The Roman Constitution was an uncodified set of guidelines and principles passed down mainly through precedent.
[Byrd, 161] The Roman constitution was not formal or even official, largely unwritten and constantly evolving. Having those characteristics, it was therefore more like the British and United States
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...
system than a sovereign law system like the English
Constitutions of Clarendon
The Constitutions of Clarendon were a set of legislative procedures passed by Henry II of England in 1164. The Constitutions were composed of 16 articles and represent an attempt to restrict ecclesiastical privileges and curb the power of the Chu ...
and
Great Charter or the
United States Constitution, even though the constitution's evolution through the years was often directed by passage of new laws and repeal of older ones.
Concepts that originated in the Roman constitution live on in both forms of government to this day. Examples include checks and balances, the
separation of powers
Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...
,
veto
A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
es,
filibusters,
quorum requirements,
term limits,
impeachments,
the powers of the purse, and regularly scheduled
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...
. Even some lesser used modern constitutional concepts, such as the bloc voting found in the
electoral college of the United States, originate from ideas found in the Roman constitution.
Over the years, the Roman constitution continuously evolved. By the late 5th century BC, the
Constitution of the Roman Kingdom
The Constitution of the Roman Kingdom was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles originating mainly through precedent.Byrd, 161 During the years of the Roman Kingdom, the constitutional arrangement was centered on the king, who had the pow ...
had given way to the
Constitution of the Roman Republic
The constitution of the Roman Republic was a set of uncodified norms and customs which, together with various written laws, guided the procedural governance of the Roman Republic. The constitution emerged from that of the Roman kingdom, evolve ...
. By 27 BC, the Constitution of the Roman Republic had transformed into the
Constitution of the Roman Empire
The Constitution of the Roman Empire was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles passed down mainly through precedent. After the fall of the Roman Republic, the constitutional balance of power shifted from the Roman Senate to the Roman Empe ...
. By 300 AD, the Constitution of the Roman Empire had been reformed into the
Constitution of the Late Roman Empire
The constitution of the late Roman Empire was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles passed down, mainly through precedent, which defined the manner in which the late Roman Empire was governed. As a matter of historical convention, the late ...
. The actual changes, however, were quite gradual. Together, these four constitutions formed four epochs in the continuous evolution of one master constitution.
Legislative assemblies
The first Roman assembly, the ''
comitia curiata
The Curiate Assembly (''comitia curiata'') was the principal assembly that evolved in shape and form over the course of the Roman Kingdom until the Comitia Centuriata organized by Servius Tullius. During these first decades, the people of Rome w ...
'', was founded during the early kingdom.
Its only political role was to elect new kings. Sometimes, the king would submit his decrees to it for ratification. In the early years of the Republic, the ''comitia curiata'' was the only legislative assembly with any power. Shortly after the founding of the Republic, however, the ''comitia centuriata'' and the ''
comitia populi tributa'' became the predominant elective and legislative assemblies.
Most modern legislative assemblies are bodies consisting of elected representatives. Their members typically propose and debate bills. These modern assemblies use a form of
representative democracy
Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...
. In contrast, the assemblies of the Roman Republic used a form of
direct democracy. The Roman assemblies were bodies of ordinary citizens, rather than elected representatives. In this regard, bills voted on (called
plebiscite
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...
s) were similar to modern popular referendums.
Unlike many modern assemblies, Roman assemblies were not
bicameral. That is to say that bills did not have to pass both major assemblies in order to be enacted into law. In addition, no other branch had to ratify a bill (''
rogatio
:''See Rogation days for usage pertaining to the Christian calendar of the Western Church.''
In Roman constitutional law, ''rogatio'' is the term (from Latin ''rogo'', "ask, place a question before") for a legislative bill placed before an Ass ...
'') in order for it to become law (''lex''). Members also had no authority to introduce bills for consideration; only executive magistrates could introduce new bills. This arrangement is also similar to what is found in many modern countries. Usually, ordinary citizens cannot propose new laws for their enactment by a popular election. Unlike many modern assemblies, in the early Republic, the Roman assemblies also had judicial functions.
