consul
consul, a consul
during the consulate of Cornelius Cossus and Asinius Agrippa
- a consul, one of the two highest magistrates of the Roman state, chosen annually, after the expulsion of the kings; cf. concerning his election, administration, duties, etc., Dict. Antiq., and the authors there cited (freq. in all periods and species of composition): qui recte consulat, consul cluat, Att. ap. Varr. L. L. 5, § 80 Müll.; Cic. Leg. 3, 3, 8; Quint. 1, 6, 32; Plin. 7, 43, 44, § 136: consul ordinarius, one who entered on his office at the regular time, viz. on the first of January; opp. consul suffectus, one chosen in the course of the year in the place of one who had died, or, after the time of the emperors, as a mere honorary title; v. ordinarius and sufficio: consul designatus, consul elect (so called in the interval between election, at the beginning of August, and entrance on his duties, on the 1st of January), v. designo: consul major, one who had the largest number of votes, or with whom the Fasces were, or one who was oldest (acc. to Nieb., orig. he who was of noble origin); cf. Fest. s. v. majorem consulem, p. 161, 31 Müll.; after the Lex Julia, who had most children, Gell. 2, 15, 4: consulem creare, Cic. Att. 9, 9, 3; Caes. B. C. 3, 1 al.: dicere, Liv. 27, 6, 3: facere, Cic. Agr. 2, 1, 3; id. de Or. 2, 66, 268: sufficere, id. Mur. 38, 82 al.: declarare, id. Agr. 2, 2, 4 al.: renuntiare, id. Mur. 1, 1 al.: aliquem consulem designare, Amm.21, 12, 25: esse pro consule, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 91, § 212 al. In reference to the expression bis, iterum, ter, quater, etc.; tertio or tertium, etc, consul, v. the words bis, iterum, etc., and cf. Gell. 10, 1, 3 and 6.—
- B Esp.
- 1 In abl. with the names of the consuls (in the poets usu. of one consul), for the designation of the year: Orgetorix M. Messalā M. Pisone Coss., regni cupiditate inductus, etc., in the consulship of (i. e. in the year of Rome 693), Caes. B. G. 1, 2: is dies erat a. d. V. Kal. Apr. L. Pisone A. Gabinio Coss. (i. e. the 27th of March, 696 of the city), id. ib. 1, 6 fin.: Romam venit Mario consule et Catulo, Cic. Arch. 3, 5; id. Brut. 43, 161 al.: amphora fumum bibere instituta Consule Tullo, Hor. C. 3, 8, 12; 3, 14, 28; 3, 21, 1; id. Epod. 13, 6 al.; cf.: Bibuli consulis amphora, id. C. 3, 28, 8: amphora centeno consule facta minor, i. e. a hundred years old, Mart. 8, 45, 4.—
- 2 Sing., as collective term for the magistracy, the consuls, when the office is in view rather than the persons: quod populus in se jus dederit, eo consulem usurum; non ipsos (sc. consules) libidinem ac licentiam suam pro lege habituros, Liv. 3, 9, 5 Weissenb. ad loc.: legatisque ad consulem missis, id. 21, 52, 6 Heerw. ad loc.: aliter sine populi jussu nullius earum rerum consuli jus est, Sall. C. 29, 3.—
- II Meton.
- A A proconsul, Liv. 26, 33, 4 Weissenb. ad loc.; cf. id. § 7; 31, 49, 4; Nep. Cato, 1, 3; Aur. Vict. Vir. Ill. 6, 3, 2; Flor. 2, 14, 5; Eutr. 3, 14.—
- B The highest magistrate in other states: consul Tusculanorum, Plin. 7, 43, 44, § 136: BARCINONENSIS, Inscr. Grut. 4, 29, 9: COLONΙAE ASTIGITANAE, ib. 351, 5; Aus. Clar. Urb. 14, 39.—
- C An epithet of Jupiter, Vop. Firm. 3; Ap. Mund. c. 25.—*
- D Poet.: est animus tibi ... consul non unius anni, continually fulfilling the duties of the highest magistracy, Hor. C. 4, 9, 39 Orell. ad loc.
