Gaius Antius Restio (tribune of the plebs 68 BC)
Gaius Antius Restio (fl. 68 BC) was a politician of the Roman Republic. He is principally known for the "lex Antia sumptuaria", a law against luxury he passed as tribune of the plebs in 68 BC. This law forbade magistrates from attending banquets, in an attempt to contain political corruption. Life. Antius was a "homo novus" ("new man"), the first of his family to enter the Senate. He belonged to an obscure plebeian "gens", which only emerged in the second half of the second century BC, with a Marcus Antius Briso , tribune of the plebs in 137. Like several other Roman families inventing mythical origins, the Antii claimed descent from Hercules through his son Antiades. Modern scholars have suggested they came from Minturnae, or Lanuvium, both Latin cities south of Rome. Section::::"Lex Antia" (68 BC). In 70, the consul Pompey restored the powers of the tribunes of the plebs, which had been seriously curtailed by the conservative Sulla during his dictatorship of 82–80. The following years saw the restored tribunes pushing for radical legislation, especially against political corruption and malpractices. Antius was elected tribune in this context, and took office on  10 December 69. During his office, Antius passed the "Lex Antia sumptuaria", the last of a long list of sumptuary laws passed during the Republic. The terms of the law are not known except that it forbade magistrates from accepting invitations to attend banquets. This ban closed a loophole in the previous legislation, which still permitted magistrates to use friends as surrogate organisers of political banquets. The law was likely directed at politicians who campaigned through extravagant banquets at the time, such as Quintus Hortensius (consul in 69) and Lucius Lucullus (consul in 74), whose private luxury was proverbial. Antius  then refused to attend any banquet in order to stay true to his beliefs. In "Catullus 44". Publius Sestius, a friend of Cicero, is described by Catullus in one of his poems as having made a violent speech against Antius, while the latter was said to be a "petitor". This word can be translated as a candidate for an election, or a plaintiff during a trial, although the former meaning is favoured in modern publications. If the second meaning ("petitor" as plaintiff) is considered true, it would likely mean that Antius sued Sestius for breaking the "lex Antia". Sestius is  also described as hosting lavish banquets, hence his enmity towards Antius. Francis Ryan suggests that Antius ran for election in 54 or 53, alongside his political allies Marcus Porcius Cato and Marcus Favonius, both known for their asceticism like Antius. Antius either aimed at becoming the colleague of Cato as praetor in 54, or that of Favonius as aedile in 54 or 53. Favonius' colleague was finally Marcus Aufidius Lurco, whose telling cognomen means "glutton", therefore making a perfect opponent for austere Antius. It was probably during this campaign that Sestius' speech against Antius was made. Antius had a son , also named Gaius, who was triumvir monetalis in 47 and minted denarii bearing a portrait of his father. He was also a supporter of Julius Caesar, but was later caught in the proscriptions of the Second Triumvirate in 43.