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Quintus Mucius Scaevola | |
|---|---|
| Born | 140 BC[1] |
| Died | 82 BC (aged 57–58) |
| Cause of death | Murdered |
| Occupation(s) | Politician, jurist, priest |
| Office | Consul of Rome (95 BC) Pontifex maximus(89–82 BC) |
| Spouse | Licinia |
| Children | Mucia Tertia |
Quintus Mucius Scaevola "Pontifex" (140–82 BC) was a politician of theRoman Republic and an important early authority onRoman law. He is credited with founding the study of law as a systematic discipline.[2] He was electedPontifex Maximus (chief priest of Rome), as had been his father and uncle before him.[3] He was the first Roman Pontifex Maximus to be murdered publicly, in Rome in the temple of theVestal Virgins, signifying a breakdown of historical norms and religious taboos in the Republic.
Scaevola was electedtribune in 106 BC,aedile in 104 andconsul in 95. As consul, together with his relativeLucius Licinius Crassus, he had a law (theLex Licinia Mucia) passed in theSenate that deniedRoman citizenship to certain groups within the Roman sphere of influence ("Italians" and "Latins"). The passage of this law was one of the major contributing factors to theSocial War.
Scaevola was next made governor ofAsia, a position in which he became renowned for his harsh treatment of corrupt tax collectors, and for publishing an edict that later became a standard model for provincial administration.Cicero, for instance, modelled his governor's edict forCilicia on Scaevola's example. Scaevola's honest administration was so successful that the people he governed instituted a festival day (thedies Mucia) in his honour. This festival was in turn so popular that evenMithridates VI of Pontus left it untouched when he invaded Asia in theFirst Mithridatic War.
However, by governing Asia so fairly, Scaevola and his legatePublius Rutilius Rufus attracted the enmity of theEquites, who were being denied their usual profits from extorting the locals. These equestrian businessmen later conspired to have Rutilius Rufus prosecuted and exiled for the charge of extortion in 92 BC, a trial that became a byword for injustice to later generations of Romans.
Returning to Rome, Scaevola was electedpontifex maximus. He took the opportunity to regulate more strictly the priestly colleges and to ensure that traditional rituals were properly observed.
Scaevola was the author of a treatise oncivil law (Jus civile primus constituit generatim in libros decem et octo redigendo) that spanned eighteen volumes, compiling and systematising legislation and precedents. He also wrote a short legal handbook (ο̉ροι, or simplyLiber Singularis) containing a glossary of terms and an outline of basic principles. Four short sections of this latter work were incorporated byJustinian I into hisPandectae, but nothing of the rest of his works is extant today. Speeches by Scaevola extant in ancient times were praised byCicero.
He was also the originator ofcautelary law giving his name to thecautio muciana and thepraesumptio muciana.
The 2nd-century juristSextus Pomponius lists the four most eminent pupils of Mucius asGaius Juventius,Gaius Aquilius Gallus,Lucius Lucilius Balbus, andGaius Papirius.
Scaevola was killed in the civil unrest surrounding the power struggle betweenSulla andGaius Marius. At the latter's funeral in 86 BC, an attempt was made on his life at the instigation ofFlavius Fimbria, one of Marius's most violent partisans, who, upon hearing that the victim survived, albeit with a severe wound, launched a prosecution against him, on the grounds that the priest had not allowed the blade to be fully thrust onto his body.[4] Scaevola's loyalty to the Marian party was sufficiently in doubt that, in 82,Marius's son ordered the praetor in Rome,Damasippus, to convene the Senate on some pretext in order to murder Scaevola and other unreliable senators in thesenate house. Once Scaevola realized the ploy, he fled to thetemple of Vesta where, at the vestibule, he was killed by assassins.[5] His corpse was thrown unburied into theTiber.
Scaevola was the son ofPublius Mucius Scaevola, who wasconsul in 133 BC and alsoPontifex Maximus.
Scaevola was married twice, both women were named Licinia. He divorced his first wife, who was noted for her beauty, for adultery with another ex-consul. This marriage had a daughterMucia Tertia; she was married toPompey the Great, with whom she had his three surviving children. By his granddaughterPompeia (wife ofFaustus Cornelius Sulla, eldest surviving son of the Dictator), Scaevola had descendants living well into the first and possibly second century of this era.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Consul of Rome 95 BC With:L. Licinius Crassus | Succeeded by |
