Publius Clodius Pulcher

Born Publius Claudius Pulcher in 93 BC, Clodius was the youngest son of Appius Claudius Pulcher, who became consul in 79 BC. His mother's name is uncertain; she may have been a daughter of Quintus Servilius Caepio, and thus descended from another ancient patrician house; or perhaps the sister of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, and thus a descendant of the plebeian nobility.[2][3] Publius' elder brothers were Appius Claudius Pulcher, consul in 54 BC, and Gaius Claudius Pulcher, praetor in 56 BC, and subsequently governor of Asia. His sisters included Claudia, the wife of Quintus Marcius Rex, Claudia Quadrantaria, the wife of Celer, and Claudia Quinta, the wife of Lucius Licinius Lucullus.

Through his family, Clodius was closely connected with a number of prominent Roman politicians. His brother-in-law, Lucullus, was consul in 74 BC, while Celer was consul in 60, and the latter's brother, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos, in 57. Mucia Tertia, a half-sister to the Caecilii, was the wife of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, and later Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, praetor in 56 BC; a half-brother, Publius Mucius Scaevola, was a pontifex, while his brother Quintus was an augur, and tribune of the plebs in 54.

As a young man in 73 BC, Clodius rashly accused Catiline of adultery with one of the Vestal Virgins, a capital crime. When Catiline was acquitted, Clodius was denounced by Cato, and obliged to leave Rome.[4][5] He may have gone to the east, where his brother-in-law, Lucullus, was serving as proconsul in the war against Mithridates. He was with Lucullus in 68, at which time Clodius, who felt that he was accorded insufficient respect by his brother-in-law, fomented discord among Lucullus' soldiers.[5][6] The following year, Clodius deserted Lucullus, and joined his other brother-in-law, Marcius, who was proconsul in Cilicia. Placed in command of part of Marcius' fleet, Clodius was captured by pirates. Hoping to win his release, Clodius promised his captors a substantial reward, and they solicited a ransom from Ptolemy of Cyprus, an ally of the Romans. The amount offered was so paltry that it was clear that Clodius had greatly overestimated his worth, and the amused pirates released him without keeping the money.[7][8][9][6] Ptolemy's conduct in the affair filled Clodius with hatred for the Cypriot ruler. Clodius repaired to Syria, where he nearly lost his life during a mutiny, which he was also accused of instigating.[6]

Clodius returned to Rome in 66 BC, at the age of twenty-seven. Almost immediately he found himself in need of protection from his brother-in-law, Lucullus. Not only did the general blame Clodius for the mutiny he had faced in the east, but the young Clodius was accused of carrying on an incestuous affair with his sister, Lucullus' wife. Lucullus divorced Claudia, and Clodius seems to have avoided further difficulty through bribery, and by gaining the trust of Lucius Licinius Murena, a close relative of Lucullus. Murena and Clodius were among those who accepted money from Catiline, who had been charged with extortion for his conduct as governor of Africa, and who secured his acquittal through the payment of large sums of money.[10]

In 64, Murena was appointed governor of Gallia Narbonensis, and Clodius went with him as part of his staff. During his time in Gaul, Clodius enriched himself by various criminal schemes, allegedly including the forging of wills and arranging the deaths of heirs; and he forged a number of useful alliances.[10] Clodius and Murena returned to Rome in 63, in time for Murena to stand for the consulship, in opposition to Catiline. With the support of veterans who had served under Lucullus, as well as that of Cicero, one of the consuls of 63, and probably that of Clodius, Murena was elected, becoming the first of the Murenae to attain the consulship.

