Chapter 27

[128]Cic.de Div.ii. 33, 70 (the difficulty of answering for results may appeal to aMarsus augurbut not to a Roman) “non enim sumus ii nos augures, qui avium reliquorumve signorum observatione futura dicamus.” Cf. i. 58, 132 “Non habeo ... nauci Marsum augurem, non vicanos haruspices, non de circo astrologos, non Isiacos conjectores, non interpretes somniorum. Non enim sunt ii aut scientia aut arte divini.”[129]See the treatment of the auspices in the section on the magistracy (p. 163).[130]Strangely enough the Greek belief in oracular or prophetic power did not lead to the conception of a priesthood set apart from the people. But the Greek science of divination, though associated with oracles and prophecy, did not aim much higher than the Roman. Its object was generally to win approval for a contemplated course of action.[131]Cic.de Leg.ii. 8, 21 “Quaeque augur injusta, nefasta, vitiosa, dira defixerit, inrita infectaque sunto; quique non paruerit, capital esto.”[132]Serv. adAen.vi. 190 “auguria aut oblativa sunt, quae non poscuntur, aut impetrativa, quae optata veniunt.” For the categories of these two kinds of auspices see the discussion of the auspices in the section on the magistracy (p. 162).[133]Liv. vi. 41 “Auspiciis hanc urbem conditam esse, auspiciis bello ac pace, domi militiaeque omnia geri, quis est qui ignoret?”[134]This view is most fully expressed in the formalities of theinterregnum. See the section which treats of this institution (p. 147).[135]Cic.de Div.i. 16, 28 “Nihil fere quondam majoris rei, nisi auspicato, ne privatim quidem, gerebatur: quod etiam nunc nuptiarum auspices declarant, qui, re omissa, nomen tantum tenent.” In i. 17, 31 we have the story of Attus Navius taking auspices byavesin a private matter. Cf. Liv. vi. 41.[136]Cic.de Div.i. 16, 28 (see last note); Suet.Claud.26; Tac.Ann.xi. 27.[137]Liv. iv. 2 “Quas quantasque res C. Canuleium adgressum? Conluvionem gentium, perturbationem auspiciorum publicorum privatorumque adferre.” Yet this passage has only an indirect reference to the matrimonialauspicia. The argument is that intermarriage would cause the pure Patriciate to disappear, and with it the general right of takingauspicia impetrativa.[138]Cic.de Div.ii. 36, 76 “a populo auspicia accepta habemus.” The relation ofauspicia habereto thespectiois that the former denotes the abstract right of questioning the gods, the latter its exercise in a particular case (Momms.Staatsr.i. 89 n. 3). The specification by the magistrate of the signs which he wished to see was known aslegum dictio(Serv. adAen.iii. 89; cf. p. 43 n. 2).[139]A similar confusion was at an earlier period introduced with reference to the givers of the auspices. They are said to be given by the people (Cic.de Div.ii. 36, 76; p. 39), but the great bulk of the people (i.e. the Plebs) did not possess them.[140]p. 3.[141]Dionys. iv. 14 (Servius Tullius) τὰς καταγραφὰς τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ τὰς εἰσπράξεις τῶν χρημάτων ... οὐκέτι κατὰ τὰς τρεῖς φυλὰς τὰς γενικάς, ὡς πρότερον, κ.τ.λ. VarroL.L.v. 181 “Tributum dictum a tribubus, quod ea pecunia, quae populo imperata erat, tributim a singulis pro portione census exigebatur.”[142]Fromlegere, VarroL.L.v. 87.[143]VarroL.L.v. 89 “milites quod trium milium primo legio fiebat, ac singulae tribus Titiensium, Ramnium, Lucerum milia singula militum mittebant.”[144]ib. 81 “tribuni militum quod terni tribus tribubus Ramnium, Lucerum, Titium olim ad exercitum mittebantur.” On the other hand, Servius (inAen.v. 560) says that thetribuniwere so called because they presided over one-third of the whole force.[145]p. 12.[146]Liv. i. 36.[147]e.g. Calabra, Foriensis, Veliensis. Other names (such as Titia) may be eponymous.[148]Festus p. 62 “curionia sacra, quae in curiis fiebant”; p. 64 “curiales flamines curiarum sacerdotes.”[149]ib. p. 49 (s.v.curia) “locus est, ubi publicas curas gerebant.”[150]See note 1.[151]Festus p. 126; Liv. xxvii. 8.[152]Festus p. 55 “Celeres antiqui dixerunt, quos nunc equites dicimus ... qui primitus electi fuerunt ex singulis curiis deni, ideoque omnino trecenti fuere.”[153]Liv. i. 26; Cic.de Rep.ii. 31, 54.[154]Dionys. ii. 14.[155]“Generale jussum” (Capito ap. Gell. x. 20).[156]Lexis probably connected etymologically with the Germanlegen(Gothiclagjan) as θεσμός with τίθημι.[157]In business we haveleges locationis, venditionis, in the structure of corporations alex collegii. On the other hand, in thelegum dictioof augury, which is the statement of the mode of the answer of the gods to a request, in thelex datagiven to individuals by a magistrate (e.g. theleges censoriae) or granted by Rome as a charter to a subject state, there seems to be the idea of a purely one-sided ordinance.[158]Dionys. iii. 62; Cic.de Rep.ii. 17, 31.[159]Tac.Ann.xi. 22; Ulp. inDig.i. 13.