Test #2 Flashcards
What was the tangible notion that the word “imperium” stood for? What did it have to do with the ability to consult the gods?
Imperium was the ability to give orders and expect them to be followed; it was the power to get things done. Magistrates who held imperium also held auspicium, the power to consults the gods (i.e. request omens from the gods, particularly for signs of divine approval of their own imperium), because their power ultimately came from the gods.
What did a triumphing general look like and where did he go? What 2 things does the concept of the triumph reveal about the Roman idea of imperium?
The general had a purple face and rode on a 4-horse chariot wearing Jupiter’s clothes and a laurel wreath; he rode up to the Temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest on the Capitoline Hill. This practice reveals that a commander’s imperium was understood to originate with the god Jupiter, and the triumph was really a religious ceremony glorifying the god and the utilizer of the god’s imperium.
When and why did Augustus vow to build the Temple of Mars the Avenger? Where was it, and what went on there?
He vowed it after Caesar was assassinated as he was trying to defeat Brutus and Cassius at Philippi. It was in the Forum of Augustus, and it housed all triumphal tokens and featured statues of triumphal commanders and was the starting point for generals as they left the city on campaign.
Who attended the activities of the consuls, and what changed (and why) about these attendants when the consuls were outside the city?
Lictors (a sort of bodyguard) carrying the fasces; they added an axe to the fasces when the consul was outside the city on campaign, because in a military context the consul was authorized to execute Roman citizens.
What was the original purpose of the position of praetor? What did it later get used for, and why?
The praetor originally just heard legal cases; after Rome took over Sicily and Sardinia as a result of the First Punic War, praetors were assigned to serve as overseas generals and governors of provinces.
In what two situations were dictators used? What was their term limit? What was their sidekick called?
Dictators were used in emergency situations (chiefly military) when the efficiency of one man deciding everything was considered necessary; they were also used when a consul was needed to do something (like run elections) but both were unavailable. Dictators could serve for 6 months or until their situation was completed. Their sidekick was the magister equitum (“master of the cavalry”).
Who did the quaestors assist? What was their primary function?
The quaestors were essentially assistants, but primarily accountants in charge of financial affairs. They were subordinates of anyone holding imperium, which typically meant generals in provinces.
What was special about the bodies of the plebeian tribunes? What were their duties?
Their bodies were sacrosanct, and anyone who violated that by force was liable to be murdered without a trial. Their duties were to run plebeian assemblies, present bills at them, veto the senatorial votes or magistrates’ actions that the plebeians didn’t like, and protect plebeians from exploitation by patricians (e.g., if a plebeian was seized by a magistrate).
What were the two kinds of aediles, and how were they visually distinguished? What were they in charge of? Why was this office a crucial one for advancing one’s political career?
There were the plebeian aediles, who didn’t get to wear the purple edged toga and sit on the curule chair, and the curule aediles who did; they were in charge of maintaining the streets, the water supply, public spaces of all kinds, the control of prices, the adjudication of matters related to all this, and most of all tge civic festivals and entertainments; Romans seeking to advance their political careers would use their time as aedile to stage elaborate, exorbitant festivals at their own expense to curry favor with the public.
What was the primary duty of the censors, and what social activity did this require of them? From what group were nearly all censors chosen? How long was their term of office?
Censors were mainly in charge of running the census of Roman citizens, but this meant that they controlled the roster of the senate and all other classes of Romans. They were usually ex-consuls. Their term of office was technically 5 years, but it really only lasted as long as it took them to do their jobs, so eventually it was restricted to 18 months.
Who were the publicani and what sorts of things were they in charge of?
They were the syndicates of private businesses who bid on government contracts for road-building, infrastructure construction, supplying the army, and collecting provincial taxes.
What was the difference between a nobilis and a novus homo?
A nobilis was a person who had had someone in his family serve as consul, while a novus homo was a person who was the first in his family to serve as consul.
How did Sulla’s political reforms serve to help the interests of the old aristocratic families at the expense of new, populist upstarts?
He expanded the number of lower magistracies while keeping the number of consuls fixed at two, and he regularized the cursus honorum—this meant that the consulship (and, really, all magistracies) was harder for anyone to win and thus more likely to be won by well-established wealthy noble familes.
What were the two ways a novus homo could build up his name and fame early in his career, before winning his first election on the cursus honorum?
You could develop a reputation as an excellent orator by giving speeches in the forum or defense/prosecution speeches in the courtroom, or you could become a distinguished military man.
What was a pro-magistracy and what were they used for?
Pro-magistracies were non-elected positions granted by the senate which still possessed imperium. They were granted to allow commanders more than just a year’s time to complete some military campaign. Alternatively, pro-magistrates were sent to govern foreign provinces outside of the terms of their offices as consuls and praetors.
What changed about pro-magistracies during the 1st century BCE (especially with Pompey)? What were the two major consequences of this?
Pro-magistracies were no longer assigned by the Senate but were primarily voted by the plebeian assemblies (through bills sponsored by tribunes). Now the major military commands were not controlled by the Senate but by the plebeian assembly, and the right to command an army was functionally separated from holding an office.
