![]() ![]() : The tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces the baker is one of the largest and best-preserved freedman funerary monuments in Rome. But at one hundred sesterces, as was the case in Lanuvium, the joining fee was not beyond the reach of any moderately successful artisan or the like. Of course, the cost of membership of such associations probably means that it was the better off section of the plebs who frequented them. They had a stake in the system and it would be strange if they had not discussed matters that were of mutual interest to them. But for all these rules, it is reasonable to assume that some level of political discussion would take place wherever there was a gathering of the urban plebs. Many of these clubs seem to have based their internal hierarchies on those of the political elite. If any member is insolent to the club president let his fine be twenty sesterces" (CIL 14.2112). Indeed, there are fines for unruly behavior or for showing disrespect to the club's officials: "If any member speaks abusively to another or becomes obstreperous let his fine be twelve sesterces. The rules of one particular club at Lanuvium near Rome survive and these do not entirely square with the image of illegal and subversive political gatherings. In another correspondence, the two men agree to permit these groups so long as they are "not used for riotous and unlawful assemblies" (Pliny Letters 10.93 and 94). ![]() ![]() If people assemble for a common purpose, whatever name we give them and for whatever reason, they soon turn into a political club" (Pliny Letters 10.34). As Trajan carefully explains, "We must remember that it is associations like these which have been responsible for the political disturbances in your province, particularly its towns. In a well-known exchange of letters between the emperor Trajan and Pliny the Younger at the time he was governor of Bithynia-Pontus, in modern Turkey, the emperor turned down Pliny's request that an association should be set up in order to fight fires in the city of Nicomedia. It is impossible to know quite how political these clubs were. ![]()
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