miserae mittentes epistolas reliquiae ad Agitium Romanae potestatis virum, hoc modo loquentes: “Agitio ter ~uli gemitus Britannorum”
sic reus advenit Romanam consul ad urbem
in expeditionem missus ~ul Romanorum
rex ~ulibus de Baion’ [] Bayonne
cujus castri [(] ~ules et burgenses pro se et universitate ipsius castri‥conquesti fuerunt Limoges
vocatis‥~ulibus pro universitate bastide
ad‥victualia capienda per burgimagistros, scabinos et ~ules et communitatem‥ville de Bruges deputati
proconsules et ~ules Stralessoundenses de comitiva Hanse
proconsules et ~ules civitatis Lubicensis
electi sunt in ~ules W. de B. [et al. ] simul cum omnibus primo supra juratis
[electi ] in ~ules ad auxiliandum et consulendum‥majori
dilecti nostri prepositus, ballivi, ~ules, burgenses et communitas burgi nostri de E.
jure patronatus‥capellanie‥post obitum meum preposito et ~ulibus‥burgi‥remanente
quo solent annuatim novi ~ules, quos ballivos vocamus, eligi et creari pro anno futuro
omnes ~ules artis totusque populus Romanus(
communiter quelibet Christianorum civitas maritima habet fundum in civitate ipsa [Alexandria ] et ~ulem
dixit ei [Heraldo ] Worth comes, frater suus: “‥prudenter tractare tecum velis quid cum sacramentis ~uli Normannie promiseris”
quid loquar de Odone Baiocasino presule, qui ~ul palatinus erat et ubique cunctis Anglie habitatoribus formidabilis erat?
Estram‥~ul Eustachius [Bononiae ] dedit S. Martino
Willelmus omnibus Normannie ~ulibus fortior fuit
ego Henricus Andegavensium ~ul
cepit tres nobiles ~ules, W. Longum-Ensem‥et ~ulem Britannie et ~ulem Flandrie
Eadredus rex‥cum †archiepiscopus ceterisque ~ulibus
tali optimatum stabilitate conscribentium:‥Cynsige ~ul; ‥Æþelstan dux; Urmeorl ‥; Alhhelm comes
Berse rex eorum [Danorum ], veteranus Sihtrix ~ul eorum‥, ‥Harald ~ul et, ut dicam, tota purior illic cecidit barbarorum juventus
~ul,gerefa
judex vel ~ul,ealdorman
~ul,gercyning oððe heretoga
Godwinus ~ul Anglorum ducens exercitum
ut‥dignitas‥~ulis sive principis adhibenda esset mihi [Hengisto ]
Vortigernus enim consul Gewissus in omnes / agmina ducebat
ego H. ‥rex Anglorum et dux Normannorum archiepiscopis, episcopis, abbatibus, ~ulibus et omnibus baronibus Francis et Anglis totius Anglie
tempore ~ulum cepit vocari Northumbria terra illa que erat inter Tinam et Twedam
~ul Cestrensis
communi consilio prioris de S. Pancratio et baronum ~ulis [(sc. W. comitis Surreie ]
ego Reginaldus regis H. filius, Cornubie ~ul
adveniunt‥de familiis episcoporum, ~ulum et baronum ephebi
[rex ] in loco residens ameno, ~ulibus ceterisque magnatibus in modum corone consedentibus
~ul dicitur a consulendo, quia consiliis rem publicam juvare debet vel quia super publicis negotiis crebro consulendus est et conveniendus
comites‥, qui etiam dici possunt ~ules a consulendo
S. de Monte Forti, ~ul Leycestrie
~ul comitatus, qui tertium habet denarium de forisfacturis(
egomet et episcopi et ~ules aliique terre mee probi homines(
domini ~ules parliamenti hoc idem sibi [sc. Georgio de Dunbar ] concesserunt
quoddam actum ~ulum nostrorum per nos sub testimonio magni sigilli nostri confirmatum
Anglos innocentiores Christi ~ul invenit