[160]VarroL.L.v. 80 “Praetor dictus, qui praeiret jure et exercitu.” But the title is, perhaps, a purely military one (prae-itor, “the man who goes before the army”).[161]Festus p. 198 “in magistro populi faciendo, qui vulgo Dictator appellatur.”[162]Cic.de Rep.i. 26, 42.Regnumdenotes the position of the king as head of the state (ib. ii. 27), but not the regal power.[163]Lictoris probably derived fromlicere. For other attempts at derivation see Gell. xii. 8. They summon, not only to the assembly, but also to the courts, and are thus the chief mark of jurisdiction and coercive power (coercitio). The individualcuriaewere probably summoned by the thirtylictores curiatii, who survive into the later Republic. See Momms.Staatsr.i. p. 392. For the number of lictors that accompanied the king see Cic.de Rep.ii. 17, 31; Liv. i. 8; Dionys. ii. 29; iii. 61, 62.[164]Serv. inAen.vii. 188, 612; xi. 334; Ov.Fast.ii. 503.[165]Cic.de Fin.ii. 21, 69; Dionys. iii. 61.[166]Festus p. 49 “currules magistrates appellati sunt, quia curru vehebantur.”[167]Dionys. iv. 74.[168]Festus p. 209 “Picta quae nunc toga dicitur purpurea ante vocitata est eaque erat sine pictura.” It was alreadypicta(διάχρυσος) in Polybius’ time (Polyb. vi. 53).[169]Liv. i. 56.[170]“Arvi et arbusta et pascui lati atque uberes” (Cic.de Rep.v. 2, 3). Cf. Liv. ii. 5.[171]p. 8.[172]Cic.de Rep.ii. 12, 24 “Nostri illi etiam turn agrestes viderunt virtutem et sapientiam regalem, non progeniem quaeri oportere.” Cf. App.B.C.i. 98.[173]Liv. i. 7 and 18.[174]Liv. i. 17; Cic.de Rep.ii. 17, 31.[175]Theinterregnum, though only an occasional office in the Republic, is represented as an invariable part of the procedure in the transmission of the kingly power (Liv. i. 47).[176]Dionys. v. 1; Liv. xl. 42.[177]Tac.Ann.i. 14 and 81; Dio Cass. liii. 21, 7; lviii. 20, 3.[178]Cic.de Rep.ii. 12, 23; Liv. i. 17; Dionys. ii. 57.[179][Cic.]ad Brut.i. 5, 4.[180]Cf. Serv. inAen.vi. 808 “Romulo mortuo cum ... Senatus ... regnasset per decurias.”[181]Dionys. ii. 57 διακληρωσάμενοι.[182]Dionys. ii. 57 τοῖς λαχοῦσι δέκα πρώτοις ἀπέδωκαν ἄρχειν τῆς πόλεως τὴν αὐτόκρατορ’ ἀρχήν: Liv. i. 17 “decem imperitabant, unus cum insignibus imperii et lictoribus erat.”[183]In the accounts of this procedure an important element is probably omitted, i.e. that each individualinterrexnominated his successor. The first could not nominate the king, as he had not received the auspices in due form.[184]Mommsen (Staatsr.i. pp. 213, 214) takes a different view, arguing that the king was in every case nominated, not by therex, but by theinterrex, on the legal ground that the appointment of a successor would have been one of those “actus legitimi qui non recipiunt diem vel condicionem” (such ashereditatis aditio,tutoris datio), and which “in totum vitiantur per temporis vel condicionis adjectionem” (Papin. inDig.50, 17, 77). But, even in the regal period, there may have been one condition which did not vitiate such acts, i.e. death (see p. 29).[185]Liv. i. 17, 22, 32, 41, 47.[186]Cic.de Leg.Agr. ii. 10, 26; ii. 11, 28;ad Fam.i. 9, 25.[187]Cic.de Rep.ii. 13, 25 “Numam ... qui ... quamquam populus curiatis eum comitiis regem esse jusserat, tamen ipse de suo imperio curiatam legem tulit.”[188]Liv. i. 41 “Servius, praesidio firmo munitus, primus injussu populi, voluntate patrum regnavit.”[189]Cic.de Rep.ii. 17, 31 “Tullum Hostilium populus regem, interrege rogante, comitiis curiatis creavit, isque de imperio suo ... populum consuluit curiatim.”[190]The lastinjustus dominusof Rome ruled “neque populi jussu neque auctoribus patribus” (Cic.de Rep.ii. 24, 45; Liv. i. 49).[191]Thus Romulus takes his own auspices on the Palatine (Liv. i. 6).[192]p. 39.[193]Liv. i. 18 “de se ... deos consuli jussit.”[194]Labeo ap. Gell. xv. 27, 1; Liv. xl. 42, 8.[195]Dionys. ii. 14; iv. 74; Plut.Ti. Gracch.15.[196]Festus p. 185; Labeo ap. Gell. xv. 27; Ov.Fastiii. 21.[197]This is shown by his sacrifices on the Kalends and on the Nones (sacra nonalia) and his offering of a ram to Janus in theregiaon theAgonalia(Jan. 9) (Festus p. 10; VarroL.L.vi. 12; Ov.Fastii. 317).[198]Festus p. 113; Macrob. i. 15, 19.[199]Liv. i. 20 “Numa Pontificem ... Numam Marcium M. f. ex patribus legit, eique sacra omnia exscripta exsignataque attribuit, quibus hostiis, quibus diebus, ad quae templa sacra fierent, atque unde in eos suraptus pecunia erogaretur. Cetera quoque omnia publica privataque sacra Pontificis scitis subjecit, ut esset, quo consultum plebes veniret: ne quid divini juris, negligendo patrios ritus, peregrinos que adsciscendo, turbaretur, etc.” But afterwards (in 449B.C.) Livy (iii. 54) implies the existence of a college, without mentioning its institution. Cf. iv. 44.[200]Cic.de Rep.ii. 14, 26.[201]Liv. x. 6.[202]Bouché-LeclercqLes Pontifes de l’ancienne Romep. 