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CLUENTIUS HABITUS, AULUS

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 569 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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CLUENTIUS HABITUS, AULUS , of Larinum in Samnium, the See also:

hero of a See also:

ROMAN

Roman cause celebre. In 74 B.C. he accused his step-See also:

FATHER

father See also:

STATIUS, PUBLIUS PAPINIUS (c. A.D. 45-96)

Statius Albius Oppianicus of an See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to See also:

POISON

poison him; had it been successful, the See also:

PROPERTY

property of Cluentius would have fallen to his See also:

MOTHER

mother Sassia. Oppianicus and two others were condemned, and some years later Oppianicus died in See also:

EXILE (Lat. exsilium or exilium, from exsul or exul, which is derived from ex, out of, and the root sal, to go, seen in salire, to leap, consul, &c.; the connexion with solum, soil, country is now generally considered wrong)

exile. But the See also:

VERDICT (O. Fr. verdit, Lat. vere dictum, truly said, used in Late Latin in one word with its present significance)

verdict was looked upon with suspicion, and it was known for a fact that one of the jurymen had received a large sum of See also:

MONEY

money for See also:

DISTRIBUTION (Lat. distribuere, to deal out)

distribution amongst his colleagues. The result was the degradation of Cluentius himself and several of the jurymen. In 66, Sassia induced her stepson Oppianicus to See also:

charge Cluentius with having caused the See also:

elder Oppianicus to be poisoned while in exile. On this occasion the See also:

defence was undertaken by See also:

CICERO

Cicero in the extant speech See also:

Pro Cluentio. In the end Cluentius was acquitted. Cicero afterwards boasted openly that he had thrown dust in the eyes of the See also:

JURY

jury (See also:

QUINTILIAN [MARCUS FABIUS QUINTILIANUS] (C. A.D. 35-95)

Quintilian, Instit. ii. 17. 21, who quotes this speech more than any other). His efforts are chiefly devoted to proving that the condemnation of the elder Oppianicus was just and in no way the result of the jury having been bribed by Cluentius; only a small portion of the end of the speech deals with the specific charge.

It was generally believed that the verdict in the former trial was an unfair one; and this See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion was most prejudicial to Cluentius. But even if it could be shown that Cluentius had bribed the jury-men, this did not prove that he had poisoned Oppianicus, although it supplied a sufficient See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason for wishing to get him out of the way. The speech delivered by Cicero on this occasion is considered one'of his best. See also:

EDITIONS

Editions of the speech by W. Y. Fausset (1887), W. See also:

Ramsay (1883) ; see also H. See also:

Nettleship, Lectures and Essays (1885).

End of Article: CLUENTIUS HABITUS, AULUS

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