Lex Vatinia

Last updated

The lex Vatinia (probably passed in May or early June 59 BC) [1] [2] [3] also known as the lex Vatinia de provincia Caesaris [4] or the lex Vatinia de imperio Caesaris, [5] was legislation which gave Gaius Julius Caesar governorship of the provinces of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum for five years. [6] [7] [3] It was named after and proposed, in the Tribal Assembly, by plebeian tribune Publius Vatinius. [8] Along with the provinces, it also gave him the three legions already present there and the privilege of naming his own legates. [9] Caesar also received Titus Labienus as legatus cum imperio in the law; Labienus' appointment may have been, according to Syme, a sign of friendship between Pompey and Caesar. [10]

Contents

Caesar seemed to want to use the law to prepare for a war of choice against the kingdom of Dacia. [11] However, after the unexpected death of the governor of Transalpine Gaul, and at the proposal of Pompey and Piso, [6] the senate also added to Caesar's assigned provinces the further Gaul as well, giving him another legion. [8] According to Cicero and Suetonius, the senate's assignment was done out of fear that if they did not do so, a tribune would introduce and the people would pass further legislation assigning the province as well. [12]

Impact

The army assigned to Caesar in Cisalpine Gaul and the provinces close to it would prove both useful in Caesar's civil war and, in the immediate term, for the protection of Caesar's legislative programme against repeal. [13] The law – importantly – gave Caesar, as governor of the provinces, a chance to show his martial quality with great potential for military glory. To that end, he campaigned extensively in Germany, Britain, and Gaul; the selection of the provinces also helped in that the provincial populations were flush with Roman citizens who could be recruited for Caesar's campaigns. [8]

Caesar's position in Transalpine Gaul was annually reviewed by the senate. [14] When the five year term expired, Caesar met with Pompey, Crassus, and others at the so-called Luca Conference where they renewed their political alliance and pushed through legislation to extend Caesar's Gallic commands in their entirety. [15]

The granting of a proconsulship in Gaul also gave Caesar legal immunity against prosecution by his political enemies and a number of armies. [16] While Caesar did not appear to desire a war against his countrymen upon his prorogation pro consule to Gaul and Illyricum, the following Gallic Wars and his subsequent personal popularity, led to a confrontation with the senate and Caesar's decision to go to war to protect his personal interests. [16] [17] [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Caesar</span> Roman general and dictator (100–44 BC)

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and subsequently became dictator from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pompey</span> Roman general and statesman (106–48 BC)

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic. He played a significant role in the transformation of Rome from republic to empire. Early in his career, he was a partisan and protégé of the Roman general and dictator Sulla; later, he became the political ally, and finally the enemy, of Julius Caesar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">40s BC</span>

This article concerns the period 49 BC – 40 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Triumvirate</span> Roman political organisation (43–32 BC)

The Second Triumvirate was an extraordinary commission and magistracy created for Mark Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian to give them practically absolute power. It was formally constituted by law on 27 November 43 BC with a term of five years; it was renewed in 37 BC for another five years before expiring in 32 BC. Constituted by the lex Titia, the triumvirs were given broad powers to make or repeal legislation, issue judicial punishments without due process or right of appeal, and appoint all other magistrates. The triumvirs also split the Roman world into three sets of provinces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Triumvirate</span> Alliance between Roman politicians Caesar, Pompey and Crassus

The First Triumvirate was an informal political alliance among three prominent politicians in the late Roman Republic: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gaius Julius Caesar. The republican constitution had many veto points. In order to bypass constitutional obstacles and force through the political goals of the three men, they forged in secret an alliance where they promised to use their respective influence to support each other. The "triumvirate" was not a formal magistracy, nor did it achieve a lasting domination over state affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cato the Younger</span> Roman statesman, general and writer (95–46 BC)