9. That the king was pontiff is stated by Plutarch (Numa9), Servius (adAen.iii. 81), and Zosimus (iv. 36), but the evidence may be vitiated by the position of the Princeps aspontifex maximus.[203]Liv. i. 20 (p. 51 n. 5); cf. AmbroschStudienp. 22.[204]Cic.de Rep.ii. 9, 16;de Div.i. 2, 3.[205]Liv. i. 20 “Tum sacerdotibus creandis animum adjecit, quamquam ipse plurima sacra obibat, ea maxime quae nunc ad Dialem flaminem pertinent.”[206]As, e.g., the nomination of Flamines belonged to the Latin dictator (Ascon. inMilon.p. 32).[207]Gaius i. 130. The same was the case with the Vestal (Gell. i. 12).[208]For the Flamen see Liv. xxxi. 50; Festus p. 104. For the Vestal, Gell. x. 15.[209]Plut.Numa10.[210]Liv. i. 20 (cited p. 51).[211]Supplicium, fromsub-placo, death as a sin-offering (Festus p. 308 “supplicia ... sacrificia a supplicando”);castigatio(“castum agere”) purification through atonement. On the other handpoena,multa,taliobear witness to a theory of compensation and private vengeance. See ReinCriminalrechtp. 39.[212]Liv. i. 26; Dionys. iii. 22; Festus pp. 297 and 307.[213]Festus p. 222; Gell. iv. 3.[214]Macrob. i. 16, 10 “prudentem expiare non posse.”[215]Cic.de Leg.ii. 9, 22.[216]Dionys. ii. 10; Serv. adAen.vi. 609.[217]Festus p. 230.[218]Dionys. ii. 74; Festus p. 368.[219]Plin.H.N.xviii. 3, 12.[220]Bouché-LeclercqLes Pontifesp. 196. In thelex sacratawhich protected the tribunes we meet with this distinction (Liv. iii. 55).[221]Festus p. 318 “At homo sacer is est, quem populus judicavit ob maleficium; neque fas est eum immolari, sed qui occidit, parricidi non damnatur.” This is the meaning ofsaceras employed in theleges sacrataeof the early Republic (Liv. ii. 8; iii. 55).[222]Thesacramentum(literally “oath”) in theactio sacramentois best explained as an atonement (piaculum) in the form of a money payment for the expiable, because involuntary, perjury of the litigant who has maintained a false claim. When the process was secularised, thesacramentumcame to be considered a simple wager. See DanzDer sacrale Schutzpp. 151 ff.[223]Cic.de Rep.ii. 17, 31 “constituitque jus, quo bella indicerentur; quod per se justissime inventum sanxit fetiali religione, ut omne bellum, quod denuntiatum indictumque non esset, id injustum esse atque impium judicaretur.”[224]VarroL.L.v. 86 “Fetiales ... fidei publicae inter populos praeerant; nam per hos fiebat ut justum conciperetur bellum et inde desitum, ut foedere fides pacis constitueretur. Ex his mittebantur, antequam conciperetur, qui res repeterent, etc.”[225]Cic.de Leg.ii. 9, 21 “Foederum, pacis, belli, indutiarum ratorum fetiales judices nuntii sunto; bella disceptanto.” The wordfetialisis probably connected withfateri(and Oscanfatium). Thus the “Fetiales” are speakers (oratores), cf. Festus p. 182. Dionysius (ii. 72) ascribes the creation of the Fetiales to Numa; Livy (i. 32) speaks as if they were due to Ancus Martius, but in another passage (i. 24) implies their earlier existence. Cicero attributes them to Tullus Hostilius (Cic.de Rep.ii. 17, 31). The ceremonies of the college are described in Dionys. ii. 72 and Liv. i. 32.[226]Sometimes, the better to secure divine assistance, the enemy, his cities, and his lands were all devoted to the gods. For the incantation see Macrob. iii. 9, 10 “Dis pater Vejovis Manes, sive quo alio nomine fas est nominare ... uti vos eas urbes agrosque capita aetatesque eorum devotas consecratasque habeatis ollis legibus, quibus quandoque sunt maxime hostes devoti; eosque ego ... do devoveo.” The site of such cities was cursed, as in Republican times that of Fregellae, Carthage, and Corinth.[227]Macrob. iii. 9, 7 “Si deus, si dea est, cui populus civitasque ... est in tutela, teque maxime, ille qui urbis hujus populique tutelam recepisti ... a vobis peto ut vos populum civitatemque ... deseratis ... proditique Romam ad me meosque veniatis, nostraque vobis loca templa sacra urbs acceptior probatiorque sit.”[228]Cincius ap. Arnob. iii. 38 “solere Romanos religiones urbium superatarum partim privatim per familias spargere, partim publice consecrare.”[229]e.g. theevocatioat the siege of Veii, thedevotioon the fall of Carthage.[230]Plut.Ti. Gracch.15; Tac.Ann.iii. 26. See next citation.[231]Tac.Ann.iii. 26 “nobis Romulus, ut libitum, imperitaverat: dein Numa religionibus et divino jure populum devinxit, repertaque quaedam a Tullo et Anco. Sed praecipuus Servius Tullius sanctor legum fuit, quis etiam reges obtemperarent.”