Catiline responded to his defeat by conspiring with other disaffected Romans to stage a revolt. The conspirators hoped to slaughter their opponents among the Roman aristocracy, particularly the plebeian nobles and senators, and set up a small, patrician-dominated oligarchy. Although Clodius was a patrician, and it later suited Cicero to portray him as a participant in the conspiracy, he was not involved. Instead, he adhered closely to Murena and the cause of the optimates, who rendered Cicero every assistance. As the drama of the detection and arrest of the conspirators unfolded, Clodius appears to have joined the many other equestrian and noble youths, who formed an informal, but potent and intimidating bodyguard around Cicero.[11]

About this time, a rift developed between the factions when one of Clodius' sisters—presumably Claudia Quinta, whom Lucullus had divorced—tried to persuade Cicero to divorce Terentia and marry her. Her scheme backfired, as Cicero remained loyal to his wife, while Terentia was infuriated with Claudia and her family.[11]

In December of 62 BC, the rites of the Bona Dea were held at the Regia, the official residence of the Pontifex Maximus, Rome's chief priest. Caesar had been elected Pontifex Maximus the previous year, during the same contest that gave rise to the conspiracy of Catiline. The celebration was a sacred mystery, from which all men were excluded; not even the Pontifex Maximus could be in attendance. The rites were hosted by Caesar's wife, Pompeia, and mother, Aurelia, under the supervision of the Vestals. Clodius managed to gain entry to the rites, disguised as a woman, apparently with the intention of seducing Pompeia, but was discovered in the course of the evening. Clodius' mere presence at the rites was sacrilegious, but profaning the ceremonies in order to seduce the wife of the Pontifex Maximus was regarded as an even greater offense to the goddess.[12]

The ensuing trial brought all of Rome to a standstill. Lucullus was determined to destroy his brother-in-law's political career, thereby repaying Clodius for instigating a mutiny among his soldiers, and destroying Lucullus' marriage; he charged Clodius with incestum, a capital crime. The prosecution was undertaken by three of the Cornelii Lentuli, probably headed by Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus. Clodius' chief advocate was Gaius Scribonius Curio, a noted orator who had been consul in 75 BC.[13] The trial dragged on for months, during which time Pompey returned from the east, and public business was suspended. The witnesses against Clodius included Aurelia and one of her daughters, as well as various household slaves, who claimed that Clodius had committed incest with his sister, Clodia, the wife of Lucullus. Caesar, despite the insult to his office and his honour, claimed no knowledge of the events, but he divorced his wife—not, he explained, because he believed that she would have yielded to Clodius' advances, but because no scandal could be tolerated in the household of the Pontifex Maximus; as expressed by Plutarch, "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion."[14]

Clodius perjured himself by claiming not to have been in Rome on the day of the rites. Cicero was in a position to refute this fictitious alibi, but was reluctant to do so, knowing the profound impact that Clodius' conviction or acquittal might have on Roman society. His hand was eventually forced by national and domestic politics: Cicero was eager to forge a détente between Pompeius and Lucullus, who were at loggerheads over the settlement of the eastern provinces. Giving evidence against Clodius gave him the opportunity to do Lucullus a favour. At home, Cicero's wife Terentia, still smarting at the attempted seduction of her husband by Claudia, insisted that he testify against her rival's brother. But in spite of Cicero's evidence, and that of the other witnesses, the outcome of the trial was decided by Marcus Licinius Crassus, who bribed the jurors en masse to secure Clodius' acquittal.

The trial helped Clodius forge alliances with his benefactors, and deepened his hostility toward his rivals. He regarded Crassus as his chief patron, and was grateful to Caesar for disclaiming any direct knowledge of the events. He sought no retribution against those who had led his prosecution, apparently considering it fair repayment for the wrongs he had done them. However, he was greatly affronted by Cicero, who had attempted to bring about his downfall by testifying against him, and he regarded the antipathy shown toward him by Pompeius as a betrayal. When Clodius had stirred disaffection amongst Lucullus' troops in the east, it had been to Pompeius' advantage, and the latter's rivalry with both Lucullus and Cicero would seem to have made him Clodius' natural ally; yet Pompeius had not lifted a finger to help him during the trial.

