Prorogatio
Encyclopedia
- See also: PromagistratePromagistrateA promagistrate is a person who acts in and with the authority and capacity of a magistrate, but without holding a magisterial office. A legal innovation of the Roman Republic, the promagistracy was invented in order to provide Rome with governors of overseas territories instead of having to elect...
.
In the constitution of ancient Rome
Roman Constitution
The Roman Constitution was an uncodified set of guidelines and principles passed down mainly through precedent. The Roman constitution was not formal or even official, largely unwritten and constantly evolving. Concepts that originated in the Roman constitution live on in constitutions to this day...
, prorogatio was the extension of a commander's 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...
beyond the one-year term of his magistracy
Roman Magistrates
The Roman Magistrates were elected officials in Ancient Rome. During the period of the Roman Kingdom, the King of Rome was the principal executive magistrate. His power, in practice, was absolute. He was the chief priest, lawgiver, judge, and the sole commander of the army...
, usually that of consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
or 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...
. Prorogatio develops as a legal procedure in response to Roman expansionism
Expansionism
In general, expansionism consists of expansionist policies of governments and states. While some have linked the term to promoting economic growth , more commonly expansionism refers to the doctrine of a state expanding its territorial base usually, though not necessarily, by means of military...
and militarization
Militarization
Militarization, or militarisation, is the process by which a society organizes itself for military conflict and violence. It is related to militarism, which is an ideology that reflects the level of militarization of a state...
; the number of annexed territories and theaters of operations outgrew the number of elected officials available to take on military and administrative duties.
Although in theory prorogation fostered continuity under an experienced commander with "expert knowledge of local conditions," thereby increasing the chances of victory, in practice politics, often motivated by the ambitions of individuals, decided whose commands were extended. Sometimes men who held no elected public office — that is, private citizens (privati
Privatus
In Roman law, the Latin adjective privatus makes a legal distinction between that which is "private" and that which is publicus, "public" in the sense of pertaining to the Roman people ....
) — were given imperium and prorogued, as justified by perceived military emergencies. By the Late 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...
, prorogation of provincial assignments
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
had become the norm; by enabling individuals to accumulate disproportionate military power and wealth, the practice contributed to the breakdown of constitutional checks and balances
Constitution of the Roman Republic
The Constitution of the Roman Republic was a set of guidelines and principles passed down mainly through precedent. The constitution was largely unwritten, uncodified, and constantly evolving...
and to the civil wars
Roman civil wars
There were several Roman civil wars, especially during the late Republic. The most famous of these are the war in the 40s BC between Julius Caesar and the optimate faction of the senatorial elite initially led by Pompey and the subsequent war between Caesar's successors, Octavian and Mark Antony in...
that led to the collapse of the Republic.
Constitutionality
In his study of the praetorship in the Republic, T. Corey BrennanT. Corey Brennan
Terry Corey Brennan is an associate professor of Classics at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, , and was a guitarist and songwriter involved with several bands, most notably the alternative rock band The Lemonheads....
has argued that originally prorogation was of two types, granted either by the Roman People
SPQR
SPQR is an initialism from a Latin phrase, Senatus Populusque Romanus , referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official emblem of the modern day comune of Rome...
or by the Senate
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
: a prorogatio was put to a vote by the People (rogare) to determine whether a provincial command should be extended; propagatio was an extension by the Senate in other cases. By the mid-2nd century BC the Senate had usurped the People's power, and eventually all extensions of imperium were called prorogatio. After the 190s BC, when the Senate no longer submitted its decisions on extending commands to a popular vote, the term prorogatio becomes a technical misnomer, since no rogatio
Rogatio
In Roman constitutional law, rogatio is the term for a legislative bill placed before an Assembly of the People in ancient Rome. The rogatio procedure underscores the fact that the Roman senate could issue decrees, but was not a legislative or parliamentarian body...
(legislative bill) was involved.
As Rome annexed more territories, its mechanisms of government had to evolve. A provincia
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
was originally a task assigned to an official, the sphere of responsibility within which he was authorized to act, which might be specified geographically; when such territories were formally annexed, the fixed geographical entity was a "province." In the Early and Middle Republic, the "task" was most often a military command within a defined theater of operations, the physical borders of which were regularly transgressed. The English term "governor" is used to encompass several Roman titles as they pertained to provincial assignments, including consul, praetor, 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...
, pro consule, pro praetore and “promagistrate.” A Roman governor
Roman governor
A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief administrator of Roman law throughout one or more of the many provinces constituting the Roman Empire...
had the right, and was normally expected, to remain in his province until his successor arrived, even when he had not been prorogued. According to the Lex Cornelia de maiestate, a governor was then required to give up his province within 30 days. A prorogued magistrate could not exercise his imperium within Rome.