[232]Pomponius inDig.1, 2, 2 “et ita leges quasdam et ipse (Romulus) curiatas ad populum tulit; tulerunt et sequentes reges. Quae omnes conscriptæ extant in libro Sexti Papirii, qui fuit illis temporibus, quibus Superbus Demarati Corinthii filius, ex principalibus viris. Is liber, ut diximus, appellatur jus civile Papirianum, non quia Papirius de suo quicquam ibi adjecit, sed quod leges sine ordine latas in unum composuit.” This code was commented on by Granius Flaccus (Paul. inDig.50, 16, 144), a contemporary of Julius Caesar. C. Papirius is said to have beenpontifex maximus(Dionys. iii. 36), and Mommsen (Staatsr.ii. p. 41) thinks that theleges regiaewere simply pontifical ordinances, specifying amongst other things such offences as we have mentioned as coming underfas(p. 54).[233]Sall.Cat.6 “imperium legitimum, nomen imperii regium habebant.”[234]“Regium consilium” (Cic.de Rep.ii. 8, 14). The function of the Senate was περὶ παντὸς ὃτου ἂν εἰσηγῆται βασιλεὺς διαγινὼσκειν (Dionys. ii. 14).[235]Festus p. 246 “Praeteriti senatores quondam in opprobrio non erant, quod, ut reges sibi legebant sublegebantque, quos in consilio publico haberent, ita post exactos eos consules quoque et tribuni militum consulari potestate conjunctissimos sibi quosque patriciorum et deinde plebeiorum legebant.”[236]p. 13.[237]Liv. i. 8.[238]ib. 17 and 35; ii. 1. On the nature of this increase see WillemsLe Sénatp. 21.[239]p. 13.[240]p. 12.[241]Liv. i. 32.[242]Dionys. ii. 14. One of the privileges of the people was περὶ πολέμου διαγινώσκειν ὃταν ὁ βασιλεύς ἐφῇ.[243]Cic.de Rep.ii. 9, 15 “Cum ipse (Romulus) nihil ex praeda domum suam reportaret, locupletare cives non destitit”; ii. 14, 26 “ac primum agros, quos bello Romulus ceperat, divisit viritim civibus.” Cf. Dionys. ii. 28 and 62.[244]Liv. i. 49 “cognitiones capitalium rerum sine consiliis per se solus exercebat.”[245]ib. 59; see p. 41.[246]Tac.Ann.vi. 11 “namque antea, profectis domo regibus ac mox magistratibus, ne urbs sine imperio foret, in tempus deligebatur qui jus redderet ac subitis mederetur ... duratque simulacrum, quotiens ob ferias Latinas praeficitur qui consulare munus usurpet.” Cf. Liv. i. 59; Dionys. ii. 12.[247]Yet Livy and Dionysius represent thetribunus celerumas summoning the assembly (Liv. i. 59; Dionys. iv. 71).[248]Dionys. ii. 14 (amongst the powers of the king were) τῶν τε ἀδικημάτων τὰ μέγιστα μὲν αὐτὸν δικάζειν, τὰ δ’ ἐλάττονα τοῖς βουλευταῖς ἐπιτρέπειν. It is difficult, however, to determine whether the reference is to civil wrongs or to crimes.[249]ib. iv. 25 ἐκεῖνος (Servius Tullius) διελὼν ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδιωτικῶν (ἐγκλημάτων) τὰ δημόσια, τῶν μὲν εἰς τὸ κοινὸν φερόντων ἀδικημάτων αὐτὸς ἐποιεῖτο τὰς διαγνώσεις, τῶν δὲ ἰδιωτικῶν ἰδιώτας ἔταξεν εἶναι δικαστάς, ὅρους καὶ κανόνας αὐτοῖς τάξας, οὓς αὐτὸς ἔγραψε νόμους. The principle here described perhaps refers to delegation rather than to the distinction betweenjusandjudiciumin civil process.[250]For derivations ofjussee ClarkPract. Jurisprudencepp. 16-20; Bréal “Sur l’origine des mots designant le droit en Latin” inNouvelle Revue Historique de droitvol. vii. (1883) pp. 607 sq.[251]Dionys. l.c.[252]Liv. i 26.[253]Zonaras vii. 13 (who attributes their institution to Publicola) identifies thequaestoreswith thequaestores parricidii, οἷ πρῶτον μὲν τὰς θανασίμους δίκας ἐδίκαζον, ὄθεν καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν ταύτην διὰ τὰς ἀνακρίσεις ἐσχήκασι καὶ διὰ τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας ἐκ τῶν ἀνακρίσεων ζήτησιν. Cf. VarroL.L.v. 81. Mommsen (Staatsr.ii. pp. 523 sq.) thinks the financial quaestors as standing officials originated with the Republic; but he believes (p. 539) that they had their origin in the criminalquaestores(a word which bears the same relation toquaesitoresassartortosarcitororquaerotoquaesivi, p. 537). Cf. Tac.Ann.xi. 22 (p. 81); Ulpian inDig.i. 13.[254]Liv. l.c.[255]Cic.pro Mil.3, 7;de Rep.ii. 31, 54; Festus p. 297.[256]Liv. i 26 “Si a duumviris provocarit provocatione certato ... auctore Tullo, ... ‘provoco’ inquit.”[257]ib. viii. 33.[258]Cf. IheringGeist des röm. Rechtsi. pp. 257 ff.[259]Provocatioseems to mean a challenge, i.e. a challenge by an accused to a magistrate to appear before another tribunal, on the ground that he is not acting within his own right; cf. Gaius iv. 93 (of theactio per sponsionem) “Provocamus adversarium tali sponsione.”[260]“In this conflict of competence the position of the king was far more favourable than that of the people, since the people could only be summoned by the king. Hence the share of the people in criminal jurisdiction was reduced to a minimum” (IheringGeist des röm. Rechtsi. p. 258).[261]“Judiciis regiis” (Cic.de Rep.v. 2, 3).[262]p. 56.[263]SavignySystem, vi. p. 287; BernhöftStaat und Recht der Königszeitp. 230. The idea of its being an innovation has sometimes been associated with Dionysius’s description (iv. 25, see p. 62) of a change in jurisdiction introduced by Servius Tullius.[264]Cic.pro Cluent.43, 120 “Neminem voluerunt majores nostri non modo de existimatione cujusquam, sed ne pecuniaria quidem de re minima esse judicem, nisi qui inter adversarios convenisset.”