- 1. consul, aanduiding v.d. hoogste twee magistraten v.d. Rom. republiek, die vanaf ca. 450 v. Chr. telkens voor een jaar door de comitia centuriata gekozen werden; in het begin konden alleen patriciërs consul worden; vanaf 367 v. Chr. hadden ook rijke plebejische families toegang tot het consulaat; later is geregeld een v.d. consuls van plebejische afkomst; ➤ ~ ordinarius gewoon consul (die vanaf 153 v. Chr. aantrad bij het begin v.h. jaar); ~ suffectus later gekozen; ~ designatus benoemd, voor het volgende jaar gekozen; consules creare; alqm creare consulem iem. tot consul kiezen; alqm facere consulem; consulem (sub)rogare voorstellen om te kiezen; — de namen v.d. beide consules ordinarii of van slechts een v. beiden dienden ter aanduiding v.h. jaar: M. Claudio (et) L. Furio consulibus tijdens het consulaat van; consule Tullo; — prō cōnsule en prōcōnsul proconsul, bezitter v. consulaire macht (zonder consul te zijn), stadhouder v.e. consulaire provincie, voormalig consul (met de bevoegdheden v.e. consul): Furius Camillus pro consule Africae; pro consule in Ciliciam proficisci als proconsul;
- 2. bij geschiedschrijvers soms = proconsul.
Eo etenim tempore bis a Roma sede S. Petri Apostoli, beatus Papa Gregorius claves venerandi sepulcri, cum vinculis S. Petri, et muneribus magnis et infinitis, legatione, (quod antea nullis auditum autVariant hic Editiones quotquot exstant. Nicolaus Alemannus in Dissert. de Lateranensib. Parietinis cap. 14.visum his temporibus fuit) memorato Principi (Carolo Martello) destinavit, eo pacto patrato, ut a parte Imperatoris recederet, et Romanum Consulatum præfato Principi sanciret.
Consulatum, Patriciam dignitatem, et civilem urbis administrationem intelligi contendit. Id negat vir doctissimus Carolus Cointius in Annalibus Ecclesiast. Francor. ann. 796. num. 12. Nam præterquam quod pro
Consulatumapud Fredegarium,
Consultumlegi debere existimat, secundum Editionem Brolianam, quoquo modo se res habeat,
Consulatusvoce Imperatoriam dignitatem intelligi inde opinatur, quod in Caroli M. Edicto de Legibus Longobard. emendandis apud Sigonium lib. 4. de Regno Italiæ ann. 801. quod etiam descripsere Vitus Amerbachius et Steph. Baluzius, hæc verba reperiantur :
Anno ab Incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi 801. Indict. 9. anno regni nostri in Francia 33. in Italia 28. Consulatus autem nostri primo.Unde conficit per
Consulatum, Imperium necessario designari, cum Augusti eo anno titulum consecutus fuerit Carolus : adeo ut de Patricii titulo accipi non possit, quem longe antea obtinuerat, et a quo abstinuerat factus Imperator, ut Eginhardus, et alii scribunt. Tametsi valida videatur prima fronte viri admodum eruditi conjectura, nolim tamen negare Consulatum hocce loco Fredegarii pro Patriciatu accipi posse, qui et Martello oblatus fuit, et ab eo acceptus. Nam alias
Patriciiet
Consulisdiversæ fuere ea tempestate in Italia dignitates, quod ex diurno Romano cap. 1. tit. 3. etc. colligere est : ubi
Consulis intelligitur, qui Romæ vel certe Ravennæ, tum præerat, quemadmodum
Consul, non tam revera Imperatoriam dignitatem designat, quam receptam apud sequioris ætatis Græcos Augustos formulam, abrogata scilicet a Justiniano ea dignitate, quam sibi solis deinceps reservarunt Imperatores, tanquam
Consules perpetui, quem sibi titulum arrogasse Vitellium legimus : quod et ipse Justinianus exerte ait in Novella 5. Tum enim ii Diplomatibus annos Imperii cum annis consulatus adscribebant, ita ut fere semper idem fuerit et Imperator et Consul, cum Consulatum una cum Imperio inirent. Sed longe antea Consulis titulum adscribunt Carolo Magno Versus inscripti libro Evangeliorum anno 780. tom. 1. Histor. Francor. pag. 187 :
Quandoque tamen non Consulatus annus in iis descriptus legitur, sed alia formula, quomodo sub Justiniano obtinuit, scilicet,Tempore vernali transcensis Alpibus ipse Urbem Romuleam voluit quo visere Consul.
