The history of the constitution of the Roman Empire began with the formation of the Principate in 27 BC and is considered ending with the abolition of the constitutional structure in favor of Dominating at the accession of Diocletian in 284 AD.
The Constitution of the Roman Empire emerged as the constitutional transformation of the late Roman Republic, utilizing various precedents of the late Republic, to legitimize the enormous legal power granting for one person and the centralization of the forces of law into the body controlled by that person.
The creation of the Roman Principality and Empire was traditionally dated 27 BC with the first Augustan constitutional settlement, in which Octavian, the winner of the last war of the Roman Republic, surrendered his remarkable power and was given proconsulative authority over the provincial empire, which he co-operated with the tribunal powers granted to him by the Senate in 36 BC. At the same time, he held the office of the Roman consulate, giving him authority in the structure of ordinary law that did not exceed other judges. By holding various offices of Augustus, Augustus, when Octavian was known after 27 BC, was able to disguise the autocratic nature of his regime and claim the restoration of the republic. After more constitutional changes in 23 BC, Augustus was granted greater proconsular authority over all the imperial provinces, allowing him to override other Roman governors, marking the completion of various offices that most Roman emperors would endure until the Principate transformation into Dominating by the end of the third century.
Other changes were influenced during the Empire, reducing the election power of the various Roman assemblies and transferring their powers to the Senate as well as doing away with the elections fully supporting the promise by the emperor.
Video History of the Constitution of the Roman Empire
Reformasi konstitusi Augustus
Octavian returned to Rome two years after defeating Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium. With the defeat of Mark Antony, there is nothing left to oppose Octavian. The decade of war has greatly disadvantaged the People of Rome. The political situation is unstable, and there is a constant threat of renewed warfare. The arrival of Octavian himself caused a wave of optimism to ripple throughout Italy. As soon as he arrived, he began dealing with problems that plagued Rome. He announced a general amnesty for his former supporters of his enemies, and provided land for over 120,000 former soldiers. As soon as these reforms are implemented, land prices begin to rise and trade is revived. The popularity of Octavian soon reached new heights, which eventually gave him the support he needed to carry out his reforms. When Octavian overthrew Mark Antony in 32 BC, he resigned his position as a triumvir, but may have been given a power similar to that he had surrendered. By 29 BC, other changes were made to his legal status, which we knew very little. We know that it involves giving to the Octavianus Consular Empire (command authority), and thus controlling the army and the province. This change may also give him the authority to take the census.
Octavian wants to establish his status as the ruler of the state, but avoids the fate of his adoptive father. On January 13, 27 BC, Oktavianus transferred state control back to the Senate and the People of Rome, but, most likely, he knew what the outcome of such an action would be. Without Octavian, Rome could come back down into chaos and civil war. Neither the Senate nor the People of Rome were willing to accept what was actually, Octavian's resignation, and thus Oktavian was allowed to remain the Roman Consul (chief executive under the old Republic), and also allowed to retain his tribunal's power.. Under this arrangement, Octavian now has colleagues who can veto one of his actions. He may be worried that his previous position looks too monarchic. Now, when he seems to be reintegrated into the constitutional apparatus, his prestige takes away the real risks that might be stymied by his colleagues. This arrangement, in effect, serves as a popular ratification of its position within the state. If the Senate and the People of Rome would not let him leave the office, so the theory goes, then he can not be considered a tyrant. The Senate then gave Octavianus the unique level of the Proconsular empire (authority of the Proconsular order) for a period of ten years. With this level of special power, he was given power and authority over all Proconsuls. Under the old republic, the Proconsul ruled a more challenging province. Therefore, legions are mostly placed in these provinces. Under the old system, Soldiers and Pro-Praetor ruled a more stable province. Therefore, these provinces have very little military infrastructure. Octavian allows the senate to maintain control over the province of Praetorial. Although this seems to be a division of power between Octavian and the senate, the actual result is that Octavian now controls most of the Roman army. Octavian was also given the title "Augustus" by the senate and was appointed ruler of the state by the Senate and the People of Rome. He also took the Principles, or "first citizens". In this case, he attempted to establish himself as "the first among equals" rather than as king, for even at this point of time, the monarchy was still disgusting to most Romans. He had taken on the dictatorial powers that his adoptive father had taken almost twenty years earlier, but had done so in the spirit of the republican constitution.