About 62 BC, Clodius married Fulvia (c. 83 – 40 BC), heiress of the Sempronii Tuditani, a noble family of Tusculum.[lower-roman 1][15] She may not have been his first wife; Cicero refers to a certain Lucius Natta as Clodius' brother-in-law, although it is not entirely clear who he was, or how the two men were brothers-in-law.[lower-roman 2][18][19] Clodius and Fulvia had at least two children who survived to adulthood: a son, Publius Claudius Pulcher, who eventually became praetor; and a daughter, Claudia, who would become the first wife of Augustus.

On his return from Sicily, where he had been quaestor between 61 BC and 60 BC,[6] Clodius sought election as tribune of the plebs, with the intention of revenging himself on his bitter enemy, Cicero. However, patricians were deliberately excluded from this office, and Clodius was a member of Rome's most aristocratic patrician families. To achieve his goal, Clodius contrived to be adopted into a plebeian gens, and renounced his status as a patrician. Although the adoption of a member of one gens into another was perfectly legal, and a venerable practice in Roman society, the adoption arranged by Clodius was highly irregular, and violated all of the usual conditions and legal requirements of the process. Normally, adoption was permitted only to men who were at least middle-aged, and who did not expect to father sons to carry on their legacy. In taking the place of a man's natural children, an adopted son would normally assume his new father's name, so that when he came of age he could pass it on to his own children.

Clodius, who was thirty-four years old in 59, and had probably been married for three years, was adopted by one Publius Fonteius, a member of a minor plebeian family, who was younger than Clodius himself, and who might well have expected to marry and father children of his own.[6][20] Once the adoption was ratified and Clodius had renounced his patrician status, he discarded his adoptive father's name, instead affecting the spelling Clodius, which was associated with the plebeians. His sister, Clodia, did the same. Notably Clodius' children would return to the "patrician" spelling of their nomen. Clodius' unorthodox adoption was possible in part due to the fact that he had the support of Caesar, one of the consuls of that year.[21] His scheme was successful, and Clodius was elected tribune of the plebs, taking office on November 16. He immediately began preparing for the destruction of Cicero, at the same time undertaking an extensive program of populist legislation, intended to position himself as benefactor to as much of the community as possible.

Clodius took up his tribunate on the 10th December 59 BC. He won over the common people by pushing through several crowd-pleasing bills, which became known as the Leges Clodiae. The most striking was a free monthly corn (grain) dole, issued to all citizens; this replaced the subsidised grain supplies made available to poor citizens, set up by Cato during his tribunate in 63.[22] Clodius also passed a number of measures curtailing the powers of various magistrates. Among these was the right of magistrates to prevent the assembly of the comitia, Rome's citizen assemblies, by taking the omens and declaring them to be unfavourable. This right, originally reserved for the augurs, had been conferred on the magistrates by the Lex Aelia et Fufia, around 150 BC. While it could not prevent the comitia from meeting indefinitely, it could bring proceedings to a halt on any given day, forestalling or preventing the passage of various measures. Clodius' measure abrogated the Lex Aelia, thereby preventing the magistrates from using this means of delaying or preventing the assemblies from acting.[6] Another measure forbade the censors from excluding any citizen from the senate, or inflicting any punishment upon a citizen unless he had been publicly tried and convicted. Until this legislation, the power to enroll new members or expel them from the senate, to degrade the status of citizens or issue other punishments, had made the censorship potentially the most powerful magistracy.[6]

In the elections of 53 BC, when Milo was a candidate for the consulship and Clodius for the praetorship, violent clashes erupted in the streets of Rome between the gangs of Clodius and Milo, twice delaying the election.[31]

