Auctoritas
Politics of ancient Rome |
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Auctoritas is a
In ancient Rome, auctoritas referred to the level of prestige a person had in Roman society, and, as a consequence, his standing, influence, and ability to rally support around his will. Auctoritas was not merely political, however; it had a numinous content and symbolized the mysterious "power of command" of heroic Roman figures.
Noble women could also achieve a degree of auctoritas. For example, the wives, sisters, and mothers of the Julio-Claudians had immense influence on society, the masses, and the political apparatus. Their auctoritas was exercised less overtly than that of their male counterparts due to Roman societal norms, but they were powerful nonetheless.[2]
Etymology and origin
According to linguist
Auctor in the sense of "author", comes from auctor as founder or, one might say, "planter-cultivator"[citation needed]. Similarly, auctoritas refers to rightful ownership, based on one's having "produced" or homesteaded the article of property in question – more in the sense of "sponsored" or "acquired" than "manufactured". This auctoritas would, for example, persist through an usucapio of ill-gotten or abandoned property.
Political meaning in ancient Rome
Politically, the
The 19th-century
In the private domain, those under tutelage (guardianship), such as women and minors, were similarly obliged to seek the sanction of their tutors ("protectors") for certain actions. Thus, auctoritas characterizes the auctor: The pater familias authorizes—that is, validates and legitimates—his son's wedding in prostate. In this way, auctoritas might function as a kind of "passive counsel", much as, for example, a scholarly authority.
In traditional imperial Rome, exceptions could be made to override legal concepts and rules of law under specific military and political situations. This authority allowed the imperial power to safeguard the state and its citizens. In cases where it was necessary to protect the state, a dictator could be appointed by the senate to temporarily override the fundamental laws and rules of the Roman Constitution.[citation needed]
Auctoritas principis
After the fall of the
Middle Ages
The notion of auctoritas was often invoked by the papacy during the Middle Ages, in order to secure the
Hannah Arendt
This section possibly contains original research. (November 2023) |
Arendt further considered the sense of auctor and auctoritas in various Latin idioms, and the fact that auctor was used in contradistinction to – and (at least by Pliny) held in higher esteem than – artifices, the artisans to whom it might fall to "merely" build up or implement the author-founder's vision and design.[6]
See also
- Authoritarianism – Political system characterized by the rejection of democracy and political pluralism
- Authority – Legitimate power to decide or authorize
- Athenian law – Laws and legal institutions of Ancient Greece
- Constitution of the Roman Republic
- Discipline – Self-control
- Hierarchy – System of elements that are subordinated to each other
- Mund (law) – Germanic legal relationship
- Nobility – Official privileged social class
- Piety – Religious devotion or spirituality
- Potestas – Latin word meaning power or faculty
- Roman law – Legal system of Ancient Rome (c. 449 BC – AD 529)
- Virtues in ancient Rome
References and sources
- References
- ^ "What does auctoritas mean?". Definitions.net. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ISBN 9781138138124.
- J. B. Greenoughdisputes this etymology of auctor – but not the sense of foundation and augmentation – in "Latin Etymologies", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 4, 1893.
- ^ Cicero, De legibus, III.28
- ^ Arendt, Hannah (1965). "Foundation II: Novus Ordo Saeclorum". On Revolution.
- ^ Arendt, Hannah (1968). "What is Authority?". Between Past and Future.
- Sources
- Cicero, De Legibus (1st century BC)
- Theodor Mommsen, Römisches Staatsrecht, Volume III, Chapter 2. (1887)
- William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. (1875, 1890 editions)
- Alvaro d'Ors, Derecho privado romano (10 ed. Eunsa, 2004)
- Rafael Domingo Osle, Auctoritas (Ariel, 1999)