What social change does our textbook claim emerged from these changes in pro-magistracies?
A small group of crooked patricians, nobles but not big time aristocrats, suddenly had access to a new and extremely powerful set of extraordinary pro-magistracies that no one else really did. Cicero called them the principes, the “first citizens,” and although their armies were voted to them by the assemblies (instead of by the Senate like would traditionally happen), nonetheless those soldiers were more loyal to their employers than to the state.
Why did Augustus quit serving as consul? What did he do instead?
Being consul every year looked suspiciously like Caesar’s lifetime dictatorship, and not serving as consul meant that there were 2 slots that other Roman elites could compete for every year to acquire honor/status. Instead, he acquired imperium pro consule, giving him all the powers and privileges of consuls (and thus MORE than what pro-consuls had) but without holding the magistracy itself.
What transition did Augustus create that allowed the position of emperor to exist?
He separated the powers of magistrates (particularly consular imperium) from the magistracies themselves, and concentrated them all in the hands of one man.
What were the three parts of the Roman “constitution” as perceived by Polybius?
The “oligarchy” of the Senate, the “democracy” of the people’s assemblies, and the “monarchy” of the magistracies.
What got voted on by the comitia centuriata? What aspect of the voting process in the comitia centuriata was unfairly biased in favor of the wealthiest Romans?
They voted on the elections for imperium-holding magistrates (i.e., consuls and praetors) and on declarations of war and peace. The voting units (“centuries”) for the comitia centuriata were based on wealth, and the citizens were organized unequally into these centuries, so that there were far more people in each “poor citizen” century than in the “rich citizen” centuries.
What was the voting process for the comitia tributa and concilium plebis? What was the difference between these two voting bodies?
The voting units were “tribes,” of which there were 35, and they were not broken up by wealth. The comitia tributa elected the curule aediles and quaestors (and anything else that the entire citizenry needed to vote on), while the concilium plebis voted on the plebeian aediles and the tribunes (and all plebiscites).
What power did the presiding magistrate have over any election?
The presiding magistrate could, theoretically (and often in practice), decide everything that the people voted on, decide whether or not to allow any nominee to run for office, and even nullify the election of some candidate.
Who made up the roster of the Senate? What did senatorial debate and voting actually produce?
After Sulla, the Senate was made up of anyone who had ever won a magistracy; before him, the Senate roster was essentially composed of anyone who had ever won a curule magistracy or was someone well-liked and respected (or at least rich). The Senate would produce a “senatus consultum,” which had no real force but publicized the recommendation of the Senate on any given topic for the magistrates and the people to consider.
What was the connection between enrollment in the army and personal wealth?
The army drafts were based on citizenship status based on wealth, because you were in charge of buying your own equipment to serve in the army, so the poorest citizens never got drafted, and the official pay of the soldiers was very low.
What proportion of the Roman army during the Republic was not actually Roman? What was the effect on the Roman army when the Latins and Italians received citizenship after the Social War (91-88 BCE)?
The Latin/Italian auxiliary force of the Roman army was greater than the number of actual Romans, possibly 2:1. When the Latins and Italians were given Roman citizenship, they served throughout the Roman army (not just in auxiliary units) and probably had less loyalty to Rome than to their commanders.
What were the results of Marius’s reform of the recruitment of soldiers into the Roman army? What did the soldiers do other than fight battles?
Allowing the poorest citizens to serve in the army reduced urban unemployment and increased the dwindling numbers of qualified citizen-soldiers, and thus began the trend of the professional army. Marius’s soldiers would also build infrastructure projects (roads, bridges, aqueducts) and TRAIN.
What, as Polybius describes it, was decimation?
When a large group of soldiers disgraced themselves through subordination or cowardice, commanders would choose one-tenth of them by lot to be bludgeoned to death as punishment, while the other 90% were given lousy rations and forced to sleep outside the regular camp.
What happened to soldiers who received gifts for acts of valor?
They held distinguished positions in religious processions back home and displayed their spoils conspicuously in their homes.
What did the public slave do who stood behind the general during a triumph
He reminded the general that he was a mortal and not to get too arrogant
What equipment does Josephus list as being carried by Roman soldiers?
breastplate; helmet; two swords; spear/javelin; shield; saw; basket; shovel; ax; leather strap; scythe; chain; three day’s food rations
What do selections 303 and 304 reveal about how people advanced in their military careers?
It helped to receive recommendation letters from wealthy connected individuals; it also helped to bribe your way up the ladder.
In the speech of Percennius in Tacitus’s Annals, what are the complaints of the common soldiers?
They endure a large number of campaigns, but then upon retirement are forced to live near military camps as reserves; their land rewards are in poor areas in far-flung provinces; the pay is low; the personal expenses are high; bribes are required for avoiding punishments or onerous duties; retirement bonuses were often not paid in cash or were delayed.
What did civilians in the towns near Roman military encampments often worry about?
Soldiers could make requisitions of private property if the army had a need for it, but this was often abused. Civilian charges against Roman soldiers were adjudicated in military courts with Roman military commanders in charge, so the deck was stacked against them.