Prorogatio has been characterized by modern scholars as a "dodge" or a "legal fiction" for maintaining the illusion that imperium was a property of the office and not the individual. In the Late Republic, the prorogatio imperii for supposed military crises provided one precedent for the legal maneuvering that permitted the multiple and sequential consulships of Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the...
in the context of the Cimbrian War
Cimbrian War
The Cimbrian War was fought between the Roman Republic and the Proto-Germanic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutons , who migrated from northern Europe into Roman controlled territory, and clashed with Rome and her allies...
, as later when constitutional mechanisms were sought for consolidating the powers that created Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
.
The nature of promagisterial imperium is complicated by its relation to the celebrating of a triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
as awarded by the senate. Before a commander could enter the city limits (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...
) for his triumph, he had to lay aside arms formally and ritually, that is, he had to reenter society as a civilian. There are several early instances, however, of a commander celebrating a triumph during his two- or three-year term; it is possible that the triumph was held at the completion of his consulship (more rarely a praetorship) and before he returned to the field with prorogued imperium.
Early Republic
In the Early Republic, only three magistrates — the two consuls and the sole praetor — held imperium. At first, the appointment of dictatoresRoman 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...
and magistri equitum filled the need for additional military commanders. The first recorded prorogation was that of the consul Q. Publilius Philo in 327 BC. Philo was in the middle of a siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
of Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
when his term in office was due to expire. The Senate decided that it was imprudent to recall him; instead, the tribunes of the plebs
Tribune
Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
were to propose that "on the expiration of his consulship he conduct the campaign pro consule (in place of a consul) until the war was concluded." The first prorogation thus was brought before the People’s Assembly for a vote (rogatio
Rogatio
In Roman constitutional law, rogatio is the term for a legislative bill placed before an Assembly of the People in ancient Rome. The rogatio procedure underscores the fact that the Roman senate could issue decrees, but was not a legislative or parliamentarian body...
).
During the Second and Third Samnite Wars
Samnite Wars
The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars, between the early Roman Republic and the tribes of Samnium, extended over half a century, involving almost all the states of Italy, and ended in Roman domination of the Samnites...
(326–290 BC), prorogation became a regular administrative practice that allowed continuity of military command without violating the principle of annual magistracies, or increasing the number of magistrates who held imperium. In 307, Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus
Fabius Maximus Rullianus
Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus , son of Marcus Fabius Ambustus, of the patrician Fabii of ancient Rome, was five times consul and a hero of the Samnite Wars. He was brother to Marcus Fabius Ambustus ....
became the second magistrate to have his command prorogued. But in the years 296–295, several prorogations are recorded at once, including four promagistrates who were granted imperium while they were private citizens (privati). Territorial expansion and increasing militarization drove a recognition that the "emergencies" had become a continual state of affairs, and a regular system of allotting commands developed. Because the promagistracies, like the dictatorship
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...
, originated as special military commands, they may at first have been limited in practice to about six months, or the length of the campaigning season.
Middle Republic
Commanders were often prorogued during the First Punic WarFirst Punic War
The First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, the two powers struggled for supremacy in the western Mediterranean Sea, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters but also to a lesser extent in...
(264–241 BC). By the end of this long conflict, a second praetor had been added to the three magistrates holding imperium. The new office was the praetor qui inter peregrinos ius dicit ("praetor who administers justice among foreigners"). Brennan has argued that the purpose of this new office was not, as is often thought, to administer justice to foreigners living in Rome, but inter peregrinos
Peregrinus (Roman)
Peregrinus was the term used during the early Roman empire, from 30 BC to 212 AD, to denote a free provincial subject of the Empire who was not a Roman citizen. Peregrini constituted the vast majority of the Empire's inhabitants in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD...
in the provinces as the situation seemed to require. When the peregrine praetor was abroad with a military command, the urban praetor could remain in Rome to avoid suspending public and judicial business. The praetor urbanus, however, might also go abroad to take on a military command if the situation seemed to warrant it. During the 220s and 210s, the praetor peregrinus is found most often in northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
, fighting without much success against various Gallic polities
Polity
Polity is a form of government Aristotle developed in his search for a government that could be most easily incorporated and used by the largest amount of people groups, or states...
.
An increase in the number of praetors during this period is linked to the annexation of territories as "provinces" in the modern sense of a geographical region organized under formal administration. In 228–227 BC, two new praetorships were created and assigned to Rome's first administrative provinces, Sicily (Sicilia
Sicilia (Roman province)
Sicilia was the first province acquired by the Roman Republic, organized in 241 BC as a proconsular governed territory, in the aftermath of the First Punic War with Carthage. It included Sicily and Malta...
) and Sardinia (Corsica et Sardinia
Corsica et Sardinia
Corsica et Sardinia was an ancient Roman province including the islands of Corsica and Sardinia.-Pre-Roman times:The Phoenicians were the first to establish several commercial stations in Corsica and in Sardinia. After the Phoenicians, there arrived the Greeks, who also established their colonies...
