Decemviri
Encyclopedia
Decemviri is a Latin
term meaning "Ten Men" which designates any such commission in the Roman Republic
(cf. Triumviri, Three Men). Different types of decemvirate include the writing of laws with consul
ar imperium
(legibus scribundis consulari imperio), the judging of litigation (stlitibus iudicandis), the making of sacrifices (sacris faciundis), and the distribution of public lands (agris dandis adsignandis).
the plebeians and patricians of Rome
agreed to the appointment of a commission of ten men to write up a code of law defining the principles of Roman administration; during the decemviri's term in office, all other magistracies would be suspended, and their decisions were not subject to appeal. The first set of decemviri, composed entirely of patricians, assumed office in 451 BC
, and was led by Appius Claudius Crassus
and Titus Genucius Augurinus, who were consul
s for that year. Each decemvir administered the government for one day in turn, and whichever decemvir presided on any given day was preceded by the twelve lictor
s bearing the fasces
; none of the other decemviri received any protection from the lictors. Their administration of justice was exemplary and they submitted to the Comitia Centuriata
a code of laws in ten headings, which was passed.
The success of the Decemvirate prompted the appointment of a second college of decemviri for 450 BC
(Appius Claudius being the only decemvir returned after having controversially reappointed himself). This second set added two more headings to their predecessors' ten, completing the Law of the Twelve Tables
(Lex Duodecim Tabularum), which formed the centerpiece of the Roman constitutions for the next several centuries. Nevertheless, this Decemvirate's rule became increasingly violent and tyrannical; each decemvir was attended by twelve lictors, who carried the fasces
with axes even within the city (consuls and dictator
s alone were attended by twelve lictors, and only the dictator could display the fasces with axes within the pomerium
).
When the Decemvirate's term of office expired, the decemviri refused to leave office or permit successors to take office. Appius Claudius is said to have made an unjust decision which would have forced a young woman named Verginia
into prostitution
or as Appius' personal slave, prompting her father to kill her, and this travesty caused an uprising against the Decemvirate; the decemviri resigned their offices in 449 BC
, and the ordinary magistrates (magistratus ordinarii) were re-instituted.
Decemviri Legibus Scribundis Consulari Imperio (451 BC):
Decemviri Legibus Scribundis Consulari Imperio (450 – 449 BC):
ally attributed to King Servius Tullius
) mainly concerned with questions bearing on the status of individuals. It originally served as a jury rendering verdict under the presidency of the praetor
, but these decemviri subsequently became annual minor magistrates (magistratus minores) of the Republic, elected by the Comitia Populi Tributa
and forming part of the Vigintisexviri
("Twenty-Six Men").
Suetonius
and Dio Cassius
record that during the Principate
, Caesar Augustus transferred to the decemviri the presidency in the courts of the Centumviri ("Hundred Men"). Under imperial law, the decemvirate had jurisdiction in capital cases.
to equal share in the administration of the state religion (five decemviri were plebeians, five were patricians). They were first appointed in 367 BC
in lieu of the patrician duumviri ("Two Men") who had had responsibility for the care and consultation of the Sibylline books
and the celebration of the games of Apollo. Membership in this ecclesiastical college (collegium) was for life, and the college was increased to a quindecemvirate—that is, a college of fifteen members—and renamed accordingly (see quindecemviri sacris faciundis
) in the last century of the Republic, possibly by the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla
; the dictator Gaius Iulius Caesar
added a sixteenth member, but this precedent was not followed...
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
term meaning "Ten Men" which designates any such commission in the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
(cf. Triumviri, Three Men). Different types of decemvirate include the writing of laws with consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
ar imperium
Imperium
Imperium is a Latin word which, in a broad sense, translates roughly as 'power to command'. In ancient Rome, different kinds of power or authority were distinguished by different terms. Imperium, referred to the sovereignty of the state over the individual...
(legibus scribundis consulari imperio), the judging of litigation (stlitibus iudicandis), the making of sacrifices (sacris faciundis), and the distribution of public lands (agris dandis adsignandis).
Decemviri Legibus Scribundis Consulari Imperio
In 452 BC452 BC
Year 452 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lanatus and Vaticanus . The denomination 452 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe...
the plebeians and patricians of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
agreed to the appointment of a commission of ten men to write up a code of law defining the principles of Roman administration; during the decemviri's term in office, all other magistracies would be suspended, and their decisions were not subject to appeal. The first set of decemviri, composed entirely of patricians, assumed office in 451 BC
451 BC
Year 451 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Augurinus and the First year of the decemviri...