Post Consulatum anno, etc. quam quidem fere semper servatam constat a subsequentibus Augustis, qui ipso primo Imperii anno in Diplomatibus,
Post Consulatum anno primo, subdebant, verbi gratia, in Actis liberatæ a dæmonio virginis, apud Baron. ann. 713. n. 6 :
Imperante domino nostro piissimo perpetuo Augusto AnastasioIta tamen Consulatus annum(Artemio) magno Imperatore anno primo, et post Consulatum ejusdem Serenitatis anno primo.
datadicitur
quarto Nonas Maii, Imperii domini piissimi Augusti Constantini anno secundo, Consulatus primo, Indictione prima. Unde colligitur, Constantinum, qui et Heraclius dictus est, Heraclii majoris ex filio nepotem, Consulatum iniisse Kal. Januarii, Indict. 15. anno Imperii 2. quod inierat mense Junio Indict. 14. Id pluribus disceptamus in ea Dissertatione quam de Imperatorum Constantinopolitanorum, seu inferioris ævi vel Imperii, uti vocant, numismatibus instituimus.
Quinto Kalendas Martias.... imperante domino nostro piissimo perpetuo Augusto Ludovico magno Imperatore anno 19. et post Consulatum ejus anno 18. Indict. 1.Ubi observandum annum Imperii, anno uno Consulatus annum præcedere. Quippe Ludovicus II. a patre in Italiam missus, a Leone IV. PP. in Imperatorem unctus fuit ann. 850. ut est in Annalibus Francor. Bertinianis. Consulatum autem iniit, aut sane auspicatus est Kl. Januarii, ann. 851. quibus hæc dignitas iniri solebat, uti mox docuimus. Prostat Diploma aliud Joannis VIII. PP. pro Monasterio Herensi diœcesis Pictavensis, in Spicilegio Acheriano tom. 12. pag. 554. datum
Imperante domino piissimo Augusto Karolo a Deo coronato magno Imperatore, post Consulatum ejus anno primo.Præterea aliud pro Monast. S. Medardi Suessionensi pag. 151. datum
mense Januario Indict.Pro quibus quidem verbis,9. quarto Non. Januar. Pontificatus nostri anno 4. anno 1. regnante domino piissimo Carolo Imperat. a Deo coronato, et post Consulatum ejus anno 1.
post Consulatum, alia ejusdem Pontificis Charta pro Monasterio Trenorchiensi, apud Chiffletium, ista habet,
et post Coronationem ejus anno 1.Sed perperam, ni fallor, cum Imperator appellari cœperit demum, cum coronatus fuit. Porro dictus est Imperator Carolus Calvus die Christi natalitio anno 875. Indict. 9. Aliud Diploma Joannis PP. VIII. in Tabulario Flaviniacensi, sic clauditur :
Scriptum per manum Gregorii Notarii Regionarii et Scriniarii S. R. E. in mense Maio Indict. 10. Bene valete. 4. Kal. Junias, per manum Anastasii Bibliothecarii sanctæ Sedis Apostolicæ, imperante domno piissimo perpetuo Augusto Karolo a Deo coronato magno Imperatore anno 2. et post Consulatum ejus anno 2. Indict. 10.Eandem denique formulam in Diplomate
Data 7. Kal. Decemb. per manum Sergii Primicerii Defensoris sanctæ Sedis Apostolicæ, imperante domino piissimo perpetuo Augusto Widone a Deo coronato magno Imperatore anno primo, et post Consulatum ejus anno primo.
