Lex Hortensia
Encyclopedia
Lex Hortensia was a law passed in Ancient Rome
in 287 BC which made all resolutions passed by plebeians binding on all citizens.
, Lex Hortensia (287 BC) was the final result of the long class struggle
between patricians and plebeians, where the plebeians would periodically secede from the city in protest (secessio plebis
) when they felt they were deprived of their rights. After 287 BC, the Comitia Centuriata falls into the background and the tribunes, working with the Senate, make the Lex Hortensia a stage in the development of Senatorial domination in the State. The Lex Hortensia contained similar stipulations of the two earlier laws, the Lex Valeria-Horatia of 449 BC and Lex Publica ut plebei scita omnes quirites tenerent of 339 BC. The statement that set the Lex Hortensia apart was the prelude that ‘olim patricii dicebant plebi scitis se non teneri, quae sine auctoritate eorum facta essent.’ This statement disregarded the eligibility of the patricians to deny the plebiscites could not be bound. Patricians tended to be the wealthy upper crust of ancient Roman society. The plebeians were seen as the average citizens. Although many still attained wealth and status, they did not have the ancestral background associated with the patricians. This resulted in the struggle for power between the two classes.
was a Roman dictator during the third century BC, when the struggle between plebeians and patricians was at an apex. For two centuries the classes had been locked in a struggle, in which the patricians tried to control and maintain the ever-growing plebeian privilege. Often in response to the actions of the Senate, the plebs would take composite action and seceded from the city. In 287 BC the plebeians seceded to the Janiculan hill, and in response Quintus Hortensius was appointed dictator. Shortly thereafter he passed a law to attempt to end the struggle between the plebeian and patrician classes; because the law was sponsored by Quintus Hortensius, it became known as the Lex Hortensia, or "the Hortensian law". Though very little is known about him personally, it has been suggested he died while still dictator.
. It was passed in direct response to the patricians’ denial to identify some of the plebian decisions as binding upon them. This also allowed for the plebeians to arise to a higher status, where the wealthy now held the same amount of power and voice as the patricians did in the Senate. This also allowed the dominance of the patrician officials to wither.
were overthrown, all focus in power came to be on the Roman Senate, which ruled through elected magistrates that ruled for a lifetime. The members of this Senate, and thus the elected magistrates, were members of the elite wealthy families who could afford for their members to spend money and time on campaigning and elections. In 494 BC, when the plebeians organized en masse and seceded to the Sacred Hill, they forced the higher orders to recognize them “as a constituted order with assemblies and magistrates of its own, and right of corporate action on its own account.” They sought to represent only the concerns of the members of this “constituted order” and no records claim they sought to exercise either sovereignty or legislative power over the community. The secession of 287 would prove to be the final one, because in response the dictator
Quintus Hortensius
sponsored a law which gave the Plebeian Council
the right to enact laws (plebiscites) that were not subject to vetoes by the senate. Yet, by the time of the Punic Wars
from 264 to 146 BC between Carthage
and Rome
, the plebeian assembly had been delegated the entirety of powers similarly granted to the populous.
This new plebeian governing committee was allowed to form their own concilium with their own magistrates and tribunes, under their own set of traditions and procedures. This concilium came to be known as the concilium plebis, whose decisions were binding only to other plebeians. Providing that the decisions were approved by patricians, then and only then could they be applied to all Roman citizens. This council also elected the ten tribunes and Aediles in interest of the plebeians. Around the mid-5th century BC, the plebeians began to demand the Roman rulers to codify Roman law so that all citizens were seen as equal. The Plebeian Council had already acquired the right to pass laws that were binding on both Plebeians and Patricians (in 449 BC), but up until this point, plebiscites were subject to vetoes by the Patrician senators (through the auctoritas patrum, or "authority of the fathers" or "authority of the Patrician senators"). This law also ended this requirement for laws (legres) passed by the Tribal Assembly
, but not for the Century Assembly
. During the late Roman Republic, thanks to the Lex Hortensia, the concilium plebis became the main legislative body in the Roman government.
This law should not be viewed as the final triumph of democracy over aristocracy, since, through its close relations with the Plebeian Tribunes, the senate could still control the Plebeian Council. Thus, the ultimate significance of this law was in the fact that it robbed the Patricians of their final weapon over the Plebeians. The result was that the ultimate control over the state fell, not onto the shoulders of democracy, but onto the shoulders of the new Patricio-Plebeian senatorial aristocracy.
