Aulus Cluentius Habitus, of Larinum in Samnium, the hero of a Roman cause célèbre. Samnite warriors Samnium (Oscan Safinim) was a region of the southern Apennines in Italy that was home to the Samnites, a group of Sabellic tribes that controlled the area from about 600 BC to about 290 BC. Samnium was delimited by Latium in the north, by Lucania in the south... A cause célèbre (of which the plural is causes célèbres) is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning and/or heated public debate. ...

In 74 BC he accused his step-father Statius Albius Oppianicus of an attempt to poison him; had it been successful, the property of Cluentius would have fallen to his mother Sassia. Oppianicus and two others were condemned, and some years later Oppianicus died in exile. But the verdict was looked upon with suspicion, and it was known for a fact that one of the jurymen had received a large sum of money for distribution amongst his colleagues. The result was the degradation of Cluentius himself and several of the jurymen. Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC - 70s BC - 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC Years: 79 BC 78 BC 77 BC 76 BC 75 BC - 74 BC - 73 BC 72 BC 71...

In 66, Sassia induced her stepson Oppianicus to charge Cluentius with having caused the elder Oppianicus to be poisoned while in exile. On this occasion the defence was undertaken by Cicero in the extant speech Pro Cluentio. In the end Cluentius was acquitted. Cicero afterwards boasted openly that he had thrown dust in the eyes of the jury (Quintilian, Instit. ii. 17. 21, who quotes this speech more than any other). His efforts are chiefly devoted to proving that the condemnation of the elder Oppianicus was just and in no way the result of the jury having been bribed by Cluentius; only a small portion of the end of the speech deals with the specific charge. Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC - 60s BC - 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC Years: 71 BC 70 BC 69 BC 68 BC 67 BC 66 BC 65 BC 64 BC 63... Marcus Tullius Cicero (January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was an orator and statesman of Ancient Rome, and is generally considered the greatest Latin prose stylist. ... Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (c. ...

It was generally believed that the verdict in the former trial was an unfair one; and this opinion was most prejudicial to Cluentius. But even if it could be shown that Cluentius had bribed the jury-men, this did not prove that he had poisoned Oppianicus, although it supplied a sufficient reason for wishing to get him out of the way. The speech delivered by Cicero on this occasion is considered one of his best.

Editions of the speech by WY Fausset (1887), W Ramsay (1883); see also Henry Nettleship, Lectures and Essays (1885). Henry Nettleship (May 5, 1839 - July 10, 1893) was an English classical scholar. ...

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