The ''lex Cassia de senatu'' was a Roman law, introduced in 104 BC by the

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 ...

L. Cassius Longinus. The law excluded from the senate individuals who had been deprived of ''

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 ...

'' by popular vote or had been convicted of a crime in a popular assembly (''Judicium Populi'').

Background

The law was a move to restrain the discretionary power of the Senate. It was seen as reinforcing the voice of the Roman people. The provision on magistrates stripped of their ''imperium'' was a deliberate attack against Quintus Servilius Caepio, proconsul in 105 BC, whose ''

'' was removed after the disaster of Arausio. Broughton T. Robert S. (1952–1986). ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association, vol. I, p. 559.

References

{{Ancient Rome topics Roman law Reform in the Roman Republic 2nd century BC in the Roman Republic

Background

See also

References