Blary, Kevin
The ambitio and the body of the petitor. Electoral campaign and aristocratic representation during the Roman Republic
- 2023.
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Despite the lack of sources, this article aims to study the electoral practices of the petitores from the perspective of their bodies. Starting from Scipio Nasica’s repulsa, we will examine the expectations of the populus with regard to the corporeal norms of aristocrats. Often downplayed, these appear to be more rigid than previously thought, as our data on the professio indicate. More broadly, we propose to study the strategies for staging bodies that were intended to convince, legitimize a candidacy, or, quite simply, facilitate the passage to the traditional practices of the campaign (appellatio ; prensio ; supplicatio). Without examining all of the leges de ambitu, we will also discuss the disruption of aristocratic competition, which is reflected on the body.