Constitution of the Roman Empire
Politics of ancient Rome |
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Periods |
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Constitution |
Political institutions |
Assemblies |
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Ordinary magistrates |
Extraordinary magistrates |
Public law |
Senatus consultum ultimum |
Titles and honours |
The Constitution of the Roman Empire was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles passed down mainly through precedent.
The powers of an emperor existed by virtue of his legal standing. The two most significant components to an emperor's power were the "tribunician powers"
. Any individual of the senatorial class could run for one of these offices. If an individual was not of the senatorial class, he could run for one of these offices if he was allowed to run by the emperor, or otherwise, he could be appointed to one of these offices by the emperor.Imperial constitutional history
The general who won the
On 13 January 27 BC, Octavian gave up his extraordinary powers, including his proconsular imperium, triumvirate authority, and powers granted in the consensus universorum, back to the Senate and people of Rome.
At this point, the Senate also granted Octavian the title "augustus" and the position of princeps senatus, or the first Senator. When Augustus, as Octavian was renamed, gave up the consulship in 23 BC,[5] the Senate granted him an expansion of his proconsular authority, with legal authority at the same level as those of the normal consuls. Furthermore, Augustus expanded the use of the tribunician powers granted in 36 BC, which allowed him to interfere in administration, convoke the people, propose legislation, veto other political bodies, etc.[5] After these final reforms had been instituted, Augustus never again altered his constitution,[7] although he did periodically assume the office of censor to affect changes in the Senatorial rolls (alone in 8 BC, and with Tiberius in AD 14) and hold the consulship (twice after 23 BC).[5] When, in 20 BC, a famine in Rome led to the people offering Augustus the dictatorship, he refused, instead taking on the cura annonae: the administration of the grain supply.[5] And when the ten-year term of his proconsular authority elapsed, he continued the fiction of the temporary nature of his authority, having it renewed in 18 BC, 13 BC, 8 BC, 3 BC, and 8 AD.[5] While there were minor changes in the provinces which he governed by nature of his proconsular authority (Gallia Narbonensis and Cyprus were returned to the Senate's administration in 22 BC),[5] its overriding nature did not change until after his death.
Augustus' final goal was to figure out a method to ensure an orderly succession, something necessary in any monarchical constitution and to avoid the resurgence of civil war. Augustus could not transfer his powers to a successor upon his death, as they were given specifically to him for some fixed term or during his life.[8] Thus, any successor would need to have his own authority and influence. In 6 BC Augustus granted tribunician powers to his stepson Tiberius and recognised Tiberius as his heir.[8] In AD 13, a law was passed which made Tiberius' legal powers equivalent to and independent from those of Augustus.[9]
On Augustus' death, Tiberius had to take control of the state, since the nominally republican constitution did not allow for the dead emperor to bequeath powers.
Over time, the consulship was increasingly devalued, as the practice of selecting suffect consuls expanded, with sometimes up to 12 pairs of colleagues being elected every year by the Antonine period.[15] With its duties of state increasingly being folded into the office of emperor, its judicial authority was emphasised in the Senate's new role as a criminal court. The consuls lost practically all their political powers and took over responsibility for organising public games to celebrate holidays and imperial events.[16][12] The political power of many of the Republic's other magistracies was also neutered and high offices of state effectively became municipal offices with primarily administrative duties only in Rome. The praetors became administrators of the grain dole and games, retaining some judicial authority over civil and criminal cases until the third century.[17][14] The duties of the aediles were to organise policing of games and public funerals, their judicial authority stripped away in 36 AD, and the office fell out of use by the middle of the third century.[17][18] The tribunes, who theoretically retained their veto powers, which were irrelevant because they could be overridden by the emperor,[18] became presidents of various new city regions.[17]
Vespasian's reign saw the reorganisation of the Senate from a body of aristocratic Romans to one of the Empire's aristocracy, with its membership and privileges given by the emperor.[19] Domitian's reign marked a significant turning point on the road to monarchy and the end of the constitutional arrangement whereby the Senate and Emperor ruled the Empire together.[20] After making himself consul for ten years, Domitian made himself Censor for life, and unlike his father, he used these powers to further subjugate the Senate by controlling its membership.[20] Throughout his reign, he abrogated the rights of senators, only referred to it the most trivial matters, prevented it from acting on matters of any import, and forced it into compliance through his use of censorial powers.[21] In effect, it became a rubber stamp. While the Senate regained some authority when it elected the emperor Nerva, by this point, the powers that were theoretically held by the last remaining republican institution of any import, were clearly defined only by the will of the emperor.[22]
