This is the second part of the third a part of our deliberate 5 half collection (I, II, IIIa) on the construction of the Roman Republic through the third and second centuries, the ‘Middle’ Republic. Last week we mentioned the general construction of the ‘career path’ for a Roman politician and the primary few places of work alongside that path. This week we’re going to have a look at the upper-steps of that profession path, the places of work of praetor and consul and the actual set of powers they possess, referred to as imperium, together with the pro-magistrate types of these positions. Now I ought to notice on the outset that we’ve skipped one workplace on our means by way of, the tribunes of the plebs; we’ll get to that workplace subsequent week to talk about its oddities and strange powers.
The praestorship and the consulship are the best Roman places of work (the censorship being extra of a ‘victory lap’) and the 2 places of work that wield direct navy and judicial authority. These are additionally the places of work the place competitors within the cursus honorum begins to get fierce, because the eight quaestors should compete for simply six praetorships and people six praetors can anticipate to compete for simply two – all the time two – consulships. It is price preserving in thoughts as we undergo this that on the one hand these places of work are largely confined to a small Roman elite, the nobiles, composed of households (each patrician and plebeian) which were profitable in politics over generations, however on the similar time it’s the fashionable assemblies which select ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ from among the many nobiles by deciding who will get to proceed to the subsequent spherical of the political elimination context, and who’s ceaselessly going to sit within the Senate as a former quaestor and nothing extra.
Now I’m the one certainly one of this weblog who will get to have imperium (apparently ACOUP operates within the imperial the place I’ve imperium and the guest-posters are my legati), however Patrons on the patres et matres conscripti stage can nonetheless advise me on how to use my imperium! You don’t even have to have held the quaestorship! As all the time, if you happen to like this, please share it! If you need updates each time a brand new submit seems, you may click on under for e mail updates or observe me on twitter (@BretDevereaux) for updates as to new posts in addition to my occasional historic historical past, overseas coverage or navy historical past musings, assuming there may be nonetheless a Twitter by the point this submit goes stay. I’m additionally on Bluesky (@bretdevereaux.bsky.social) and (much less ceaselessly) Mastodon (@[email protected]).
Imperium
What connects these places of work specifically is that they confer imperium, a particular idea in Roman regulation and governance. The phrase imperium derives from the verb impero, ‘to command, order’ and so in a way imperium merely means ‘command,’ however in its implication it’s broader. Imperium was understood to be the ability of the king (Cic. Leg. 3.8), encompassing each the judicial function of the king in resolving disputes and the navy function of the king in main the military. In this sense, imperium is the ability to deploy violence on behalf of the group: each inner (judicial) violence and exterior (navy) violence.
That energy was represented visually across the particular person of magistrates with imperium by way of the lictors (Latin: lictores), attendants who follows magistrates with imperium, principally to add dignity to the workplace however who additionally may act because the magistrates ‘muscle’ if obligatory. The lictors carried the fasces, a set of sticks bundled collectively in a rod; typically in fashionable depictions the bundle is thick and quick however in historic art work it’s lengthy and skinny, the traditional equal of a police-man’s less-lethal billy membership. That, notionally non-lethal however nonetheless violent, configuration represented the imperium-bearing Justice of the Peace’s civil energy inside the pomerium (recall, that is the sacred boundary of the town). When passing past the pomerium, an axe was inserted into the bundle, turning the the non-lethal crowd-control machine right into a deadly weapon, reflective of the larger energy of the imperium-bearing Justice of the Peace to act with unilateral navy violence outdoors of Rome (although to be clear the consul couldn’t simply homicide you since you have been in your farm; that is symbolism). The consuls have been every assigned 12 lictors, whereas praetors bought 6. Pro-magistrates had one fewer lictor than their Justice of the Peace variations to replicate that, whereas they wielded imperium, it was of an inferior type to the precise Justice of the Peace of the 12 months.
What is notable concerning the Roman idea of imperium is that it’s a single, unitary factor: a number of magistrates can have imperium, you may have larger or lesser types of imperium, however you can’t break aside the part parts of imperium. This is an actual distinction from the polis, the place the usual construction was to take the three parts of royal energy (non secular, judicial and navy) and break up them up between completely different magistrates or boards so as to keep away from anybody determine being too highly effective. For the Romans, the royal authority over judicial and navy issues have been unavoidably linked as a result of they have been the identical factor, imperium, and so couldn’t be separated. That in flip leads to Polybius’ awe on the energy wielded by Roman magistrates, significantly the consuls (Polyb. 6.12); a polis wouldn’t usually focus a lot energy right into a single set of arms constitutionally (preserving in thoughts that tyrants are further-constitutional figures).
