Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/225

 CHAPTER IV.

THE RESTORATION, THE EXTRAORDINARY MILITARY COMMANDS, AND THE CATILINARIAN CONSPIRACIES, 79-62 B.C.

I. The Restoration.

The Oligarchy. — The oligarchy had been reinstated, and henceforth presents in general the same characteristics until the end of the republic. Of the older generation only one eminent man was left — L. Marcius Philippus, a Roman Talleyrand, who had shown remarkable adroitness in always joining the rising or dominant party. He soon disappeared from the scene of action. The chief men of the oligarchy at the time of Sulla's death were Q. Metellus Pius, the consul of 80, who was an able and experienced officer; Q. Lutatius Catulus, a man of culture, but of moderate ability; and the brothers Lucius and Marcus Lucullus, both able officers. The oligarchic party naturally contained a number of insignificant nobles and also the new senators of the equestrian class. As a rule it was supported by the latter class, and enjoyed the benefit of the financial connections of the knights throughout Italy. It was aided by the colonists of Sulla, and especially by its own connections with the leading men in the Italian municipalities. Through the organization of these forces it was for a number of years usually able to control the elections of consuls and praetors.

Gnaeus Pompeius. — Among the men who were neither strictly adherents of the oligarchy nor democrats, Gnaeus Pompeius was preëminent. Born in 106, he had served at first