Lucius Licinius Murena

Lucius Licinius Murena was prosecuted for electoral bribery in one of the most consequential trials of the late republic. He came from a family of some standing without a consulship, and served under his father in the Second Mithridatic War and then as a legate under Lucullus in the third, distinguishing himself in the eastern campaigns and taking a command in Gaul. He was elected consul for 62 BC alongside Decimus Junius Silanus. The defeated candidates included Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the leading jurist of his generation, who prosecuted him for ambitus — electoral corruption — under a law he had himself helped to draft. Cato the Younger joined the prosecution, having sworn to prosecute anyone who bribed, and did not exempt his own brother-in-law. Murena was defended by Cicero, who was then consul, together with Crassus and Hortensius. The timing is what mattered. The trial took place in November 63 BC, in the middle of the Catilinarian conspiracy, with Catiline's army in the field in Etruria and the following year's consuls due to take office in weeks. Cicero argued explicitly that the state could not afford to be left with one consul when an armed rising was under way. The speech survives. It mocks Sulpicius's legal pedantry and Cato's Stoic rigidity with considerable comic force — Cato is reported to have remarked that they had a funny consul — while making the practical case. Murena was acquitted and took office. Cato's own principles had been used against the outcome he wanted. Catiline was defeated in the field weeks into his consulship.

• Lived: 120 BCE – 60 BCE
• Nationality: Roman
• Roles: general