After the founding of the empire, the vast majority of the powers of the assemblies were transferred to the
Roman Senate
The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...
. When the Senate elected magistrates, the results of those elections would be read to the assemblies. Occasionally, the emperor would submit laws to the ''comitia tributa'' for ratification. The assemblies ratified laws up until the reign of the Emperor
Domitian
Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Fl ...
. After this point, the assemblies simply served as vehicles through which citizens would organize.
Senate
The Roman Senate was the most permanent of all of Rome's political institutions. It was probably founded before the first king of Rome ascended the throne. It survived the fall of the
Roman Kingdom in the late 5th century BC, the fall of the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
in 27 BC, and the fall of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
in 476 AD. It was, in contrast to many modern institutions named 'Senate', not a legislative body, but rather, an advisory one. The power of the Senate waxed and waned throughout its history. During the days of the kingdom, it was little more than an advisory council to the king, though in the interregnum between monarchs, it elected the next king. The last
king of Rome,
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was overthrown following a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
that was planned in the Senate.
During the early Republic, the Senate was politically weak. During these early years, the executive magistrates were quite powerful. The transition from monarchy to constitutional rule was probably more gradual than the legends suggest. Thus, it took a prolonged weakening of these executive magistrates before the Senate was able to assert its authority over those magistrates. By the middle Republic, the Senate reached the apex of its republican power. This occurred because of the convergence of two factors. The
plebeians
In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary.
Etymology
The precise origins of ...
had recently achieved full political enfranchisement. Therefore, they were not as aggressive as they had been during the early Republic in pushing for radical reforms. In addition, the period was marked by prolonged warfare against foreign enemies. The result was that both the popular assemblies and the executive magistrates deferred to the collective wisdom of the Senate. The late Republic saw a decline in the Senate's power. This decline began following the reforms of the radical
tribune
Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...
s
Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. The declining influence of the Senate during this era, in large part, was caused by the class struggles that had dominated the early Republic. The end result was the overthrow of the Republic, and the creation of the Roman Empire.
The Senate of the very early Roman Empire was as weak as it had been during the late Republic. However, after the transition from republic to empire was complete, the Senate arguably held more power than it had held at any previous point. All constitutional powers (legislative, executive and judicial) had been transferred to the Senate. However, unlike the Senate of the Republic, the Senate of the Empire was dominated by the emperor. It was through the Senate that the emperor exercised his autocratic powers, and by the late
Principate
The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate.
...
, the Senate's power had declined into near-irrelevance. It never again regained the power that it had held in the middle Republic.
Much of the surviving literature from the imperial period was written by senators. To a large degree, this demonstrates the strong cultural influence of the Senate, even during the late empire. The institution survived the fall of the
Empire in the West, and even enjoyed a modest revival as imperial power was reduced to a government of Italy only. The senatorial class was severely affected by the Gothic wars.
Executive magistrates
During the years of the Roman Kingdom, the king (''rex'') was the only executive magistrate with any power. He was assisted by two
quaestors, whom he appointed. He would often appoint other assistants for other tasks. When he died, an ''interrex'' would preside over the Senate and assemblies until a new king was elected.
Under the
Constitution of the Roman Republic
The constitution of the Roman Republic was a set of uncodified norms and customs which, together with various written laws, guided the procedural governance of the Roman Republic. The constitution emerged from that of the Roman kingdom, evolve ...
, the "executive branch" was composed of both ordinary as well as extraordinary magistrates. Each ordinary magistrate would be elected by one of the two major
Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Republic
The legislative assemblies of the Roman Republic were political institutions in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the contemporary historian Polybius, it was the people (and thus the assemblies) who had the final say regarding the electio ...
. The principal extraordinary magistrate, the
dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...
