This article is an extract from the Figaro Hors-Série “Pompéi”, available here in paper or digital format.
Le Figaro
Cicero used to say that it is easier to become a senator in Rome than a decurion in Pompeii. Like many Romans, the speaker had a villa built in the colony. He knows that the candidates here do not campaign themselves. Voters recommend them to other citizens. And you must have rendered many services to get them to do it!
Simple individuals, merchants, tavern makers, artisans or modest sellers of onions work hard to have the walls of their stall or their house covered with red and black letters. Testimonies of morality plead for those who aspire to become duumvirs or councilors. The former administer justice and manage the affairs of the city. The latter are responsible for the minor interests of the city: roads, maintenance of public and religious buildings, urban police. The aristocracy as
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