About the Book:In the late Roman Republic, acts of wrongdoing against individuals were prosecuted in private courts, while the iudicia publica (literally “public courts”) tried cases that involved harm to the community as a whole. In this book, Andrew M. Riggsby thoroughly investigates the types of cases heard by the public courts to offer a provocative new understanding of what has been described as “crime” in the Roman Republic and to illuminate the inherently political nature of the Roman public courts. Through the lens of Cicero’s forensic oratory, Riggsby examines the four major public offenses: ambitus (bribery of the electorate), de sicariis et veneficiis (murder), vis (riot), and repetundae (extortion by provincial administrators). He persuasively argues that each of these offenses involves a violation of the proper relations between the state and the people, as interpreted by orators and juries. He concludes that in the late Roman Republic the only crimes were political crimes.Table of Contents: Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations Chapter 1. What Can We Know and How Can We Know It? Chapter 2. Ambitus and the Varieties of Economy Chapter 3. Murder (and How to Spot It) Chapter 4. Vis: A Plague on the State Chapter 5. Criminals Abroad Chapter 6. The Iudicia Publica in Roman State and Society Appendixes: A. Summary of Cicero’s Criminal Cases B. Published vs. Delivered Speeches C. Some Nontrials Notes Bibliography General Index Index Locorum