This book, originating from a Ph.D. completed in 2017 at King's College London, focuses on all forms of financial penalties during the Republic, from P. Valerius Publicola (509 bce) to the confiscation of Cicero's house (58 bce). The introduction acknowledges the existence of a substantial but often fragmented literature on the topic (notably F. Salerno's 1990 monograph), which has so far been mainly legal. P. aims to address all the different sides of the question from a unitary approach, on the assumption that financial penalties must have been of great importance, both socially and in terms of public finance, in a timocratic society such as Rome. However, this short introduction fails to vindicate just how original this perspective is: P. only explicitly states in conclusion that dealing with confiscations and fines together is something new. Furthermore, the chronological span, in particular the final milestone, is questionable: why not continue until the proscriptions of 43 bce? These proscriptions are nevertheless included at the end of Chapter 8 on Sulla. The choice of such an extensive period also implies problems with sources that are deserving of a more thorough explanation. P.'s ambition is commendable, but, faced with such a subject, over such a long period, the brevity of the book takes the reader by surprise. This can undoubtedly be explained by editorial constraints, but perhaps also by the deliberate choice not to go into every detail on all the problems raised. This choice is partly understandable, as many of these episodes have given rise to an overabundant historiography (e.g. Sp. Cassius), but it is carried out in such a radical manner that it is detrimental to the book.
Chapter 1 deals with the older cases. P. refuses to pronounce upon the authenticity of these episodes, but rather seeks to extract data showing how the sources represented these procedures. The case of Sp. Cassius shows the limits of P.'s choices: O. de Cazanove is quoted in footnotes, but not used in the discussion, even though his theory helps to understand the tradition of the dedication to Ceres. The same author wrote an article – not mentioned – on the link between the temple of Ceres and the plebs, showing that it probably does not date from the origin of the temple. Neglecting this leaves uninformed readers unaware of important keys to understanding. P. concentrates on her main point: behind seemingly similar stories there are differences and in particular a distinction between two procedures at the beginning of the Republic, consecration and confiscation. She thus rejects the evolutionary hypothesis from one to the other proposed by F. Salerno (already criticised by F. Hinard). However, all this is more stated than demonstrated.
Chapter 2, a reworked version of a 2018 article, focuses on aedilician fines, defined as ‘the closest counterpart’ to consecration and confiscation. The chapter is interesting, but the survey provided of all fines in literary and epigraphic sources includes cases where there is no evidence that fines were involved. Chapter 3 treats the epigraphic material from Italy (Latin and Oscan). The aim is to qualify the idea that temple foundations based on aedilician fines were only a short-lived phenomenon and to underline that it was a widespread practice in Italy. One wonders, however, why tribunician fines are never studied head-on, since a comparison would have been useful. In this respect, P. seems to ignore recent work on the subject by Y. Rivière or the author of this review.
Chapter 4 focuses on the military sphere from the third century onwards, sometimes going backwards. The exclusion of a detailed analysis of the fifth and fourth centuries is not really explained. This is made all the more unfortunate by reference to the trial of T. Menenius Lanatus in 476, which may not have been a tribunician trial. Here, too, a more thorough analysis of the tribune's procedures is missing, as is one of the leges Aternia Tarpeia and Menenia Sestia. The idea that financial penalties were customary against recalcitrant soldiers but less so against generals during the Republic is nevertheless interesting. The reason given is cogent: in a society based on property qualification the stability of patrimony is of paramount importance, and excessive penalties could ruin potential careers. The next chapter focuses on the use of financial penalties in the political arena and the increasing use of such sanctions from the second century onwards. While the chapter offers one of the few examples of historiographical discussion in the book (on booty), it passes with disconcerting speed over crucial points of Roman history: the trial of the Scipios (without mentioning H. Etcheto's book) or the res repetundae (without mentioning C. Venturini's monograph). The most recent discussion on the law of 149 bce is not found in the Roman Statutes, but in the LEPOR (http://telma.irht.cnrs.fr/outils/lepor/notice83/?para=Calpurnia&searchType=occ). The quantification aspect, which gives its title to Part 2, appears only in conclusion, with an attempt to evaluate the economic impact of these procedures. The eleven cases selected show that these sanctions affected the richest and that they were multiples of the minimum census. The aim was therefore to lower status: a comparison with C. Bur's conclusion on infamia would have been useful, but this book was probably published too late to be of use. It should also be noted that the appearance of multiple restitutions in iudicia publica changed the game in terms of financial penalties, a point not sufficiently emphasised.
In Part 3 the book deals with the political conflicts at the end of the Republic, starting with the Gracchi (Chapter 6), then confiscations and the declaration of hostes publici during the first century (Chapter 7), the proscriptions (Chapter 8) and Cicero's house (Chapter 9). P. shows the decisive developments at work from the end of the second century onwards and insists on the auction procedure, especially in the case of proscriptions. There are interesting discussions of the economic aspect of proscriptions, on the difficulties in quantifying the phenomenon, on its impact on the land and real estate market, and on the legal difficulties raised by these sales (with the possibilities of claims by the descendants of proscribed men). Cicero's case is used to show that the archaic procedure of consecration was put forward again by tribunes of the plebs at the end of the Republic as a political weapon, which proves once more the coexistence of two procedures as opposed to the evolution from one to another.
This book leaves one with mixed feelings, which is probably due to a cultural gap with a French-speaking reader used to continental theses. J. Linderski described them as ‘too many words and too few facts (morbus thesium franco-Gallicarum)’, but added ‘to read a thèse is an art: mixed with sloppy deposits there are veins of information and nuggets of insights to be mined’. This book certainly does not err on the side of too many words, but falls into quite the opposite trap, which raises other problems. Indeed, readers uninformed about the minutiae of the various issues encountered will get a false idea of many of the discussions and subsequently will find it difficult to grasp fully the issues at stake. Only well-informed readers will be able to derive benefit from this book, which, without falling into French excesses, is deserving of a few more pages.
