Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;cmezner, post: 7366850, member: 87809&quot;]This is a Denarius bearing the name P Laeca, Publius Porcius Laeca from teh Gens Porcia, Triumvir monetalis about 110 or 109 BC, his coins refer to the Lex de Porcia capita civium, which extended the right of Provocatio to Roman citizens in the provinces.</p><p><br /></p><p>Rome, 110-109 BC</p><p>17.49 mm, 3.70 g</p><p>Crawford 301/1; Porcia 4; Sydenham 571</p><p>Ob.: P LAECA, AE ligatured; winged, helmeted head of Roma, X (mark of value) below chin</p><p>Rev.: PROVOCO in ex., on left, a citizen in toga is appealing the decision of a governor (centre), who had summoned an attendant with one rod in r. hand and two rods in l. hand, to punish him</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1283807[/ATTACH]</p><p>And continuing the story of the decline - if it is a too long read please skip the next part <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie6" alt=":cool:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>One of the accomplices on trial was Marcus Porcius Laeca, also a member of the gens Porcia like the moneyer of the denarius above. Not to forget that Cato was also from the Gens Porcia...</p><p>It was at Marcus Porcius Laeca’s house that the conspirators gathered on November 6. Many of the accused were not even able to find a defending lawyer who would take care of their cause in court, so heavy was the burden of their ignominy. All the more it is admirable, and at the same time characteristic for Cicero, that he, jointly with the speaker Hortensius, assumed the defense of one of the accused, Publius Cornelius Sulla, whose affiliation to Catilina’s conspiration was well-known and commented in the city because he was a nephew of dictator Sulla.</p><p>Cicero, who as Consul in the past year, did his utmost to uncover Catilina’s plans and identify and apprehend the conspirators, made now his appearance in court not as prosecutor but as defending lawyer. Of course, Cicero received for this a “loan” of two million Sestertii. “Loan” was the expression used, because according to an old law (Lex Cincia 204 BC) the defense was forbidden to receive any compensation, but the Roman lawyers had circumvented this law for generations by accepting a “loan” or else a participation from an inheritance. Incidentally, shortly after this defense, Cicero bought from the richest man in Rome, Marcus Crassus, a luxurious villa on the Palatine, the preferred posh neighborhood of the aristocracy. The buying price: three and a half million Sestertii (Cicero, Epistulae ad familiars, V, 6, 2) December 62 BC: „…quod de Crasso domum emissem…“].[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in