The Figure of the “Antisenate” (ἀντισύγκλητος) in Plutarch: A decline narrative?

Abstract

 In 88 B.C., the legislation of Publius Sulpicius Rufus marked the beginning of an unprecedented period of transition. Plutarch of Chaeronea collects two passages (Mar. 35; Sull. 8) in which his followers are defined by the term of “antisenate” (ἀντισύγκλητος). This article seeks to investigate the truth of his statement, showing whether or not it is part of a decline narrative, used by the biographer to analyze a key moment as far as the transgression is concerned.