). In 197 BC, two more praetorships were created along with the administrative provinces of Hispania Citerior
Hispania Citerior
During the Roman Republic, Hispania Citerior was a region of Hispania roughly occupying the northeastern coast and the Ebro Valley of what is now Spain. Hispania Ulterior was located west of Hispania Citerior—that is, farther away from Rome.-External links:*...
and Hispania Ulterior
Hispania Ulterior
During the Roman Republic, Hispania Ulterior was a region of Hispania roughly located in Baetica and in the Guadalquivir valley of modern Spain and extending to all of Lusitania and Gallaecia...
, bringing the number to six.
While modern scholars often suppose that prorogation was intended originally to ensure that an experienced commander with hands-on knowledge of the local situation could conclude a successful campaign, in practice the extension of command was subject to "unsteady ad-hoc politics." During the Second Punic War
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
(218–201 BC), commands were also prorogued out of necessity, because so many of Rome's ruling elite had died in the conflict; prorogation became almost the norm for the provinciae of Sicily, Sardinia, Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
(as a military command prior to annexation), and the naval fleets
Roman Navy
The Roman Navy comprised the naval forces of the Ancient Roman state. Although the navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean basin, it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions...
. As consul in 218 BC, P. Cornelius Scipio
Publius Cornelius Scipio
Publius Cornelius Scipio was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic.A member of the Corneliagens, Scipio served as consul in 218 BC, the first year of the Second Punic War, and sailed with an army from Pisa to Massilia , with the intention of arresting Hannibal's advance on Italy...
was assigned to Spain, and had his command prorogued through 211, when he was killed and his army defeated by Carthaginian
Carthaginian Republic
Ancient Carthage was a civilization centered on the Phoenician city-state of Carthage, located in North Africa on the Gulf of Tunis, outside what is now Tunis, Tunisia. It was founded in 814 BC...
forces. It was under these pressures that private citizens (privati) were granted imperium. Precedent was established in 210 when a vote by the assembly gave Scipio's son, later to be known as Africanus
Scipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
, a long-term command pro consule in Spain, although he was privatus; his second-in-command acted pro praetore. Scipio did not return to Rome until 206, and proconsuls continued to be appointed specifically for Spain after that.
In the 2nd century, proconsular imperium had ceased to be granted by the popular assembly; the now-fictional prorogatio was justified by military emergencies as decided by the Senate. "Unusual political influence" was required for prorogations of longer than one year. The Lex Baebia
Lex Baebia
Lex Baebia was one of many laws enacted during the Roman Republic to combat ambitus in the electoral process.There is some confusion over the exact nature of this law; whether it was indeed a single law or two. Lex Baebia de Praetoribus mandated the election of four and then six praetors on...
of 181 BC, which cracked down on electoral bribery
Ambitus
In ancient Roman law, ambitus was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate's attempt to influence the outcome of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power...
, was accompanied by an attempt to regulate prorogation in relation to the praetorship. Advancement through the political career track
Cursus honorum
The cursus honorum was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The cursus honorum comprised a mixture of military and political administration posts. Each office had a minimum...
had not been regularized before the 190s; the consulship and praetorship might be held in either order, without prerequisites. A law dating to ca. 196 BC began to require that candidates for the consulship must first have served as praetors, now numbering six. Competition for the praetorship became fierce, and campaign corruption (ambitus
Ambitus
In ancient Roman law, ambitus was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate's attempt to influence the outcome of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power...
) virulent. The Lex Baebia et Cornelia of 181 devised a complicated system aimed at limiting the number of ex-praetors vying for the consulship. In the sortition
Sortition
In politics, sortition is the selection of decision makers by lottery. The decision-makers are chosen as a random sample from a larger pool of candidates....
for provinciae, the two Spains were to be left out in odd-numbered years, and only four praetorships would be available in those years. In effect, a provincial appointment in Spain meant automatic prorogation, resulting in a two-year term — and sometimes a shortage of administrators for other provinces that in turn required further prorogation. Six praetors become the norm again in the mid-170s, with administrative needs prioritized over the moral issues
Mos maiorum
The mos maiorum is the unwritten code from which the ancient Romans derived their social norms. It is the core concept of Roman traditionalism, distinguished from but in dynamic complement to written law. The mos maiorum The mos maiorum ("ancestral custom") is the unwritten code from which the...
.
Late Republic
Prorogation takes on a new importance with the annexation of MacedoniaMacedonia (Roman province)
The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...
and the Roman province of Africa in 146 BC. The number of praetors was not increased even though the two new territories were organized as praetorian provinces. For the first time since the 170s, it became impossible for sitting magistrates to govern all the permanent praetorian provinciae, which now numbered eight. This point marks the beginning of the era of the so-called "Roman governor
Roman governor
A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief administrator of Roman law throughout one or more of the many provinces constituting the Roman Empire...