In 23 BC, Augustus (as Octavian now calls himself) once again attempted to reform the constitution, though it is unknown why he chose to reform the constitution at this point. Four years have passed since his last reform, and this may have given him a chance to find weaknesses in the reforms. In addition, he nearly died in 23 BC, and thus he may think that the time left is very short. For Augustus, one major weakness in his constitution was his status as Consul. While it is true that the prestige minimizes the risk of obstruction in the hands of consuls, this risk persists. It was also unusual (and unprecedented) for an individual to be elected to the Consulate nine times in a row, as Augustus did. In addition, tradition does subdue the Consul to certain restrictions, such as the traditional etiquette shown by two Consuls to each other. While Augustus considered the possibility of making himself the only Consul, he realized that it was too radical to abandon the tradition. Therefore, as a 'concession', he submitted his Consulates, and modified both the Proconsular empire and his Tribunal powers. It is not known exactly how Augustus modified his proconsion of empire, but it is known that he was permitted to defend this empire in Rome. Normally, every judge must hand over their empire while they are in the city. In addition, the Proconsular empire is officially modified to give it status and authority over even the Consul.
Because this change gave him an unprecedented ability to force people, he risked his popularity. To compensate for this risk, he has his tribunal power ( potestas tribunicia ) modified. The Tribunate is a natural fit for an autocrat who seeks to maintain popularity with people. The Tribunate is a popular office, because it has become the main vehicle in which the plebe gain political power and through it they are protected against state offenses. The "Plebeian Tribunes" have strong positive power, such as the right to hold the Plebeian Council, and strong negative forces, such as the right to veto the actions of the senate. Moreover, based on history and precedents, the Tribe, unlike the Consulate, is radical. The modification of Augustus did not alter the actual power associated with the office, but instead, Augustus only showed the status of the tribunal more clearly. Although he has held the tribunician power since 36 BC, this power has never been renewed. However, after 23 BC, it has this power updated every year. In the official document, he shows the number of years that have passed since he first held the tribunician power. After these reforms were instituted, Augustus never again changed his constitution. At various points, people demanded that he take more power, but he refused. In some instances, he must use the power he does not legally possess, but he usually gains this power by securing the course of temporary legislation.
Augustus's final aim was to find methods to ensure regular succession. Under the constitution of Augustus, the Senate and the People of Rome hold the supreme authority, and all of its special powers are given either for a fixed period of time, or a lifetime. Therefore, Augustus can not transfer his power to a successor after his death. Every successor needs to have a power independent of the power of Augustus himself. During his illness in 23 BC, he had chosen Agrippa to be his successor. He had considered the possibility of making his nephew Marcellus his successor, but ultimately decided that Marcellus was too young. In 21 BC Marcellus died and Augustus married Agrippa with his daughter Julia, and in 18 BC, Augustus enacted a law that granted agrippa powers for a five-year period. Agrippa and Julia have two sons, Gaius and Lucius Caesar, and Augustus designates them as heirs by authorizing both tribunicians. In 12 BC Agrippa died, and in 6 BC, Augustus bestowed this tribunry's power on his stepson Tiberius. Gaius and Lucius Caesar soon died, and Augustus realized that he had no choice but to recognize Tiberius as his heir. At 13 AD, the point was resolved without question. A legally enacted law (lex consularis) linked the power of Augustus to the provinces with Tiberius, so that now the power of Tiberius law is equivalent to, and independent of, Augustus. Within a year, Augustus died.
Maps History of the Constitution of the Roman Empire
From Tiberius to Vitellius
When Augustus died at 14 AD, the Principal legally ended. While Augustus had given Tiberius the legal standing he needed to become Princeps (ie, Roman Emperor), Augustus could not legally make Tiberius Princeps . However, Tiberius's legal power, as well as his status as the chosen heir of Augustus, gave him an opportunity whose ambitions could not be denied. Tiberius knew that if he had the support of the army, the rest of the government would soon follow. Therefore, Tiberius took command of the Praetorian Guard, and used the Proconsular empire to force the army to swear allegiance to him. As soon as this happens, the senate and the judge agree. Tiberius's efforts were so successful that when the senate declared him Prince, he made his acceptance seem a concession to the demands of the senators. Under Tiberius, the power to elect judges was transferred from the assembly to the senate. Now, the assembly is only used to hear the results of the magisterial election. In addition, they do retain some theoretical legislative powers. When Tiberius died, Caligula was proclaimed emperor by the senate. Caligula transferred the electoral power back to the assembly, but then quickly restored it to the senate. In 41 Caligula was killed, and for two days after his assassination, the senate debated the merits of restoring the republic. Because of the demands of the army, however, Claudius was eventually declared emperor. Claudius's anti-clerical interests resulted in his efforts to revive the old censorship, and restore the level of independence to the senate. Finally, Claudius was killed, and Nero was declared emperor.
