1. Journal of Ancient History 3 (294)
  2. The Trial of Vestals: Political Aspect

The Trial of Vestals: Political Aspect

Lyubimova Olga V.

The article deals with several procedural issues concerning the trial of the Vestals in 73 B.C. (the date of Crassus’ praetorship and the possibility of prosecuting a praetor in the pontifi cal court; the problem of two acquittals of Catilina; the meaning of Clodius’ speech). The political aspect of the trial is also analyzed. It is observed that there must have been some quite weighty evidence against the Vestals and that the verdict of conviction in the pontifi cal court would have led to the capital punishment of the accused, not to the exile as was the case in criminal courts of the Late Roman Republic. The author advances the hypothesis that the accusation of the Vestals and their alleged lovers was initiated by Pompey through his adherents Plotius and Clodius. Pompey had the reasons to expect that Crassus, praetor in 73, would try to restore the powers of tribunate, and he sought to prevent Crassus from doing that because he wanted to profi t from passing this law himself. The indictment of Fabia and Catilina was aimed at drawing additional public attention to the trial of theVestals and at increasing the danger for Crassus.

Keywords: trial of the Vestals, Pompey, Late Roman Republic, pontifi cal courts, Crassus.
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