The Roman Elite and the End of the Republic

The Boni, the Nobles and Cicero

Henrik Mouritsen (King's College London)

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English

Cambridge University Press
30 May 2025

History; Classical history & classical civilisation; Social & cultural history; Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500

The boni, the wealthy, but largely non-political, section of the Roman elite, have hitherto escaped scholarly attention. This book draws a detailed and rounded picture of the boni, their identity, values and interests, also tracing their – often tense - relationship to the political class, whose inner circle of noble families eventually lost their trust and support. Concerns about property played a central part in this process, and the book explores key Roman concepts associated with property, including frugality, luxury, patrimony, debt and the all-important otium that ensured the peaceful enjoyment of private possessions. Through close readings of Cicero and other republican writers, a new narrative of the 'fall of the republic' emerges. The shifting allegiances of the wider elite of boni viri played an important part in the events that brought an end to the republic and ushered in a new political system better attuned to their material interests.

By: Henrik Mouritsen (King's College London)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
ISBN: 9781009180672
ISBN 10: 1009180673
Pages: 330
Publication Date: 30 May 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Introduction; Part I. The Boni in the Late Republic: 1. Lost in translation: modern interpretations of the Boni; 2. Boni et Locupletes; 3. Who were the Boni?; 4. Boni and Equites in the late republic; 5. The Boni in Roman politics and public life; Part II. Property and Politics: 6. Wealth and morality revisited; 7. Boni: the 'Gentlemen' of republican Rome; 8. Boni and Improbi: the moral construction of Roman politics; 9. Otium and Tranquillitas: the politics of the Boni; 10. Vita et Bona: property and security; 11. The road to perdition: Egestas and Aes Alienum; 12. 'Egentes Sumptuosi Nobiles': politics and debt; Part III. The Boni and the End of the Republic: 13. Boni and Nobiles; 14. The power of the Nobiles; 15. 'Boni Non Sequentur': The Boni and the end of the republic; 16. Cicero and the formation of an alternative; 17. Epilogue: the Boni and Augustus

Henrik Mouritsen is Professor of Roman History at King's College London. He has published widely on aspects of Roman history from local and republican politics to slavery, manumission and epigraphy. His books include Elections, Magistrates and Municipal Elite (1988), Italian Unification (1998), Plebs and Politics in the Late Roman Republic (Cambridge, 2001), The Freedman in the Roman World (Cambridge, 2011) and Politics in the Roman Republic (Cambridge, 2017).