The History of the Roman Empire: 27 B.C. – 180 A.D.. John Bagnell Bury
decreeing a triumph, of consecrating or condemning the Princeps after death, and of licensing collegia.
The Princeps had no direct right to make laws, more than a consul or a tribune. Like these magistrates, he had by virtue of his tribunician power the right to propose or introduce a law at the comitia, for the people to pass. But this form of initiating legislation was little used, and was entirely given up by the successor of Augustus. It would seem that it did not harmonize with the monarchical essence of the Principate. It placed the Princeps on a level with the other magistrates, and perhaps it recognized too openly the sovereign right of the people, which, in point of fact, the Emperor had usurped. But formally the Princeps had no right to make laws himself, and thus Augustus as Princeps was less powerful than Caesar as triumvir. But the restraint was evaded in several ways, and as a matter of fact the Emperor was the lawgiver. By special enactments he was authorized to grant to both corporations and individuals rights which were properly only conferred by the comitia. It was the Princeps who founded colonies and gave them Roman citizenship. It was he who bestowed upon a subject community the dignity of ius Latinum or a Latin community to full Roman citizenship. It was quite logical that these powers should be transferred to the Princeps, in his capacity of Imperator, as sovereign over the provinces and dispenser of peace and war, and maker of treaties. He also used to define the local statutes for a new colony. He had the right to want Roman citizenship to soldiers at all events, perhaps also to others.
Apart from these leges datae, which were properly comitial laws, the most important mode of imperial legislation was by “constitutions”, which did not require the assistance of either senate or comitia. These imperial measures took the form either of (1) edicts, which as a magistrate the Princeps was specially empowered to issue; or of (2) acta (decreta or epistolae), decisions and regulations of the Emperor which primarily applied only to special cases, but were generalized and adopted as universally binding laws. The validity of the imperial acta was recognized in a special clause of the lex de imperio, and the oath taken by senators and magistrates included a recognition of their validity. But their validity ceased on the death of the Princeps, and this fact illustrates the important constitutional difference between the Principate and monarchy.
The financial system of the state was modified by the division of the government between the Emperor and the senate. There were now two treasuries instead of one. The old aerarium Saturni was retained by the senate. Under the Republic the aerarium was under the charge of the quaestors, but by Augustus the duty was transferred to two praetors, 23 B.C. (praetores aerarii). The Emperor’s treasury was called the fiscus; and from it he had to defray the costs of the provincial administration, the maintenance of the army and fleets, the corn-supply, &c. It is to be observed that provincial territory in the imperial provinces was now regarded as the property, not of the state, but of the Emperor; and therefore the proceeds derived from the land-taxes went into the fiscus. From a strictly legal point of view the fiscus was as much the private property of the Emperor as the personal property which he inherited (patrimonium) or acquired as a private citizen (res privata). But at first the latter was kept apart from the fiscus, which belonged to him in his political capacity. His personal property, however, soon became looked upon, not indeed as fiscal, but as in a certain sense imperial (crown-property, as we should say), and devolving by right on his successor.
The expenses which the aerarium was called upon to defray under the Principate were chiefly (1) public religious worship, (2) public festivals, (3) maintenance of public buildings, (4) occasional erection of new buildings, and (5) construction of public roads in Rome and Italy, to which, however, the fisc also contributed. Indeed it is impossible to distinguish accurately the division between the two treasuries.
In the senatorial provinces the taxes were at first collected on the farming system, which had prevailed under the Republic, but this system was abandoned before long, and finally the collection of the taxes in the senatorial as well as the imperial provinces was conducted by imperial officers. But the tendency was toconsign the duty of collecting the taxes to the communities themselves, and in later times this became the system universally.
In the arrangements for minting money also a division was made by Augustus between Emperor and senate. At first (27 B.C.) both senate and Emperor could issue gold and silver coinage, at the expense of the aerarium and the imperial treasury respectively. Copper coinage ceased altogether for a time. But when copper was again issued about twelve years later, a new arrangement was made. The Princeps reserved for himself exclusively the coining of gold and silver, and gave the coining of copper exclusively to the senate. This was an advantage for the senate and a serious limit on the power of the Princeps. For the exchange value of the copper always exceeded the value of the metal, and thus the senate had the power, which the Princeps did not possess, of issuing an unlimited quantity of credit-money. In later times we shall see that the Emperors could not resist the temptation of depreciating the value of silver and thus assuming the same privilege.
One of the most important functions of the senate under the Emperors was that it served as an organ of publication, and kept the public in communication with the government. The Emperor could communicate to the senate important events at home or abroad, and though these communications were not formally public, they reached the public ear. It was usual for a new Princeps on his accession to lay before the senate a programme of his intended policy, and this was of course designed for the benefit of a much larger audience than that assembled in the Curia.
SECT. III. — THE PRINCEPS AND THE MAGISTRATES
We have seen that the republican magistrates continued to be elected under the Empire, and they were still supposed to exercise their functions independently. Under the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, they had been subject to the mains Imperium of the dictator; but it was not so under the Principate. The Princeps has no maius imperium over them, as he has over the proconsul abroad. His power is only co-ordinate, but on the other hand it is quite independent.
The dignity of the consulate was maintained, and it was still a coveted post. Indeed new, though reflected, lustre seemed to be shed on the supreme magistracy by the fact that it was the only magistracy which the Princeps deigned occasionally to hold himself. To be the Emperor's colleague was a great distinction indeed. The consuls still gave their name to the year of their office, and they retained the right of conducting and controlling the elections in the popular assemblies. It has already been mentioned that a new senatorial court was instituted, in which they were the presiding judges. Augustus also assigned the consuls some new duties in civil jurisdiction. But he introduced the fashion of replacing the consuls who entered upon office in January by a new pair ofconsules suffecti at the end of six months. This custom, however, was not definitely legalized, and was sometimes not observed. In later times four-monthly consulates were introduced, and later still two-monthly.
The number of praetors had been increased to sixteen by Julius Caesar. Augustus at first reduced the number to eight; he then added two praetores aerarii; afterwards he increased them again to sixteen, but finally fixed the number at twelve. The chief duties of the praetors were, as before, judicial. But Augustus assigned to them the obligation of celebrating public games, which formerly had devolved upon the consuls and the aediles.
A college of ten tribunes was still elected every year, but the office became unimportant, and the chief duties of a tribune were municipal. The aediles also lost many of their functions.
Augustus divided the city of Rome into fourteen regions, over each of which an overseer or prefect presided; these overseers were chosen from the praetors,aediles, and tribunes.
The quaestorship was a more serious and laborious office. Sulla had fixed the number of quarters at twenty; Julius Caesar raised it to forty; Augustus reduced it again to twenty. Quaestors were assigned to the governors of senatorial provinces; the proconsul of Sicily had two. Two quaestors were at the disposal of the Emperor, to bear communications between him and the senate. The consuls had four quaestors, and these were two quaestores urbani.
This magistracy had an importance over and above its proper functions, in that it qualified for admission into the senate. Thus as long as the quaestors were elected by the comitia, the people had a direct voice in the formation of the senate; and thus, too, the Emperor, by his right of