Senate
After the fall of the
The first emperor, Augustus, inherited a senate whose membership had been increased to 900 senators by his predecessor, the
The power that the emperor held over the senate was absolute, in part due to the fact that the emperor was also censor, meaning he controlled membership in the body itself.[25] During senate meetings, the emperor sat between the two Consuls,[26] and usually acted as the presiding officer. Higher ranking senators spoke before lower ranking senators, although the emperor could speak at any time.[26] Most of the bills that came before the senate were presented by the emperor,[26] who had usually appointed a committee to draft each bill before presenting it. While the Roman assemblies continued to meet after the founding of the empire, their powers were all transferred to the senate, and so senatorial decrees (senatus consulta) acquired the full force of law.[25] The legislative powers of the imperial senate were principally of a financial and an administrative nature, although the senate did retain a range of powers over the provinces.[25] During the early empire, all judicial powers that had been held by the Roman assemblies were also transferred to the senate. For example, the senate now held jurisdiction over criminal trials. In these cases, a Consul presided, the senators constituted the jury, and the verdict was handed down in the form of a decree (senatus consultum),[27] and, while a verdict could not be appealed, the emperor could pardon a convicted individual through a veto. In theory, the senate elected new emperors, while in conjunction with the popular assemblies, it would then confer upon the new emperor his command powers (imperium).[28] After an emperor had died or abdicated his office, the senate would often deify him, although sometimes it would pass a decree (damnatio memoriae or "damnation from memory") which would attempt to cancel every trace of that emperor from the life of Rome, as if he had never existed.[28] The emperor Tiberius transferred all electoral powers from the assemblies to the senate,[28] and, while theoretically the senate elected new magistrates, the approval of the emperor was always needed before an election could be finalized.[28]
Legislative Assemblies
The Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Empire were political institutions in the ancient
While the machinery of the
After the founding of the empire, the tribal divisions of citizens and freedmen continued, but the only political purpose of the tribal divisions was such that they better enabled the senate to maintain a list of citizens.
The
Executive Magistrates
The Executive Magistrates were elected individuals of the ancient
By virtue of his proconsular powers, the emperor held the same grade of military command authority as did the chief magistrates (the
Under the empire, the citizens were divided into three classes, and for members of each class, a distinct career path was available (known as the
The end of the Principate
During the period that began with the accession of the emperor Nerva and ended with the death of the emperor Commodus, the empire continued to weaken. It was becoming difficult to recruit enough soldiers for the army, inflation was becoming an issue, and on at least one occasion, the empire almost went bankrupt. The most significant constitutional development during this era was the steady drift towards monarchy. It is not known exactly how M. Cocceius Nerva became emperor, although he was probably supported by the conspirators who overthrew Domitian. His reign, while too short for any major constitutional reforms, did reverse some of the abuses that his predecessor was responsible for.[43] When Nerva died in January 98, Trajan succeeded him without opposition. Trajan went further than even Nerva had in restoring the image of a free republic.[43] He refused to preside over capital trials against senators, and was away from Rome for such extended periods that the senate even regained some independent legislative abilities.[43]
Hadrian succeeded Trajan as emperor. By far, his most important constitutional alteration was his creation of a bureaucratic apparatus,[44] which included a fixed gradation of clearly defined offices, and a corresponding order of promotion. Many of the functions that had been outsourced in the past were now to be performed by the state, and this system would be revived by the emperor Diocletian when he established the Tetrarchy.[44] Hadrian was succeeded by Antoninus Pius, who made no real changes to the constitution.[45] He was succeeded by Marcus Aurelius in 161. The most significant constitutional development that occurred during the reign of Marcus Aurelius was the revival of the republican principle of collegiality,[45] as he made his brother, L. Aelius,[46] his co-emperor. Marcus Aurelius ruled the western half of the empire, while his brother ruled the eastern half of the empire. In 169, Aelius died, and in 176, Marcus Aurelius made his son, L. Aurelius Commodus, his new co-emperor. This arrangement was also revived when the emperor Diocletian established the Tetrarchy. In 180, Marcus Aurelius died, and Commodus became emperor. Commodus' tyranny revived the worst memories of the later Julian emperors,[47] as he was more explicit than any of his predecessors in taking powers that he did not legally have, and in disregarding the constitution. He was killed in 192.