Arguably, the most significant defect in the constitution left by Augustus concerns the problem of succession. This deadly flaw was exposed vigorously in 69. Augustus has established a fixed army, in which individual armies serve under the same military governor in the same province for a long period of time. The consequence was that soldiers in the provinces developed loyalty to their commanders, whom they did not have for the emperor. Thus the empire was, in a sense, the union of uncivilized governments, which could have been destroyed at any moment. The first indication of the nationalist movement appeared in Gaul (modern France) in 68, but this movement ended when its leader, C. Julius Vindex, was defeated by troops under L. Verginius Rufus. Rufus was the governor of Upper Germany, and when he was declared imperator by his soldiers he decided not to use his support to march in Rome and make himself emperor. He did not reject this opportunity because he was faithful to the emperor Nero, but rather because of his low birth, and his belief that his low birth might make it difficult to achieve anything as emperor. Shortly after Rufus was declared imperator , Ser. Sulpicius Galba, the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, was proclaimed emperor by his army. In Rome, Emperor Nero quickly lost his supporters and committed suicide. However, Galba does not prove to be a wise leader. He chose to punish Rufus's forces, and hostile to the Praetorian Guards by not fulfilling the promises made to them.
The Lower German Governor, A. Vitellius, soon proclaimed the emperor by his army, and in Rome, Praetorian Guard proclaimed emperor M. Salvius Otho. On January 69, Galba was killed, and the senate declared the emperor Otho. Otho brought troops to Germany to defeat Vitellius, but he was defeated by Vitellius. He committed suicide, and Vitellius was proclaimed emperor by the senate. Another general, Vespasian, soon defeated Vitellius. Vitellius was executed, and Vespasian named Augustus, elected Consul, and given the Tribunician powers. The results of these events illustrate the key weaknesses in Augustus's constitution. The method of succession is based in part on heredity, and if the nearest relative of the deceased emperor has the support of the Praetorian Guard, his installation as emperor is quite assured. However, with Nero's death, Julian's line has been extinguished. Thus, events 69 indicate that the army in the province is the last 'election body', and that any successful general may legitimately claim the right to the throne. It also became clear that, while the senate might approve the installation of a new emperor, such consent was merely a matter of form. This defect will contribute to the final fall of the Roman Empire.
Emperor Flavianus
Under the emperor Vespasian, the Roman constitution began to slide toward a straight monarchy. Vespasian pointed residents across the empire to the senate, and gave more citizenship. Before Vespasian, it usually should be chosen for the post of magister before they become senators. Since the senate chooses individuals for magisterial posts, the senate controls its own membership, but under Vespasian, the senate loses this power. This act alone weakens the prestige, and thus the power, both from the senate and the magisterial offices. Under Vespasian, the senate returned to its original role as an advisory council. The Vespasian reform, however, did much to empower the empire. The emperor's award now to the citizens is highly sought after. The people who have received such an award are proud of them, and as a consequence become more loyal to the emperor, while individuals who have not received such an award are trying to get them. Some of the future emperors (such as Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius) emerged as a consequence of this reform. Despite Vespasian's success in strengthening the empire, he failed to overcome the problem of succession, although he may choose not to overcome this problem because, with two sons, he can easily secure his own successor's accession. He has made his son Titus, his colleague at the Consulate and Censorship Institute, granting him tribunician authority, and following his success in Judea, giving him the honorary title of imperator. Vespasian died at 79.
