Comitium - Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Caesar's rise to power as a military general along with his successful campaigns led to sharing of power within the Republic known as the First Triumvirate. The shared power did not last and Caesar took measures to insure his placement as dictator for life. The comitium was reduced in size twice in consecutive order by Cornelius Sulla and again by Julius Caesar. He began many building projects to emulate prior dictators such as Sulla and Marius who had initiated changes within the comitium. One of Caesar's plans was to remove or replace the Rostra Vetera, level the comitium and dismantle the curia and realign it with the new rostra.

An episode that may have contributed to the Liberatores conspiracy against Caesar was on the occasion of the festival of the Lycea, or Lupercalia. Mark Antony, as one of the participants, approached Caesar while he sat in the comitium on the rostra. Antony ceremoniously attempted to place a laurel wreath on Caesar's head. Caesar theatrically refused, and received applause from the people. This was done several times until the wreath was finally placed upon the head of a statue of Caesar which was then immediately torn down by the tribunes of the people who were later removed from their office.

The rostra was held as the highest possible honor to sit upon or to speak from. Cicero remarks on this in reflection of the honor being bestowed upon him in his first contional speech during a debate as praetor. It was the first time Cicero spoke from the rostra. The Philippics became one the most popular writings of the orator. The works marked a return to active politics in 43 BC after a long retirement. In them, he attacked Mark Antony as the greatest threat to republican government after Caesar's death. He wrote of the libertas or freedoms that the citizens of Rome had forfeited under Julius Caesar and violently denounced Mark Antony. He made at least one of these epic speeches from the rostra. When the conspirators had all been defeated, Augustus had tried but failed to keep Cicero's name off the death list. Eventually Antony wins and has the orator's head and hands displayed on the rostra.