Lex Aurelia De Tribunicia Potestate
   HOME
*





Lex Aurelia De Tribunicia Potestate
The ''lex Aurelia de tribunicia potestate'' ("Aurelius's law on the power of tribunes") was a law introduced by the consul Gaius Aurelius Cotta in 75 BC. This law gave former tribunes of the plebs the right to hold further cursus honorum, magistracies, which had been forbidden by the Roman dictator, dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla a few years earlier. Background The Constitutional_reforms_of_Sulla, constitutional reforms made by Sulla between 82 and 80 BC had comprehensively reduced the powers of the tribunate. Sulla's dislike of the office, and his view of it as dangerous due to its use by radical populares politicians, lead him to reduce both the scope of its powers and its prestige. By removing the right for tribunes of the plebs to hold further magistracies he drastically reduced the appeal of the post on the career path of ambitious politicians. An earlier attempt to repeal these aspects of Sulla's constitution had been attempted in 78 BC by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 7 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Gaius Aurelius Cotta
Gaius Aurelius Cotta (124–73 BC) was a Roman statesman, orator, priest, and Academic Skeptic; he is not to be confused with Gaius Aurelius Cotta who was twice Consul in the 3rd century BC. Life Born in 124 BC, he was the uncle to Julius Caesar through Caesar's mother, Aurelia. In 92 BC he defended his uncle Publius Rutilius Rufus, who had been unjustly accused of extortion in Asia. He was on intimate terms with the tribune Marcus Livius Drusus, who was murdered in 91 BC, and in the same year was an unsuccessful candidate for the tribunate. Shortly afterwards he was prosecuted under the ''lex Varia'', the law proposed by Quintus Varius Severus which was directed against all who had in any way supported the Italians against Rome, and, in order to avoid condemnation, went into voluntary exile. He did not return until 82 BC, during the dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In 75 he was consul, and excited the hostility of the ''optimates'' by carrying a law that abolished the Su ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Tribunes Of The Plebs
Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of the Roman Senate and magistrates. These tribunes had the power to convene and preside over the ''Concilium Plebis'' (people's assembly); to summon the senate; to propose legislation; and to intervene on behalf of plebeians in legal matters; but the most significant power was to veto the actions of the consuls and other magistrates, thus protecting the interests of the plebeians as a class. The tribunes of the plebs were sacrosanct, meaning that any assault on their person was punishable by death. In imperial times, the powers of the tribunate were granted to the emperor as a matter of course, and the office itself lost its independence and most of its functions.''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 2nd Ed. (1970), "Tribuni Plebis." It was cu ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Cursus Honorum
The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The ''cursus honorum'' comprised a mixture of military and political administration posts; the ultimate prize for winning election to each "rung" in the sequence was to become one of the two ''consuls'' in a given year. Each office had a minimum age for election; there were also minimum intervals between holding successive offices and laws forbade repeating an office. These rules were altered and flagrantly ignored in the course of the last century of the Republic. For example, Gaius Marius held consulships for five years in a row between 104 BC and 100 BC. He was consul seven times in all, also serving in 107 and 86. Officially presented as opportunities for public service, the offices often became mere opportunities for self-aggrandizement. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Roman Dictator
A Roman dictator was an extraordinary Roman magistrate, magistrate in the Roman Republic endowed with full authority to resolve some specific problem to which he had been assigned. He received the full powers of the state, subordinating the other magistrates, Roman consul, consuls included, for the specific purpose of resolving that issue, and that issue only, and then dispensing with those powers forthwith. Dictators were still controlled and accountable during their terms in office: the Senate still exercised some oversight authority and the right of Tribune of the Plebs, plebeian tribunes to veto his actions or of the people to appeal from them was retained. The extent of a dictator's mandate strictly controlled the ends to which his powers could be directed. Dictators were also liable to prosecution after their terms completed. Dictators were frequently appointed from the earliest period of the Republic down to the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), but the magistracy then ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had the distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as reviving the dictatorship. A gifted and innovative general, he achieved numerous successes in wars against foreign and domestic opponents. Sulla rose to prominence during the war against the Numidian king Jugurtha, whom he captured as a result of Jugurtha's betrayal by the king's allies, although his superior Gaius Marius took credit for ending the war. He then fought successfully against Germanic tribes during the Cimbrian War, and Italic tribes during the Social War. He was awarded the Grass Crown for his bravery at the Battle of Nola. Sulla was closely associated with Venus, adopting the title Epaphroditos meaning favored of Aphrodite/Venus. Sulla played an important role ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Constitutional Reforms Of Sulla
The constitutional reforms of Sulla were a series of laws enacted by the Roman dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla between 82 and 80 BC, reforming the Constitution of the Roman Republic in a revolutionary way. In the decades before Sulla had become dictator, Roman politics became increasingly violent. Shortly before Sulla's first consulship, the Romans fought the bloody Social War against their Italian allies, victorious mostly due to their immediate concession on the Italians' war goal of gaining Roman citizenship. Sulla's dictatorship followed more domestic unrest after the war and was a culmination in this trend for violence, with his leading an army on Rome for the second time in a decade and purging his opponents from the body politic in bloody proscriptions. In the aftermath of Sulla's civil war and a decade of internecine conflict following the Social War, the republic had collapsed. Sulla attempted to resolve this crisis by embarking on a large reform programme inaugurati ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Populares
