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87-497: The Acta Triumphorum or Triumphalia , better known as the Fasti Triumphales , or Triumphal Fasti , is a calendar of Roman magistrates honoured with a celebratory procession known as a triumphus , or triumph , in recognition of an important military victory, from the earliest period down to 19 BC. Together with the related Fasti Capitolini and other, similar inscriptions found at Rome and elsewhere, they form part of

174-518: A Plebeian Tribune, the Tribune could interpose the sacrosanctity of his person ( intercessio ) to physically stop that particular action. Any resistance against the tribune was considered to be a capital offense. The most significant constitutional power that a magistrate could hold was that of "Command" ( Imperium ), which was held only by consuls and praetors. This gave a magistrate the constitutional authority to issue commands (military or otherwise). Once

261-665: A chronology referred to by various names, including the Fasti Annales or Historici , Fasti Consulares , or Consular Fasti, and frequently just the fasti . The Triumphales were originally engraved on marble tablets, which decorated one of the structures in the Roman forum . They were discovered in a fragmentary state as the portion of the forum where they were located was being cleared to provide building material for St. Peter's Basilica in 1546. Recognized by scholars as an important source of information on Roman history, they were taken to

348-442: A civilian. There are several early instances, however, of a commander celebrating a triumph during his two- or three-year term; it is possible that the triumph was held at the completion of his assignment and before he returned to the field with prorogued imperium . The literary sources of Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus name a number of commanders in the early republic as proconsuls or propraetors. Modern historians believe

435-541: A governor was then required to give up his province within 30 days. A prorogued magistrate could not exercise his imperium within Rome. The nature of promagisterial imperium is also complicated by its relation to the celebrating of a triumph as awarded by the Senate. Before a commander could enter the city limits ( pomerium ) for his triumph, he had to lay aside arms formally and ritually, that is, he had to re-enter society as

522-619: A list of the peoples and places referred to in the Fasti follow the table. The following praenomina appear in the Fasti Triumphales . All but a few were regularly abbreviated. A few uncommon praenomina found in the Fasti Capitolini do not appear in the Fasti Triumphales . The Romans dated events counting back from certain days in each month: the Kalends, marking the beginning of each month;

609-569: A magistrate's annual term in office expired, he had to wait ten years before serving in that office again. Since this did create problems for some magistrates, these magistrates occasionally had their command powers extended, which, in effect, allowed them to retain the powers of their office as a promagistrate . The consul of the Roman Republic was the highest ranking ordinary magistrate. Two Consuls were elected every year, and they had supreme power in both civil and military matters. Throughout

696-476: A single consular provincial assignment" with "proportionately larger military and financial resources". Pompey, for example, declined a province after his consulship in 70 BC until he was able to convince a friendly tribune to create an enormous command against the pirates in consequence of the lex Gabinia in 67 BC and, then, a similarly vast eastern command during the Third Mithridatic War

783-403: A triumph from the legendary founding of the city by Romulus down to 19 BC. The earliest entries record triumphs by the Roman kings . The Fasti also include entries for magistrates who received an ovation , or "lesser triumph". They were evidently carved on four pilasters , each eleven feet tall. The first covered the years down to 302 BC, the second to 222, the third to 129, and the last to

870-670: Is attached; de Veientibus Sabineisque means "over the Veientes and the Sabines". Roman magistrate During the transition from monarchy to republic, the constitutional balance of power shifted from the executive (the Roman king ) to the Roman Senate. When the Roman Republic was founded in 509 BC, the powers that had been held by the king were transferred to the Roman consuls , of which two were to be elected each year. Magistrates of

957-575: Is feminine and plural. The name of the month to which the day belonged is treated as an adjective modifying the day, and is therefore also feminine, plural, and either ablative or accusative. A few triumphs occurred in Interkalaris, or Mercedonius , an intercalary month used prior to Caesar's calendar reforms in 46 BC, and inserted following February in some years. Some of the dates in the Fasti Triumphales refer to specific religious festivals; for instance several triumphs were held Quirinalibus , "on

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1044-424: Is used for missing or unknown filiations or other abbreviated praenomina . Other missing text is indicated with an ellipsis in brackets, [...]. This table uses modern conventions for distinguishing between I and J, and between U and V. Otherwise, the names and notes are given as spelled in the fasti. Archaic Roman spellings, such as Aimilius for Aemilius , have been preserved. A guide to reading Roman dates and

