Lex Titia

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The Lex Titia was a tribune Publius Titius and was published on November 27, 43 BC. Roman law passed by the people's assembly . It legalized the Second Triumvirate formed between the Caesarians Octavian , Marcus Antonius and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus for a period of five years. The law was extended in 38 BC. Chr.

In contrast to the First Triumvirate , which must be understood as an unofficial alliance between three men without a legal basis, the lex Titia gave the Second Triumvirate an official and legal framework, equipped with dictatorial powers .

The three-person commission, which after Caesar's death endeavored to “restore the constitution of the republic ” ( triumviri rei publicae constituendae ) in the Roman Empire , was granted the far-reaching authority to enact or collect laws without the involvement of the Senate or the people. The triumviri were also free to name judices and perform state administration tasks; they simply could not sanction each other and their decisions had to be collegial . Such freedom suggests that the People's Tribunate had recognized that in order to overcome the existing state of emergency, all forces had to be pooled on the triumvirate, with the result that the people were disempowered as sovereign.

In fact, the law created an unforeseen trend as it prepared for structural change. The Roman republic, hollowed out by the turmoil of the civil war, mutated into a monarchical empire , the age of the principate began . But the intended legal mandate was also fulfilled because the civil war could be ended. 30 BC Octavian had defeated his adversaries Antonius and Cleopatra and in the two following years he was able to gradually restore the order of the state. 27 BC Chr. Dismissed it the res publica ( "restitutio rei publicae") from the solely on him even tailored triumvirate back into the sovereignty of the Senate and people of Rome. From then on he ruled under the new honorary name of Augustus created by the Senate .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Appian , Civil Wars 4, 7, 27; see. Cassius Dio 47, 2, 1.
  2. ^ Adolf Berger : Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law, Volume 43 , The American Philosophical Society. Independent Square Philadelphia, 1991, p. 560.
  3. ^ A b Frank Frost Abbott : A History and Descriptions of Roman Political Institutions , 3 volumes, New York, Biblo & Tannen. P. 218 f. and p. 141.
  4. ↑ Gaius Iulius Caesar , Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus .
  5. ↑ Volker Fadinger : The justification of the principle. Source-critical and constitutional studies on Cassius Dio and the parallel tradition. Habelt, Munich 1969, p. 48 ff .; see the review by Dietmar Kienast in: Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte : Romance Department. Volume 88, Issue 1, 1969, pages 398-401, doi : 10.7767 / zrgra.1971.88.1.398