Orbis Terrarum

A study of the references to places in the De lege agraria 2 indicates that Cicero has attempted in the speech to control his listeners' conception of geographical space—which, in turn, forms the backdrop to the actions attributed to the decemvirs. In the early sections of the speech the orator induces his audience to envision the power of the decemvirs operating throughout "the whole world" (orbis terrarum ).^[43] In section 15, for instance, Cicero declares that the purpose of the Rullan bill is to create "ten kings of the treasury, of the revenue-producing lands, of all the provinces, of the whole Republic, of the kingdoms, of free peoples, and of the whole world" (decem reges aerari, vectigalium, provinciarum omnium, totius rei publicae, regnorum, liberorum populorum, orbis denique terrarum ). This idea of the all-embracing power of the decemvirs is then reiterated several times. The power of the decemvirs is termed

[42] The idea of a Campanian colony had been discussed at the January 1 meeting of the Senate, for it was there that Rullus said he would begin distribution of these lands with the rural tribes (79). It was perhaps also at this meeting that the figure of five thousand colonists had been suggested (76).

[43] For the phrase orbis terrarum, see 15, 26, 37, 45, 64, 98. Cf. 1.2 (orbis terrae ), 9, 15.

"unlimited" (33: infinita ) like that of kings or tyrants, and it operates over "the world and all its peoples" (33: orbis terrarum gentiumque omnium ). Cicero complains that the land commissioners will be able to remain at Rome or "wander wherever they wish" (34: vagari ut liceat ), and, in assessing the harm that they will bring to foreign nations, he predicts that they will leave the city and bring disgrace on the Roman name as they "wander throughout the entire world" (45: cum hinc egressi sunt . . . per totum orbem terrarum vagabuntur ).

This power, derived from the assembly at Rome and exercised throughout the world, is also pictured turning back upon the city. Cicero says in section 47: "When they have gorged themselves on the blood of the allies, of foreign nations, and of kings, they would cut the sinews of the Roman people, lay violent hands on the revenue-producing lands, and break into the treasury" (cum se sociorum, cum exterarum nationum, cum regum sanguine implerint, incidant nervos populi Romani, adhibeant manus vectigalibus vestris, inrumpant in aerarium ). The sequence of places in this list reverses the order of that found in section 15, which progressed from the aerarium to the orbis terrarum . Here, the sentence is divided into two parts that move in the opposite direction. The first three phrases in the sentence, connected by anaphora, culminate in the verb implerint and contain the idea that the exercise of decemviral power will first burden the world at large. The second tricolon, using three striking verbs that ascend in violence, moves the attention of the listeners from a focus on the outside world to Rome and its financial revenues. The vectigalia, the "sinews of the Roman people," are made to appear so crucial to the financial health of the city that the decemvirs' action is likened to an attack on the treasury itself.^[44]

In addition to these, six other passages contain lists composed of parts of the Roman world (34, 39, 62, 71, 72, 98).^[45] All of these serve

[44] Cf. Cic. Imp. Pomp. 19 for the connection between vectigalia and Roman finances.

[45] 34 (omnis provincias . . . liberos populos . . . regnorum ), 39 (see below, p. 224), 62 (omnes urbes, agri, regna denique, postremo etiam vectigalia vestra ), 71 (omnis urbis, agros, vectigalia, regna ), 72 (vectigalibus abalienatis, sociis vexatis, regibus atque omnibus gentibus exinanitis ), 98 (urbis, nationes, provincias, liberos populos, reges, terrarum denique orbem ). Cf. 1.2 (urbes pacatae, agri sociorum, regum status ), 8 (provinciis, regnis, liberis populis ), 11 (provincias, civitates liberas, socios, amicos, reges ), 15 (orbem terrarum . . . vectigalia . . . aerarium ), and Imp. Pomp. 31 (omnes orae atque omnes terrae gentes nationes, maria denique omnia cum universa tum in singulis oris omnes sinus atque portus ).

to reinforce the audience's image of the decemvirs' insidious power let loose upon a defenseless imperium . A study of the content and arrangement of the lists shows a strong preoccupation with style, for in each the orator chooses a number of elements from a set vocabulary (urbes, agri, gentes, nationes, liberi populi, regna, reges, vectigalia, provinciae, socii ) and arranges them in a careful sequence determined as much by sound as by meaning.^[46] A good example of this emphasis on style can be seen in a passage in which Cicero declares of one of the articles of the bill: "By this article, citizens, I say that all peoples, nations, provinces, and realms are entrusted and handed over to the dominion, judgment, and power of the decemvirs" (39: hoc capite, Quirites, omnis gentis, nationes, provincias, regna decemvirum dicioni, iudicio potestatique permissa et condonata esse dico ). The sentence is carefully modeled. After Quirites four nouns follow, and after decemvirum, three nouns and then two verbs follow, giving the sequence of coordinated elements the shape of an inverted pyramid. The selection of gentis, nationes, provincias, and regna is chiefly determined by the weight and sound of the words, just as is the use of three synonyms for power (dicio, iudicium, potestas ) and two for entrusting (permitto, condono ). Although certain elements are marked by special emphasis, in general, lists such as this depend less on the specific meaning of their constituent parts than on an overall weightiness of diction and the general sense given that every part of the world will come under the sway of the land commissioners. The use of the adjective omnis at the beginning of four of these lists (34, 39, 62, 71) reinforces this impression.