1131-711: The Fasti Capitolini , or Capitoline Fasti, a list of the chief magistrates at Rome from at least the beginning of the Republic down to the same period as the Triumphales . Alternately, they may have been built into the wall of the Regia , an ancient building that was reconstructed in 36 BC, which was the official residence of the Pontifex Maximus , and the site where the Annales Maximi , official records of Roman history from at least

1218-557: The Palazzo dei Conservatori on the nearby Capitoline Hill , and reconstructed. As part of the collection of the Capitoline Museums , the Fasti Triumphales are one of the most important sources for Roman chronology. The Fasti Triumphales were probably engraved in 18 BC, in order to adorn the Arch of Augustus , which had recently been constructed in the forum. They were contemporary with

1305-684: The Quirinalia ", and at least one was held on the Terminalia . The following table gives the inflected forms of the months used in the fasti: Thus, a date abbreviated "iii. Non. Oct." represents ante diem tertium Nonas Octobres , i.e. the third day before the Nones of October, or October 5, while "Idib. Dec." represents Idibus Decembribus , occurring precisely on the Ides of December, or December 13, and "pridie K. Quint." would be pridie Kalendas Quintiles , or

1392-577: The Second Punic War , Rome started to assign private citizens both imperium (military authority) and assign them to provincia (here meaning military tasks). These privati cum imperio were unable to triumph, probably due to their lack of an official magistracy. The legal authority for this emerged directly from the sovereign powers of the Roman assemblies who were then able "to select any man[,] whether or not he had ever been elected to office[,] and make him

1479-425: The augurs detected flaws in his election; even so, the people passed laws to invest him with imperium and assigned him to take a consular army regardless. Some scholars and argue instead that Marcellus' just-completed praetorship meant he was just prorogued. The clearest instance is in the assignment of Publius Cornelius Scipio (later Africanus ) to Spain in 211 BC before he had held any magistracy. After

1566-579: The auspices (a ritual search for omens from the Gods), and was vested with legal authority ( imperium ) by the popular assembly. The Roman magistrates were elected officials of the Roman Republic. Each Roman magistrate was vested with a degree of power. Dictators (a temporary position for emergencies) had the highest level of power. After the Dictator was the Consul (the highest position if not an emergency), and then

1653-421: The praetor urbanus was sometimes prorogued. Due to the lack of replacement magistrates, governors with established territorial provinces had their tenures increased. The addition of the wealthy Asian province in 133 BC as a bequest of Attalus III put further pressure on the system, again without increasing the number of praetorships: The senate evidently placed a premium on controlling competition for

1740-480: The "emergencies" had become a continual state of affairs, and a regular system of allotting commands developed. In this early period, prorogued assignments, like the dictatorship , originated as special military commands, they may at first have been limited in practice to about six months, or the length of the campaigning season. Commanders were often prorogued during the First Punic War (264–241 BC). During

1827-408: The "task" was most often a military command within a defined theatre of operations with unclear geographic boundaries. Prorogation did not create a new commander or even class of general. It merely allowed a magistrate to continue performing duties beyond the expiration of the magistracy. While Livy implies that prorogation extended a magistrate's imperium , this is contradicted in that imperium

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1914-437: The "tribunician powers" and the "proconsular powers". In theory at least, the tribunician powers (which were similar to those of the plebeian tribunes under the old republic) gave the emperor authority over Rome's civil government, while the proconsular powers (similar to those of military governors, or proconsuls , under the old republic) gave him authority over the Roman army. While these distinctions were clearly defined during

2001-457: The Gods or leaders of other communities, and could unilaterally decree any new law. Sometimes he submitted his decrees to either the popular assembly or to the senate for a ceremonial ratification, but a rejection did not prevent the enactment of a decree. The king chose several officers to assist him, and unilaterally granted them their powers. When the king left the city, an Urban Prefect presided over

2088-463: The Ides, occurring on the fifteenth of March, May, Quintilis (July), and October, and the thirteenth of all other months; and the Nones, occurring on the seventh day of March, May, Quintilis, and October, and the fifth of all other months. Perhaps because these dates were remnants of the old lunar calendar, the Romans counted inclusively, so that the first day of the month was reckoned the first day before

