Tribune bench

The tribune benches were benches in the Roman Forum , on which the tribunes of the people stayed during the day in order to be accessible to the plebeian citizens of ancient Rome .

function

The tribune benches represented the seat of the people's tribune, which is typical for magistrates . The tribunes used to stay on them during public business hours and conduct their business seated, which goes back to the typical seat of the magistrates.

At the same time, staying on the benches in the stands was one of the standby duties of the stands. The fact that the seats were open and the tribunes were always present made it easy for the citizens of Rome to contact the tribunes and to make use of the ius auxilii , the tribunician's right to help.

Since there were no official contact points in ancient Rome, these were always embodied by the magistrates themselves. Wolfgang Kunkel describes this fact as "unbureaucratic to a [...] barely comprehensible degree." A magistrate thus always embodied the modern application center personally and was thus directly affected by all matters that fell within his area of ​​responsibility. In the case of the People's Tribunate, the motions mostly reached the magistrates through face-to-face meetings at the pews, where verbal concerns were replied to with verbal concessions or denials. Written form played a very subordinate role here.

The provision that tribunes “were not allowed to punish within their house on the basis of their official authority” had a preventive effect against disputes over verbal agreements. In order to exercise their powers they had to be in public, for example on the pews.

Locations

Early and Middle Republic

Initially, the tribune benches were in front of the entrance to the Curia where the Senate met. Valerius Maximus justifies this as follows:

“The tribunes of the people were not allowed to enter the Curia; so they checked the senators' ordinances in front of the doors, where benches had been set up for them [...]. "

The benches of the tribunes were therefore in the immediate vicinity of the Senate. In this way, current resolutions could be presented to them quickly, which prevented a subsequent veto ( ius intercedendi ) by the tribune.

Late republic

In the late republic the tribune benches were given a new location. They were set up in front of the Basilica Porcia , which stood not far from the Curia in the Roman Forum. It was a public building that served as a sales hall on business days. Therefore, there was always a large number of Romans of every origin and every class to be found here. The tribunes use this fact by making the location the center of their organization and information gathering. The Roman Forum was ideal as a location and platform. The former made it possible to quickly find people who could serve the cause of the tribunes of the people. The latter allowed communication with broad masses of the population.

Furthermore, the choice of this location for the tribune benches could be due to the fact that the Basilica Porcia was in the immediate vicinity of the Tarpeian rock . Death sentences were usually carried out by falling the condemned person from the rock. With the tribunes' new location, no one could get to this rock without walking past them. Since the tribunes were inevitably witnesses to every execution, it was possible for them to prevent it even shortly before the execution.

swell

• Tacitus, Annales 8
• Valerius Maximus 2,2,7

literature

• Theodor Mommsen : Roman constitutional law. Volume 2, Department 1. Hirzel, Leipzig 1887, p. 282.
• Lukas Thommen : The people's tribunate of the late Roman Republic (= Historia - individual writings . Volume 59). Steiner, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-515-05187-2 (also dissertation, University of Basel 1987).
• Wolfgang Kunkel , Roland Wittmann : State order and state practice of the Roman Republic. Second part. The Magistratur (= Handbook of Classical Studies . X. Department, Volume 3,2,2). CH Beck, Munich 1995, p. 105, ISBN 3-406-33827-5 .
• Christine Döbler: Political agitation and public opinion in the late republic (= European university publications. Series 3, volume 839). Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 1999, ISBN 3-631-34388-4 (also dissertation, University of Munich 1998).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Theodor Mommsen: Roman State Law. Volume 2, Department 1. Leipzig 1887, p. 282.
2. ^ Wolfgang Kunkel , Roland Wittmann : State order and state practice of the Roman Republic. Second part. The magistrate. Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-33827-5 , p. 105.
3. ^ Wolfgang Kunkel, Roland Wittmann: State order and state practice of the Roman Republic. Second part. The magistrate. Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-33827-5 , p. 105.
4. ↑ Tacitus , Annals 8,28,2.
5. ↑ Christine Döbler: Political agitation and public in the late republic. Frankfurt am Main u. a. 1999, ISBN 3-631-34388-4 , p. 36.
6. ↑ Valerius Maximus 2,2,7 .
7. ↑ Christine Döbler: Political agitation and public in the late republic. Frankfurt am Main u. a. 1999, ISBN 3-631-34388-4 , pp. 36-39.