Tresviri capitales

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The tresviri capitales were Roman magistrates who first came into being around 290 BC. Are attested. They were lower Roman officials who were part of the Vigintisexvirate .

Initially the Tresviri were appointed by the consuls ; later, on the basis of a law ( lex Papiria ), the office developed into an electoral office. They are also attested under the name tresviri nocturni until the 3rd century AD, although with a reform of Augustus the tresviri capitales were replaced in their area of ​​responsibility by the office of city prefect ( praefectus urbi ) and lost their importance. Theodor Mommsen sees the tresviri capitales as enforcement officers who, through their mandate, could exercise consular punitive power over slaves and non-citizens. According to recent research, however , the tresviri capitales are also assigned independent police power and jurisdiction, which they exercised less ex officio but on notification ( nomen deferre ). In his speech pro Cluentio, Marcus Tullius Cicero describes an incident in which the tresvir, Quintius Manlius , ordered the compulsory summons against the alleged instigator of the crime based on the confession of a murderer and discontinued the proceedings against him. Parts of the research assume that the Tresviri were responsible - in addition to slaves and foreigners - including the Roman lower class. The praetor had jurisdiction over the upper classes . The officials were nicknamed tresviri nocturni .

Repressive tasks

The prosecution and punishment of violent and property crimes fell within the competence of the tresviri capitales . In a preliminary investigation, in which torture was also used against unfree people, confessed or redacted arsonists, poisoners, murderers and thieves were tried in a fast-track process. Victims who were carrying dangerous weapons with the intention of murder or who were carrying them in order to commit another crime were also dealt with. If the accused did not confess and the situation was unclear, the triumvir decided after consultation with its advisory board ( consilium ), which was composed of lay judges, whether the accused was guilty or innocent. The legal consequence of the death penalty was usually carried out immediately after its imposition under the supervision of the tresviri capitales .

Preventive tasks

Other tasks of the tresviri capitales included general security, the repatriation of escaped slaves and the supervision of the state prison . During the night, prevention strips were carried out for the purpose of fire prevention. Slaves found on the patrols in the city for no plausible reason could be arrested and flogged. The slaves were then given to the owners or they were released from the state prison by an authorized person.

The tresviri capitales decreed to perform their duties on a personal body, probably composed of state slaves. Their activities consisted of fire-fighting measures as well as enforcement and protection tasks. They were probably used on behalf of the Senate on the occasion of the Bacchanalia scandal to guard the city gates and imprison the refugees, as well as to protect the state during the unrest of the Catilinarian conspiracy .

The exact organizational structure of the tresviri capitales is unknown. It is possible, but purely speculative, to assume that the three Tresviri each oversee a local area of ​​responsibility, divided into city districts ( tribus urbanae ) .

annotation

  1. ↑ Marcus Tullius Cicero : Pro Cluentio 38 f.
  2. ^ Wilfried Nippel: Public order in ancient Rome . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1995, ISBN 0-521-38749-3 , pp. 22-26 .

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