[129]See the treatment of the auspices in the section on the magistracy (p. 163).

[130]Strangely enough the Greek belief in oracular or prophetic power did not lead to the conception of a priesthood set apart from the people. But the Greek science of divination, though associated with oracles and prophecy, did not aim much higher than the Roman. Its object was generally to win approval for a contemplated course of action.

[131]Cic.de Leg.ii. 8, 21 “Quaeque augur injusta, nefasta, vitiosa, dira defixerit, inrita infectaque sunto; quique non paruerit, capital esto.”

[132]Serv. adAen.vi. 190 “auguria aut oblativa sunt, quae non poscuntur, aut impetrativa, quae optata veniunt.” For the categories of these two kinds of auspices see the discussion of the auspices in the section on the magistracy (p. 162).

[133]Liv. vi. 41 “Auspiciis hanc urbem conditam esse, auspiciis bello ac pace, domi militiaeque omnia geri, quis est qui ignoret?”

[134]This view is most fully expressed in the formalities of theinterregnum. See the section which treats of this institution (p. 147).

[135]Cic.de Div.i. 16, 28 “Nihil fere quondam majoris rei, nisi auspicato, ne privatim quidem, gerebatur: quod etiam nunc nuptiarum auspices declarant, qui, re omissa, nomen tantum tenent.” In i. 17, 31 we have the story of Attus Navius taking auspices byavesin a private matter. Cf. Liv. vi. 41.

[136]Cic.de Div.i. 16, 28 (see last note); Suet.Claud.26; Tac.Ann.xi. 27.

[137]Liv. iv. 2 “Quas quantasque res C. Canuleium adgressum? Conluvionem gentium, perturbationem auspiciorum publicorum privatorumque adferre.” Yet this passage has only an indirect reference to the matrimonialauspicia. The argument is that intermarriage would cause the pure Patriciate to disappear, and with it the general right of takingauspicia impetrativa.

[138]Cic.de Div.ii. 36, 76 “a populo auspicia accepta habemus.” The relation ofauspicia habereto thespectiois that the former denotes the abstract right of questioning the gods, the latter its exercise in a particular case (Momms.Staatsr.i. 89 n. 3). The specification by the magistrate of the signs which he wished to see was known aslegum dictio(Serv. adAen.iii. 89; cf. p. 43 n. 2).

[139]A similar confusion was at an earlier period introduced with reference to the givers of the auspices. They are said to be given by the people (Cic.de Div.ii. 36, 76; p. 39), but the great bulk of the people (i.e. the Plebs) did not possess them.

[140]p. 3.

[141]Dionys. iv. 14 (Servius Tullius) τὰς καταγραφὰς τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ τὰς εἰσπράξεις τῶν χρημάτων ... οὐκέτι κατὰ τὰς τρεῖς φυλὰς τὰς γενικάς, ὡς πρότερον, κ.τ.λ. VarroL.L.v. 181 “Tributum dictum a tribubus, quod ea pecunia, quae populo imperata erat, tributim a singulis pro portione census exigebatur.”

[142]Fromlegere, VarroL.L.v. 87.

[143]VarroL.L.v. 89 “milites quod trium milium primo legio fiebat, ac singulae tribus Titiensium, Ramnium, Lucerum milia singula militum mittebant.”

[144]ib. 81 “tribuni militum quod terni tribus tribubus Ramnium, Lucerum, Titium olim ad exercitum mittebantur.” On the other hand, Servius (inAen.v. 560) says that thetribuniwere so called because they presided over one-third of the whole force.

[145]p. 12.

[146]Liv. i. 36.

[147]e.g. Calabra, Foriensis, Veliensis. Other names (such as Titia) may be eponymous.

[148]Festus p. 62 “curionia sacra, quae in curiis fiebant”; p. 64 “curiales flamines curiarum sacerdotes.”

[149]ib. p. 49 (s.v.curia) “locus est, ubi publicas curas gerebant.”

[150]See note 1.

[151]Festus p. 126; Liv. xxvii. 8.

[152]Festus p. 55 “Celeres antiqui dixerunt, quos nunc equites dicimus ... qui primitus electi fuerunt ex singulis curiis deni, ideoque omnino trecenti fuere.”

[153]Liv. i. 26; Cic.de Rep.ii. 31, 54.

[154]Dionys. ii. 14.

[155]“Generale jussum” (Capito ap. Gell. x. 20).

[156]Lexis probably connected etymologically with the Germanlegen(Gothiclagjan) as θεσμός with τίθημι.

[157]In business we haveleges locationis, venditionis, in the structure of corporations alex collegii. On the other hand, in thelegum dictioof augury, which is the statement of the mode of the answer of the gods to a request, in thelex datagiven to individuals by a magistrate (e.g. theleges censoriae) or granted by Rome as a charter to a subject state, there seems to be the idea of a purely one-sided ordinance.

[158]Dionys. iii. 62; Cic.de Rep.ii. 17, 31.

[159]Tac.Ann.xi. 22; Ulp. inDig.i. 13.

[160]VarroL.L.v. 80 “Praetor dictus, qui praeiret jure et exercitu.” But the title is, perhaps, a purely military one (prae-itor, “the man who goes before the army”).

[161]Festus p. 198 “in magistro populi faciendo, qui vulgo Dictator appellatur.”

[162]Cic.de Rep.i. 26, 42.Regnumdenotes the position of the king as head of the state (ib. ii. 27), but not the regal power.

[163]Lictoris probably derived fromlicere. For other attempts at derivation see Gell. xii. 8. They summon, not only to the assembly, but also to the courts, and are thus the chief mark of jurisdiction and coercive power (coercitio). The individualcuriaewere probably summoned by the thirtylictores curiatii, who survive into the later Republic. See Momms.Staatsr.i. p. 392. For the number of lictors that accompanied the king see Cic.de Rep.ii. 17, 31; Liv. i. 8; Dionys. ii. 29; iii. 61, 62.