On January 18, 52 BC, Clodius was returning to Rome by way of the Appian Way from a visit to Aricia, some 16 miles (25 km) south-east of Rome.[32] Clodius was travelling lightly with a band of 30 armed slaves and, uncommonly for him, without his wife. By chance, Milo was travelling the other way with his wife as well as an escort which included gladiators, and the two groups passed each other near Bovillae, 11 miles from Rome. The encounter between the two groups passed without incident until the last pair at the back of each train began a scuffle. It was then believed that Clodius turned back and was wounded by a javelin thrown by one of the gladiators in Milo's party. He was brought to a nearby inn for his wounds, and his slaves were killed or driven off.[33]

Milo made the decision that a live political enemy was more dangerous than a dead one and ordered his gladiators to kill the injured Clodius. The body was discovered by a passing senator and sent back to Rome. There, Clodius' wife and two tribunes rallied his supporters to use the Curia as Clodius' funeral pyre, which resulted in the destruction of the Curia Hostilia. That action and the need to restore order in Rome are cited as the key reasons for the Senate's appointment of Pompey as sole consul.[34]

The later trial of Milo would become famous for Cicero's defense of the accused Milo with his famous speech, Pro Milone, which ultimately failed to save Milo from exile, since the interruptions and catcalls from Clodius's supporters made it difficult for him to be heard.[35][36] Additionally, in the presence of the soldiers, the jurors were pressured to decide according to Pompey's wishes.[37]

After Clodius' death, Fulvia married first Gaius Scribonius Curio, tribune of the plebs in 50 BC; and subsequently Marcus Antonius, the triumvir; both marriages produced children.

Clodius' son, Publius Claudius Pulcher, was probably born between 62 and 59 BC.[38] He achieved little in public life: Valerius Maximus describes him as a lethargic nonentity, who rose to the praetorship only through the influence of the second triumvirate, and died amid scandals of luxurious excess and an obsessive attachment to a common prostitute, probably after 31 BC.[39] An inscription of ownership on an expensive Egyptian alabaster vase once owned by Clodius' son has survived to attest his short official career. It includes an unusual triple filiation, which confirms the literary evidence to the effect that Clodius was the son of Appius Claudius Pulcher, consul in 79 BC, and grandson of Appius Claudius Pulcher, consul in 143 BC.[40]

Clodius' daughter, Claudia, was probably born between 57 and 55 BC.[41] About 43 or 42, while still quite young, she was married to the young Octavian. This was a political marriage, arranged in order to reconcile Octavian to Claudia's stepfather, Marcus Antonius, as the two men and their followers contended with several other factions for the control of the Roman state.[42] However, in 41 BC, Claudia's mother, Fulvia, joined her brother-in-law, the consul Lucius Antonius, in raising eight legions against Octavian, in what became known as the Perusine War. The resulting enmity between the triumvirs gave Octavian an excuse to divorce Claudia in 40 BC.[43] She was still living in 36 BC, but her subsequent fate is unknown.

• Clodius plays a minor role in The Ides of March, a 1948 epistolary novel by Thornton Wilder dealing with characters and events leading to, and culminating in the assassination of Julius Caesar. Clodius' possible involvement with Caesar's second wife Pompeia and his attempt to attend the secret rites of the Bona Dea are mentioned.
• Clodius is a key player in Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series books Caesar's Women and Caesar. His entire exploits from his time in the East to his death in 52 BC are chronicled as a subplot to the greater story
• Clodius makes several appearances in Roma Sub Rosa, a series of novels by the American author Steven Saylor. A Murder on the Appian Way tells the story of his death. In Saylor's previous novel, The Venus Throw, Clodius appears as both the chief supporter of his sister Clodia and possibly her lover as well, as she attempts to fend off her embittered ex-lover, the poet Catullus and seeks revenge on another, Marcus Caelius.
• Clodius also plays a central role in Robert Harris's novels Lustrum (published as Conspirata in the USA) and Dictator, the sequels to Imperium, which chronicle the career of Marcus Tullius Cicero.
• Clodius is a main antagonist of the hero Decius Caecilius Metellus in the SPQR series by John Maddox Roberts. The third book of the series, The Sacrilege, deals with the Bona Dea scandal.