So what does imperium empower a Justice of the Peace to do? All magistrates have potestas, the ability to act on behalf of the group inside their sphere of affect. Imperium is the subset of magisterial potestas which covers the supply of violence for the group and it is available in two varieties: the ability to elevate and lead armies and the ability to arrange and oversee courts. Now we usually consider these powers as reduce by that domi et militiae (“at home and on military service”) distinction we mentioned earlier within the collection: at dwelling imperium is the ability to arrange courts (that are usually jury courts, although for some issues magistrates may make a abstract judgement) and overseas the ability to arrange armies. But as we’ll see after we get to the function of magistrates and pro-magistrates within the provinces, the ability of authorized judgement conferred by imperium is, if something, extra intense outdoors of Rome. That mentioned it’s completely the case that imperium is restrained inside the pomerium and much much less restrained outdoors of it.
There have been limits on the power of a Justice of the Peace with imperium to deploy violence inside the pomerium towards residents. The Lex Valeria, relationship to the very starting of the res publica stipulated that within the case of sure punishments (loss of life or flogging), the sufferer had the suitable of provocatio to name upon the judgement of the Roman folks, by way of both an meeting or a jury trial. That restrict to the consul’s capacity to use violence was bolstered by the leges Porciae (handed within the 190s and 180s), which protected civilian residents from abstract violence from magistrates, even when outdoors of Rome. That mentioned, on marketing campaign – that’s, militae relatively than domi – these legal guidelines didn’t exempt citizen troopers from beating and even execution as part of navy self-discipline and certainly Roman navy self-discipline struck Polybius – himself an skilled Greek navy man – as harsh (Polyb. 6.35-39).
In apply then, the power of a Justice of the Peace to make the most of imperium inside Rome was hemmed in by the legal guidelines, whereas when out within the provinces on marketing campaign it was far much less restricted. A second energy, coercitio or ‘coercion’ – the ability of a better Justice of the Peace to use minor punishments or drive to defend public order – is typically introduced as a definite energy of the magistrates, however I have a tendency to agree with Lintott (op. cit., 97-8) that this relatively overrates the significance of the coercive powers of magistrates inside the pomerium; in any case, the day-to-day upkeep of public order usually fell to minor magistrates.
While imperium was a ‘complete package’ because it have been, the Romans clearly understood sure figures as having an imperium that outranked others, thus dictators may order consuls, who may order praetors, the hierarchy neatly visualized by the variety of lictors every had. This may create issues, after all, when Rome’s casual programs of hierarchy conflicted with this formal system, as an example on the Battle of Arausio, the pro-consul Quintus Servilius Caepio refused to take orders from the consul, Gnaeus Mallius Maximus, as a result of the latter was his social inferior (being a novus homo, a ‘new man’ from a household that hadn’t but been within the Senate and thus not a member of the nobiles), although by regulation the imperium of a sitting consul outranked that of a pro-consul. The results of that little bit of insubordination was a navy disaster that bought each commanders later charged and exiled.
Finally, a vocabulary notice: it will be cheap to assume that the Latin phrase for an individual with imperium could be imperator as a result of that’s the usual means Latin phrases type. And I’ll say, from the attitude of an individual who has to determine at first of every factor I write what circumlocution I’m going to use to describe “magistrate or pro-magistrate with imperium,” it will be remarkably lucky if imperator meant that, however it doesn’t. Instead, imperator in Latin finally ends up swallowed by its idiomatic which means of ‘victorious general,’ because it was regular within the republic for armies to proclaim their common as imperator after a significant victory (which set the final up to request a triumph from the Senate). In the imperial interval, this leads to the emperors monopolizing the time period, as the entire armies of Rome operated beneath their imperium and thus all victory accolades belonged to the emperor. That in flip leads to imperator turning into a part of the imperial title, from the place it offers us our phrase ’emperor.’
That mentioned, the circumlocution I’m going to use right here, as a result of this isn’t a proper style and I can, is ‘imperium-haver.’ I desperately want I may use that in peer reviewed articles, however I concern no editor would let me (whereas Reviewer 2 will predictably object to ‘general’ ‘commander’ or ‘governor’ for all being fashionable coinages).
On to our first set of imperium-havers!
