Lucius Sextius

Lucius Sextius Lateranus was a Roman Consular tribune and is noted for having been one of two men (the other being Gaius Licinius) behind the Lex Licinia Sextia, permitting him in 366 BC to become what is often considered the 'first plebeian consul.' This may be a controversial statement as some historians consider that something near a third of early consuls have names steming from plebeian families. It has been suggested that the later Roman historians, from whom we draw this claim, may have been coloring their own class struggles on this time period (See Conflict of the Orders.) Whatever the truth behind the claim, the Lex Licinia Sextia worked to ensure that one of the two annually elected consuls would be plebeian.

Related Topics:
Consular tribune - Gaius Licinius - Lex Licinia Sextia - 366 BC - Conflict of the Orders - Plebeian

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Perhaps more remarkable than the actual law, if we are to believe the historians of the period, is the degree to which L. Sextius and Gaius Licinius were able to distrupt the normal election of major magestrates (no curule magistrates elected from 375 BC - 371 BC after which problems with Velitrae prompted them to permit the elections) and therefore help to set the stage for the law that would resume the consulship with a forced plebeian seat.

Related Topics:
Gaius Licinius - 375 BC - 371 BC

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