The ''Lex Aurelia iudicaiaria'' was a Roman law, introduced by the
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 ...
Lucius Aurelius Cotta in 70 BC. The law defined the composition of the jury of the court investigating extortion, corruption and misconduct in office, the ''perpetual quaestio de repetundis''. Previously exclusive to senators, the juries henceforth included ''
equites
The ''equites'' (; literally "horse-" or "cavalrymen", though sometimes referred to as "knights" in English) constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian ...
'' and ''
tribuni aerarii''.
Background
The ''quaestio de repetundis'' was the first permanent court established in Rome, set up in 149 BC to deal with embezzlement by Roman magistrates, most often, but not exclusively from their provincial subjects. Initially senators sat in judgement of their peers. A notable case heard by the court was that of
Gaius Verres, prosecuted by
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
. Verres was the last person judged under the system put in place by
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 t ...
, where jury was chosen by lot from among the senators.
Provisions
Under the terms of the legislation the jury for the ''quaestio'' was to have the following composition: one-third of it must be composed of senators, a third of ''equites'', a third by ''tribuni aerarii''. each category was to have 300 members, for a total or 900. The ''tribuni aerarii'' were citizens with a census equal to that of ''equites'' but not enrolled in the list.
The substantive law of the Sullan settlement remained, only the composition of the jury changed.
The ''lex Aurelia'' remained unchanged until the dictatorship of Caesar.
See also
*
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'' (p ...
*
Roman Law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
References
Roman law
Reform in the Roman Republic
1st century BC in the Roman Republic
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