Praetors
The six praetors are the junior imperium-possessing magistracy and although the entire praetors have been elected collectively, by the Middle Republic the job of being praetor may range rather a lot relying on which function you have been assigned by the Senate. You will recall that the praetorship is an outdated workplace, initially taking the place of chief Justice of the Peace which later turns into the consulship (notice Livy 3.5.11-12, 7.3.5-8; Cic. Leg. 3.8; Fest. 249L; Gell. 11.18.8, 20.1.47; Plin. NH 18.12 see additionally Varro Ling. 5.80), although in some unspecified time in the future the title of the chief Justice of the Peace shifted being consul and the praetor (simply certainly one of them) served as a junior assistant to the consuls. We’re not properly knowledgeable concerning the praetorship on this early type, however it appears probably it had the same function in organizing the courts, whereas the consuls led the armies. In any case the variety of praetors will increase quickly within the final half of the third century, with a second added in c. 242, two extra in 228 and two extra in 198/7, giving the overall of six.
Because the praetors had imperium, they might in concept lead armies and arrange courts the identical as consuls (although they lacked a number of the different distinctive consular powers we’ll talk about in a second) however in apply the obligations of the praetors have been normally fairly distinct and break up into two massive classes: praetors assigned a provincia (which once more, you must learn as ‘job’ not ‘province’) at Rome and praetors assigned a provincia outdoors of Rome.
The two praetors working usually in Rome have been phrases the praetor urbanus and praetor peregrinus and their duty was virtually completely centered on the courtroom system. The praetor urbanus was primarily involved with authorized disputes concerned two citizen events, whereas any subject involving foreigners got here beneath the jurisdiction of the praetor peregrinus, although the latter was generally additionally deployed out of Rome on particular duties, at which level the praetor urbanus, who virtually all the time remained in Rome, would deal with each. On coming into workplace, the praetor urbanus (and possibly additionally the praetor peregrinus) issued the edictum praetoris (‘Praetor’s edict’) which set out how he meant to perform his workplace. Early on, these edicts appear principally to have been restricted to adjustments in process or the evaluation of damages, however by the primary century praetorian edicts may lay out substantive regulation creating what later Roman jurists would time period the ius praetorium (‘praetorian law’), which sat alongside the principle regulation code itself, the ius civile (‘civil law’). Mostly what these edicts lay out appear to be procedures or the circumstances beneath which the praetor will grant a reason behind motion. By the time the edict is totally developed, praetors appear to be in search of and getting recommendation from an rising class of authorized consultants, iuris prudentes (‘men learned at law’ = ‘legal consult’) to craft what should typically have been fairly formulaic edicts.
We’ll cowl the Roman authorized course of in direction of the tip of this collection however we might cowl the praetor’s function right here briefly. When a case was raised – and Roman regulation understands all circumstances as disputes identical to Greek regulation does, although in contrast to in most Greek poleis, some Roman magistrates appear to have had an expectation to act as quasi-public prosecutors for sure sorts of infractions – it was introduced earlier than the praetor, both urbanus for a difficulty involving residents or peregrinus for a difficulty involving no less than one non-citizen. At this level the matter was in iure (‘at law’) and the praetor held a kind of preliminary listening to to decide if there was a reason behind motion (thus the significance of this query within the praetor’s edict) after which to assign a decide (a iudex) who would administer the trial and to set a formulation (formulation, gotta love Latin), which functioned relatively like jury directions, naming the related events, describing their dispute and setting out the implications ought to the matter be dominated in favor of 1 or the opposite (this stage of the case is apud iudicem, ‘before a judge’). Note that the praetor doesn’t make a ruling, however merely lays out the formulation.
For extra severe issues that required a jury courtroom to resolve, a possible prosecutor went earlier than the praetor, who then assigned the case to the related courtroom or meeting (as assemblies, particularly early on, may act as courts) and set a date for the trial. Interestingly, for jury trials, no formulation was offered by the praetor.
What concerning the praetors who weren’t assigned to Rome? As the sphere of Roman navy exercise expanded past Italy, it turned obligatory to have extra commanders within the discipline, and that is the place we get the extra praetors. Because a praetor has imperium, they’ll perform as a kind of ‘mini-consul.’ That mentioned, praetors don’t have a tendency to get assigned the types of jobs consuls do. If Rome wants three main discipline armies, the Senate usually doesn’t ship a praetor to command the third, relatively it sends a pro-consul (which makes a level of sense when you concentrate on it; you need an skilled commander).
