A Point of Law (33 page)

Under the commander were Tribunes of the Soldiers, usually young men embarking upon their political careers. Their duties were entirely at the discretion of the commander. Caesar usually told his tribunes to sit back, keep their mouths shut, and watch the experienced men work. But a military tribune might be given a responsible position, even command of a legion. The young Cassius Longinus as tribune prosecuted a successful war in Syria after his commander was dead.

Munera
Special games, not part of the official calendar, at which gladiators were exhibited. They were originally funeral games and were always dedicated to the dead.

Offices
The political system of the Roman Republic was completely different from any today. The terms we have borrowed from the Romans have very different meanings in the modern context. “Senators” were not elected and did not represent a particular district. “Dictator” was a temporary office conferred by the Senate in times of emergency. “Republic” simply meant a governmental system that was not a hereditary monarchy. By the time of the SPQR series the power of former Roman kings was shared among a number of citizen assemblies.

Tribunes of the People
were representatives of the plebeians with power to introduce laws and to veto actions of the Senate. Only plebeians could hold the office, which carried no imperium.
Tribunes of the Soldiers
were elected from among the young men of senatorial or equestrian rank to be assistants to generals. Usually it was the first step of a man’s political career.

A Roman embarked upon a public career followed the
“cursus
honorum
,” i.e., the “path of honor.” After doing staff work for officials, he began climbing the ladder of office. These were taken in order as follows:

The lowest elective office was
quaestor:
bookkeeper and paymaster for the Treasury, the Grain Office, and the provincial governors. These men did the scut work of the Empire. After the quaestorship he was eligible for the
Senate
, a nonelective office, which had to be ratified by the censors; if none were in office, he had to be ratified by the next censors to be elected.

Next were the
aediles
. Roughly speaking, these were city managers, responsible for the upkeep of public buildings, streets, sewers, markets, brothels, etc. There were two types: the
plebeian aediles
and the
curule aediles
. The curule aediles could sit in judgment on civil cases involving markets and currency, while the plebeian aediles could only levy fines. Otherwise their duties were the same. The state only provided a tiny stipend for improvements, and the rest was the aediles’ problem. If he put on (and paid for) splendid games, he was sure of election to higher office.

Third was
praetor
, an office with real power. Praetors were judges, but they could command armies, and after a year in office they could go out to govern provinces, where real wealth could be won, earned, or stolen. In the late Republic, there were eight praetors. Senior was the
praetor urbanus
, who heard civil cases between citizens of Rome. The
praetor peregrinus
(praetor of the foreigners) heard cases involving foreigners. The others presided over criminal courts. After leaving office, the ex-praetors became
propraetors
and went on to govern propraetorian provinces with full imperium.

The highest office was
consul
, supreme office of power during the Roman Republic. Two were elected each year. Consuls called meetings of the Senate and presided there. The office carried full imperium and they could lead armies. On the expiration of the year in office, the ex-consuls were usually assigned the best provinces to rule as
proconsul
. As proconsul, he had the same insignia and the same
number of lictors. His power was absolute within his province. The most important commands always went to proconsuls.

Censors
were elected every five years. It was the capstone to a political career, but it did not carry imperium and there was no foreign command afterward. Censors conducted the census, purged the Senate of unworthy members, doled out the public contracts, confirmed new senators in office, and conducted the
lustrum
, a ritual of purification. They could forbid certain religious practices or luxuries deemed bad for public morals or generally “un-Roman.” There were two censors, and each could overrule the other. They were usually elected from among the ex-consuls.

Under the Sullan Constitution, the quaestorship was the minimum requirement for membership in the Senate. The majority of senators had held that office and never held another. Membership in the Senate was for life, unless expelled by the censors.

No Roman official could be prosecuted while in office, but he could be after he stepped down. Malfeasance in office was one of the most common court charges.

The most extraordinary office was
dictator
. In times of emergency, the Senate could instruct the consuls to appoint a dictator, who could wield absolute power for six months, after which he had to step down from office. Unlike all other officials, a dictator was unaccountable: He could not be prosecuted for his acts in office. The last true dictator was appointed in the third century
B.C.
The dictatorships of Sulla and Julius Caesar were unconstitutional.

October Horse
An annual race and sacrifice.

Optimates
Supporters of a continued senatorial dominance,
optimates
were an aristocratic party in Republican Rome.

Orders
The Roman hierarchy was divided into a number of orders
(ordines)
. At the top was the Senatorial Order
(Ordo Senatus)
made up of the senators. Originally the Senate had been a part of the Equestrian Order, but the dictator Sulla made them a separate order.

Next came the Equestrian Order
(Ordo Equestris)
. This was a property qualification. Men above a certain property rating, determined
every five years by the censors, belonged to the Equestrian Order, so named because in ancient times, at the annual hosting, these wealthier men brought horses and served in the cavalry. By the time of the SPQR novels they had lost all military nature. The equestrians
(equites)
were the wealthiest class, the bankers and businessmen, and after the Sullan reforms they supplied the jurymen. If an
eques
won election to the quaestorship he entered the Senatorial Order. Collectively, they wielded immense power. They often financed the political careers of senators and their business dealings abroad often shaped Roman foreign policy.

Last came the Plebeian Order
(Ordo Plebis)
. Pretty much everybody else, and not really an order in the sense of the other two, since plebeians might be equestrians or senators. Nevertheless, as the mass of the citizenry they were regarded as virtually a separate power and they elected the Tribunes of the People, who were in many ways the most powerful politicians of this time.

