Populares
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Populares
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|---|---|
| Main leaders |
Julius Caesar, Gaius Marius, Tiberius Gracchus, Gaius Gracchus, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus |
| Ideology |
Plebians' interests Classical populism |
The Populārēs ("favouring the people", singular populāris) were a grouping in the late Roman Republic which favoured the cause of the plebeians (the commoners), particularly the urban poor. It supported laws regarding the provision of a grain dole for the poor by the state at a subsidised price. It wanted reforms which helped the poor, particularly land redistribution for the poor to farm and debt relief. At times it also supported the extension of Roman citizenship to Rome's Italic allies. A popularis was a politician who supported this faction. The populares are regarded in modern scholarship as in opposition to the optimates, who are identified with the conservative interests of the patricians (the aristocracy) and supported the senate, which represented its interests.
The plebeian tribunes (the representatives of the plebeians) and the Plebeian Council (the assembly of the plebeians) at times clashed with the senate over the mentioned reforms and over the power relationship between the plebeian institutions and the senate. The optimates among the senators spearheaded the senatorial opposition. These tribunes were supported by populares politicians, such as Gaius Marius and Julius Caesar, who were often patricians, or equites (equestrians, the second social rank in Rome).
Conflicts between populares and optimates also played a part in some of the civil wars of the late Roman Republic: Sulla's First Civil War (88-87 BC), Sulla's Second Civil War (82-81 BC), the Sertorian War (83-72 BC), Lepidus' Rebellion (77 BC), Caesar's Civil War (49–45 BC), the Post-Caesarian Civil War (44–43 BC), the Liberators' Civil War (44–42 BC), and the Sicilian Revolt (44–36 BC).
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