Comites a Comitatu, sive a societate nomen sumpserunt, qui etiam dici possunt Consules, a consulendo : Reges enim tales sibi associant ad consulendum et regendum populum Dei, etc.Leges Edwardi Confess. cap. 2 :
Quod modo vocatur Comitatus, olim apud Britones temporibus Romanorum in regno isto Britanniæ vocabatur Consulatus ; et qui modo vocantur Vicecomites, tunc temporis Viceconsules vocabantur.Vita S. Guillelmi Ducis Tolosani scripta a coætaneo cap. 3 :
Ambo quidem de summis Franciæ Principibus, Consules ex Consulibus, etc.Cap. 4 :
Igitur Willelmus..... suscipit nomen Consulis et Consulatum, in rebus bellicis primæ cohortis sortitur principatum.Et cap. 5 :
Adjudicatur etiam conclamante exercitu, ut totius Aquitaniæ, quoniam dignus est, investiatur Ducatu, et de Consule sublimetur in Ducem.Ordericus Vitalis libro 6. ex eadem Vita sancti Guillelmi :
Guillelmus ex patre Theodorico Consule et matre Abdana natus est... nomen Consulis et Consulatum, et in rebus bellicis primæ cohortis sortitur principatum.Abbo Mon. l. 1. de Bellis Paris. de Odone postmodum Rege vers. 45 :
Et lib. 2 :Hic Consul venerahatur, Rex atque futurus.
Belligeri fuerant Uldonis Consulis ambo.
Vicem Imperatoris, cui per omnia obeditur, obtinet Diaconissa ; sex vero aliæ sub ea, quas dicimus Officiales, Ducum sive Consulum loca possident.
Hludovicus... multa passus a Proceribus Franciæ in eodem anno, præcipueque a Widone, Rubeo cognominato, qui ei fraude et dolo suo filiam suam nuptum dare volebat ; quod quia dignitati regiæ indecens erat, et Consulibus regni displicebat, auctoritate apostolica Paschalis PP. dimiserat.Et pag. 753 :
Similiter et Consul Pictavorum, et Dux Burgundiorum, et multi alii Consules, qui sunt sub Rege Francorum.
Gesta Consulum Andegav. inscripsit.
DuxNormannorum, eorumd.
Consulappellatur ; sed in
Comes 2.observatum hunc Ducem interdum etiam
Comitemdictum fuisse.
Consul Willelmus multa virtute notatus ..... Ipse coronatus rex est de Consule factus.
Consulacceptionem probet Cangius ; hæc tamen, quia ad historiam nostram maxime pertinent, nec cuique obvia sunt, addenda judicavi. Charta Ingelran. episc. Ambian. ann. 1118 :
QuamAlia ejusd. episc. ann. 1124. in Chartul. prior. Lehun. ch. 11 :(familiam) ante nostra tempora domini Castelli injuste sibi usurpaverant, quamque scilicet clerici loci, triennio antequam Consul Flandrensis Encram haberet, recuperaverant. Cum vero Balduinus Consul Flandrensis Encram possideret, etc.
Actum est hoc... Ludovico Philippi in Gallia regnante, Karolo Ambianensi Consule feliciter.Charta Beatr. comit. Bigor. pro monast. de Scala Dei ann. 1160. in Reg. 148. Chartoph. reg. ch. 51 :
Facta est hujusmodi donatio, .... Petro Consule Bigorritano.Occurrit etiam in Vita Ms. S. Mart. Lemov. ubi voces
Consulet
Comespromiscue adhibentur. Vide infra Consulatus 1.