Marcus Porcius CatoUticensis, also known as Cato the Younger, was an influential conservative Roman senator during the late Republic. His conservative principles were focused on the preservation of what he saw as old Roman values in decline. A noted orator and a follower of Stoicism, his scrupulous honesty and professed respect for tradition gave him a powerful political following which he mobilised against powerful generals of his day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman province</span> Major Roman administrative territorial entity outside of Italy

The Roman provinces were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as governor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Promagistrate</span> Ancient Roman office

In ancient Rome, a promagistrate was a person who was granted the power via prorogation to act in place of an ordinary magistrate in the field. This was normally pro consule or pro praetore, that is, in place of a consul or praetor, respectively. This was an expedient development, starting in 327 BC and becoming regular by 241 BC, that was meant to allow consuls and praetors to continue their activities in the field without disruption.

<i>Senatus consultum ultimum</i> Ancient Roman state of emergency law

The senatus consultum ultimum is the modern term given to resolutions of the Roman Senate lending its moral support for magistrates to use the full extent of their powers and ignore the laws to safeguard the state.

Lucius Marcius Philippus was a politician and senator in the late Roman republic. He was governor of Syria from 61 to 60 and later served in the consulship of 56 BC. He was also step-father of the emperor Augustus.

The Battle of Pistoria was fought early January 62 BC between the forces of the Roman Republic and Catiline, a senatorial conspirator who had been organising an attempted conspiracy against the consuls the previous year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caesar's civil war</span> War in the Roman Republic (49 to 45 BC)

Caesar's civil war was a civil war during the late Roman Republic between two factions led by Gaius Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey), respectively. The main cause of the war was political tensions relating to Caesar's place in the republic on his expected return to Rome on the expiration of his governorship in Gaul.

Publius Vatinius was a Roman politician during the last decades of the Republic. He served as a Caesarian-allied plebeian tribune in the year 59 – he was the tribune that proposed the law giving Caesar his Gallic command – and later fought on that side of the civil war. Caesar made him consul in 47 BC; he later fought in Illyricum for the Caesarians and celebrated a triumph for his victories there in 42 BC.

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer was a Roman politician who was consul in 60 BC and in the next year opposed Pompey, Caesar, and the so-called First Triumvirate's political programme. He was a member of the powerful and influential plebeian noble family, the Caecilii Metelli. Prior to 62 BC, he was an ally of Pompey and had served as urban praetor in 63, augur by 63 BC, possibly aedile in 67 BC, and plebeian tribune in either 72 or 68 BC.

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos was an ancient Roman politician during the Late Republic. He was a son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos and served as tribune of the plebs in 62 BC, consul in 57 BC, and the governor of Hispania Citerior from 56–55 BC.

The Lex Trebonia was a Roman law passed in 55 BC during the second joint consulship of Marcus Licinius Crassus and Pompey, as part of their informal political arrangement known as the First Triumvirate. Sponsored by the tribune of the plebs Gaius Trebonius, the legislation granted each outgoing consul an extended five-year proconsular command, similar to the one granted to Julius Caesar for his conquest of Gaul. Crassus received the province of Syria, with the barely disguised intention of launching an invasion of Parthia. Pompey received the provinces of Nearer Spain and Further Spain, but remained in Rome and conducted his administration through legates.

A lex agraria was a Roman law which dealt primarily with the viritane allotment of public lands. Such laws came largely from two sources: the disposition of lands annexed by Rome in consequence of expansion and the distribution of existing public lands to poor citizens as freeholds. Such legislation dealt almost exclusively with public lands which were held by the state and not privately owned. There were other types of Roman laws related to agriculture, including those establishing new colonies and those regulating the holding of public lands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military campaigns of Julius Caesar</span> Caesars military campaigns of 58–50 and 49–45 BC

