Cato, Stoicism, and the provinces

This chapter considers the content and context of the extortion law passed by Julius Caesar as consul in 59, the lex Julia de pecuniis repetundis. Cicero describes it as a ‘perfect law’, but its innovations should not be exaggerated. Many of its important features, such as the detailed prescription of a governor’s entitlements and the inclusion of maiestas-type offences, had precursors in a long series of previous extortion laws. Neither should the law be seen as solely Caesar’s project. The chapter draws a link between the lex Julia of 59, the trials of Gaius Antonius and Lucius Flaccus the same year, and Pompey’s interest in provincial reform. Indeed, even Caesar’s opponent Cato seems to have helped shape Caesar’s law, which incorporated new regulations decreed by the senate the previous year on Cato’s initiative.