No further constitutional reforms were enacted during the Principate. The only development of any significance was the continuing slide towards monarchy, as the constitutional distinctions that had been set up by Augustus lost whatever meaning that they still had. Starting in 235, with the reign of the barbarian emperor Maximinus Thrax, the empire was put through a period of severe military, civil, and economic stress. The crisis arguably reached its height during the reign of Gallienus, from 260 to 268. The crisis ended with the accession of Diocletian in 284, who reformed the imperial military, administrative, and economic system, and in doing so abolished the Principate in favour of a naked autocratic empire.
See also
- Roman Kingdom
- Roman Republic
- Roman Empire
- Roman Law
- Plebeian Council
- Centuria
- Curia
- Roman consul
- Praetor
- Roman censor
- Quaestor
- Aedile
- Roman Dictator
- Master of the Horse
- Roman Senate
- Cursus honorum
- Byzantine Senate
- Pontifex Maximus
- Princeps senatus
- Interrex
- Promagistrate
- Acta Senatus
- Constitution (Roman law)
References
- ISBN 0-16-058996-7.
- ^ Abbott, Frank Frost (1963). A History and Descriptions of Roman Political Institutions (3 ed.). New York: Noble Offset Printers Inc. p. 398.
- ^ a b Abbott 1963, p. 344.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 267.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Taylor, Thomas Marris (1899). A Constitutional and Political History of Rome. London: Methuen & Co. pp. 410–417.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 268.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 271.
- ^ a b Abbott 1963, p. 272.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 273.
- ^ a b Abbott 1963, p. 289.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 291.
- ^ a b Taylor 1899, pp. 426–429.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 293.
- ^ a b c d Abbott 1963, p. 377.
- ISBN 0-691-05400-2.
- ^ a b Abbott 1963, p. 376.
- ^ a b c Taylor 1899, p. 430.
- ^ a b c d e Abbott 1963, p. 378.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 308.
- ^ a b Abbott 1963, p. 310.
- ^ Taylor 1899, p. 489.
- ^ Taylor 1899, p. 490.
- ^ a b Abbott 1963, p. 381.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 382.
- ^ a b c Abbott 1963, p. 385.
- ^ a b c Abbott 1963, p. 383.
- ^ Abbott 1963, pp. 385–386.
- ^ a b c d Abbott 1963, p. 386.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 278.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Abbott 1963, p. 397.
- ^ Taylor 1899, p. 428.
- ^ Taylor 1899, p. 426.
- ^ Taylor 1899, p. 427.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 342.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 341.
- ^ a b Abbott 1963, p. 345.
- ^ a b c d Abbott 1963, p. 357.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 356.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 354.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 349.
- ^ a b Abbott 1963, p. 374.
- ^ Abbott 1963, p. 379.
- ^ a b c Abbott 1963, p. 317.
- ^ a b Abbott 1963, p. 318.
- ^ a b Abbott 1963, p. 319.
- ^ Peacock, Phoebe B. Lúcio Vero (161–169 A.D.). Library of Congress. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
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ignored (help) - ^ Abbott 1963, p. 320.
Further reading
- Cicero, Marcus Tullius (1841). The Political Works of Marcus Tullius Cicero: Comprising his Treatise on the Commonwealth; and his Treatise on the Laws. Vol. 1 (Translated from the original, with Dissertations and Notes in Two Volumes By Francis Barham, Esq ed.). London: Edmund Spettigue.
- Holland, Tom (2005). Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic. Random House Books. ISBN 1-4000-7897-0.
- Polybius (1823). The General History of Polybius: Translated from the Greek. Vol. 2 (Fifth ed.). Oxford: Printed by W. Baxter.
- Taylor, Lily Ross (1966). Roman Voting Assemblies: From the Hannibalic War to the Dictatorship of Caesar. The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08125-X.
- Taylor, Lily Ross; Scott, Russell T (1969). "Seating Space in the Roman Senate and the Senatores Pedarii". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 100. The Johns Hopkins University Press: 529–582. JSTOR 2935928.