| Crassus and Pompey, both leading armies, united against the senate and had themselves made consuls for 70; Pompey had held no previous elective office. They abandoned the optimate cause by restoring the powers of the tribunes, reconstructing the jury panels (as one-third senators, one-third equestrians, and one-third of the next wealthiest class—tribuni aerarii), and reinstituting censors, who enrolled great numbers of new Italian citizens. M. Tullius Cicero became Rome's leading orator by successfully prosecuting C. Verres, the corrupt governor of Sicily. | 2 |