It has been argued that the two most notable laws passed to grant power to the plebeian assembly, Lex Valeria and Lex Horatia, were the actual first instance of considerable and sovereign power being granted to the plebs; some scholars accept another theory. Most scholars believe that a mistake was made in the interpretation of the articles of the laws, namely by Livy
, who assumed them to be dealing with the plebeian assembly, but were actually meant for the comitia tributa, a minor assembly of the populus Romanus. Suffice it to say, modern scholars accept Lex Hortensia as being the monumental movement in bringing the power between the plebs and the nobles to an equal standing.
Other laws concerning the status of plebeians were:
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
in 287 BC which made all resolutions passed by plebeians binding on all citizens.
Introduction
In Roman lawRoman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...
, Lex Hortensia (287 BC) was the final result of the long class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
between patricians and plebeians, where the plebeians would periodically secede from the city in protest (secessio plebis
Secessio plebis
Secessio plebis was an informal exercise of power by Rome's plebeian citizens, similar to a general strike taken to the extreme. During a secessio plebis, the plebs would simply abandon the city en masse and leave the patrician order to themselves...
) when they felt they were deprived of their rights. After 287 BC, the Comitia Centuriata falls into the background and the tribunes, working with the Senate, make the Lex Hortensia a stage in the development of Senatorial domination in the State. The Lex Hortensia contained similar stipulations of the two earlier laws, the Lex Valeria-Horatia of 449 BC and Lex Publica ut plebei scita omnes quirites tenerent of 339 BC. The statement that set the Lex Hortensia apart was the prelude that ‘olim patricii dicebant plebi scitis se non teneri, quae sine auctoritate eorum facta essent.’ This statement disregarded the eligibility of the patricians to deny the plebiscites could not be bound. Patricians tended to be the wealthy upper crust of ancient Roman society. The plebeians were seen as the average citizens. Although many still attained wealth and status, they did not have the ancestral background associated with the patricians. This resulted in the struggle for power between the two classes.
Quintus Hortensius
Quintus HortensiusQuintus Hortensius (dictator)
Quintus Hortensius was a plebeian appointed to the office of dictator of Rome in the year 287 BC.When the people, pressed by their patrician creditors, "seceded" to the Janiculum, he was commissioned to put an end to the strife...
was a Roman dictator during the third century BC, when the struggle between plebeians and patricians was at an apex. For two centuries the classes had been locked in a struggle, in which the patricians tried to control and maintain the ever-growing plebeian privilege. Often in response to the actions of the Senate, the plebs would take composite action and seceded from the city. In 287 BC the plebeians seceded to the Janiculan hill, and in response Quintus Hortensius was appointed dictator. Shortly thereafter he passed a law to attempt to end the struggle between the plebeian and patrician classes; because the law was sponsored by Quintus Hortensius, it became known as the Lex Hortensia, or "the Hortensian law". Though very little is known about him personally, it has been suggested he died while still dictator.
Lex Hortensia
A law passed in 287 BC, as suggested by appointed dictator, Quintus Hortensius, which made all resolutions passed by plebeians binding on all citizens. What made this law especially noteworthy was that each resolution was binding, regardless of prior approval of the Senate, which made the measures passed just as binding as those passed by the Roman assembliesRoman 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...
. It was passed in direct response to the patricians’ denial to identify some of the plebian decisions as binding upon them. This also allowed for the plebeians to arise to a higher status, where the wealthy now held the same amount of power and voice as the patricians did in the Senate. This also allowed the dominance of the patrician officials to wither.
Growing Plebeian Privilege and the “Struggle between the Classes”
After 509 BC, when the last kings of the Roman republicRoman 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...
were overthrown, all focus in power came to be on the Roman Senate, which ruled through elected magistrates that ruled for a lifetime. The members of this Senate, and thus the elected magistrates, were members of the elite wealthy families who could afford for their members to spend money and time on campaigning and elections. In 494 BC, when the plebeians organized en masse and seceded to the Sacred Hill, they forced the higher orders to recognize them “as a constituted order with assemblies and magistrates of its own, and right of corporate action on its own account.” They sought to represent only the concerns of the members of this “constituted order” and no records claim they sought to exercise either sovereignty or legislative power over the community. The secession of 287 would prove to be the final one, because in response the 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...