[164]Serv. inAen.vii. 188, 612; xi. 334; Ov.Fast.ii. 503.

[165]Cic.de Fin.ii. 21, 69; Dionys. iii. 61.

[166]Festus p. 49 “currules magistrates appellati sunt, quia curru vehebantur.”

[167]Dionys. iv. 74.

[168]Festus p. 209 “Picta quae nunc toga dicitur purpurea ante vocitata est eaque erat sine pictura.” It was alreadypicta(διάχρυσος) in Polybius’ time (Polyb. vi. 53).

[169]Liv. i. 56.

[170]“Arvi et arbusta et pascui lati atque uberes” (Cic.de Rep.v. 2, 3). Cf. Liv. ii. 5.

[171]p. 8.

[172]Cic.de Rep.ii. 12, 24 “Nostri illi etiam turn agrestes viderunt virtutem et sapientiam regalem, non progeniem quaeri oportere.” Cf. App.B.C.i. 98.

[173]Liv. i. 7 and 18.

[174]Liv. i. 17; Cic.de Rep.ii. 17, 31.

[175]Theinterregnum, though only an occasional office in the Republic, is represented as an invariable part of the procedure in the transmission of the kingly power (Liv. i. 47).

[176]Dionys. v. 1; Liv. xl. 42.

[177]Tac.Ann.i. 14 and 81; Dio Cass. liii. 21, 7; lviii. 20, 3.

[178]Cic.de Rep.ii. 12, 23; Liv. i. 17; Dionys. ii. 57.

[179][Cic.]ad Brut.i. 5, 4.

[180]Cf. Serv. inAen.vi. 808 “Romulo mortuo cum ... Senatus ... regnasset per decurias.”

[181]Dionys. ii. 57 διακληρωσάμενοι.

[182]Dionys. ii. 57 τοῖς λαχοῦσι δέκα πρώτοις ἀπέδωκαν ἄρχειν τῆς πόλεως τὴν αὐτόκρατορ’ ἀρχήν: Liv. i. 17 “decem imperitabant, unus cum insignibus imperii et lictoribus erat.”

[183]In the accounts of this procedure an important element is probably omitted, i.e. that each individualinterrexnominated his successor. The first could not nominate the king, as he had not received the auspices in due form.

[184]Mommsen (Staatsr.i. pp. 213, 214) takes a different view, arguing that the king was in every case nominated, not by therex, but by theinterrex, on the legal ground that the appointment of a successor would have been one of those “actus legitimi qui non recipiunt diem vel condicionem” (such ashereditatis aditio,tutoris datio), and which “in totum vitiantur per temporis vel condicionis adjectionem” (Papin. inDig.50, 17, 77). But, even in the regal period, there may have been one condition which did not vitiate such acts, i.e. death (see p. 29).

[185]Liv. i. 17, 22, 32, 41, 47.

[186]Cic.de Leg.Agr. ii. 10, 26; ii. 11, 28;ad Fam.i. 9, 25.

[187]Cic.de Rep.ii. 13, 25 “Numam ... qui ... quamquam populus curiatis eum comitiis regem esse jusserat, tamen ipse de suo imperio curiatam legem tulit.”

[188]Liv. i. 41 “Servius, praesidio firmo munitus, primus injussu populi, voluntate patrum regnavit.”

[189]Cic.de Rep.ii. 17, 31 “Tullum Hostilium populus regem, interrege rogante, comitiis curiatis creavit, isque de imperio suo ... populum consuluit curiatim.”

[190]The lastinjustus dominusof Rome ruled “neque populi jussu neque auctoribus patribus” (Cic.de Rep.ii. 24, 45; Liv. i. 49).

[191]Thus Romulus takes his own auspices on the Palatine (Liv. i. 6).

[192]p. 39.

[193]Liv. i. 18 “de se ... deos consuli jussit.”

[194]Labeo ap. Gell. xv. 27, 1; Liv. xl. 42, 8.

[195]Dionys. ii. 14; iv. 74; Plut.Ti. Gracch.15.

[196]Festus p. 185; Labeo ap. Gell. xv. 27; Ov.Fastiii. 21.

[197]This is shown by his sacrifices on the Kalends and on the Nones (sacra nonalia) and his offering of a ram to Janus in theregiaon theAgonalia(Jan. 9) (Festus p. 10; VarroL.L.vi. 12; Ov.Fastii. 317).

[198]Festus p. 113; Macrob. i. 15, 19.

[199]Liv. i. 20 “Numa Pontificem ... Numam Marcium M. f. ex patribus legit, eique sacra omnia exscripta exsignataque attribuit, quibus hostiis, quibus diebus, ad quae templa sacra fierent, atque unde in eos suraptus pecunia erogaretur. Cetera quoque omnia publica privataque sacra Pontificis scitis subjecit, ut esset, quo consultum plebes veniret: ne quid divini juris, negligendo patrios ritus, peregrinos que adsciscendo, turbaretur, etc.” But afterwards (in 449B.C.) Livy (iii. 54) implies the existence of a college, without mentioning its institution. Cf. iv. 44.

[200]Cic.de Rep.ii. 14, 26.

[201]Liv. x. 6.

[202]Bouché-LeclercqLes Pontifes de l’ancienne Romep. 9. That the king was pontiff is stated by Plutarch (Numa9), Servius (adAen.iii. 81), and Zosimus (iv. 36), but the evidence may be vitiated by the position of the Princeps aspontifex maximus.

[203]Liv. i. 20 (p. 51 n. 5); cf. AmbroschStudienp. 22.