, would be appointed upon authorization by the
Senate of the Roman Republic. Most magistrates were elected annually for a
term of one year. The terms for all annual offices would begin on New Year's Day, and end on the last day of December.
The two highest ranking ordinary magistrates, the
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
s and
praetor
Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...
s, held a type of authority called ''
imperium
In ancient Rome, ''imperium'' was a form of authority held by a citizen to control a military or governmental entity. It is distinct from '' auctoritas'' and '' potestas'', different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic a ...
'' (Latin for "command"). ''Imperium'' allowed a magistrate to command a military force. Consuls held a higher grade of ''imperium'' than praetors. Consuls and praetors, as well as
censors and
aedile
''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to ...
s, were regarded as "curule magistrates". They would sit on a
curule chair
A curule seat is a design of a (usually) foldable and transportable chair noted for its uses in Ancient Rome and Europe through to the 20th century. Its status in early Rome as a symbol of political or military power carried over to other civilizat ...
, which was a symbol of state power. Consuls and praetors where attended by bodyguards called
lictors
A lictor (possibly from la, ligare, "to bind") was a Roman civil servant who was an attendant and bodyguard to a magistrate who held ''imperium''. Lictors are documented since the Roman Kingdom, and may have originated with the Etruscans.
Origi ...
. The lictors would carry ''
fasces'', which consisted of a rod with an embedded axe, symbols of the coercive power of the state. Quaestors were not curule magistrates, but rather, administrators and had little real power.
Plebeian tribunes
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 ...
were not officially "magistrates", since they were elected only by the plebeians. Since they were considered to be the embodiment of the people of Rome, their office and their person were considered sacrosanct. It was considered to be a capital offense to harm a tribune, to attempt to harm a tribune or to attempt to obstruct a tribune in any way. All other powers of the tribunate derived from this sacrosanctity, with two rights: intercession between magistrates and advocacy for the people. The tribunes were assisted by plebeian aediles.
In an emergency, a dictator would be selected by the Senate. A newly appointed dictator would usually select a deputy, known as the ''
magister equitum'' ("Master of the Horse"). Both the dictator and ''magister equitum'' were extraordinary magistrates, and they both held ''imperium''. In practice, the dictator functioned as a consul without any constitutional checks on his power. After 202 BC, the dictatorship fell into disuse, and during emergencies, the Senate would pass the ''
senatus consultum ultimum
The ''senatus consultum ultimum'' ("final decree of the Senate", often abbreviated to SCU) is the modern term given to resolutions of the Roman Senate lending its moral support for magistrates to use the full extent of their powers and ignore th ...
'' ("ultimate decree of the Senate") which suspended civil government, and declared (something analogous to) martial law. It would declare "videant consules ne res publica detrimenti capiat" ("let the consuls see to it that the state suffer no harm"). In effect, the consuls would be vested with dictatorial powers.
After the establishment of the
Principate
The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate.
...
, the old magistracies (consuls, praetors, censors, aediles, quaestors and tribunes) lost the majority of their actual powers, effectively being reduced to municipal officers in charge of various games and holidays. The vast majority of actual political and administrative work was transferred into the emperor. The founding of the empire was tantamount to a restoration of the old monarchy. The chief executive became the unchallenged power in the state, with overwhelming dominance of the Senate, which, while it as a body gained practically all authorities formerly held by the Assemblies, also became nothing more than a rubber stamp for the emperor.
Legacy
The Roman Constitution was one of the few constitutions to exist before the 18th century. Although the constitutions of
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
and Carthage were drafted and utilised either on paper or by nature much of their existence is only known through secondary sources, and such constitutions are questioned in the book II of
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
's ''
Politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
''. None of the others are as well known to us today, and none of the others governed such a vast empire for so long. Therefore, the Roman Constitution was used as a template, often the only one, when the first constitutions of the modern era were being drafted. Because of this, many modern constitutions have superstrictures which are similar, or even identical (such as a separation of powers and checks and balances) to the Roman Constitution.