Ducemnominabant. Extat Diploma ann. 944. apud Murator. tom. 1. Script. Ital. part. 2. col. 431. datum a
Johanne Consule et duce Neapolis. Charta ann. 1011. apud eumd. tom. 1. Antiq. Ital. med. ævi col. 195 :
Nos Sergius in Dei nomine eminentissime Consul et Dux, etc.Iisdem quoque appellationibus donatur Johannes Dolensis tom. 2. Hist. novæ Brit. pag. lvij :
Splendidus ex atavis, atavorum splendor et ipse, Gente Britannus homo conditur hoc tumulo. Hic armis, patria, natis cum matre relictis, Dux modo, continuo de Duce fit monachus. Metropolitanæ sedi, quia vixit honeste, Cui Dolus est nomen, præsul hic eligitur ; Ut quibus extiterat Consul, de Consule præsul, Præsul quam Consul consuleret melius.
Diligo Burdigalam, Romam colo, civis in illa, Consul in ambabus, cunæ hic, ibi sella curulis, etc.
Scabinorum, qui in Galliis appellati fuerint Consules, effluxerunt anni plus septingenti.
Consul Barcinone, in veteri Inscriptione apud Gruterum 429. 9.
Consules municipales, apud eumdem 90. 8. 351. 5. 438. 7.
Et volo quod singulis annis in Calma quatuor Consules eligantur ad festum omnium Sanctorum, quorum consilio tota terra mea videatur de cetero subjacere ; si tamen aliquis fecerit injuriam, vel commiserit unde puniri debeat, consilio Consulum puniatur.Haud satis scio an ead. notione in Charta Philippi
Conspirationes aut conjurationes vel Consules non possunt facere cives Anicienses contra nos nec contra Episcopum nec Ecclesiam Aniciensem, quandiu Episcopus et Ecclesia Aniciensis erga nos se habuerint ut debebunt.
Statutum est utEt art. 139. :xii. probi et legales viri Montisp. jam electi ad Communitatem Montispessulani jurare debeant, quod bona fide consulant eum quem Dominus loco suo statuerit in hac terra, et ille requirere teneatur consilium dictorumxii. et eorum stare consiliis, etc.
Qualiter eligitur Bajulus Curiæ : Similiter consulant Domino et Bajulo Curiæ, et ei quem Dominus loco suo statuit in hac terra.
Conssous, in Libert. villæ
de Peyrusseann. 1368. tom. 5. Ordinat. reg. Franc. pag. 703 :
Nous Jaques de Pereuse et Pierre Bourgois Conssous de la ville et appartenances de Pereuse, etc.
Concedimus et donamus integram licentiam et potestatem vobis... ponere et eligere Consulem, vel Consules, quem et quos volueritis, in partibus ultramarinis, et in terra de Romania, etc.
De Consulibus extra Massiliam constituendis... in viagiis Suriæ, aut Alexandriæ vel Cœpte, vel Bogiæ, vel alicubi alibi... eligendis de melioribus facundia, et discretione, et probitate, et honestate, ad honorem et utilitatem communis Massiliæ..., quibuset constituendis a Rectore Massiliæ, qui pro tempore fuerit, cum consilio et assensu Syndicorum, et Clavariorum communis Massiliæ, et Septimanariorum capitum ministeriorum, vel majoris partis eorum
dentur Consiliariinumero ibi non determinato. Deinde plura statuuntur ad eos Consules spectantia, quæ longius esset hic referre.