[204]Cic.de Rep.ii. 9, 16;de Div.i. 2, 3.

[205]Liv. i. 20 “Tum sacerdotibus creandis animum adjecit, quamquam ipse plurima sacra obibat, ea maxime quae nunc ad Dialem flaminem pertinent.”

[206]As, e.g., the nomination of Flamines belonged to the Latin dictator (Ascon. inMilon.p. 32).

[207]Gaius i. 130. The same was the case with the Vestal (Gell. i. 12).

[208]For the Flamen see Liv. xxxi. 50; Festus p. 104. For the Vestal, Gell. x. 15.

[209]Plut.Numa10.

[210]Liv. i. 20 (cited p. 51).

[211]Supplicium, fromsub-placo, death as a sin-offering (Festus p. 308 “supplicia ... sacrificia a supplicando”);castigatio(“castum agere”) purification through atonement. On the other handpoena,multa,taliobear witness to a theory of compensation and private vengeance. See ReinCriminalrechtp. 39.

[212]Liv. i. 26; Dionys. iii. 22; Festus pp. 297 and 307.

[213]Festus p. 222; Gell. iv. 3.

[214]Macrob. i. 16, 10 “prudentem expiare non posse.”

[215]Cic.de Leg.ii. 9, 22.

[216]Dionys. ii. 10; Serv. adAen.vi. 609.

[217]Festus p. 230.

[218]Dionys. ii. 74; Festus p. 368.

[219]Plin.H.N.xviii. 3, 12.

[220]Bouché-LeclercqLes Pontifesp. 196. In thelex sacratawhich protected the tribunes we meet with this distinction (Liv. iii. 55).

[221]Festus p. 318 “At homo sacer is est, quem populus judicavit ob maleficium; neque fas est eum immolari, sed qui occidit, parricidi non damnatur.” This is the meaning ofsaceras employed in theleges sacrataeof the early Republic (Liv. ii. 8; iii. 55).

[222]Thesacramentum(literally “oath”) in theactio sacramentois best explained as an atonement (piaculum) in the form of a money payment for the expiable, because involuntary, perjury of the litigant who has maintained a false claim. When the process was secularised, thesacramentumcame to be considered a simple wager. See DanzDer sacrale Schutzpp. 151 ff.

[223]Cic.de Rep.ii. 17, 31 “constituitque jus, quo bella indicerentur; quod per se justissime inventum sanxit fetiali religione, ut omne bellum, quod denuntiatum indictumque non esset, id injustum esse atque impium judicaretur.”

[224]VarroL.L.v. 86 “Fetiales ... fidei publicae inter populos praeerant; nam per hos fiebat ut justum conciperetur bellum et inde desitum, ut foedere fides pacis constitueretur. Ex his mittebantur, antequam conciperetur, qui res repeterent, etc.”

[225]Cic.de Leg.ii. 9, 21 “Foederum, pacis, belli, indutiarum ratorum fetiales judices nuntii sunto; bella disceptanto.” The wordfetialisis probably connected withfateri(and Oscanfatium). Thus the “Fetiales” are speakers (oratores), cf. Festus p. 182. Dionysius (ii. 72) ascribes the creation of the Fetiales to Numa; Livy (i. 32) speaks as if they were due to Ancus Martius, but in another passage (i. 24) implies their earlier existence. Cicero attributes them to Tullus Hostilius (Cic.de Rep.ii. 17, 31). The ceremonies of the college are described in Dionys. ii. 72 and Liv. i. 32.

[226]Sometimes, the better to secure divine assistance, the enemy, his cities, and his lands were all devoted to the gods. For the incantation see Macrob. iii. 9, 10 “Dis pater Vejovis Manes, sive quo alio nomine fas est nominare ... uti vos eas urbes agrosque capita aetatesque eorum devotas consecratasque habeatis ollis legibus, quibus quandoque sunt maxime hostes devoti; eosque ego ... do devoveo.” The site of such cities was cursed, as in Republican times that of Fregellae, Carthage, and Corinth.

[227]Macrob. iii. 9, 7 “Si deus, si dea est, cui populus civitasque ... est in tutela, teque maxime, ille qui urbis hujus populique tutelam recepisti ... a vobis peto ut vos populum civitatemque ... deseratis ... proditique Romam ad me meosque veniatis, nostraque vobis loca templa sacra urbs acceptior probatiorque sit.”

[228]Cincius ap. Arnob. iii. 38 “solere Romanos religiones urbium superatarum partim privatim per familias spargere, partim publice consecrare.”

[229]e.g. theevocatioat the siege of Veii, thedevotioon the fall of Carthage.

[230]Plut.Ti. Gracch.15; Tac.Ann.iii. 26. See next citation.

[231]Tac.Ann.iii. 26 “nobis Romulus, ut libitum, imperitaverat: dein Numa religionibus et divino jure populum devinxit, repertaque quaedam a Tullo et Anco. Sed praecipuus Servius Tullius sanctor legum fuit, quis etiam reges obtemperarent.”

[232]Pomponius inDig.1, 2, 2 “et ita leges quasdam et ipse (Romulus) curiatas ad populum tulit; tulerunt et sequentes reges. Quae omnes conscriptæ extant in libro Sexti Papirii, qui fuit illis temporibus, quibus Superbus Demarati Corinthii filius, ex principalibus viris. Is liber, ut diximus, appellatur jus civile Papirianum, non quia Papirius de suo quicquam ibi adjecit, sed quod leges sine ordine latas in unum composuit.” This code was commented on by Granius Flaccus (Paul. inDig.50, 16, 144), a contemporary of Julius Caesar. C. Papirius is said to have beenpontifex maximus(Dionys. iii. 36), and Mommsen (Staatsr.ii. p. 41) thinks that theleges regiaewere simply pontifical ordinances, specifying amongst other things such offences as we have mentioned as coming underfas(p. 54).