Instead, praetors within the discipline have a tendency to be assigned to putative ‘quiet’ provinces or auxiliary help features. The normal praetorian provinces have been Corsica et Sardinia (one province) and Sicily, later joined by the 2 Spains (Hispania Citerior, ‘Nearer Spain’ and Hispania Ulterior, ‘Further Spain), when they were quiet. When a major military action flared up on this areas, the response wasn’t to ship a praetor with a big military, however to assign a consul or a pro-consul to the province as a substitute, although as a result of these assignments are made yearly that tends to imply that bother flares up, the praetor along with his smaller military tries to handle it and if he fails and is defeated, then a consul is shipped out with a significant military.
Now I don’t need to get completely off-track detailing what a Roman commander does in his abroad provincia; I’ll add a supplemental submit on this one describing what Roman provincial authorities seems to be like within the Republic (although for the curious, the e book to learn is F.Ok. Drogula, Commanders and Command (2015); it’s a bit dry, however fairly thorough). But briefly a praetor in his abroad provincia goes to have command of no matter navy forces are there, usually lower than the usual two-legion consular military (generally lots much less!). If there isn’t a energetic navy marketing campaign to be completed, the praetor will transit across the province. Because he has imperium, he can resolve disputes as a courtroom and within the provinces – as a result of imperium is stronger outdoors of Rome – he can achieve this summarily as long as Roman residents should not concerned. He can implement these resolutions on non-Romans within the province as a result of he has a Roman military and the implicit backing of the remainder of the Roman state. Note that the praetor in his province doesn’t take over day-to-day backyard selection regulation and order points; these are nonetheless dealt with by native governments, in accordance to native legal guidelines.
Generally the expectation is {that a} praetor goes to use his mixture of navy drive and his capacity to resolve disputes and ship judgements to maintain good order within the area and to make it possible for Rome’s taxes are collected. In apply inside these confines, there’s plenty of latitude, although the Senate might make sure particular calls for as a part of a praetor’s project. The praetor can also be assisted by an assigned quaestor who handles the monetary facet of issues and is anticipated to seek the advice of a small council of advisors, a consilium, when making selections. Finally, starting in 149, there’s a everlasting courtroom in Rome which has the job of dealing with the circumstances of governors who exceeded their mandate within the provinces, the quaestio de repetundis; the title actually means ‘the court for things you need to give back’ as a result of the first concern was governors extorting cash and taking bribes of their provinces. So the praetor’s latitude isn’t infinite.
As the variety of energetic provinciae turned too massive for even the bigger variety of praetors and the 2 consuls, the Senate took to having former praetors function ‘pro-praetors,’ a type of pro-magistrate, however we’ll discuss them under, after we’ve mentioned crucial Roman Justice of the Peace, the consuls.
The Consuls
The consuls, all the time a pair, are the senior magistrates of the Roman Republic. While the censors, if there are any in workplace, could also be themselves senior consulars (that’s, ex-consuls), the sitting consuls are nonetheless essentially the most highly effective magistrates. Consuls wield imperium, however of a larger diploma than every other Justice of the Peace or pro-magistrate (save a dictator), permitting them to in concept give orders to different magistrates (although this doesn’t occur typically). The consuls additionally lead Rome’s major discipline armies by way of the Middle Republic (this shifts solely with Sulla’s reforms in 83).
While in concept the consuls’ possession of imperium meant they might superintend the courts, they often didn’t (some Late Republic exceptions, like Pompey presiding over the trial of Titus Annius Milo are exceptional for being uncommon). Instead, we most frequently see consuls in two roles: shifting main laws and main Rome’s foremost discipline armies. In the previous case, technically the praetors may legislate in addition to the consuls, however in apply main legal guidelines tended to be proposed by both the consuls or the plebeian tribunes.
Each consul would additionally command a significant discipline military. The Romans don’t do army-command-by-committee (in contrast to Athens), so beneath regular circumstances the consuls every had unbiased command over their very own military. The normal energy of a consular military was two legions (8,400 infantry, 600 cavalry) plus two alae of socii (varies however roughly the identical measurement, with considerably extra cavalry), which means that every consul within the Middle Republic goes to warfare with a chunky c. 20,000 man military. It was solely in uncommon circumstances that these armies could be mixed and such mixed ‘double consular’ armies typically brought about issues if the consuls couldn’t get alongside or agree on a strategic imaginative and prescient.
