The consuls

During the Republic the highest executive office of the state was held by two annually elected officials originally called praetores or indices and later, probably after the passing of the leges Liciniae Sextiae (367 BC), praetores consules or simply consules.

The relevant magistracy was termed consulatus. The consuls were elected by the assembly of the centuries (comitia centuriata), which was convened for that purpose by one of the highest magistrates (consul, dictator or interrex'). In the earliest period of the Republic the consuls were chosen exclusively from the patrician class. The plebeians gained access to the consulship in 367 BC, with the passing of the leges Liciniae Sextiae. This law, which provided that one of the consuls should be elected from the plebeians, was re-confirmed in 342 BC (by a lex Genucia) and, from that time, the rule that one of the consuls should be a plebeian was fully recognised and implemented.

class=a4 style='text-indent:18.0pt'>The consuls had the same authority and exercised the same powers, both civil (imperium domi) and military (imperium militiae), as the kings.^{^[248]}But, as was noted before, the consuls' power was limited by two important constitutional principles, annuality and collegiality. Under the principle of annuality, a consul's term in office was limited to one year (annuum imperium). After the expiry of his term a consul had to appear before the senate to assume responsibility for his official acts and, if accused of abuse of power, he could face trial before the people's assembly. Under the principle of collegiality, both consuls had full imperium {imperium duplex) and both had the power to block each other's actions, as well as those of lower magistrates, by prohibitio or intercessio.⁵^ Moreover, a judicial decision pronounced by one of the consuls could be appealed against before the other {appellatio collegae), who had the power to quash his colleague's verdict {intercessio collegae).

However, as frequent conflicts between the consuls could be detrimental to the interests of the state, it was accepted as a common practice that each should assume in turn, usually for a period of one month at a time, the responsibilities of government.^{^[249]}[250] And when both consuls were put in charge of an army they would divide the troops between them, each acting as commander-in-chief on alternate days, unless it had been agreed from the outset that one of them would have the overall leadership.^{^[251]} If a dispute or uncertainty arose as to how responsibilities were to be divided the matter was usually settled by lot.^{^[252]}In the event of the death or resignation of one of the consuls the other was required to summon the assembly for the election of a substitute for the remainder of the year {subrogare or sufficere collegam).^{^[253]}*

Initially the powers of the consuls were very broad but in later years, especially after the passing of the leges Liciniae Sextiae in 367 BC and the creation of the praetorship and other offices, some of their duties were transferred to other magistrates. Despite the narrowing down of the consuls' sphere of action, however, the consulship remained the highest office of the state.^{^[254]} As bearers of imperium domi, the consuls were in charge of the government at home and exercised control over all other state officials, with the exception of the tribunes. They convened the senate and the assemblies, presided over them as chairmen and put forward questions for discussion to the first and legislative proposals for voting to the second.^{^[255]} Besides introducing bills, the consuls proposed to the assemblies the candidates for the highest magistracies of the state (magistratus maiores'). In addition to ensuring that the decisions of the assemblies and the senate were properly carried out, they were responsible for the maintenance of law and order in the city and could order the expulsion from the city of foreigners whom they considered undesirable.

Before the introduction of the praetorship in 367 BC, they were in charge of the administration of justice in relation to both civil and criminal matters.^{^[256]}And until 443 BC, when the office of censor was created, they were responsible for the formal enrolment and classification of the citizens. Moreover, as bearers of imperium militiae, the consuls acted as commanders-in-chief of the army and could inflict severe punishments (coercitio) to soldiers disobeying their orders. However, decisions relating to the declaration or termination of war and the conclusion of treaties could only be made by the senate and the assembly of the centuries. Furthermore, when war broke out, it lay with the senate to determine the number of soldiers needed to be recruited and to fix the cost of the operation and the amount of supplies required.

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Source: Mousourakis George. The Historical and Institutional Context of Roman Law. Routledge,2003. — 480 p.. 2003

The consuls

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