Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-14507-8 — Public Opinion and Politics in the Late Roman Republic Cristina Rosillo-López Frontmatter More Information www.cambridge.org © in this web service Cambridge University Press PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICS IN THE LATE ROMAN REPUBLIC This book investigates the working mechanisms of public opinion in Late Republican Rome as a part of informal politics. It explores the political interaction (and sometimes opposition) between the elite and the people through various means, such as rumours, gossip, political literature, popular verses and graﬃti. It also proposes the existence of a public sphere in Late Republican Rome and analyses public opinion in that time as a system of control. By applying the spatial turn to politics, it becomes possible to study sociability and informal meetings where public opinion circulated. What emerges is a wider concept of the political participation of the people, not just restricted to voting or participating in the assemblies. cristina rosillo-lo ´pez is Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Spain. Her ﬁrst book, La corruption à la ﬁn de la République romaine: aspects politiques et ﬁnanciers (2010), studied corruption during the Late Roman Republic, and received the Maestranza Order Research Award 2013. She has also written several articles and book chapters about politics, popular political culture, ﬁnancial matters and rhetoric in the Late Roman Republic.