The military campaigns of Julius Caesar constituted both the Gallic Wars and Caesar's civil war. The Gallic War mainly took place in what is now France. In 55 and 54 BC, he invaded Britain, although he made little headway. The Gallic War ended with complete Roman victory at the Battle of Alesia. This was followed by the civil war, during which time Caesar chased his rivals to Greece, decisively defeating them there. He then went to Egypt, where he defeated the Egyptian pharaoh and put Cleopatra on the throne. He then finished off his Roman opponents in Africa and Hispania. Once his campaigns were over, he served as Roman dictator until his assassination on 15 March 44 BC. These wars were critically important in the transition of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catilinarian conspiracy</span> Attempted coup in the Roman republic in 63 BC

The Catilinarian conspiracy was an attempted coup d'état by Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline) to overthrow the Roman consuls of 63 BC – Marcus Tullius Cicero and Gaius Antonius Hybrida – and forcibly assume control of the state in their stead.

<i>Lex Pompeia de ambitu</i> Roman electoral law of 52 BCE

The lex Pompeia de ambitu was a law of the Roman Republic, passed in 52 BCE, aimed at prosecuting bribery and corruption in elections. It was proposed and enacted by Pompey the Great, who used it to prosecute and exile his political enemies.

References

  1. ↑ Taylor 1968, p. 173.
  2. ↑ Drogula 2015, p. 306.
  3. 1 2 Jameson 1970, p. 645.
  4. ↑ Jehne, Martin (2017). "Why the anti-Caesarians failed: political communication on the eve of the civil war". In Rosillo-Lopez, Christina (ed.). Political communication in the Roman World. Brill. p. 210. ISBN   9789004350847.
  5. ↑ Taylor, Lily Ross (1951). "On the Chronology of Caesar's First Consulship". American Journal of Philology. 72 (3): 254–268. doi:10.2307/292075. ISSN   0002-9475. JSTOR   292075.
  6. 1 2 von Ungern-Sternberg, Jurgen (2014). "The Crisis of the Republic". In Flower, Harriet (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 91. doi:10.1017/CCOL0521807948. ISBN   9781139000338.
  7. ↑ Drogula 2015, p. 371.
  8. 1 2 3 Chrissanthos, Stefan (2019). The Year of Julius and Caesar: 59 BC and the Transformation of the Roman Republic. Baltimore: JHU Press. p. 73. ISBN   978-1-4214-2969-4. OCLC   1057781585.
  9. ↑ Taylor 1968, p. 182.
  10. ↑ Drogula 2015, p. 336.
  11. ↑ Drogula 2015, p. 316.
  12. ↑ Drogula 2015 , p. 316. Citing Cic. Att. 8.3.3; Suet. Iul. 22.1.
  13. ↑ Taylor 1968 , p. 188. Quoting Syme, Ronald (1944). "Review of Caesar der Politiker und Staatsman" . The Journal of Roman Studies. 34: 98. doi:10.2307/296786. ISSN   0075-4358. JSTOR   296786. S2CID   162600706.
  14. ↑ Jameson 1970, p. 646.
  15. ↑ Gruen, Erich S. (1969). "Pompey, the Roman Aristocracy, and the Conference of Luca". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 18 (1): 100. ISSN   0018-2311. JSTOR   4435061.
  16. 1 2 Bucher, Gregory S (2011). "Caesar: the view from Rome". The Classical Outlook. 88 (3): 82–87. ISSN   0009-8361. JSTOR   43940076.
  17. ↑ Ehrhardt, C. T. H. R. (1995). "Crossing the Rubicon". Antichthon. 29: 30–41. doi:10.1017/S0066477400000927. ISSN   0066-4774. S2CID   142429003.
  18. ↑ Morstein-Marx, Robert (2007). "Caesar's Alleged Fear of Prosecution and His "Ratio Absentis" in the Approach to the Civil War". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 56 (2): 159–178. doi:10.25162/historia-2007-0013. ISSN   0018-2311. JSTOR   25598386. S2CID   159090397.

Sources

LEX

This article about Roman law is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.