Lex Valeria de Sulla dictatore

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The Lex Valeria de Sulla dictatore was an enabling law of the time of the Roman Republic from the year 82 BC. BC, which had been introduced by Interrex L. Valerius Flaccus into the Centuriatskomitien , probably unlawful, because the Interrex was not authorized to introduce laws in the Comitia according to old tradition. It granted the politician and general Sulla dictatorial powers for life.

Purpose of the law

The law not only gave Sulla a future dictatorial empire (dictator legibus scribundis et rei publicae constituendae - dictator for the drafting of laws and the reorganization of the state) , it also granted him retrospective approval of all the measures he took during his disputes with domestic opponents had seized on Rome during his Second March . With the active support of the political strategist Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, he was finally able to defeat the popular . Okko Behrends sums up the events as a military rule usurped by a coup. Cicero received the legal establishment of a tyranny, and Seneca made a similar statement .

The law created the legal basis for proscriptions , which allowed the persecution and mass killing of political opponents. Bounties were even offered to opponents who were considered particularly dangerous. The set of rules was designed in such a way that future as well as already pronounced ostracisms were covered by it, i.e. subsequent legal protection was also granted. A notorious executive law, the Lex Cornelia de proscriptione , regulates the legal consequences that awaited the perpetrator and those involved as well as their family members .

To restore the old "aristocratic republic", Sulla issued in the period of 82 BC. BC to 79 BC A multitude of constitutional and penal regulations, summarized as the Leges Corneliae . Despite his power, Sulla respected traditional republican legal principles. In particular, he derived his reign from a traditional understanding of the constitution . From 79 BC According to his ideas, the restoration of the constitution was completed, which is why he drew far-reaching conclusions. In order not to have power for no other purpose, he gave up the dictatorship before the Roman people's assembly and resigned. Although his power was not based on his standing in the Senate, but rather on his authority over the legions, his resignation was nevertheless embedded in traditional republican customs.

See also

literature

Supplementary references

  • Holger Behr: The self-portrayal of Sulla: an aristocratic politician between a claim to personal leadership and solidarity with class , at the same time dissertation, University of Frankfurt (Main), 1991, Lang, Frankfurt (Main) 1993, ISBN 3-631-45692-1 .
  • Karl Christ : Sulla: a Roman career , Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-406-49285-1 .
  • Max Kaser : Roman legal history. § 29 Criminal jurisdiction and criminal law 2nd, revised edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1976, ISBN 3-525-18102-7 , p. 125.

Remarks

  1. ^ Appian , Civil Wars 1.98.
  2. ^ Wolfram Letzner: Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Attempt a biography. Münster 2000, p. 246 f.
  3. ↑ Ludwig Lange: Römische Alterthümer, Volume 3 , Weidmann, 1876, p. 152 f.
  4. ↑ Appian: Civil Wars 1,3,9.
  5. ↑ Holger Behr: The self-portrayal of Sulla. An aristocratic politician between personal leadership and solidarity. Frankfurt 1993, p. 149.
  6. ↑ Okko Behrends : On the Roman Constitution: Selected Essays , Martin Avenarius (Ed.), Cosima Möller (Ed.), Wallstein Verlag 2014, ISBN 3-835-32570-1 , p. 157 f.
  7. ↑ Cicero , De lege agraria 2, 5.
  8. ↑ Seneca , De clementia 1, 12, 1-2.
  9. ↑ Appian, Civil Wars 1,95,441.
  10. ^ Wolfgang Kunkel , Roland Wittmann : State order and state practice of the Roman Republic: Section. Die Magistratur , Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-33827-5 , p. 707.
  11. ↑ Appian, Civil Wars 1.104.