Part 23 (1/2)

CHAPTER XLV.

(Footnote: Most of the information given in this chapter is scattered in different parts of the history; but it seems well to condense it into one chapter for readier reference.)

ROMAN OFFICERS, ETC.

The magistrates of Rome were of two cla.s.ses; the _Majores_, or higher, and the _Minores_, or lower. The former, except the Censor, had the _Imperium_; the latter did not. To the former cla.s.s belonged the Consuls, Praetors, and Censors, who were all elected in the Comitia Centuriata. The magistrates were also divided into two other cla.s.ses, viz. Curule and Non-Curule. The Curule offices were those of Dictator, Magister Equitum, Consul, Praetor, Censor, and Curule Aedile. These officers had the right to sit in the _sella curulis_, chair of state.

This chair was displayed upon all public occasions, especially in the circus and theatre; and it was the seat of the Praetor when he administered justice. In shape it was plain, resembling a common folding camp-stool, with crooked legs. It was ornamented with ivory, and later overlaid with gold.

The descendants of any one who had held a curule office were n.o.bles, and had the right to place in their halls and to carry at funeral processions a wax mask of this ancestor, as well as of any other deceased members of the family of curule rank.

A person who first held a curule office, and whose ancestors had never held one, was called a _novus h.o.m.o_, i. e. a new man. The most famous new men were Marius and Cicero.

The magistrates were chosen only from the patricians in the early republic; but in course of time the plebeians shared these honors. The plebeian magistrates, properly so called, were the plebeian Aediles and the Tribuni Plebis.

All the magistrates, except the Censor, were elected for one year; and all but the Tribunes and Quaestors began their term of office on January 1st. The Tribune's year began December 10th; that of the Quaestor, December 5th.

The offices, except that of Tribune, formed a gradation, through which one must pa.s.s if he desired the consuls.h.i.+p. The earliest age for holding each was, for the quaestors.h.i.+p, twenty-seven years; for the aediles.h.i.+p, thirty-seven; for the praetors.h.i.+p, forty; and for the consuls.h.i.+p, forty-three. No magistrate received any salary, and only the wealthy could afford to hold office.

THE CONSULS.

The two Consuls were the highest magistrates, except when a Dictator was appointed, and were the chiefs of the administration. Their power was equal, and they had the right before all others of summoning the Senate and the Comitia Centuriata, in each of which they presided. ”When both Consuls were in the city, they usually took turns in performing the official duties, each acting a month; and during this time the Consul was always accompanied in public by twelve lictors, who preceded him in single file, each carrying on his shoulders a bundle of rods (_fasces_), to signify the power of the magistrate to scourge criminals. Outside the city, these fasces showed an axe projecting from each bundle, signifying the power of the magistrate to behead criminals.”

At the expiration of his year of office, the Consul was sent to govern a province for one year, and was then called the _Proconsul_. He was chief in his province in all military, civil, and criminal cases.

PRAETORS.

There were eight Praetors, whose duties were to administer justice (judges). After the expiration of their year of office, they went, as _Propraetors_, to govern provinces. The most important Praetor was called _Praetor Urba.n.u.s_. He had charge of all civil suits between Roman citizens. In the absence of both Consuls from the city, he acted in their place. Each Praetor was attended by two lictors in the city, and by six outside. The _Praetor Peregrinus_ had charge of civil cases in which one or both parties were aliens. The other six Praetors presided over the permanent criminal courts.

AEDILES.

The Aediles were four officers who had the general superintendence of the police of the city, and the care of the public games and buildings.

Two of the Aediles were taken from the plebeians, and two, called Curule Aediles, ranked with the higher magistrates, and might be patricians.

They were elected in the Comitia Tributa. Their supervision of the public games gave them great opportunities for gaining favor with the populace, who then, as now, delighted in circuses and contests. A small sum was appropriated from the public treasury for these games; but an Aedile usually expended much from his own purse to make the show magnificent, and thus to gain votes for the next office, that of Praetor. Only the very wealthy could afford to hold this office.

QUAESTORS.

There were twenty Quaestors. Two were city treasurers at Rome, having charge also of the archives. The others were a.s.signed to the different governors of the provinces, and acted as quartermasters. Through their clerks, the two city Quaestors kept the accounts, received the taxes, and paid out the city's money, as directed by the Senate. A Quaestor always accompanied every Imperator (general) in the field as his quartermaster. The elections for Quaestors were held in the Comitia Tributa.

TRIBUNI PLEBIS.

There were ten Tribunes, elected in the Comitia Tributa. They were always plebeians, and their chief power lay in their right to veto any decree of the Senate, any law of the Comitia, and any public act of a magistrate. Their persons were considered sacred, and no one could hinder them in the discharge of their official duties under penalty of death. They called together the Comitia Tributa, and they also had authority to convene the Senate and to preside over it. Sulla succeeded in restricting their power; but Pompey restored it. The Tribunes did not possess the _imperium_.