2175-399: The Kalends. The last day of the previous month was ante diem ii. Kalendas , or pridie Kalendas , and the day before that was ante diem iii. Kalendas . As a highly inflected language, Latin uses different cases depending on whether an event occurs on or from a day (ablative: Kalendis, Nonis, Idibus ), or before a day (accusative: Kalendas, Nonas, Idus ), but in each case the day

2262-498: The Praetor, and then the Censor, and then the curule aedile , and finally the quaestor . Each magistrate could only veto an action that was taken by a magistrate with an equal or lower degree of power. Since plebeian tribunes (as well as plebeian aediles ) were technically not magistrates, they relied on the sacrosanctity of their person to obstruct. If one did not comply with the orders of

2349-482: The Roman Empire were elected individuals of the ancient Roman Empire . The powers of an emperor (his imperium ) existed, in theory at least, by virtue of his legal standing. The two most significant components to an emperor's imperium were the "tribunician powers" ( potestas tribunicia ) and the "proconsular powers" ( imperium proconsulare ). In theory at least, the tribunician powers (which were similar to those of

2436-456: The Roman Senate back to the executive (the Roman Emperor ). Theoretically, the senate elected each new emperor; in practice each emperor chose his own successor, though the choice was often overruled by the army or civil war. The powers of an emperor (his imperium ) existed, in theory at least, by virtue of his legal standing. The two most significant components to an emperor's imperium were

2523-454: The ablative case: de Samnitibus means, roughly, "(he triumphed) over the Samnites"; pro cos. ex Hispania means "proconsul of (literally out of or from ) Spain". In this list, the first form is the one appearing in the fasti, and the second is the nominative, or uninflected form. The suffix -que , usually abbreviated -q. , means "and", combining the preceding words with the one to which it

2610-428: The absence of sufficient governors or to complete some specific task, an ex-quaestor could be sent as a governor with the title pro quaestor pro praetore . For example, Marcus Porcius Cato was dispatched to Cyprus pro quaestore pro praetore to handle the annexation of the island. The title procurator is not related to prorogation and is not a promagistracy. Procurators were originally agents of rich men, later of

2697-433: The ambition of its members by splitting both the proceeds and glory of single campaigns between multiple commanders. A propraetor was a form of promagistrate, as the name implies, acting in place of a praetor. Initially, praetors who were prorogued continued to act pro praetore after their terms, but through the second century, prorogued praetors started to be titled the more prestigious pro consule instead. After

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2784-497: The beginning, there were two distinct forms of prorogation – per T. Corey Brennan 's Praetorship in the Roman republic – a prorogatio before the people to determine whether a provincial command should be extended and a propagatio from the senate in other cases. But by the 190s BC, the senate stopped submitting decisions on prorogation of permanent provinciae to the people for ratification and eventually all extensions of imperium were called prorogatio . After this point,

2871-559: The career of Marius offers the clearest evidence, praetors now needed to remain in Rome to preside over increased activity in the criminal courts; only after their term were praetors regularly assigned to a province as proconsul or propraetor. The scale of Roman military commitments in annexed territories during the late republic required regular prorogation, since the number of magistrates and ex-magistrates who were both able commanders and willing to accept provincial governorships did not increase proportionally. Emergency grants of imperium in

2958-401: The census, the emperor had the power to assign individuals to a new social class, including the senatorial class, which gave the emperor unchallenged control over senate membership. The emperor also had the power to interpret laws and to set precedents. In addition, the emperor controlled the religious institutions , since, as emperor, he was always Pontifex Maximus , and a member of each of

3045-473: The city in place of the absent king. The king also had two Quaestors as general assistants, while several other officers assisted the king during treason cases. In war, the king occasionally commanded only the infantry, and delegated command over the cavalry to the commander of his personal bodyguards, the Tribune of the Celeres. The king sometimes deferred to precedent, often simply out of practical necessity. While

3132-462: The civil liberties of all Roman citizens. In times of military emergency, a Roman Dictator was appointed for a term of six months. Constitutional government dissolved, and the Dictator became the absolute master of the state. The Dictator then appointed a Master of the Horse to serve as his most senior lieutenant. Often the Dictator resigned his office as soon as the matter that caused his appointment

3219-412: The commander of any provincia they wished". These privati cum imperio had titles pro consule or pro praetore , in place of regular magistrates. The first instance may have been in 215 BC after the losses at Trebia , Trasimene , and Cannae when Marcus Claudius Marcellus was elected suffect consul in the place of Lucius Postumius Albinus , deceased. However, he was forced to resign when

