A History and Description of Roman Political Institutions - Softcover

Abbott, Frank Frost

9780217670890: A History and Description of Roman Political Institutions

Softcover

ISBN 10: 021767089X ISBN 13: 9780217670890

Publisher: General Books LLC, 2012

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This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1911. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... SECTION II --DESCRIPTIVE CHAPTER VIII THE ATTRIBUTES OF MAGISTRACY (a) Magistrates, Imperium, Potestas 143. Method of Treatment. Our historical survey of the development of Roman political institutions has shown that the right of initiating action was the peculiar prerogative of the magistrate, and that in the early period he was practically the supreme lawgiver and judge, as well as the executive. To put it in another way, the functions acquired later by other branches of the government were in the early days exercised by the executive. We have traced the process of differentiation. First of all, the senate, which was at the beginning of the republic merely an advisory body, found means to enforce its claim to a share in the control of the state. Later, the popular assemblies developed, and finally a well-organized judicial system was established. A systematic examination of Roman political institutions will, therefore, follow the order of historical development, in taking up first the magistracies, then the senate, the popular assemblies, and finally the courts of- law. Our historical investigation has suggested one other important point in the method of treatment. At the beginning of the republican period the magisterial power was vested in a single college of magistrates. The establishment of new magistracies, as time went on, meant simply the assignment of certain specific duties to the new officials. The new magistracies had all the general characteristics of the original magistracy out of which they sprang. Therefore, before passing to an examination of the functions of the individual magistrates, it will be natural and convenient to consider the general attributes of the Roman magistracies taken as a unit. 144. Definition of Magistrates. The term magistr...

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About the Author

Frank Frost Abbott (1860-1924), classical scholar and professor of Latin at the University of Chicago and Princeton University, authored numerous books on Roman history and government, several of which have remained in print. "Selected Letters of Cicero" was first published in 1897.

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