, and was led by Appius Claudius Crassus
Appius Claudius Crassus
Appius Claudius Crassus was a decemvir of the Roman Republic ca 451 BC.His father was Appius Claudius Sabinus, Consul in 471 BCE...
and Titus Genucius Augurinus, who were consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
s for that year. Each decemvir administered the government for one day in turn, and whichever decemvir presided on any given day was preceded by the twelve lictor
Lictor
The lictor was a member of a special class of Roman civil servant, with special tasks of attending and guarding magistrates of the Roman Republic and Empire who held imperium, the right and power to command; essentially, a bodyguard...
s bearing the fasces
Fasces
Fasces are a bundle of wooden sticks with an axe blade emerging from the center, which is an image that traditionally symbolizes summary power and jurisdiction, and/or "strength through unity"...
; none of the other decemviri received any protection from the lictors. Their administration of justice was exemplary and they submitted to the Comitia Centuriata
Roman assemblies
The Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Republic were political institutions in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the contemporary historian Polybius, it was the people who had the final say regarding the election of magistrates, the enactment of new statutes, the carrying out of capital...
a code of laws in ten headings, which was passed.
The success of the Decemvirate prompted the appointment of a second college of decemviri for 450 BC
450 BC
Year 450 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Second year of the decemviri...
(Appius Claudius being the only decemvir returned after having controversially reappointed himself). This second set added two more headings to their predecessors' ten, completing the Law of the Twelve Tables
Twelve Tables
The Law of the Twelve Tables was the ancient legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law. The Law of the Twelve Tables formed the centrepiece of the constitution of the Roman Republic and the core of the mos maiorum...
(Lex Duodecim Tabularum), which formed the centerpiece of the Roman constitutions for the next several centuries. Nevertheless, this Decemvirate's rule became increasingly violent and tyrannical; each decemvir was attended by twelve lictors, who carried the fasces
Fasces
Fasces are a bundle of wooden sticks with an axe blade emerging from the center, which is an image that traditionally symbolizes summary power and jurisdiction, and/or "strength through unity"...
with axes even within the city (consuls and dictator
Roman dictator
In the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...
s alone were attended by twelve lictors, and only the dictator could display the fasces with axes within the pomerium
Pomerium
The pomerium or pomoerium , was the sacred boundary of the city of Rome. In legal terms, Rome existed only within the pomerium; everything beyond it was simply territory belonging to Rome.-Location and extensions:Tradition maintained that it was the original line ploughed by Romulus around the...
).
When the Decemvirate's term of office expired, the decemviri refused to leave office or permit successors to take office. Appius Claudius is said to have made an unjust decision which would have forced a young woman named Verginia
Verginia
Verginia, or Virginia, was the subject of a story of Ancient Rome, related in Livy's Ab Urbe Condita.The people of Rome were already angry with the decemviri for not calling the proper elections, taking bribes, and other abuses. It seemed that they were returning to the rule of the Kings of Rome...
into prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
or as Appius' personal slave, prompting her father to kill her, and this travesty caused an uprising against the Decemvirate; the decemviri resigned their offices in 449 BC
449 BC
Year 449 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Third year of the decemviri and the Year of the Consulship of Potitus and Barbatus...
, and the ordinary magistrates (magistratus ordinarii) were re-instituted.
Decemviri Legibus Scribundis Consulari Imperio (451 BC):
- Appius Claudius CrassusAppius Claudius CrassusAppius Claudius Crassus was a decemvir of the Roman Republic ca 451 BC.His father was Appius Claudius Sabinus, Consul in 471 BCE...
, consul; - Titus Genucius Augurinus, consul;
- Titus Veturius Crassus Cicurinus;
- Gaius Iulius Iullus;
- Aulus Manlius Vulso;
- Servius Sulpicius Camerinus CornutusServius Sulpicius Camerinus CornutusServius Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus, the short form of whose name is Camerinus, was consul at Rome in the year 500 BC, serving at first with Manius Tullius Longus....
; - Publius Sestius Capito Vaticanus;
- Publius Curiatius Fistus Trigeminus;
- Titus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus; and
- Spurius Postumius Albus RegillensisSpurius Postumius Albus Regillensis (consul 466 BC)Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis was a patrician politician of Ancient Rome. He was, apparently, according to the Fasti, the son of Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis, although it must be observed that no great dependence can be placed upon genealogies from such early times. He was consul in 466 BC...
