But, on the whole, the earliest period of the history of the Republic is the epoch of the power of the magistracy. The traditions of the monarchy were so little forgotten that eight years after the establishment of the Republic, kingship in a modified form was again restored.[1] In 501 B.C., during a war with the Latins, the consuls nominated an individual with the royal title and powers. It was understood that this magister populi, or, as he was afterwards called, dictator,[2] was to remain in power only so long as the danger lasted; as the danger was originally military, a single campaign of six months was held to be the maximum duration of the office. During this time he was to exercise the full regal imperium, within as well as without the city, and the accompanying military jurisdiction without appeal. He was originally understood to be a purely military official and the commander of the infantry force; the command of the cavalry he entrusted to a magistrate who, on the analogy of the magistracies of the monarchy, was a delegate of his own, and bore the title "master of the horse" (magister equitum).[3] The dictatorship was conceived of as a purely military office, and, though it was occasionally used for other purposes in the later constitution, never lost its primitive character. Although it impeded for a time some of the most characteristic functions of the consuls, it was not a suspension, but a part of, the constitution. A small, struggling, and essentially military society, such as that of early Rome, contemplated martial law as an occasional necessity; there were times when the peril of the state was so
- ↑ Liv. ii. 18; Festus p. 198; Pompon. in Dig. 1, 2, 2, 18.
- ↑ The title was, perhaps, originally praetor. This would naturally have been the case if Mommsen's theory is right that they were regarded as superior colleagues of the consuls (Staatsr. ii. p. 153). The earliest official title known to us is magister populi, and it was the technical title in the augural books. Cic. de Leg. iii. 3, 9 "isque ave sinistra dictus populi magister esto." Cf. de Rep. i. 40, 63 "Gravioribus vero bellis etiam sine collega omne imperium nostri penes singulos esse voluerunt, quorum ipsum nomen vim suae potestatis indicat. Nam dictator quidem ab eo appellatur quia dicitur; sed in nostris libris vides eum, Laeli, magistrum populi appellari." The later title, dictator, was perhaps adopted in deference to Republican sentiment; Mommsen (Staatsr. ii. p. 145) conjectures, in imitation of the Latin dictator, a constitutional survival of the monarchy. The meaning of the word is wholly uncertain. Ancient guesses say (i.) from dicitur (Cic. de Rep. l.c.); (ii) from dicto audiens (Varro L.L. v. 81 "quoi dicto audientes omnes essent"); (iii.) from dictare (Priscian viii. 14, 78), or (iv.) because they issued edicts (Dionys. v. 73).
- ↑ Pompon. in Dig. 1, 2, 2, 19 "Et his dictatoribus magistri equitum injungebantur sic, quo modo regibus tribuni celerum: quod officium fere tale erat, quale hodie praefectorum praetorio, magistratus tamen habebantur legitimi."