The repetition of the types of places in which the decemvirs will hold power is interspersed with the mention of a great number of specific places. In section 39 Cicero speaks of Pergamum, Smyrna, Tralles, Ephesus, Miletus, and Cyzicus.^[47] A little later he mentions Bithynia and Mytilenae (40) and speaks in detail of Alexandria (41–44). This is followed by references to Attalia, Phaselis, Olympus, Apera, Oroanda, and

[46] Such pleonasm and alliterative effects were also characteristic of early Latin; see, for example, prayers quoted by Cato Agr. 141.

[47] Jonkers, De Lege Agraria, 81–82 (ad 2.39), names these as "the wealthiest cities in Asia."

Gedusa (50);^[48] to the lands of Attalus in the Chersonese, of Philip and Perses in Macedonia, and of Apion in Corinth and Cyrene; to the cities of New Carthage and Carthage and to the lands of Mithridates in Paphlagonia, Pontus, and Cappadocia (50–51).

Cicero had various reasons for naming these places. It is unlikely that his listeners had a clear idea of the location and nature of any but the most famous of these sites. Much of the eastern imperium had, in fact, been won by Pompey and others only in the decade and a half before this speech. Cicero's audience would, perhaps, have known of Pergamum, Miletus, Alexandria, and Carthage but could hardly have been acquainted with places such as Apera, Oroanda, and Gedusa. References to many strange and foreign lands would simply have left the listener with the sense that the scope of the power granted by the bill would be limitless. Further, such a multiplicity of references would have promoted confusion as to the exact contents of the measure. At the end of this part of the speech the ancient (like the modern) audience would have only the dimmest idea of which lands were going to be sold, which might be sold, and which were outside the jurisdiction of the decemvirs. This confusion is surely intentional, for the orator uses no such tactics in his Senate speech opposing the bill. There, speaking before an audience with much wider knowledge and experience, Cicero limits mention of specific places to a discrete number, carefully connecting each with the name of its heroic Roman conqueror (1.5–6).^[49]

The mention of the lands dominated by Philip and Mithridates and of Corinth and Carthage is significant, since each of these summoned up the memory of formidable opponents to Roman rule. In fact, at the time of the speech Mithridates was still alive and, as long as he was, still viewed as a threat to Roman security (52). The idea that the decemvirs would exercise power in these places would have suggested to Cicero's audience that decemviral power might well be linked to military opposition to the state. This is particularly clear in the references to Carthage. Here Cicero states that Scipio Aemilianus was not as "conscien-

[48] Attalia was in Pamphylia, Phaselis and Olympus in Lycia. Apera (emended from [agrum ] Agerensem ) and Oroanda (emended from [agrum ] Orindicum ) are uncertain readings. Zumpt, De lege agraria, 88 (ad 2.50), substitutes Eleusa (an island off the coast of Cilicia) for Gedusa, which is unknown.

[49] See the discussion of this technique in Classen, Recht, Rhetorik, Politik, 323–24, 361, 364. For exaggeration in the speech before the people, see also Dilke, "Cicero's Attitude to the Allocation of Land."

tious" (51: diligens ) as Rullus, for Scipio had consecrated the site of Carthage to serve as a reminder of an unsuccessful attempt by a city to contend in power with Rome, while Rullus would sell the site and allow resettlement. The passage foreshadows the extensive section near the end of the speech dealing with the colonization of Capua. In the case of Capua, as with Carthage, Rullus intended (according to Cicero) to disregard the wise provisions made by the maiores for the security of the state by reviving the site of its former enemy; the result will be that in the future, as in the past, that city will become a seat of opposition to Rome.

In addition to the practical arguments Cicero advances concerning the danger that would be posed if the decemvirs were to exercise power over certain strategic areas, or the loss in taxes that would result from divestiture, Cicero applies to these places a symbolic value. The lands possessed by the populus Romanus were not only a source of revenue and a guarantee of security, they were a source of dignitas .^[50] Describing the public land of Sicily, Cicero speaks of the farmland and cities that their ancestors had left to the people of Rome (48: maiores nostri proprium nobis reliquerint ). He speaks as well of the places that had come into the possession of the people through the victorious campaigns of P. Servilius Vatia Isauricus (50: imperio et victoria . . . vestra facta sunt ). Since Servilius's campaigns had taken place only in the preceding decade, it may be assumed that the obscure locations in the East mentioned in this passage would have been unfamiliar to Cicero's audience. The diction of the passage (vestra facta sunt ) points to the fact that the significance of these places lay chiefly in the Roman sense of pride in their possession. All the lands mentioned, whether known or unknown, whether of great or little value, were a common inheritance handed down to the people of Rome by the maiores of the past and the principes of the present. Their retention was a source of honor, for every Roman citizen derived dignitas through the imperium of the state as a whole and, conversely, could be disgraced by the loss of these lands. Rullus, therefore, could be pictured as a spendthrift son (48: luxuriosus . . . nepos ) who would rob his family of their patrimony.

[50] For the elevation of dignitas over utilitas in a public address, see Cic. De or. 2.334: Ergo in suadendo nihil est optabilius quam dignitas; nam qui utilitatem petit, non quid maxime velit suasor, sed quid interdum magis sequatur, videt . This appeal is also used (albeit to a limited extent) in the case of the Campanian lands (see Leg. agr. 1.21; 2.84).