That mentioned, what number of troops a consul might need and the place he could be anticipated to take them was largely decided by the Senate. The Senate, as we’ll see, assigns provincia (once more, suppose ‘jobs’ not ‘provinces’) – even to the consuls – and it additionally directs the quaestors on how assets are to be allotted. That contains conscription (the dilectus) and we see repeatedly that consuls don’t really feel they’ll maintain a dilectus with out the consent of the Senate; they’ll take volunteers with out senatorial approval, however a draft, no. Likewise, until they’ll discover volunteer funding, they’re reliant on quaestors releasing funds, quaestors who’re all the time going to do what the Senate tells them to do.
However, the Senate can’t come on marketing campaign with the consuls and so as soon as within the discipline, coping with no matter downside the Senate has recommended they cope with, the consuls have an excessive amount of command independence and almost limitless authority. Whereas at Rome consular authority is constrained by legal guidelines and the plebeian tribunes (whose powers finish on the pomerium), within the discipline they’ll implement strict navy self-discipline and command their armies as they see match. That extends to appreciable latitude when it comes to negotiating with overseas states (impartial or hostile), although any treaty they make should be ratified again in Rome (technically requiring approval of an meeting however in apply this is dependent upon if the Senate approves).
Now with such sweeping powers the Romans have been naturally involved that the consuls may usurp the state, in order that they instituted a number of fundamental checks on this. One of those checks is just the existence of the plebeian tribunes, however we’ll discuss these subsequent time. But additionally it was clearly established that there should all the time be two consuls. Not one, not three. Two. If one consul dies, one other should be instantly elected; this substitute consul was referred to as a consul suffectus (the 12 months was nonetheless dated from the 2 consuls elected at first, the consules ordinarii). Because solely a consul had the authority to maintain a consular election, you wanted a system to deal with conditions the place each consuls have been indisposed directly (both each useless or one useless and one overseas with the military); the answer was a uncommon official, the interrex, who solely had the authority to maintain an election for the consulship.
Once you’ve ensured there are all the time two consuls, the subsequent trick is to be sure that they’ll examine one another. To be sure that, consuls got some substantial powers. The most well-known of those was veto, Latin for “I forbid!” Just by saying the phrase, a consul may block any motion by every other Justice of the Peace, together with the opposite consul. The energy had to be exercised in particular person, which restricted it: if you happen to actually needed to forestall your colleague from doing one thing he actually needed to do, you finest be ready to observe him round in particular person every single day to maintain vetoing it. A supercharged for of veto consuls may additionally train was iustitium, declaring a cease to all state enterprise; this might be used to cease any assembly of a well-liked meeting or of the Senate as long as the meeting had not dispersed into voting teams.
The ultimate examine on the consuls is fairly easy: they solely serve for one 12 months. After which it’s usually anticipated that there be a good interval (normally round 10 years) earlier than you may run for the consulship once more. While in workplace, any Roman with imperium is immune from prosecution, however might be prosecuted instantly on leaving workplace for any crimes they might have completed whereas in workplace. Consequently, a consul’s freedom of motion goes to be restricted by their concern about doubtlessly having to face a jury after their one-year time period is full. Even in the event that they aren’t fearful about that, as soon as their 12 months is finished they return to being simply one other senator, so good relations with the remainder of the Senate is a good suggestion.
In half as a result of one of many different issues the Senate decides on are…
Pro-Magistrates
Roman growth put strains on all of those programs. Fundamentally, the Roman system remained one designed for a small city-state. Everything – navy command, attending the Senate, passing laws, utilizing veto energy – wanted to be completed in particular person by magistrates who solely had a single 12 months in workplace. While Roman territory and the scope of Rome’s wars remained small, that kind of system labored superb. As Roman territory and Rome’s wars expanded, it put all kinds of strains on that system: how to deal with multi-year campaigns which stored the armies within the discipline? How to deal with having extra instructions than magistrates?
The answer was to lengthen (prorogue) a Justice of the Peace’s authority, making them a pro-magistrate (‘pro’ which means ‘standing in for’). It’s difficult to pin down precisely when the Romans first did this as our sources for early Rome (Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus) have a tendency to use phrases for proconsular energy (professional consule or ἀνθύπατον ἀρχὴν) lengthy earlier than prorogation appears to have been utilized in Rome. Generally, we predict that the primary real prorogation occurs in 327 as a part of the run-up to the Second Samnite War (Livy 8.23). The downside right here was two-fold: Rome’s evident shift to year-round campaigning which means that the military wanted a continous commander within the discipline as on this case the place it was conducting a siege, mixed with the larger distances – the commander, Q. Pubilius Philo, is besieging Naples – making swift adjustments in command troublesome.