Slaves and foreigners had no status and did not belong to an order.

Patrician
The noble class of Rome.

Pontificial College
The pontifexes were a college of priests not of a specific god (see Priesthoods) but whose task was to advise the Senate on matters of religion. The chief of the college was the
Pontifex Maximus
, who ruled on all matters of religious practice and had charge of the calendar. Julius Caesar was elected
Pontifex Maximus
and Augustus made it an office held permanently by the emperors. The title is currently held by the pope.

Popular Assemblies
These consist of the following three
comitias
, which were legal assemblies of the people, an amalgamation of both the patricians and the plebeians:
comitia centuriata
, which was originally the centuries of the citizen soldiers of Rome who voted as a century bloc, i.e., one vote per century. Later, in Decius’s time, this comitia was dominated by a handful of great families. The
comitia centuriata
elected the higher magistrates such as the consuls, praetors, and other magistrates with imperium. It was presided over by a consul
and was the body that declared war, passed some (but not all) laws, and served as a supreme court in capital punishment cases. The
comitia curiata
was the original legislative body of Rome, but by the time of this book it held only the ceremonial function of investing the higher magistrates with imperium after their election or of conferring the rite of inauguration upon certain priests such as the flamines and the
rex sacrorum
. There were two bodies that comprised the
comitia tributa
. The first, the
comitia tributa
proper, was an assembly of the entire people (by tribes) that elected (one vote per tribe) lower magistrates such as aedile, curule, quaestor, etc. and was presided over by a praetor. The second and more important,
consilium plebis
, was an assembly only of the plebeians of the
comitia tributa
that elected tribunes and plebeian aediles. It also was a law-making body passing statutes by plebiscite. It could not rule on capital punishment cases.

Another assembly called a
contio
, which contained both patricians and plebeians, functioned somewhat like a recommending committee that discussed a pending matter and decided whether or not it should be put forth before the entire comitia. The actions by the
contio
held by Tribune of the People Publius Manilius are illegal.

Populares
The party of the common people.

Priesthoods
In Rome, the priesthoods were offices of state. There were two major classes: pontifexes and flamines.

Pontifexes
were members of the highest priestly college of Rome. They had superintendence over all sacred observances, state and private, and over the calendar. The head of their college was the
Pontifex Maximus
, a title held to this day by the pope.

The
flamines
were the high priests of the state gods: the
Flamen Martialis
for Mars, the
Flamen Quirinalis
for the deified Romulus, and, highest of all, the
Flamen Dialis
, high priest of Jupiter.

The Flamen Dialis celebrated the Ides of each month and could not take part in politics, although he could attend meetings of the Senate, attended by a single lictor. Each had charge of the daily sacrifices, wore distinctive headgear, and was surrounded by many ritual taboos.

Another very ancient priesthood was the
Rex Sacrorum
.
“King of Sacrifices.” This priest had to be a patrician and had to observe even more taboos than the Flamen Dialis. This position was so onerous that it became difficult to find a patrician willing to take it.

Technically, pontifexes and flamines did not take part in public business except to solemnize oaths and treaties, give the god’s stamp of approval to declarations of war, etc. But since they were all senators anyway, the ban had little meaning. Julius Caesar was
Pontifex Maximus
while he was out conquering Gaul, even though the
Pontifex Maximus
wasn’t supposed to look upon human blood.

Princeps (First Citizen)
This was an especially distinguished senator chosen by the censors. His name was first called on the roll of the Senate, and he was first to speak on any issue. Later the title was usurped by Augustus and is the origin of the word “prince.”

Ram
Latin rostrum, pl. rostra. Most naval ships (at least those designed to do battle) had a large battering ram attached to its prow. These allowed the ship to “ram” another and sink it without resorting to hand-to-hand combat. The rams on pirate ships were small, designed for display only, since the pirates mostly raided shore villages and their ships had to beach and escape quickly, a difficult task with a large ram sticking out in front.

Decius has had new, fearsome-looking rams added to the pirate ships he captured while he was on Cyprus, both to honor the people and his own family’s glory.

Rite of Bona Dea
Bona Dea, “the Good Goddess” was honored in Rome with a special service presided over by the wife of the
Pontifex Maximus
, during which no male could enter the house. All the participants were highborn married women. Clodius violated the rite when Caesar’s wife presided.
(See SPQR III: The Sacrilege.)

Rostra (sing. rostrum)
A monument in the Forum commemorating the sea battle of Antium in 338
B.C.
, decorated with the rams, rostra, of enemy ships. Its base was used as an orator’s platform.

SPQR Senatus Populusque Romanus
The Senate and People of
Rome. The formula embodied the sovereignty of Rome. It was used on official correspondence, documents, and public works.

State Archives
These were located in a sprawling building, the
Tabularium
on the lower slope of the Capitoline Hill. They contained centuries’ worth of public documents. Private documents, such as wills, were kept in various temples.

The
Treasury
was kept in a crypt beneath the
Temple of Saturn
, also the repository for military standards. Money was coined in the
Temple of Juno Moneta
. The
Temple of Ceres
, goddess of the harvest, housed the offices of the aediles. Treaties and wills were kept in the
Temple of Vesta
, site of the sacred fire tended by the Vestal Virgins and dedicated to the goddess of the hearth. War was declared in the
Temple of Bellona
, Roman goddess of war. Minor temples housed lesser civic functions.