3306-424: The consulship, and chose to neglect the rapidly accelerating erosion of a fundamental Republican constitutional principle — the annual magistracy — as well as to ignore the added inconvenience to commanders and possible danger to provincials... The members of the senate had lost serious interest in maintaining a working administrative scheme for Rome's growing empire. In one major administrative development for which

3393-532: The deaths of his father and uncle in Spain, no consul or praetor wanted to take up the province. The people invested Scipio with the command and the necessary imperium and auspicium militiae regardless. After Scipio's victory in 206 BC, two more privati cum imperio were dispatched to the peninsula, which continued under such command until the creation of two new praetors in 197 BC made it possible to send annual magistrates. Generally, prorogation became almost

3480-416: The early empire, eventually they were lost, and the emperor's powers became less constitutional and more monarchical. The traditional magistracies that survived the fall of the republic were the consulship, praetorship , plebeian tribunate , aedileship , quaestorship , and military tribunate . Mark Antony abolished the offices of dictator and Master of the Horse during his consulship in 44 BC, while

3567-465: The emperor held the same grade of military command authority as did the chief magistrates (the Roman consuls and proconsuls) under the republic. However, the emperor was not subject to the constitutional restrictions that the old consuls and proconsuls had been subject to. Eventually, he was given powers that, under the republic, had been reserved for the Roman Senate and the Roman assemblies including

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3654-404: The emperor. Imperial Consuls could preside over the senate, could act as judges in certain criminal trials, and had control over public games and shows. The Praetors also lost a great deal of power, and ultimately had little authority outside of the city. The chief Praetor in Rome, the urban praetor, outranked all other Praetors, and for a brief time, they were given power over the treasury. Under

3741-453: The empire, the plebeian tribunes remained sacrosanct, and, in theory at least, retained the power to summon, or to veto, the senate and the assemblies. Augustus divided the college of Quaestors into two divisions, and assigned one division the task of serving in the senatorial provinces, and the other the task of managing civil administration in Rome. Under Augustus, the Aediles lost control over

3828-414: The end. Each entry gives the full name of the magistrate who triumphed, beginning with his praenomen (normally abbreviated), nomen gentilicium , filiation , and cognomina (if any). Following these names are the magistracy or promagistracy held, the names of the defeated enemies or conquered territories, and the date that the triumph was celebrated. Roman numerals indicate those individuals who held

3915-500: The entries from the surviving portions of the Fasti Triumphales . The columns on the left give the years according to the Varronian chronology, which begins one year earlier than the years given in the Triumphales . The years AUC from the original inscription are given in the column on the right. Portions of names and text in square brackets have been interpolated. Periods (full stops) have been supplied for abbreviations. An em-dash

4002-403: The extension of command was subject to "unsteady ad-hoc politics". And "unusual political influence" was required for prorogations of longer than one year. A Roman governor had the right, and was normally expected, to remain in his province until his successor arrived, even when he had not been prorogued. According to the lex Cornelia de maiestate , passed following Sulla 's dictatorship,

4089-546: The field during the Social War (91–87 BC) made the granting of extra-magisterial command routine. When Sulla assumed the dictatorship in late 82 BC, the territorial provinces alone numbered ten, with possibly six permanent courts to be presided over in the city. The rise of popularis political tactics from the time of Gaius Marius forward also coincided with the creation of "super provinciae ", "massive commands in which multiple permanent provinces were incorporated into

4176-479: The field. This was normally pro consule or pro praetore , that is, in place of a consul or praetor, respectively. This was an expedient development, starting in 327 BC and becoming regular by 241 BC, that was meant to allow consuls and praetors to continue their activities in the field without disruption. Prorogation created an official with no civilian authority or responsibility in Rome and allowed commanders to retain their position indefinitely, weakening

4263-503: The fifth century BC down to the second, were stored. The Fasti Capitolini were most likely on the west and south sides of the Regia, and the Triumphales may have occupied part of the south wall. Both lists were discovered by the scholars Onofrio Panvinio and Pirro Ligorio , as they observed the demolition of ancient structures in the forum by a local company of quarrymen working to obtain building material for St. Peter's Basilica. Some of

