For citation:
Korolenkov A. V., Chrustaljow W. K. Lucius Equitius, the tribune manqué. Ancient World and Archaeology, 2025, vol. 22, iss. 22, pp. 70-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18500/0320-961X-2025-22-70-82
Lucius Equitius, the tribune manqué
The article examines some thorny issues related to the biography of Lucius Equitius, a political ally of Lucius Appuleius Saturninus and a plebeian tribune-designate for 99 BC, who claimed to be a son of Tiberius Gracchus. The authors suggest that Equitius, whom ancient sources describe as a man of humble origin, came from the local aristocracy of the city of Firmum, a Latin colony in Picenum (i.e., he was a so-called domi nobilis). The article demonstrates that, contrary to the testimony of Appian, who dates the death of Saturninus, Equitius, and their associates to 10th December 100 BC, the day of their inauguration as plebeian tribunes, they were probably murdered much earlier. Equitius was the first in a series of impostors to appear on the Roman political scene, and his venture proved relatively successful. But his fate also served as an example of how precarious and unreliable such success could be, precisely because he was a political ‘outsider’ and did not belong to the Roman elite.
Короленков А.В. 2023. Убийство Гая Меммия // Scripta antiqua. Т. 11. С. 107–119 [Korolenkov A.V. 2023. Ubiystvo Gaia Memmiya // Scripta antiqua. Т. 11. S. 107–119].
Короленков А.В. 2024. Гай Марий: меч Рима. СПб. [Korolenkov A.V. 2024. Gay Mariy: mech Rima. Sankt-Peterburg].
Филянов Н.А. 2020. Италийский вопрос в римской политике в период Поздней республики (129–86 гг. до н.э.). Дис. … к.и.н. М. [Filyanov N.A. 2020. Italiyskiy vopros v rimskoy politike v period Pozdney respubliki (129–86 gg. do n.e. Diss. … k.i.n. Moskva].
Badian E. 1984. The Death of Saturninus // Chiron. Bd. 14. P. 101–148.
Bardey E. 1884. Das sechste Consulat des Marius oder das Jahr 100 in der römischen Verfassungsgeschichte. Diss. Brandenburg an der Havel.
Bauman R.A. 1992. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome. L.; N.Y.
Beness J.L. 1991. The Urban Unpopularity of Lucius Appuleius Saturninus // Antichton. Vol. 25. P. 33–61.
Beness J.L., Hillard T.W. 1990. The Death of Lucius Equitius on 10 December 100 B.C. // CQ. Vol. 40. P. 269–272.
Broughton T.R.S. 1951. The Magistrates of the Roman Republic. N.Y. Vol. I.
Carcopino J. 1967. Autour des Gracques: études critiques. 2me ed. P.
Cavaggioni F. 1998. Lucio Apuleio Saturnino: tribunus plebis seditiosus. Venezia.
Cherry D. 1990. The Minician Law: Marriage and the Roman Citizenship // Phoenix. Vol. 44. P. 244–266.
Coşkun A. 2009. Bürgerrechtsentzug oder Fremdenausweisung? Studien zu den Rechten von Latinern und weiteren Fremden sowie zum Bürgerrechtswechsel in der Römischen Republik (5. bis frühes 1. Jh. v. Chr.). Stuttgart.
Floris P. 2008. Lucius Equitius insitivus Gracchus // Annali della Facoltà di lettere e filosofia dell’Università di Cagliari. Vol. LXIII. P. 5–17.
Gabba E. 1958. Commento // Appiani bellorum civilium liber primus / E. Gabba (a cura). Firenze. P. 3–336.
Gruen E.S. 1968. Roman Politics and the Criminal Courts, 149–78 B.C. Cambr.
Grünewald T. 2004. Bandits in the Roman Empire: Myth and Reality / J. Drinkwater (trans.). L.; N.Y.
Harders A.-C. 2008. Suavissima soror. Untersuchungen zu den Bruder-Schwester-Beziehungen in der römischen Republik. München.
Heitland W.E. 1923. The Roman Republic. 2nd ed. Vol. II. Cambr.
Ihne W. 1879. Römische Geschichte. Bd. V. Leipzig.
Knopf F. 2018. Die Partizipationsmotive der plebs urbana im spätrepublikanischen Rom. Münster.
Last H., Gardner R. 1932. The Enfranchisement of Italy // CAH. 1st ed. Vol. IX. P. 158–210.
Lintott A.W. 1994. Political History, 146–95 B.C. // CAH. 2nd ed. Vol. IX. P. 40–103.
Long G. 1866. The Decline of the Roman Republic. Vol. II. L.
Mayer i Olivé M. 2021. El fermano Equitius. Un caso de “sebastianismo” en la Roma republicana // Rivista storica dell’antichità. Vol. 51. P. 75–93.
Mayer i Olivé M. 2024. El dossier del fermano Lucius Equitius: la historia de un protagonismo efímero con un final trágico. Un Análisis de los recursos expositivos // Anuari de filología. Antiqua et mediaevalia. Vol. 14. P. 145–164.
Mouritsen H. 1998. Italian Unification: A Study in Ancient and Modern Historiography. L.
Mouritsen H. 2011. The Freedmen in the Roman World. Cambr.
Münzer F. 1907. Equitius (3) // RE. Bd. VI.1. S. 322–323.
Neumann C. 1881. Geschichte Roms während des Verfalls der Republik. Bd. I. Breslau.
Niccolini G. 1934. I fasti dei tribuni della plebe. Milano.
Nicolet C. 1974. L’ordre équestre à l’époque républicaine (312–43 av. J.-C.). P. T. II. Prosopographie des chevaliers Romains.
Pareti L. 1953. Storia di Roma e del mondo romano. Vol. III. Torino.
Passerini A. 1934. Caio Mario come uomo politico // Athenaeum. Vol. 12. P. 10–44, 109–143, 257–297, 348–380.
Pina Polo F. 2014. Impostores populares y fraudes legales en la Roma tardorrepublicana // Fraude, mentira y engaños en el mundo antiguo / F.M. Simón, F. Pina Polo, J. Remesal Rodríguez (eds.). Barcelona. P. 123–138.
Robinson F.W. 1912. Marius, Saturninus und Glaucia. Beiträge zur Geschichte der Jahre 106–100 v. Chr. Bonn.
Rohr Vio F. 2022. Powerful Matrons: New Political Actors in the Late Roman Republic. Sevilla; Zaragoza.
Scardigli B. 2005. Scharlatane, Hochstapler und Prätendenten in der römischen Republik // Živa Antika. Vol. 55. S. 149–171.
Schneider H. 1982/1983. Die politische Rolle der plebs urbana während der Tribunate des L. Appuleius Saturninus // AncSoc. Vol. 13–14. P. 193–222.
Schneider H. 2017. Die Entstehung der römischen Militärdiktatur: Krise und Niedergang einer antiken Republik. 2. Aufl. Stuttgart.
Treggiari S. 1969. Roman Freedmen during the Late Republic. Oxf.
Twyman B.L. 1989. The Day Equitius Died // Athenaeum. Vol. 77. P. 493–509.
Van Ooteghem J. 1964. Caius Marius. Bruxelles.
Van Ooteghem J. 1967. Les Caecilii Metelli de la République. Bruxelles.
Vonder Mühll F. 1906. De L. Appuleio Saturnino tribuno plebis. Diss. Basileae.
Wiseman T.P. 1971. New Men in the Roman Senate, 139 B.C. – A.D. 14. Oxf.