Introductory
Our knowledge of the form and development of the Roman system of government during the early years of the Republic is incomplete due to the scarcity of authentic records and the gaps in the ancient historical sources.
According to a widely accepted view, put forward by the German historian Theodor Mommsen, after the fall of the Monarchy the power of the king was transferred to two supreme magistrates who acted as heads of state, whilst the senate continued to function as a mainly advisory body.[197] Another theory claims that the government of the infant Republic was most likely in the hands of the senate, out of whose ranks one or more functionaries were appointed, whenever the need arose, to deal with urgent matters of the state.[198] [199] This view draws support from the fact that, as regards the earlier phase of the Republic, the sources speak of different colleges of magistrates (praetores, iudices, consules, decemviri legibus scribundis, tribuni militium consulari potestate), as being entrusted with a variety of political, judicial and military tasks. During this period, the chief magistrates were referred to as praetores: Later, probably after the introduction of the leges Liciniae Sextiae (367 BC), they began to be calledpraetores consules or, simply, consules? Under the leges Liciniae Sextiae the institution of the magistracy {magistratus) was given a more definite form.
The republican constitution was based upon three interdependent elements: the magistrature {magistratus), the legislative assemblies of the Roman people {comitia), and the senate {senatus). Of these three elements the latter appears to have been the prevalent one, for the approval and support of the senate was, in practice, a necessary condition for the efficient functioning of both the magistrature and the assemblies.
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