Prorogation turns into frequent and common through the Punic Wars. The First Punic War, going down primarily in Sicily, demanded using prorogation to cowl the lag time between elections in Rome and commanders arriving in Sicily, in addition to to permit single commanders to conduct extra advanced campaigns. By the Second Punic War, which takes place in Italy, Sicily, Gaul, Spain, North Africa and Illyria (a lot of that concurrently) it was additionally obligatory to prorogue commanders so as to merely get sufficient discipline commanders with imperium for the entire armies Rome was deploying. Indeed, within the loopy days of the Second Punic War, at factors the Senate prorogued males who had by no means held workplace earlier than, privati cum imperio (personal residents with imperium), although that is discontinued and changed by a system whereby prorogued commanders could have first held the related workplace in some unspecified time in the future.
The increasing variety of areas of Roman abroad management pushed this additional as extra areas meant extra provinciae (within the sense of ‘jobs’) which demanded extra imperium-havers to deal with. New praetors have been finally made for Sicily, Corsica-and-Sardinia and the 2 Spains, however by the mid-second century the Romans are recurrently assigning imperium-havers to Gaul (Cisalpine or Transalpine), Africa, Greece and Macedonia and naturally additionally want magistrates with imperium in Italy to deal with the common features of presidency.
One of the pressures right here is that by this level it was clearly locked into custom that there have been solely ever two consuls. It had not all the time been that means; again when the Romans had navy tribunes with consular powers, they’d three of them. But by the third century, there have been all the time and will solely be two consuls. But that’s an issue as a result of even in case you have spare praetors, you don’t assign praetors to main navy instructions, so in case you have three main navy instructions, you don’t ship a praetor, you assign a proconsul.
The results of all of that is that every 12 months essentially the most urgent navy issues usually bought a consul assigned to them. Often the navy downside from final 12 months that was on-going would see its ex-consul prorogued to proceed dealing with it. Likewise, the brand new praetors could be despatched out to exchange the governors in quiet provinces, with the rest who weren’t changed prorogued to maintain down the fort for one more 12 months. Later it’s going to grow to be fairly frequent for former praetors and consuls who had returned to Rome to be dispatched again out to the provinces to do a stint as a promagistrate, however the frequent use of that is actually a consequence of the Sullan reforms and for essentially the most half belongs to the primary century. Most third and second century promagistrates are having an current command prolonged relatively than being despatched out contemporary.
Extensions of this kind, I ought to notice, have been usually pretty quick. The longest run I can consider on this interval is that of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus who’s privati cum imperioprofessional consule (‘private citizen with pro-consular imperium’) from 210 to 206, principally as a product of his father and uncle having been the native Roman commanders in Spain and Scipio having taken over once they have been each killed, main to an irregular, emergency command. He’s then consul in 205, earlier than having his command prorogued from 204 to 201 to full his invasion of Africa (technically, he’s assign to Sicily with permission to invade Africa if a possibility introduced itself).
Far extra typical for even an distinctive commander was one thing like Scipio Aemilianus’ expertise. Consul in 147, he’s prorogued to full the destruction of Carthage in 146. Then, consul in 134, he’s prorogued to full the destruction of Numantia in 133. And that was that. The level right here being that the heavy reliance on proconsuls to conduct the principle effort in Roman wars, typically with longer instructions (most famously Caesar’s eight years in Gaul or Pompey’s back-to-back jap instructions from 67 to 62) seen within the Late Republic was not frequent apply within the Middle Republic.
One important authorized quirk of prorogation is that whereas a consul or a praetor no less than notionally had imperium which traveled (although in apply they’d be anticipated to concentrate on the provincia the Senate assigned them), the imperium of a promagistrate, who in spite of everything solely ‘stood in for’ the precise Justice of the Peace of the 12 months, was in reality restricted to their outlined sphere of motion.
My plan as soon as we’ve gone by way of the entire Roman system for Romans is to add two extra posts on this collection (maybe not coming immediately), one masking how the Roman Republic interacts with the socii and one other briefly describing the form of Roman governance within the provinces But for now, that’s sufficient on imperium. Next week, we’re going to have a look at two very unusual main places of work, the tribunate and the censorship, plus talk about what we all know of the important thing minor places of work of the republic.
…. to be continued
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