ABSTRACT
The terms ‘politicians’ and ‘pretenders’ do not tell us very much until we establish which political system they relate to. I have deliberately exploited this lack of precision in the title of this chapter, which deals with politicians of the Republic, emperors and usurpers, and men of power in client-and border-states of the Empire. The sole criterion for inclusion is that the sources term them bandits. Thanks to this very mixed bunch one can identify another type of latro: the politician vilified by his opponents as a ‘bandit’. In doing this, they question his legitimacy, i.e., they refuse to acknowledge him in the position he claims. In this usage occurs, again, the figurative employment of latro.
