Rabirius
1.
Gaius, an aged senator, accused in B.C. 63, by T.
Labienus, tribune of the plebs, of having put to death the tribune L. Appuleius Saturninus in
100, nearly forty years before. (See
Saturninus.) The accusation was set on foot at the instigation of Caesar, who judged
it necessary to deter the Senate from resorting to arms against the popular party. The
Duumviri Perduellionis (an obsolete tribunal) appointed to try Rabirius were C. Caesar
himself and his relative L. Caesar. Rabirius was condemned, but appealed to the people in the
Comitia Centuriata. The case excited the greatest interest, since it was not simply the life
or death of Rabirius, but the power and authority of the Senate, which were at stake.
Rabirius was defended by Cicero; but the eloquence of his advocate was of no avail, and the
people would have ratified the decision of the duumvirs had not the meeting been broken up by
the praetor, Q. Metellus Celer, who removed the military flag which floated on the
Ianiculum.
2.
Q. Rabirius Postŭmus was the son of the sister of the
preceding. After the restoration of Ptolemy Auletes to his kingdom by means of Gabinius in
B.C. 55, Rabirius repaired to Alexandria, and was invested by the king with the office of
dioecetes, or chief treasurer. In this office his extortions were so
terrible that Ptolemy had him apprehended; but Rabirius escaped from prison, probably through
the connivance of the king, and returned to Rome. Here a trial awaited him. Gabinius had been
sentenced to pay a heavy fine on account of his extortions in Egypt; and as he was unable to
pay this fine, a suit was instituted against Rabirius, who was liable to make up the
deficiency, if it could be proved that he had received any of the money of which Gabinius had
illegally become possessed. Rabirius was defended by Cicero, and was probably condemned.
3.
A Roman poet, who lived in the last years of the Republic, and wrote a poem on the Civil
Wars. A portion of this, found at Herculaneum, has been edited by Kreyssig
(Schneeberg,
1814); and by Bährens in his
Poetae Latini Minores
(1879).