See also
*
History of the Roman Constitution
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
*
History of the Constitution of the Roman Kingdom
The history of the Constitution of the Roman Kingdom is a study of the ancient Roman Kingdom that traces the progression of Roman political development from the founding of the city of Rome in 753 BC to the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom in 510 BC. ...
*
History of the Constitution of the Roman Republic
The history of the Constitution of the Roman Republic is a study of the ancient Roman Republic that traces the progression of Roman political development from the founding of the Roman Republic in 509 BC until the founding of the Roman Empire in 2 ...
*
History of the Constitution of the Roman Empire
The history of the constitution of the Roman Empire begins with the establishment of the Principate in 27 BC and is considered to conclude with the abolition of that constitutional structure in favour of the Dominate at Diocletian's accession in A ...
*
History of the Constitution of the Late Roman Empire
The History of the Constitution of the Late Roman Empire is a study of the ancient Roman Empire that traces the progression of Roman political development from the abolition of the Roman Principate around the year 200 until the fall of the Western ...
*
Constitutional reforms of Julius Caesar
The constitutional reforms of Julius Caesar were a series of laws to the Constitution of the Roman Republic enacted between 49 and 44 BC, during Caesar's dictatorship. Caesar was murdered in 44 BC before the implications of his constitutional acti ...
*
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 beco ...
Notes
References
* Abbott, Frank Frost (1901). ''A History and Description of Roman Political Institutions''. Elibron Classics ().
* Byrd, Robert (1995). ''The Senate of the Roman Republic''. U.S. Government Printing Office, Senate Document 103-23.
* Cicero, Marcus Tullius (1841). ''The Political Works of Marcus Tullius Cicero: Comprising his Treatise on the Commonwealth; and his Treatise on the Laws. Translated from the original, with Dissertations and Notes in Two Volumes''. By Francis Barham, Esq. London: Edmund Spettigue. Vol. 1.
*
Lintott, Andrew (1999). ''The Constitution of the Roman Republic''. Oxford University Press ().
* Polybius (1823). ''The General History of Polybius: Translated from the Greek''. By
James Hampton. Oxford: Printed by W. Baxter. Fifth Edition, Vol 2.
*
Taylor, Lily Ross (1966). ''Roman Voting Assemblies: From the Hannibalic War to the Dictatorship of Caesar''. The University of Michigan Press ().
Further reading
* Ihne, Wilhelm. ''Researches Into the History of the Roman Constitution''. William Pickering. 1853.
* Johnston, Harold Whetstone. ''Orations and Letters of Cicero: With Historical Introduction, An Outline of the Roman Constitution, Notes, Vocabulary and Index''. Scott, Foresman and Company. 1891.
* Mommsen, Theodor. ''Roman Constitutional Law''. 1871-1888
* Tighe, Ambrose. ''The Development of the Roman Constitution''. D. Apple & Co. 1886.
* Von Fritz, Kurt. ''The Theory of the Mixed Constitution in Antiquity''. Columbia University Press, New York. 1975.
* ''The Histories'' by
Polybius
* Cambridge Ancient History, Volumes 9–13.
* A. Cameron, ''The Later Roman Empire'', (Fontana Press, 1993).
* M. Crawford, ''The Roman Republic'', (Fontana Press, 1978).
* E. S. Gruen, "The Last Generation of the Roman Republic" (U California Press, 1974)
* F. Millar, ''The Emperor in the Roman World'', (Duckworth, 1977, 1992).
* A. Lintott, "The Constitution of the Roman Republic" (Oxford University Press, 1999)
Primary sources
Cicero's De Re Publica, Book Two
Secondary source material
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080829134354/http://www.uah.edu/student_life/organizations/SAL/texts/misc/romancon.html The Roman Constitution to the Time of CiceroWhat a Terrorist Incident in Ancient Rome Can Teach Us
{{Ancient Rome topics
Constitutions of ancient Rome