The advocate was the central element in the Roman courtroom, the lynchpin between the various participants; through him the litigant spoke, with him the opposing counsel argued, and by him the audience was moved and the judge(s) persuaded.

While litigants initiated all cases and were the ones most affected, having to endure the consequences of the process and the ruling, within the courtroom they were not the focus of attention.

The five sections in this chapter cover a variety of issues related to the identity of advocates and their individual “practices”. The first section delves into several complex and interdependent aspects connected to determining the status of advocates. The second section examines the types of cases advo­cates undertook. The third and fourth sections consider the factors that influenced their decision either to accept or to reject a prospective client's case. The final section studies advocates who appeared in the courts of Rome, but had travelled from other parts of Italy or the provinces to argue a case.