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But the excellence of these laws was so clearly recognized that they survived the irregularity of their introduction; and the "Lex de Repetundis" especially remained a terror to evil-doers, with a promise of better days to the miserable and pillaged subjects of the Roman Empire. So the year of Caesar's consulship passed away. What was to happen when it had expired?
The true criminal law did not however come into existence till the year B.C. 149, when L. Calpurnius Piso carried the statute known as the Lex Calpurnia de Repetundis.
But in the dealings of Rome with foreign kings, these evils had often before arisen, and at last been made criminal; and while Gabinius was tried for treason, de majestate, for leading his army out of his province, Rabirius was tried, under the Lex Julia de pecuniis repetundis, for lending money and taking office under Auletes.
They were in fact at this time the most unmilitary part of the population, and they inherited the title only because the property qualification for the equites equo privato, i.e. the cavalry who served with their horses, had been taken as the qualification also for equestrian judices, to whom Gaius Gracchus had given the decision of cases in the quaestio de repetundis.
When Gabinius was accused de repetundis and found guilty of accepting enormous sums from Ptolemy, Rabirius was involved in the same prosecution as having received part of the money; Cicero defended him, and as it seems with success, on the plea that equites were not liable to prosecution under the lex Julia.
There were laws against defrauders of the revenue; laws against debasing the coin; laws against sacrilege; laws against corrupt State contracts; laws against bribery at elections. Finally, there was a law, carefully framed, De repetundis, to exact retribution from proconsuls or propraetors of the type of Verres who had plundered the provinces.
As they had framed the action de pecuniis repetundis against the avarice and rapacity of the provincial governors, they made at length a law which, one may say, was against their virtues.
Even the magistrates seem to have been growing careless; we hear of a praetor presiding in the court de repetundis who had not taken the trouble to acquaint himself with the text of the law which governed its procedure; and that praetors were worse than careless about their action in civil cases is proved by another law of the same tribune Cornelius mentioned just now, "that praetors should abide by the rules laid down in their edicts."
We still possess a great portion of the new judicial ordinance primarily occasioned by this alteration in the personnel of the judges for the standing commission regarding extortion; it is known under the name of the Servilian, or rather Acilian, law -de repetundis-. This and the law -ne quis iudicio circumveniatur- may have been identical.
We still possess a great portion of the new judicial ordinance primarily occasioned by this alteration in the personnel of the judges for the standing commission regarding extortion; it is known under the name of the Servilian, or rather Acilian, law -de repetundis-. This and the law -ne quis iudicio circumveniatur- may have been identical.
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