La lex Calpurnia, le Sénat et les alliés de Rome

The lex Calpurnia de pecuniis repetundis of 149 BC establisehd a permanent court that allowed victims of exactions and other mischief committed by officials (magistrates or promagistrates) of the Roman people to request compensation for damage. The first aim of this article is to establish, through an exhaustive review of known cases, the nature of those exactions and other mischief committed by officials before the lex Calpurnia was issued, and to identify the victims of such deeds. This review shows that, in almost every case, those responsible for such mischief were military commanders who had abused their position mainly – but not exclusively – at the expense of Rome’s allies and friends. Represssing such abuse was a matter of foreign policy, a task that lay in the hands of the Senate. Since foreign policy remained in the hands of the Senate till the end of the Republic, one can conclude from this review that the lex Calpurnia did not deprive the Senate of its responsibility for protecting Rome’s allies and friends, and that it was solely by appealing to the Senate that those could request compensation through the quaestio de repetundis. It is known through the senatusconsultum Caluisianum of 4 BC that this was the procedure followed under the reign of Augustus ; and most probably this was already the case as soon as the lex Calpurnia was issued.