General Notes

Lucius Aurelius Cotta«/b», when praetor in 70 BC b rought in a law for the reform of the jury lists, by whic h the judices were to be eligible, not from the senator s exclusively as limited by Sulla , but from senators , equites and «i»tribuni aerarii«/i».  One-third were to be senators, and two-thirds men of equest rian census, one-half of whom must have been tribuni aerari i, a body as to whose functions there is no certain evidenc e, although in Cicero 's time they were reckoned by court esy amongst the equites. In 66 Cotta and Lucius Manliu s Torquatus accused the consuls-elect for the following y ear of bribery in connection with the elections; they wer e condemned, and Cotta and Torquatus chosen in their places.  After the suppression of the Catilinarian conspiracy , Co tta proposed a public thanksgiving for Cicero's services, a nd after the latter had gone into exile , supported the v iew that there was no need of a law for his recall, since t he law of Clodius was legally worthless.  He subsequently attached himself to Caesar , and it was c urrently reported that Cotta (who was then «i»quindecemvir« /i») intended to propose that Caesar should receive the tit le of king, it being written in the books of fate that th e Parthians could only be defeated by a king. Cotta's in tention was not carried out in consequence of the murder o f Caesar, after which he retired from public life.