4350-512: The four major priesthoods. Under the empire, the citizens were divided into three classes, and for members of each class, a distinct career path was available (known as the cursus honorum ). The traditional magistracies were only available to citizens of the senatorial class. The magistracies that survived the fall of the republic were (by their order of rank per the cursus honorum ) the consulship, praetorship, plebeian tribunate, aedileship, quaestorship, and military tribunate. If an individual

4437-419: The grain supply to a board of commissioners. It was not until after they lost the power to maintain order in the city, however, that they truly became powerless, and the office disappeared entirely during the 3rd century. Promagistrate In ancient Rome , a promagistrate ( Latin : pro magistratu ) was a person who was granted the power via prorogation to act in place of an ordinary magistrate in

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4524-468: The king could unilaterally declare war, for example, he typically wanted to have such declarations ratified by the popular assembly. The period between the death of a king, and the election of a new king, was known as the interregnum . During the interregnum , the senate elected a senator to the office of Interrex to facilitate the election of a new king. Once the Interrex found a suitable nominee for

4611-538: The kingship, he presented this nominee to the senate for an initial approval. If the senate voted in favor of the nominee, that person stood for formal election before the People of Rome in the Curiate Assembly (the popular assembly). After the nominee was elected by the popular assembly, the senate ratified the election by passing a decree. The Interrex then formally declared the nominee to be king. The new king then took

4698-475: The last day of June. After the death of Caesar, the month of Quintilis officially became Julius (accusative feminine plural Julias , ablative Juliis ), and in 8 BC, Sextilis became Augustus (accusative feminine plural Augustas , ablative Augustis ), but the latter month does not appear in the Triumphal Fasti, which end in 19 BC. All of the people and places mentioned in the Fasti Triumphales occur in

4785-507: The late republic to be titled pro praetore if they were themselves vested with imperium . Pompey, for example, received such legates during the campaign against the pirates in consequence of the lex Gabinia . During the imperial period, the legates of the emperor were titled pro praetore , consistent with late republican practice; the quaestors and legates of the public provinces were by this period similarly granted praetorian imperium and likewise titled pro praetore . A proquaestor

4872-570: The late republic, this was most exemplified by Pompey , who held a series of promagisterial commands before ever holding a magistracy or even joining the senate . With the acquisition of provinces outside of Italy and the expansion of the quaestiones perpetuae (permanent courts), it became normal for the provincial governors to be promagistrates. By the late republic, practically all governors were dispatched pro consule , regardless of their last urban magistracy. The titles "proconsul" and "propraetor" are not used by Livy or literary sources of

4959-529: The magistracy in question multiple times, or who received multiple triumphs. Each entry also has the year of the triumph indicated in the right margin. The years given in the Triumphales are one year earlier than those of the Varronian chronology. There are several gaps in the Fasti Triumphales . The first occurs following the second triumph attributed to Romulus, and presumably would have included further triumphs attributed to Romulus, or to Tullus Hostilius ,

5046-518: The markets, and over public games and shows. Quaestors usually assisted the consuls in Rome, and the governors in the provinces with financial tasks. Though they technically were not magistrates, the Plebeian Tribunes and the Plebeian Aediles were considered to be the representatives of the people. Thus, they acted as a popular check over the senate (through their veto powers), and safeguarded

5133-410: The next year. These super-provinces were traditional in the sense that they were meant to defeat some particular enemy, but the scale of the campaign and the concentration of power under a single commander was unprecedented. The fixed multi-year terms of those campaigns also were unheard of in the earlier Republic; their length detracted from the Senate's de facto powers to assign provinces and control

5220-448: The norm for the provinciae of Sicily, Sardinia, Hispania , and the naval fleets due to the lack of sufficient annual magistrates. The expansion of promagistracies shattering the connection between military command and magisterial office, allowing any aristocrat so empowered by law the power to exercise military authority without any official status within the city's normal civilian government. Another impact of this wartime expedience

5307-644: The number of fragments of the Triumphales has grown to thirty-eight. The known portions of the fasti were published in the first volume of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum in 1863, and together with the Capitolini , they form part of the collection of the Capitoline Museums , where they are displayed in the Sala dei Fasti , the Salon of the Fasti. The Triumphal Fasti list all of the magistrates who celebrated

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5394-400: The number of magistrates who held imperium . In 307, Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus became the second magistrate to have his command prorogued. But in the years 296–95, several prorogations are recorded at once, including four promagistrates who were granted imperium while they were private citizens ( privati ). Territorial expansion and increasing militarization drove a recognition that