Damus etiam vobis Curiam in Accon, et ut Vicecomites et Consules de hominibus vestræ gentis habeatis, ita quod si aliquis extraneus contra quemlibet de vestris querelam moverit, ante Vicecomites vestros debeat devenire, et ibidem judicium recipere, excepto furto, homicidio, tradimento, et falsamento monetæ, violatione mulierum, quod Rapt vulgariter dicitur, quæ omnia Curiæ nostræ reservamus. Vicecomes autem quem vobis ibidem ordinare placuerit, sacramentum fidelitatis nobis faciet, et jurabit quod secundum terræ Consuetudinem, Curiæ vestræ causas judicabit et discernet.Habetur etiam in Statutis MSS. urbis Monspeliensis Sacramentum, quod ejusmodi mercatorum Consules, cum magistratum suum ineunt, faciunt lingua vernacula sic conceptum :
Jen hom elegat en Cossol dels mercadiers navegans de Montpeslier promet à vosQuotannis ii eligebantur. Dicuntur etiamxii. Cossols, que bon lial cossel donarai à tos é à cascuns dels dits mercadiers é des autres que son ni seran desotzmon regimen, et lur proficq enquerrai, el dan esquivarai, é la honor del Commun de Monpeslier, é de la Universitat desdit mercadiers farai et procurerai, é dels constrats, etdel clams que seran entrels mercadiers, etc. é totas aquestas causas entendrai per tot lo temps de mon oficizi, gitadas tota amistatz, é tota enemistat, etc.
Regens dels mercadiers que van per mar, in Charta ann. 1328. De iis Consulibus, et eorum officio, pluribus egit Andreas Bosch in libro
dels Titols de honor de Cathalunyalib. 4. cap. 24. Maxime vero liber Italicus, cui titulus,
il Consolato del mare, editus Venetiis ann. 1576. Codinus lib de Offic. cap. 7. n. 9. Pachymeres lib. 2. cap. 32. et Gregoras lib. 4. observant Pisanorum Magistratum qui Constantinopoli degebat,
Consulemappellatum, qui apud Venetos
Bajulusdicebatur.
Consules mercatorum Lucensium, et Consules majores et Consules mercatorum de Mutina, in Charta ann. 1182. apud Murator. tom. 2. Antiq. Ital. med. ævi col. 887.
Consules paraticorum, eadem notione, ibid. col. 876.
Consules mercantiæ, in Annal. Placent, ad ann. 1443. apud eumd. tom. 20. Script. Ital. col. 881.
Consules artis maris, Florentiæ ann. 1356. 1400. etc. apud
Mannide Sigil. tom. 2. pag. 71.
Consuli in arte de marein Statut. civit. Trani eodem tom. 5. pag. 237.
Consiliarius, qui est a consiliis. Inventar. Chart. reg. ann. 1482. fol. 121 :
Rege Parisii in sua domo S. Pauli existente, pluribus prælatis, baronibus et aliis magnatibus Consulibusque suis comitato, et aliis magnis personis, etc.Extract. ex comitiis Turon. habitis ann. 1483 :
ResponditVide Consularius.(D. Borbonius) quod nequaquam nos ad hoc astringere volebant quominus libere auferremus adderemusque, si quid nobis mutandum videretur, eumque numerum Consulum faceremus, quem regi regnoque utilem fore crederemus.
Consiliarius, apud Robertum
Gouletin Compendio Jurium et Consuetud. Universitatis Paris. fol. 9 :
Similiter Universitas expensis suis distribuit cereos benedictos Regi et Regine, si fuerint Parisius, Dominis Presidentibus, Preposito Parisiensi, Locum tenentibus, et quibusdam Regiis Consulibus, etc.
