Constitutional Thought in the Late Roman Republic (original) (raw)
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2020
In the presented article, I try to answer the question whether in the Roman state there is a possibility to find the roots of the constitution. In Roman state the constitution as a separate normative act did not exist, the separate jurisdiction of public law was not created, and a constitutional law was primarily based on the custom and political practice. However, in the preserved source material, among others, Cicero’s and Polybius’ statements can be found, which refer to the political issues. On the basis of their analyses, I try to prove that the ideas of constitutionalism and constitution, of course in a substantive sense, date back to the ancient Rome.
2023
The XXviri ex senatus consulto rei publicae curandae played a decisive role in the civil war between Maximinus Thrax and the senate in 238. This note examines the actions of the extraordinary committee and interprets them against the backdrop of the reception of constitutional thought rooted in that, which was perceived as traditional political ideals of the Roman Republic during the Principate. The study will first look at the roots of the conflicts between Maximinus Thrax and the ordo senatorius, followed by an analysis of the origins and tasks of the XXviri together with their political goals and possible republican exempla. Finally, there will be observations on the vigintivirate's significance and role after the senate's triumph over its enemy. In doing so, this contribution will emphasize the importance of republican constitutional thought in times of crisis for the continued existence of the res publica romana under the Principate.
The Laws of the Roman People. Public Law in the Expansion and Decline of the Roman Republic
~ FROM 350 TO 44, hundreds of public lawInKing assemblies-whether ing with issues urgently important or to modllll observers seemingly unimpor tant, commlll1itywide in scope or narrowly rocusdon an individual or group--were held in Rome on an apparently infrequent anJ irregular basis. Culminating a process that was at all times cumbersome andime-consuming, from our twen tieth-century perspective, that invariably demaJded from its participants knowl edge of the most intricate details of Roman pilcedures and customs, and that regularly involved participants from members lithe citizenry on all levels, publawmaking assemblies endured throughout de rapidly changing circumstances of the Roman Republic. Only the Romans fu~!< understood the circumstances that called for a political leader to convene the people in a public lawmaking assembly. That each generation had a different;ense of the appropriate circum stances attests to the resiliency and depth of the process in Roman society. The range of individuals with the authority to call ~blic lawmaking a'iSemblies, the range of groups involved in determining the Oulcome, and the number of occa sitms during the public lawmaking process in Rome on which participants had an opportunity to influence the outcome under~ore importance of lawmak ing in Roman society for hundreds of years.
Constitutional Background of Roman Law
Chapter Two: Roman Law: An Introduction, Routledge, 2018
The science of law is autonomous but not independent. It cannot live isolated from politics and culture. Law is part of a social structure, of tradition, of a collective human project. Law is a branch of politics in the noblest sense. Legal institutions, concepts, and ideas are so often a natural consequence of political ideals and values. Political revolutions many times involve legal revolutions. Therefore, to help the reader understand Roman law in context, what follows is a brief summary of the most significant aspects of ancient Rome’s unwritten political constitution from the foundation of Rome in 753 BCE until the death of Emperor Justinian in 565 CE.
Aims and Methods of Legal History – The Case of the Roman Dictatorship
Law and method, 2024
Doctrinal approaches to Roman law are currently often supplemented by contextual legal-historical scholarship that aims to expose Roman law's connections with its socio-political, religious and broader intellectual environment. This article draws attention to the relevance of such contextual research for modern legal problems. An analysis of the Roman dictatorship and its reception history in legal and constitutional scholarship serves as a case in point. Contrary to common belief, the far-reaching powers of the Roman dictator-acting to save the Roman Republic in times of great peril-were controlled by informal rather than formal legal restraints. A corrected understanding of the Roman dictatorship is arguably not only important for an appropriate assessment of the Roman constitution itself but also for current debates on the limits of legality in times of emergency.
Global Intellectual History, 2018
This article examines the important contributions to the scholarship of Benjamin Straumann's Crisis and Constitutionalism: Roman Political Thought from the Fall of the Republic to the Age of Revolution. Straumann argues that Cicero elaborated a notion of constitutionalism that contains important proto-liberal ideas. In focusing so intently on tracing the appeal to natural rights in constitutional thinking, Straumann excludes from his analysis important reflections on the Roman constitution which do not rely on natural rights, but which still elaborate important and influential features of constitutionalism such as institutions and safeguards. Straumann's narrow focus appears to induce him to reject the possibility that Machiavelli has anything worthwhile to contribute to an understanding of the Roman constitution and thus to miss the impact that the Florentine had on later thinkers in the very constitutional tradition that Straumann is so intent to highlight and explicate.