Lex Hortensia

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The lex Hortensia, also sometimes referred to as the Hortensian law, was a law passed in

Plebeian Council, known as plebiscita, binding on all citizens.[1] It was passed by the dictator Quintus Hortensius in a compromise to bring the plebeians back from their secession to the Janiculum.[1]

It was the final result of the long

plebeians.[5]

Causes

In the annalistic tradition, around the year 287 BC, a plebeian dictator by the name of Hortensius was appointed to handle a civil uprising that eventually led to the secession of the plebs to the Janiculum hill;

Centuriate Assembly, or comitia centuriata, did the plebs return to the city.[7] The annals attribute the cause of the uprising to debt problems, with the proximate cause being the call to arms to fight against the Lucanians, giving the plebeians more leverage in depriving the patricians of needed manpower in the war.[8]

However, there is considerable reason to doubt this story,

Third Samnite War.[9]

Due to the extreme measures taken by the consuls, however, it is likely that considerable urban unrest predicated this reform.[11] With both the urban and the rural sections of the populace clamouring for reform and the military necessities of manpower granting the plebs a strong negotiating position, the law entered the realm of the inevitable.[11] Of course, necessary to pass such specific and controlling legislation was an organised movement, likely coordinated by the plebeian tribunes in the city.[10]

Provisions

The lex Hortensia was a step in a series of reforms that secured political freedom for the plebs. In the early Republic, before the start of reforms, laws passed by the

lex Valeria-Horatia in 449 BC, plebiscites could become binding to all Romans, and not just plebeians, if they were ratified by the Senate.[4] However, after the passage of lex Pubilia, the ratification of laws was moved to before the passage of the bill in the concilium plebis, which apparently reduced the chance of senatorial obstruction.[4]

Furthermore, the law created restrictions on when votes could be scheduled. For example, votes could no longer be held on market days, which could have interfered in economic business. However, this served as an impediment towards the participation of rural plebeians in the concilium plebis, as they were then unable to vote on convenient days when they would have been in the city.[12]

As a question of legal semantics, there remained a difference between a plebiscitum, a plebeian law, and a lex, a law per se. The lex Hortensia simply changed the recognition of the plebiscitum such that it was treated as if it were a lex. Later, as the distinction became immaterial, all binding laws, formerly leges or plebiscita, became referred to leges as well.[13][14]

Legacy

The passage of the Hortensian law ended a significant chapter in the

Plebeian Council in legislation, with primarily minor and procedural laws passed in the late Republic. The law cemented the authority of the Roman people, making plebeians and their tribunes important political players, which previous laws had failed to do.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-19-926108-3
    .
  2. JSTOR 4430760
    .
  3. ^ Abbott, Frank Frost (1963). A History and Descriptions of Roman Political Institutions (3 ed.). New York: Biblo and Tannen. p. 32.
  4. ^ a b c Abbott 1963, p. 52.
  5. ^ a b Abbott 1963, p. 53.
  6. JSTOR 41532825
    .
  7. ^ Maddox 1983, p. 277.
  8. ^ Maddox 1983, p. 278.
  9. ^ a b c Maddox 1983, p. 280.
  10. ^ a b Maddox 1983, p. 283.
  11. ^ a b Maddox 1983, p. 286.
  12. ^ Maddox 1983, pp. 284–285.
  13. doi:10.1163/156852559X00248
    .
  14. ^ "Roman law". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  15. JSTOR 4430760
    .

External links
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