Optimates (; Latin for "best ones", ) and populares (; Latin for "supporters of the people", ) are labels applied to politicians, political groups, traditions, strategies, or ideologies in the late Roman Republic. There is "heated academic discussion" as to whether Romans would have recognised an ideological content or political split in the label. Among other things, ''optimates'' have been seen as supporters of the continued authority of the senate, politicians who operated mostly in the senate, or opponents of the ''populares''. The ''populares'' have also been seen as focusing on operating before the popular assemblies, generally in opposition to the senate, using "the populace, rather than the senate, as a means or advantage. References to optimates (also called ''boni'', "good men") and ''populares'' are found among the writings of Roman authors of the 1st century BC. The distinction between the terms is most clearly established in Cicero's ''Pro Sestio'', a speec ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 78 BC)
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus ( 121 – 77 BC) was a Roman statesman and general. After the death of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, he joined or instigated a rebellion against the government established by Lucius Cornelius Sulla, demanding a consecutive term as consul late in his year and – when refused – marching on Rome. Lepidus' forces were defeated in a battle near the Milvian Bridge and he fled to Sardinia. He was the father of the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and of one of the consuls for 50 BC, the other was Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus. Early career During the Social War Lepidus fought in northern Italy under Pompeius Strabo, who was consul in 89 BC. He was probably aedile while Sulla was in Greece fighting the First Mithridatic War.Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2012 In 82 BC, during Sulla's civil war, he fought for Sulla. Some time during Sulla's dictatorship, he held the praetorship. He captured Norba, in Latium, which had sided with Sulla's enemies. Appian wrote that ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Optimates
Optimates (; Latin for "best ones", ) and populares (; Latin for "supporters of the people", ) are labels applied to politicians, political groups, traditions, strategies, or ideologies in the late Roman Republic. There is "heated academic discussion" as to whether Romans would have recognised an ideological content or political split in the label. Among other things, ''optimates'' have been seen as supporters of the continued authority of the Roman senate, senate, politicians who operated mostly in the senate, or opponents of the ''populares''. The ''populares'' have also been seen as focusing on operating before the Constitution of the Roman Republic#Assemblies, popular assemblies, generally in opposition to the Roman senate, senate, using "the populace, rather than the senate, as a means [for advantage]". References to optimates (also called ''boni'', "good men") and ''populares'' are found among the writings of Roman authors of the 1st century BC. The distinction bet ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Marcus Aurelius Cotta (consul 74 BC)
Marcus Aurelius Cotta was a Roman politician and general who was consul in 74 BC. He was posted to Bithynia with a Roman fleet as part of the Third Mithridatic War. He was defeated by King Mithridates VI of Pontus. Rescued by his fellow consul he reduced the Pontic coast and captured the city of Heraclea after a two-year siege. Returning to Rome in 70 BC, Cotta was acclaimed for his victory. However, around 67 BC he was convicted of the misappropriation of war booty and expelled from the Senate, a signal mark of disgrace. Family Cotta, hailing from a distinguished plebeian family, was the son of Lucius Aurelius Cotta who was consul in 119 BC, while his older brother Gaius Aurelius Cotta preceded him as consul in 75 BC. His younger brother Lucius Aurelius Cotta was consul in 65 BC. Aurelia Cotta, the mother of Julius Caesar, was his half-sister. Career Climbing the cursus honorum, the sequential mixture of military and political administrative positions held by aspiring polit ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Cursus Honorum
The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The ''cursus honorum'' comprised a mixture of military and political administration posts; the ultimate prize for winning election to each "rung" in the sequence was to become one of the two ''consuls'' in a given year. Each office had a minimum age for election; there were also minimum intervals between holding successive offices and laws forbade repeating an office. These rules were altered and flagrantly ignored in the course of the last century of the Republic. For example, Gaius Marius held consulships for five years in a row between 104 BC and 100 BC. He was consul seven times in all, also serving in 107 and 86. Officially presented as opportunities for public service, the offices often became mere opportunities for self-aggrandizement. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


List Of Roman Laws
This is a partial list of Roman laws. A Roman law (Latin: ''lex'') is usually named for the sponsoring legislator and designated by the adjectival form of his ''gens'' name ('' nomen gentilicum''), in the feminine form because the noun ''lex'' (plural ''leges'') is of feminine grammatical gender. When a law is the initiative of the two consuls, it is given the name of both, with the ''nomen'' of the senior consul first. Sometimes a law is further specified by a short phrase describing the content of the law, to distinguish that law from others sponsored by members of the same ''gens''. Roman laws Post-Roman law codes based on Roman legislation *''lex Romana Burgundionum'' one of the law tables for Romans after the fall of the Western Roman Empire *'' lex Romana Visigothorum'' (AD 506) one of the law tables for Romans after the fall of the Western Roman Empire General denominations *'' lex agraria'' A law regulating distribution of public lands *'' lex annalis'' A law re ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]