[233]Sall.Cat.6 “imperium legitimum, nomen imperii regium habebant.”

[234]“Regium consilium” (Cic.de Rep.ii. 8, 14). The function of the Senate was περὶ παντὸς ὃτου ἂν εἰσηγῆται βασιλεὺς διαγινὼσκειν (Dionys. ii. 14).

[235]Festus p. 246 “Praeteriti senatores quondam in opprobrio non erant, quod, ut reges sibi legebant sublegebantque, quos in consilio publico haberent, ita post exactos eos consules quoque et tribuni militum consulari potestate conjunctissimos sibi quosque patriciorum et deinde plebeiorum legebant.”

[236]p. 13.

[237]Liv. i. 8.

[238]ib. 17 and 35; ii. 1. On the nature of this increase see WillemsLe Sénatp. 21.

[239]p. 13.

[240]p. 12.

[241]Liv. i. 32.

[242]Dionys. ii. 14. One of the privileges of the people was περὶ πολέμου διαγινώσκειν ὃταν ὁ βασιλεύς ἐφῇ.

[243]Cic.de Rep.ii. 9, 15 “Cum ipse (Romulus) nihil ex praeda domum suam reportaret, locupletare cives non destitit”; ii. 14, 26 “ac primum agros, quos bello Romulus ceperat, divisit viritim civibus.” Cf. Dionys. ii. 28 and 62.

[244]Liv. i. 49 “cognitiones capitalium rerum sine consiliis per se solus exercebat.”

[245]ib. 59; see p. 41.

[246]Tac.Ann.vi. 11 “namque antea, profectis domo regibus ac mox magistratibus, ne urbs sine imperio foret, in tempus deligebatur qui jus redderet ac subitis mederetur ... duratque simulacrum, quotiens ob ferias Latinas praeficitur qui consulare munus usurpet.” Cf. Liv. i. 59; Dionys. ii. 12.

[247]Yet Livy and Dionysius represent thetribunus celerumas summoning the assembly (Liv. i. 59; Dionys. iv. 71).

[248]Dionys. ii. 14 (amongst the powers of the king were) τῶν τε ἀδικημάτων τὰ μέγιστα μὲν αὐτὸν δικάζειν, τὰ δ’ ἐλάττονα τοῖς βουλευταῖς ἐπιτρέπειν. It is difficult, however, to determine whether the reference is to civil wrongs or to crimes.

[249]ib. iv. 25 ἐκεῖνος (Servius Tullius) διελὼν ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδιωτικῶν (ἐγκλημάτων) τὰ δημόσια, τῶν μὲν εἰς τὸ κοινὸν φερόντων ἀδικημάτων αὐτὸς ἐποιεῖτο τὰς διαγνώσεις, τῶν δὲ ἰδιωτικῶν ἰδιώτας ἔταξεν εἶναι δικαστάς, ὅρους καὶ κανόνας αὐτοῖς τάξας, οὓς αὐτὸς ἔγραψε νόμους. The principle here described perhaps refers to delegation rather than to the distinction betweenjusandjudiciumin civil process.

[250]For derivations ofjussee ClarkPract. Jurisprudencepp. 16-20; Bréal “Sur l’origine des mots designant le droit en Latin” inNouvelle Revue Historique de droitvol. vii. (1883) pp. 607 sq.

[251]Dionys. l.c.

[252]Liv. i 26.

[253]Zonaras vii. 13 (who attributes their institution to Publicola) identifies thequaestoreswith thequaestores parricidii, οἷ πρῶτον μὲν τὰς θανασίμους δίκας ἐδίκαζον, ὄθεν καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν ταύτην διὰ τὰς ἀνακρίσεις ἐσχήκασι καὶ διὰ τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας ἐκ τῶν ἀνακρίσεων ζήτησιν. Cf. VarroL.L.v. 81. Mommsen (Staatsr.ii. pp. 523 sq.) thinks the financial quaestors as standing officials originated with the Republic; but he believes (p. 539) that they had their origin in the criminalquaestores(a word which bears the same relation toquaesitoresassartortosarcitororquaerotoquaesivi, p. 537). Cf. Tac.Ann.xi. 22 (p. 81); Ulpian inDig.i. 13.

[254]Liv. l.c.

[255]Cic.pro Mil.3, 7;de Rep.ii. 31, 54; Festus p. 297.

[256]Liv. i 26 “Si a duumviris provocarit provocatione certato ... auctore Tullo, ... ‘provoco’ inquit.”

[257]ib. viii. 33.

[258]Cf. IheringGeist des röm. Rechtsi. pp. 257 ff.

[259]Provocatioseems to mean a challenge, i.e. a challenge by an accused to a magistrate to appear before another tribunal, on the ground that he is not acting within his own right; cf. Gaius iv. 93 (of theactio per sponsionem) “Provocamus adversarium tali sponsione.”

[260]“In this conflict of competence the position of the king was far more favourable than that of the people, since the people could only be summoned by the king. Hence the share of the people in criminal jurisdiction was reduced to a minimum” (IheringGeist des röm. Rechtsi. p. 258).

[261]“Judiciis regiis” (Cic.de Rep.v. 2, 3).

[262]p. 56.

[263]SavignySystem, vi. p. 287; BernhöftStaat und Recht der Königszeitp. 230. The idea of its being an innovation has sometimes been associated with Dionysius’s description (iv. 25, see p. 62) of a change in jurisdiction introduced by Servius Tullius.

[264]Cic.pro Cluent.43, 120 “Neminem voluerunt majores nostri non modo de existimatione cujusquam, sed ne pecuniaria quidem de re minima esse judicem, nisi qui inter adversarios convenisset.”

Back to Index Next