," a post for which there is no single word in the Republic. Prorogation became fully institutionalized, and even the praetor urbanus was sometimes prorogued. Governors who received established territorial provinces could expect longer tenures. The addition of the wealthy Asian province in 133 BC as a bequest
Bequest
A bequest is the act of giving property by will. Strictly, "bequest" is used of personal property, and "devise" of real property. In legal terminology, "bequeath" is a verb form meaning "to make a bequest."...
of Attalus III
Attalus III
Attalus III Philometor Euergetes was the last Attalid king of Pergamon, ruling from 138 BC to 133 BC....
put further pressure on the system, again without increasing the number of praetorships:
In one major administrative development for which the career of Marius offers the clearest evidence, praetors now needed to remain in Rome to preside over increased activity in the criminal courts, often occasioned by prosecutions for extortion in the provinces or electoral corruption, and only after their term were praetors regularly assigned to a province as proconsul or propraetor. The scale of Roman military commitments in annexed territories during the Late Republic required regular prorogation, since the number of magistrates and ex-magistrates who were both able commanders and willing to accept provincial governorships did not increase proportionally. The holding of imperium thus depended less and less on elected office, detaching power further from its foundation in the People. "In the era 122–91," Brennan notes, "the Senate used prorogation as a panacea for its ailing administrative system." Emergency grants of imperium in the field during the Social War (91–87 BC) made the granting of extra-magisterial command seem routine. When Sulla assumed the dictatorship in late 82 BC, the territorial provinces alone numbered ten, with possibly six permanent courts to be presided over in the city.
Prorogations of three years were not uncommon during this period, and the Senate begins to assign commands predetermined at three years or more in length. G. Valerius Flaccus
Gaius Valerius Flaccus (consul 93 BCE)
Gaius Valerius Flaccus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 93 BC and a provincial governor in the late-90s and throughout the 80s...
held various combinations of provincial assignments on the Iberian peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
and in Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
for more than a decade (92–81 BC), without any indication that he ever returned to Rome or was without a command. On more than one occasion, Pompeius Magnus
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
("Pompey the Great") received imperium pro consule before he ever held a magistracy — at first from the Senate, then by vote of the People, the latter perhaps indicative of the revival of popularist
Populares
Populares were aristocratic leaders in the late Roman Republic who relied on the people's assemblies and tribunate to acquire political power. They are regarded in modern scholarship as in opposition to the optimates, who are identified with the conservative interests of a senatorial elite...
politics. Given the extended prorogations, the five-year proconsular commands assigned to Julius 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....
in Gaul and Marcus Crassus in Syria
Syria (Roman province)
Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War. It remained under Roman, and subsequently Byzantine, rule for seven centuries, until 637 when it fell to the Islamic conquests.- Principate :The...
are less exceptional than they have sometimes been regarded; it could be argued that the five-year appointment was a realistic assessment of the time required to accomplish the task, and avoided the uncertainty, delays, and political jockeying of year-by-year prorogation.
Although competition for remunerative provinces, especially Asia, might be fierce, provinces that offered more administrative headaches than kickbacks were regarded as drudge duty. Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
indicated his lack of enthusiasm for provincial governing when he repeatedly wrote to friends asking them to make sure that his proconsulship in Cilicia (51–50 BC) would not be prorogued.
It should be noted that the titles "proconsul" and "propraetor" are not used 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...
or literary sources of the Republican era. Pompey's status as privatus cum imperio established a precedent that was resorted to during attempts at carrying on a republican form of government in 43 BC, following Caesar's assassination, as evidenced in particular by the commands of Marcus Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus , often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his original name...
, Cassius Longinus
Gaius Cassius Longinus
Gaius Cassius Longinus was a Roman senator, a leading instigator of the plot to kill Julius Caesar, and the brother in-law of Marcus Junius Brutus.-Early life:...
, Sextus Pompeius, and most fatefully Octavian
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
.
Selected bibliography
- Brennan, T. CoreyT. Corey BrennanTerry Corey Brennan is an associate professor of Classics at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, , and was a guitarist and songwriter involved with several bands, most notably the alternative rock band The Lemonheads....
. The Praetorship in the Roman Republic. Oxford University Press, 2000. Limted preview online. - Lintott, AndrewAndrew LintottAndrew William Lintott is a classical scholar who specializes in the political and administrative history of ancient Rome, Roman law, and epigraphy. He is an emeritus fellow of Worcester College, University of Oxford....
. The Constitution of the Roman Republic. Oxford University Press, 1999. Limited preview online. - Pittenger, Miriam R. Pelikan. Contested Triumphs: Politics, Pageantry, and Performance in Livy's Republican Rome. University of California Press, 2009. Limited preview online.