Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi (consul 133 BC)
He created the first permanent jury court in Rome (quaestio perpetua) to try cases related to provincial corruption during his plebeian tribunate in 146 BC.
[2] The praetor of 211 had two sons, Gaius, the first consul of the gens in 180 who also earned a triumph for his successful command in Spain in 186, and Lucius, only known as ambassador to the Achaean League in 198; the latter was the father of the historian.
After accepting their unconditional surrender in good faith, he rounded up entire Lusitanian communities, disarmed them, and then massacred their male populations en masse before enslaving the remainder.
Piso therefore brought the lex Calpurnia de repetundis, which established the first permanent criminal court to judge Roman governors' provincial misdeeds.
[11] The lex Calpurnia provided that the peregrine praetor directed the court and chose the jurors from the senate; governors found guilty had to repay the sums extorted.
The dominant opinion among modern scholars is that Piso served as praetor in Sicily in a year between 138 and 136, and he was defeated by the revolted slaves of Eunus during the First Servile War.
[21] Since Florus tells Piso was defeated, it would be very strange to see him winning the consular election at the first possible occasion: the other identified commanders fared far more poorly, either disappearing from history altogether or waiting many years until their consulships.
Piso probably picked the praetor Marcus Perperna to serve with him in Sicily, because he was a homo novus with an Etruscan background.
[27] He likely started his campaign by taking Morgantina and besieging Henna, the epicentre of the rebellion, because several sling bullets bearing his name have been found in the area.
[27][30] Since Piso was in Sicily during his entire consulship, ancient sources do not tell his attitude towards Tiberius Gracchus, who as plebeian tribune moved an ambitious set of reforms to redistribute Roman public lands.
[31] D C Earl suggests that Piso initially regarded Tiberius' program with a "benevolent neutrality" as he had connections with the Fulvii Flacci and the patrician Claudii, who were Gracchan allies.
Like most other Roman historians, Piso devoted a significant portion of the work to mythologic times and the Regal period, covered in the first book.
[46] The majority of modern historians think that Piso continued his work after the last fragment dated from 146 in order to describe the events of his consulship and censorship.
[52] Despite its shortcomings, Piso's historical work is important because it was the first time that an account was structured into individual years, making it the earliest history to follow the so-called "annalistic scheme.