5481-601: The offices of Interrex and Roman censor were abolished shortly thereafter. The executive magistrates of the Roman Kingdom were elected officials of the ancient Roman Kingdom . During the period of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman King was the principal executive magistrate. He was the chief executive, chief priest, chief lawgiver , chief judge, and the sole commander-in-chief of the army. His powers rested on law and legal precedent, and he could only receive these powers through

5568-463: The plebeian tribunes under the old republic) gave the emperor authority over Rome's civil government, while the proconsular powers (similar to those of military governors, or Proconsuls, under the old republic) gave him authority over the Roman army. While these distinctions were clearly defined during the early empire, eventually they were lost, and the emperor's powers became less constitutional and more monarchical. By virtue of his proconsular powers,

5655-404: The political process of an election. In practice, he had no real restrictions on his power. When war broke out, he had the sole power to organize and levy troops, to select leaders for the army, and to conduct the campaign as he saw fit. He controlled all property held by the state, had the sole power to divide land and war spoils, was the chief representative of the city during dealings with either

5742-401: The republic were elected by the people of Rome , and were each vested with a degree of power called "major powers" ( maior potestas ). Dictators had more "major powers" than any other magistrate , and after the dictator was the censor , and then the consul , and then the praetor , and then the curule aedile , and then the quaestor . Any magistrate could obstruct (" veto ") an action that

5829-416: The republican era. Those Romans did not view a promagistracy as a formal office in the republic but rather as an administrative expedient. A provincia was originally a task (e.g., war with Carthage) assigned to someone, sometimes with geographic boundaries; when such territories were formally annexed, the fixed geographical entity became a "province" in modern terms, but in the early and middle Republic,

5916-413: The right to declare war, to ratify treaties, and to negotiate with foreign leaders. The emperor's degree of Proconsular power gave him authority over all of Rome's military governors, and thus, over most of the Roman army. The emperor's tribunician powers gave him power over Rome's civil apparatus, as well as the power to preside over, and thus to dominate, the assemblies and the senate. When an emperor

6003-582: The stone would be reused in the structure, while other portions would be used to make cement. Recognizing the value of the inscriptions, the two ordered the sinking of new trenches, in hopes of recovering additional fragments. In all, they rescued thirty pieces of the Fasti Capitolini , and twenty-six of the Triumphales , which they brought to the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the instructions of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese . The lists were then reconstructed by Ligorio and Michelangelo . With additional excavations,

6090-443: The term prorogatio became a misnomer, since no rogatio (consultation of the people) was involved. This likely emerged because the decision of whether to send commanders had been replaced to the question of who should be sent, and therefore became a routine staffing decision. The promagistrates take on a new importance with the annexation of Macedonia and the Roman province of Africa in 146 BC. The number of praetors

6177-486: The theatre or province was prorogued, one could also be prorogued by assigning a someone still possessing imperium to new provincia (as was the case with two imperatores during the Catilinarian conspiracy ). While modern scholars often suppose that prorogation was intended originally to ensure that an experienced commander with hands-on knowledge of the local situation could conclude a successful campaign, in practice

6264-432: The third King of Rome. Major gaps occur from 437 to 369 BC, from 291 to 282, 222 to 197, 187 to 178, 81 to 62, and 54 to 45. The missing sections include three of the triumphs of Camillus , the entire period of the Second Punic War , and all but the last triumph celebrated by Caesar . Shorter gaps occur from 502 to 496, 494 to 486, 329 to 326, 263 to 260, 191 to 189, 104 to 98, and 34 to 29 BC. The following table lists

6351-420: The time of Sulla, all governors were prorogued pro consule . One of the few exceptions to this rule was a senatorial snub against Octavian in 43 BC when he was vested with imperium and prorogued pro praetore , putting him lower in status than all other promagistrates. If a governor died in office, it was normal for his quaestor to assume command pro praetore . It also became normal for legates during

6438-534: The time-limited check that Romans had over their commanders. Prorogation, by allowing veteran commanders to stay rather than being rotated out for someone with little experience, also helped increase the chances of victory. In the late Republic , politics, often motivated by the ambitions of individuals , decided whose commands were extended. Sometimes men who held no elected public office – that is, private citizens ( privati ) – were given imperium and prorogued, as justified by perceived military emergencies. In