Quintus Hortensius
Quintus Hortensius (dictator)
Quintus Hortensius was a plebeian appointed to the office of dictator of Rome in the year 287 BC.When the people, pressed by their patrician creditors, "seceded" to the Janiculum, he was commissioned to put an end to the strife...
sponsored a law which gave the Plebeian Council
Plebeian Council
The Concilium Plebis — known in English as the Plebeian Council or People's Assembly — was the principal popular assembly of the ancient Roman Republic. It functioned as a legislative assembly, through which the plebeians could pass laws, elect magistrates, and try judicial cases. The Plebeian...
the right to enact laws (plebiscites) that were not subject to vetoes by the senate. Yet, by the time of the Punic Wars
Punic Wars
The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 B.C.E. to 146 B.C.E. At the time, they were probably the largest wars that had ever taken place...
from 264 to 146 BC between Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
and 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...
, the plebeian assembly had been delegated the entirety of powers similarly granted to the populous.
This new plebeian governing committee was allowed to form their own concilium with their own magistrates and tribunes, under their own set of traditions and procedures. This concilium came to be known as the concilium plebis, whose decisions were binding only to other plebeians. Providing that the decisions were approved by patricians, then and only then could they be applied to all Roman citizens. This council also elected the ten tribunes and Aediles in interest of the plebeians. Around the mid-5th century BC, the plebeians began to demand the Roman rulers to codify Roman law so that all citizens were seen as equal. The Plebeian Council had already acquired the right to pass laws that were binding on both Plebeians and Patricians (in 449 BC), but up until this point, plebiscites were subject to vetoes by the Patrician senators (through the auctoritas patrum, or "authority of the fathers" or "authority of the Patrician senators"). This law also ended this requirement for laws (legres) passed by the Tribal Assembly
Tribal Assembly
The Tribal Assembly of the Roman Republic was the democratic assembly of Roman citizens. During the years of the Roman Republic, citizens were organized on the basis of thirty-five Tribes: Four Tribes encompassed citizens inside the city of Rome, while the other thirty-one Tribes encompassed...
, but not for the Century Assembly
Century Assembly
The Century Assembly of the Roman Republic was the democratic assembly of Roman soldiers. During the years of the Roman Republic, citizens were organized on the basis of Centuries for military purposes. The Centuries gathered into the Century Assembly for legislative, electoral, and judicial...
. During the late Roman Republic, thanks to the Lex Hortensia, the concilium plebis became the main legislative body in the Roman government.
This law should not be viewed as the final triumph of democracy over aristocracy, since, through its close relations with the Plebeian Tribunes, the senate could still control the Plebeian Council. Thus, the ultimate significance of this law was in the fact that it robbed the Patricians of their final weapon over the Plebeians. The result was that the ultimate control over the state fell, not onto the shoulders of democracy, but onto the shoulders of the new Patricio-Plebeian senatorial aristocracy.
First Instance of Plebeian Assembly Sovereignty
Prior to the Lex Valeria-Horatia and the Lex Hortensia, the majority of plebeian votes were seen as a mere petition to which the patricians would then act upon accordingly. Frequently the tribune would see the vote of the plebs as moral support rather than legal validity. Once the Lex Valeria-Horatia and Lex Publica ut plebei scita omnes quirites tenerent were passed, the plebeians and its magistrates did hold practical power of initiative. After these laws, the tribune was given the power to confirm or object what the majority of the Plebeian council had decided.It has been argued that the two most notable laws passed to grant power to the plebeian assembly, Lex Valeria and Lex Horatia, were the actual first instance of considerable and sovereign power being granted to the plebs; some scholars accept another theory. Most scholars believe that a mistake was made in the interpretation of the articles of the laws, namely by Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
, who assumed them to be dealing with the plebeian assembly, but were actually meant for the comitia tributa, a minor assembly of the populus Romanus. Suffice it to say, modern scholars accept Lex Hortensia as being the monumental movement in bringing the power between the plebs and the nobles to an equal standing.
Other laws concerning the status of plebeians were:
- Leges Valeria Horatiae (449 BC449 BCYear 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...
) - Lex CanuleiaLex CanuleiaThe Lex Canuleia is a law of the Roman Republic passed in the year 445 BC. Named after the tribune Gaius Canuleius, who proposed it, it abolished a corresponding prohibition in the Twelve Tables and allowed marriage between patricians and plebeians, with children inheriting the father's social status...
(445 BC445 BCYear 445 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augurinus and Philo...
) - Leges Liciniae Sextiae (367 BC367 BCYear 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...
) - Lex Publilia (339 BC339 BCYear 339 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Mamercinus and Philo...
) - Lex OgulniaLex OgulniaLex Ogulnia is one of the results of the long class struggle between patricians and plebeians. This law was named after tribune Quintus Ogulnius Gallus. With this law the priesthoods were open to plebeians. It also increased number of pontifices from five to nine . The first plebeian pontifex...
(300 BC300 BCYear 300 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Corvus and Pansa...
)