamina Herculanensia (vol. ii. p. 13, fol. Neap. 1809), and subsequently, in a separate form, in a volume edited by Kreyssig under the title "• Carminis Latini de bello Actiaco s. Alexandrino fragmenta," 4to. Schneeberg, 1814. A translation into Italian appeared at Forli, 4to. 1830, styled " Frammenti di Rabirio poeta tra-