Firmarent velut foedus (Tac. Ann. 6.30): Prolegomenon to the Language of Compromise in Rome

Abstract

Compromise, a consensual settlement of differences achieved by mutual concessions, is a fundamental concept in politics. Underlining primarily the legal aspects of compromise, Latin vocabulary lacks an appropriate term to denote political compromises in the sense outlined above. Nevertheless, in Roman politics, compromises were negotiated and reached in domestic and foreign affairs to resolve social and political conflicts, end wars, and forge alliances. If compromises were not depicted as such, how were they presented? What circumstances determined the terminology used to discuss such political arrangements? By addressing the historical tradition of the Early Republic, followed by an analysis of key case studies from Caesar’s civil war to the last years of the emperor Tiberius, specifically in the context of armed conflicts between Romans, this article explores the language used in depicting different instances of Roman compromise. Accordingly, this article shows that despite the lack of a specific term analogous to the modern “compromise”, and as much as Roman politics was characterised by high-octane, often violent conflicts, compromises served as expedient and dynamic tools affording reasonable alternatives to violence.