Comment on Taking the time to put yourself in their time period rather than just looking back at them
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 day agoCaesar’s actions were blatantly unconstitutional
Bibulus’s were blatantly anti-democratic.
Caesar was a populist. His policies themselves might or might not have been genuinely good ones.
But Rome was - ostensibly - a Republic. His policies weren’t the issue. What stood at issue was the inability of the Republican mode of government to affect changes in policy through debate and legislation. A single intransigent Consul claimed the right to bottle up a reform indefinitely based on his personal whims.
This obstructionism was what ultimately broke the Republic as an institution. It rendered civil governance impossible and caused irreparable harm to numerous constituents, as a result. The civil war that followed was merely an extension of the violence imposed on lay Romans by the state under Bibulus.
And he knew full well that he was guilty of crimes and would be tried for them if he resigned as proconsul
The joke of it was the reflexive Roman adherence to a constitution that prohibited prosecution of consuls. Similarly, the obstructionism of Bibulus was only possible through consular powers that undermined popular governance. Both Bibulus and Caeser fell victim to the backlash, as mobs of Civilians and then Senators turned out to rectify what civil procedure failed to achieve.
Essentially, he was abusing the immunity
An immunity that did not spare him from getting repeatedly shanked in the Senate. Rather than facing civil justice, he submitted himself to vigilante violence.
Zagorath@aussie.zone 1 day ago
You’ll note that I did not, at any point, suggest that this was a matter of “Bibulus good, Caesar bad”. Because “Bibulus good” is far from the truth. Any reference to whether Bibulus’s actions were themselves justified is irrelevant.
Everything else you said I basically agree with. The Roman institutions were fundamentally flawed. It was corrupt as hell, ruled for the elite to an extent that even the worst modern democracies would find shocking (famously, Caesar basically bought both his consulships straight-up, and that wasn’t even criminal), and reform had become basically impossible.
Unfortunately because of the rules of your instance, and the instance this Community is in (that even theoretical references to supporting violence, even if it is legally-justified violence, will get you banned), I am forbidden from sharing my feelings in this matter.