Domestic History of Early Republic I
Chronology
- Based on fasti (list of magistrates, esp. consuls)
- Odd names for a later fiction
- Some obvious "fudging" of minor problems
- Sack of Rome=386 BC
- 390 BC acc. to Late Republican ("Varronian")
- Greek "synchronism"
- Not according to fasti (4 yrs. short)
- Some minor difficulties in 400s BC
- Foundation of Republic
- 507 BC acc. to early Greek tradition
- 509 BC acc. to "Varronian" tradition
Early Republican Rome
- Very small
- pomerium
- domus vs. militia
- "home" vs. "military service"
- Very rudimentary "state"
- Mainly involved in warfare
- Some legal decisions also
Three Elements of Early State
- Magistrates
- Senate
- Assemblies
Magistrates
- Elected by assemblies
- Senior magistates have imperium
- imperium is old power of kings
- Used to command armies
- Its use restricted within pomerium
- Colleges
- Negative prevails over positive
- Prevents tyranny through rivalry
- Annual tenure
- No pay
- Only wealthy landowners hold office
Consuls
- Chief magistrates at start of Rep.
- Only two
- "Eponymous" (year named after them)
- "In the consulship of X and Y"
- Command Roman armies
Dictators
- Regular office
- Bad associations of word in English come from tyrannical use of the office in Late Republc
- Not proper magistrate
- Used to prevent split command among quarreling consuls during military emergency
- Office first appointed in 490s BC
- Appointed by a consul
- One consul sometimes appointed his colleague
- Stood above regular magistrates, who continued in office
- Held only six-month tenure
- Office later used to provide stand-in for absent consuls
- for holding elections
- for performing religious duties
- Office fell into abeyance after 200 BC
- Not needed once there were large numbers of magistrates
- Office felt to be out of sync with oligarchic form of government
Censors
- Peculiar office
- Violates normal rules for magistrates
- Instituted in 443 or 435 BC
- Two
- Hold census, let out contracts, enroll senators
- Hold office 18 mos.
- Elected every five years
Quaestors
- Have no imperium
- Financial officials
- Start as aids to consuls
- Elected starting 447 BC
- More created over time
- Each mag. with imperium has one
Senate
- Body of ex-magistrates
- Derived from old council of kings
- "Senator" derived from "elder" (senex)
- Called into session by a magistrate
- Its decrees not laws
-
Its advice hard to ignore
- Eventually gains control over provinc. assignments,
state finances
Assemblies
- Very limited powers of deliberation
- Called into session by mag.
- Could only accept/reject proposal of mag.
- Public feeling sounded out in contio (informal assembly)
- Voting by units
- Units of unequal numbers of members
- Each unit has one vote determined by majority of its voters
- Powers:
- Elect magistrates
- Vote on laws
- Determine legal cases
Centuriate Assembly (comitia centuriata)
- Originally based on organization of army
- 193 "centuries" each with one vote
- Originally a military unit of 100 men
- As attested in the centuriate assembly, centuries could have hugely different numbers of voters
- Arrangements become fossilized, real army changes
- Based on census qualifications
- New census conducted every five years by censors
- Five census classes based on wealth
- Higher classes had:
- higher minimum qualifications
- higher obligations in terms of mil. equip.
- 187 centuries divided among the five classes
- a few extra for special military functions give a total of 193 centuries
- First census class plus cavalry control half of votes (later reduced to just under half)
- Everyone who doesn't meet min. qual. for mil. service (majority of pop.) votes in one century
- Powers:
- Elect mags. with imperium
- Basically the soldiery elect their senior commanders
- Pass laws
- Decide capital trials
Tribal assembly
- Voting units: geographical tribes
- Number of tribes for Rome itself always four
- 20 rural tribes at start of Republic
- Number of rural tribes increases as Rome annexes territory
- Final total of 31 rural tribes reached in 242 BC
- Powers:
- Elect mags. w/out imperium
- Decide non-capital trials (those involving a fine)
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