6525-449: The use of these titles is largely anachronistic and also self-contradictory, as Livy notes that that the first promagisterial appointment was in 327 BC. In the republic after 367 BC, only three types magistrates held imperium : dictators, consuls, and praetors. At first, the appointment of dictatores and magistri equitum filled the need for additional military commanders. The first recorded prorogation and promagistrate

6612-433: The year, one Consul was superior in rank to the other Consul, and this ranking flipped every month, between the two Consuls. Praetors administered civil law, presided over the courts, and commanded provincial armies. Another magistrate, the Censor, conducted a census , during which time they could appoint people to the senate. Aediles were officers elected to conduct domestic affairs in Rome, and were vested with powers over

6699-458: Was a person who took up the administrative duties normally adopted by a quaestor . This was normally done in the absence of a questor, usually by death or resignation. In such cases, a governor normally named a member of his staff: for example, Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella named Gaius Verres to serve pro quaestore in 80 BC. At other times, ex-quaestors were sent or kept as proquaestor to act as someone's quaestor. But more extraordinarily, in

6786-408: Was being taken by a magistrate with an equal or lower degree of magisterial powers. By definition, plebeian tribunes and plebeian aediles were technically not magistrates since they were elected only by the plebeians , and as such, they were independent of all other powerful magistrates . During the transition from republic to the Roman empire, the constitutional balance of power shifted from

6873-498: Was not increased even though the two new territories were organized as praetorian provinces. For the first time since the 170s, it became impossible for sitting magistrates to govern all the permanent praetorian provinciae , which now numbered eight. This point marks the beginning of the era of the so-called " Roman governor ", a post for which there is no single word in the Republic. Promagistracies became fully institutionalised, and even

6960-403: Was not of the senatorial class, he could run for one of these offices if he was allowed to run by the emperor, or otherwise, he could be appointed to one of these offices by the emperor. During the transition from republic to empire, no office lost more power or prestige than the consulship, which was due, in part, to the fact that the substantive powers of republican Consuls were all transferred to

7047-460: Was not time-limited. Cicero, for example, possessed imperium even after his governorship of Cilicia expired. Because imperium did not expire, prorogation was simply an extension or reassignment of a commander's possession of a provincia , something feasible by senatorial decree. Previously, a provincia expired with a magistracy; prorogation severed the old tightly-linked connection between magistrate and provincia . While normally someone in

7134-423: Was resolved. When the Dictator's term ended, constitutional government was restored. The last ordinary Dictator was appointed in 202 BC. After 202 BC, extreme emergencies were addressed through the passage of the decree senatus consultum ultimum ("ultimate decree of the senate"). This suspended civil government, declared martial law , and vested the consuls with Dictatorial powers. The executive magistrates of

7221-468: Was rewarded with a triumph even though his consulship had expired. In the following decades, it became regular practice to prorogue consuls and prorogation of praetors started in 241 BC. During the Second and Third Samnite Wars (326–290 BC), prorogation became a regular administrative practice that allowed continuity of military command without violating the principle of annual magistracies, or increasing

7308-462: Was separating "magisterial precedence" from the magistracy itself, creating something akin to a military rank, evident in the jockeying of magistrates over the specific status of their prorogation: eg, desire to attain the more prestigious pro consule status. The close of the wartime crisis and the return of annual governors also dampened the length of prorogations, allowing the senate to regain more granular control over provincial assignments. At

7395-431: Was that of the consul Quintus Publilius Philo in 327 BC. The senate ordered Philo, whose consulship was about to expire, to continue to perform his military duties as he was on the verge of capturing Palaepolis (modern day Naples ) and completing his provincia (assigned task). It "probably seemed imprudent to send a new consul to take over a command that would be completed within days". Livy reports that legislation

7482-470: Was then moved by the tribunes that "when [Quintus Publilius' term expired] he should continue to manage the campaign pro consule until he should bring the war with the Greeks to an end". This innovation permitted Philo to hold the military authority and responsibility of a magistrate while not actually being one. The Romans did not seem to be too bothered by the legal innovation which occurred, as Philo's success

7569-410: Was vested with the tribunician powers, his office and his person became sacrosanct, and thus it became a capital offense to harm or to obstruct the emperor. The emperor also had the authority to carry out a range of duties that, under the republic, had been performed by the Roman censors. Such duties included the authority to regulate public morality ( Censorship ) and to conduct a census . As part of

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