Decemviri Legibus Scribundis Consulari Imperio (450 – 449 BC):
- Appius Claudius Decemvir;
- Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis;
- Marcus Sergius Esquilinus;
- Lucius Minucius Esquilinus AugurinusLucius Minucius Esquilinus AugurinusLucius Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus, son of Publius, was consul of the Roman Republic with Gaius Nautius Rutilus in 458 BC.Minucius was ordered to bring his army against the Aequi camped near Tusculum. However, he camped his army next to the enemy, and did not take the initiative...
; - Quintus Fabius VibulanusQuintus Fabius Vibulanus (467 BC)Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, son of Marcus Fabius Vibulanus , was consul of the Roman Republic.-Biography:He was consul three times:# 467 BC, with Tiberius Aemilius L.f. Mamercinus...
; - Quintus Poetelius Libo Visolus;
- Titus Antonius Merenda;
- Caeso Duillius Longus;
- Spurius Oppius Cornicen; and
- Manius RabuleiusManius RabuleiusManius Rabuleius was an Ancient Roman politician and a member of the second decemvirate in 450 BC.Dionysius calls him a patrician, whereas he speaks of C. Rabuleius as a plebeian. As no other persons of this name are mentioned by ancient writers, we have no means for determining whether the gens...
Decemviri Stlitibus Iudicandis
This type of decemvirate (also called the decemviri litibus iudicandis and translated as "the ten men who judge lawsuits") was a civil court of ancient origin (traditionTradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
ally attributed to King Servius Tullius
Servius Tullius
Servius Tullius was the legendary sixth king of ancient Rome, and the second of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned 578-535 BC. Roman and Greek sources describe his servile origins and later marriage to a daughter of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Rome's first Etruscan king, who was assassinated in 579 BC...
) mainly concerned with questions bearing on the status of individuals. It originally served as a jury rendering verdict under the presidency of the praetor
Praetor
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
, but these decemviri subsequently became annual minor magistrates (magistratus minores) of the Republic, elected by the Comitia Populi Tributa
Roman assemblies
The Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Republic were political institutions in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the contemporary historian Polybius, it was the people who had the final say regarding the election of magistrates, the enactment of new statutes, the carrying out of capital...
and forming part of the Vigintisexviri
Vigintisexviri
The Vigintisexviri was a college of minor magistrates in the Roman Republic; the name literally means "Twenty-Six Men"...
("Twenty-Six Men").
Suetonius
Lives of the Twelve Caesars
De vita Caesarum commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus.The work, written in AD 121 during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, was the most popular work of Suetonius,...
and Dio Cassius
Dio Cassius
Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...
record that during the Principate
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, Caesar Augustus transferred to the decemviri the presidency in the courts of the Centumviri ("Hundred Men"). Under imperial law, the decemvirate had jurisdiction in capital cases.
Decemviri Sacris Faciundis
This type of decemvirate (also called the decemviri sacrorum) had religious functions and was the outcome of the claim of the plebsPlebs
The plebs was the general body of free land-owning Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...
to equal share in the administration of the state religion (five decemviri were plebeians, five were patricians). They were first appointed in 367 BC
367 BC
Year 367 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Tribunate of Cossus, Maluginensis, Macerinus, Capitolinus, Cicurinus and Poplicola...
in lieu of the patrician duumviri ("Two Men") who had had responsibility for the care and consultation of the Sibylline books
Sibylline Books
The Sibylline Books or Libri Sibyllini were a collection of oracular utterances, set out in Greek hexameters, purchased from a sibyl by the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, and consulted at momentous crises through the history of the Republic and the Empire...
and the celebration of the games of Apollo. Membership in this ecclesiastical college (collegium) was for life, and the college was increased to a quindecemvirate—that is, a college of fifteen members—and renamed accordingly (see quindecemviri sacris faciundis
Quindecemviri sacris faciundis
In ancient Rome, the quindecimviri sacris faciundis were the fifteen members of a college with priestly duties. Most notably they guarded the Sibylline Books, scriptures which they consulted and interpreted at the request of the Senate...
) in the last century of the Republic, possibly by the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the rare distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as that of dictator...
; the dictator Gaius Iulius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
added a sixteenth member, but this precedent was not followed...