The Domitian government marked a significant turning point on the road to the monarchy. After making himself a Consul for ten years, Domitian made himself a lifetime censor, and unlike his father, he used these powers to further subdue the senate by controlling his membership. He also changed the law so he could lead the trial against the senators. The way in which he was able to dominate his Consulate colleagues helped to better illustrate the helplessness of the Consul. To reduce the risk of armed rebellion against him, Domitian ensured that no one general could rule more than two legions at a time. Domitian, however, divided the empire into smaller administrative units. The system was quite efficient, and was revived two centuries later by Emperor Diocletian. Domitian, in the end, is a tyrant with a character who always makes a repugnant tyranny, and this comes partly from his own paranoia. Since he has no son, and thus there is no clear heir, he is always threatened to be overthrown. Thus, the problem of unsolved succession proved lethal, and in September 96, Domitian was assassinated.
From Nerva to deletion Principle
Nerva, elected by the Senate, reverses some of the violations committed by Domitian, such as the practice of demanding individuals for not appreciating the emperor. In 97, Nerva adopted M. Ulpius Trajan, who served as Top German governor at the time. When Nerva died in January 98, Trajan replaced it without a fight. Trajan goes further than even Nerva in restoring the image of a free republic. He refused to lead the trial against senators, observed the precedent of free speech during the senate meeting, and was away from Rome for such a long period that the senate even regained independent legislative capacity. In addition, he showed respect for the republican magisterial offices by holding only the Consulate four times during his nineteen-year rule, in contrast to ten Domestic Consulships held during his fifteen-year reign.
Hadrian replaced Trajan as emperor. By far, the most important constitutional change is his creation of the bureaucratic apparatus, which includes the fixed gradations of clear offices, and the appropriate sequence of promotions. Many functions that have been outsourced in the past, such as tax collection, must now be done by the state. Hadrian adopted Antonius Pius, made him his heir, and died shortly thereafter. No real change to the constitution was made during the reign of Antonius Pius. He made Marcus Aurelius his heir in 161, and died shortly after. The most significant constitutional development that occurred during the reign of Marcus Aurelius was the revival of the principle of republican collegiality, when he made his brother, L. Aelius, his fellow emperor. Marcus Aurelius ruled the western part of the empire, while his brother ruled the eastern part of the empire. In 169, Aelius died, and in 176, Marcus Aurelius made his son, L. Aurelius Commodus, his new co-emperor. This arrangement was revived more than a century later, when Emperor Diocletian established the Tetrarchy. At 180, Marcus Aurelius died, and Commodus became emperor. Tyranny Commodus revived the worst memories of the later emperor Julian, because he was more explicit than his predecessors in taking power that he did not legally possess, and disregarded the constitution. He was killed in 192.
No further constitutional reforms were enforced during the Principate. The only development of any significance is the continuing decline into the monarchy, since the constitutional distinctions that Augustus has constituted have lost whatever meaning they still have. Beginning in 235, with the reign of the barbarous emperor Maximinus Thrax, the empire passed a period of severe military, civil and economic stress. The crisis could have reached its peak during the reign of Gallienus, from 260 to 268. The crisis ended with Diocletian's accession in 284, and the abolition of the Principate.
See also
Note
References
Further reading
- Cambridge Ancient History, Volumes 9-13.
- Cameron, A. The Later Roman Empire , (Fontana Press, 1993).
- Crawford, M. Roman Republic , (Fontana Press, 1978).
- Gruen, E. S. "The Last Generation of the Roman Republic" (U California Press, 1974)
- Ihne, Wilhelm. Researching into the History of the Roman Constitution . William Pickering. 1853.
- Johnston, Harold Whetstone. Oration and Cicero Letter: With Introduction to History, Outline of Roman Constitution, Notes, Vocabulary and Index . Scott, Foresman and Company. 1891.
- Millar, F. Emperor in the Roman World , (Duckworth, 1977, 1992).
- Mommsen, Theodor. Roman Constitutional Law . 1871-1888
- Polybius. The Histories
- Tighe, Ambrose. Development of Roman Constitution . D. Apple & amp; Co 1886.
- Von Fritz, Kurt. The Theory of the Mixed Constitution in Antiquity . Columbia University Press, New York. 1975.
External links
- De Re Publica Cicero, Message Two
- Rome at the End of the Punic War: An Analysis of Roman Government; by Polybius
- Considerations of the Cause of Roman Greatness and Its Decline, by Montesquieu
- Roman Constitution to Cicero Time
- What Terrorist Incidents in Ancient Rome Can Teach Us
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