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The High Command in the Roman Republic

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The High Command in the Roman Republic While the terminology has long been insights into the constitutional ramifica- Frederik J. Vervaet noted, the republican principle of the tions for the allocation of public triumphs, summum imperium auspiciumque, the the position of the consuls in the provinces, high command and the prevailing aus- and the official hierarchy in combined pices, has never been subject to compre- commands, highlighting the fascinating The High Command hensive scrutiny. This enquiry for the first interplay between these largely custom- time identifies this principle as a coherent ary rules of engagement and the nobility’s in the Roman Republic concept in Roman constitutional and ad- own code of honour. This study also casts ministrative practice, being the senatorial a provocative new light on how the high oligarchy’s foremost instrument to recon- command was gradually monopolized by The Principle of the summum imperium cile collegiate rule with the necessity of a dynasts in the tumultuous period between unified high command. After defining the Sulla’s dictatorship and the emergence of auspiciumque from 509 to 19 BCE relevant terms and the scope of the high the Augustan monarchy. Finally, a post- command both in Rome and in the field, a script addresses the vexed question of the number of case studies yield striking new lex curiata de imperio. The High Command in the Roman Republic Hist -E www.steiner-verlag.de 232 Alte Geschichte Historia – Einzelschriften 232 Franz Steiner Verlag Franz Steiner Verlag isbn 978-3-515-10630-6 Frederik J. Vervaet J. Frederik Frederik J. Vervaet The High Command in the Roman Republic historia Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte | Revue d’histoire ancienne | Journal of Ancient History | Rivista di storia antica einzelschriften Herausgegeben von Kai Brodersen, Erfurt | Mortimer Chambers, Los Angeles | Martin Jehne, Dresden | Mischa Meier, Tübingen | Walter Scheidel, Stanford Band 232 Frederik J. Vervaet The High Command in the Roman Republic The Principle of the summum imperium auspiciumque from 509 to 19 BCE Franz Steiner Verlag Cover illustrations: Coin on the left side: Denarius minted in 45 or early in 44 BCE by M. Mettius representing C. Iulius Caesar as dictator for the fourth time (dictator quarto, spring of 45 – February 44), including the lituus, the curled staff of the augurs, closely associated with (claims to) constitutional legitimacy and the public auspices (Crawford RRC No 480). As dictator IIII, Caesar would hold a series of sweeping powers that marked the beginning of a new era in Roman history: see chapter 7.4. Coin on the right side: Denarius minted in the first half of the 50s BCE by M. Iunius Brutus (pr. urb. 44 BCE) featuring his ancestor L. Iunius Brutus, consul in 509 BCE, flanked by two lictors holding the fasces and preceded by an accensus (Crawford RRC No 433). Significantly, the reverse carries the inscription LIBERTAS, displaying the head of the goddess Liberty. © The Trustees of the British Museum Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek: Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über <http://dnb.d-nb.de> abrufbar. Dieses Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist unzulässig und strafbar. © Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2014 Druck: AZ Druck und Datentechnik, Kempten Gedruckt auf säurefreiem, alterungsbeständigem Papier. Printed in Germany. ISBN 978-3-515-10630-6 (Print) ISBN 978-3-515-10788-4 (E-Book) For Zena Mira Kerauna TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................................11 1. The imperium auspiciumque ......................................................................17 1.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................17 1.2. imperium auspiciumque ................................................................................22 1.3. ductus auspiciumque – ductus imperium auspiciumque ..............................23 1.4. Conclusion ....................................................................................................26 2. The principle of the summum imperium auspiciumque ...........................29 2.1. Introduction: the summum imperium – a matter of definition ......................29 2.2. Collegiate rule and the unity of the high command: the turnus of the fasces .................................................................................30 2.3. Conclusion: the turnus of the fasces and the summum imperium auspiciumque ................................................................51 3. Summum imperium auspiciumque and prouincia .....................................54 3.1. Introduction: the concept of prouincia .........................................................54 3.2. Imperium auspiciumque and prouincia ........................................................55 3.3. Conclusion: cuius prouincia, eius summum imperium auspiciumque ..........66 4. The summum imperium auspiciumque and the ius triumphi ...................68 4.1. Introduction: the dogmatic view of Th. Mommsen ......................................68 4.2. The double triumph under the Republic: the present state of the question ..............................................................................................71 4.3. The imperium auspiciumque as a condition sine qua non for full triumphal honours ............................................................................78 4.4. The summum imperium auspiciumque and the ius triumphi ........................93 4.5. Conclusive observations: casting off Th. Mommsen’s long shadow ................................................................................................117 5. The consuls and the prouinciae Populi Romani .....................................131 5.1. The consuls, the proconsuls and the provinces: the present state of the question ............................................................................................131 5.2. The consuls as natural summi imperatores of the Roman Republic ...........141 5.3. The consuls and the proconsuls: theory and practice .................................151 5.4. The impact of social status, senatorial rank and personal auctoritas .........157 5.5. Exceptions to the rule ex senatus consulto and/or e lege ...........................162 5.6. Some other relevant cases ..........................................................................175 8 Table of contents 5.7. The nonexistence of the conditional consulare imperium maius quam under the Republic .................................................................185 5.8. The consuls and the summum imperium auspiciumque: conclusions ........193 6. The hierarchy of imperatores in prouinciae permixtae ..........................198 6.1. Introduction ................................................................................................198 6.2. Imperators with the same official status .....................................................199 6.3. Imperators with different official statuses and par potestas .......................199 6.4. Imperators with different official statuses and impar potestas ...................200 6.5. The impact of social status, senatorial rank and personal auctoritas .........202 6.6. Exceptions to the rule .................................................................................212 6.7. Conclusion ..................................................................................................213 7. The monopolization of the summum imperium auspiciumque from Cornelius Sulla Felix to Imperator Caesar Augustus ..................214 7.1. Introduction ................................................................................................214 7.2. The dictatorship of Cornelius Sulla: a dangerous precedent ......................215 7.3. The commands of Cn. Pompeius Magnus: breaking new ground ..............216 7.4. Caesar the dictator: unus summus imperator in toto imperio .....................223 7.5. The triumvirs r.p.c. (43–27 BCE): from oligopoly to monopoly ...............239 7.6. The Augustan settlements: the lasting supremacy of Imperator Caesar .....253 7.7. Epilogue: Augustus and the public provinces ............................................275 7.8. Conclusions ................................................................................................289 Conclusions .........................................................................................................293 Postscript : the scope of the so-called lex curiata de imperio ..........................300 1. Introduction ................................................................................................300 2. A concise state of the question ...................................................................301 3. A curiate law for the magistratus minores? ................................................304 4. The precise scope of the lex curiata de imperio .........................................310 5. Timing and circumstances of the rogatio curiata de imperio ....................340 6. The lex centuriata de potestate censoria ....................................................343 7. A curiate law for the imperia extraordinaria? ............................................346 8. Conclusions ................................................................................................349
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