This chapter examines a series of events that occurred in Chuquisaca in mid-1781 following the spread of rumors of an alleged popular revolt against rising royal taxes. While there was no compelling evidence of such a conspiracy, the focal point of discord became the origin and intent of the false rumors, which the urban resident, both patricians and plebeians, attributed the peninsular audiencia ministers and a newly arrived company of Spanish soldiers dispatched from Buenos Aires to suppress the pan-Andean rebellion led by Tupac Amaru and Tupac Katari. At the root of the public conflict was a dispute over the status of the Chuquisaca people within the monarchy following their victory over the indigenous insurgents. Fears of a popular uprising ended up giving rise to novel forms of group representation, political rituals that underscored the sudden relevance acquired by the opinions of the local population, and public ceremonies that exposed the construction of the city as a subject of history and a political actor. In the customary language of monarchical legitimism, the collective practices both invoked and subverted the axiomatic loyalty to the Crown.