- com-+2 SAL-, a consul; the highest magistracy of the Roman republic was vested in two consuls, chosen annually: ordinarius, for the full term(opp. suffectus, to fill a vacancy), L.: designatus, elect: consules creantur, Cs.: me consulem fecistis: ne sufficiatur consul, chosen to fill a vacancy: Consulis imperium, V.— In dates, defining the year; usu. ablabsol.: Messalā et Pisone consulibus, in the consulship of, Cs.: a. d. V Kal. Apr. L.Pisone A. Gabinio consulibus (i. e. the 28th of March), Cs.: nobis consulibus: Consule Tullo, H.: Bibuli consulis amphora, H.: XL annis ante me consulem: ante vos consules: postL.Sullam Q. Pompeium consules. — Singcollect., the consuls, supreme magistracy: eo (iure) consulem usurum, L.: legatisque ad consulem missis, L.: nullius earum rerum consuli ius est, S.—In the title, pro consule (abbrev. procos.), plur.pro consulibus, a vice-consul, deputy-consul, magistrate with consular powers; orig. given to a general sent to command an army: pro consule Quinctium subsidio castris mitti, L.: non oportere mitti privatum pro consule. — Also, to a consul whose military command was prolonged beyond his term of office: ut cum Philo consulatu abisset, pro consule rem gereret, L.— After Sulla's time, the consuls, when their year expired, assumed the chief magistracy in provinces designated by the senate, as pro consulibus: litterae a Bruto pro consule: ex litteris Bruti pro consule: qui pro consulibus sint ad urbem, Cs.; see also proconsul. —A proconsul: mortuus Claudius consul erat, L.: quaestor obtigit (Cato) consuli, N.— Poet.: non unius anni, i. e. not by election, but by nature, H.
-
…Quirites, contra has tam praeclaras Catilinae copias vestra praesidia vestrosque exercitus. et primum gladiatori illi confecto et saucio consules imperatoresque vestros opponite ; deinde contra illam naufragorum eiectam ac debilitatam manum florem totius Italiae ac robur educite. iam…
Cicero, in Catilinam
-
…. ; d. V. Kal. ; Apr. L. ; Pisone, A. ; Gabinio consulibus. Caesari cum id nuntiatum esset, eos per provinciam nostram iter facere conari, maturat ab urbe proficisci et…
Julius Caesar, Gallic War
-
…cum eo futuram ; si non impetraret, sese, quoniam M. ; Messala, M. ; Pisone consulibus senatus censuisset uti quicumque Galliam provinciam obtineret, quod commodo rei publicae facere posset, Haeduos ceterosque amicos populi Romani…
Julius Caesar, Gallic War
-
…. quid est, Catilina num dubitas id me imperante facere quod iam tua sponte faciebas exire ex urbe iubet consul hostem. interrogas me, num in exsilium non iubeo, sed, si me consulis, suadeo. quid…
Cicero, in Catilinam
-
…in fronte unius cuiusque quid de re publica sentiat. polliceor hoc vobis, patres conscripti, tantam in nobis consulibus fore diligentiam, tantam in vobis auctoritatem, tantam in equitibus Romanis virtutem, tantam in omnibus bonis consensionem ut…
Cicero, in Catilinam
-
…vehemens et grave, non deest rei publicae consilium neque auctoritas huius ordinis nos, nos, dico aperte, consules desumus. decrevit quondam senatus uti L. Opimius consul videret ne quid res publica detrimenti caperet nox nulla intercessit…
Cicero, in Catilinam
-
…facere rei publicae videmur, si istius furorem ac tela vitamus. ad mortem te, Catilina, duci iussu consulis iam pridem oportebat, in te conferri pestem quam tu in nos omnis iam diu machinaris. an vero vir…
Cicero, in Catilinam
-
…exsilium ; vix feram sermones hominum, si id feceris, vix molem istius invidiae, si in exsilium iussu consulis iveris, sustinebo. sin autem servire meae laudi et gloriae mavis, egredere cum importuna sceleratorum manu, confer…
Cicero, in Catilinam
-
…auctoritas huius ordinis nos, nos, dico aperte, consules desumus. decrevit quondam senatus uti L. Opimius consul videret ne quid res publica detrimenti caperet nox nulla intercessit interfectus est propter quasdam seditionum suspiciones C. Gracchus ,…
Cicero, in Catilinam
-
…iam illa omitto neque enim sunt aut obscura aut non multa commissa postea quotiens tu me designatum, quotiens vero consulem interficere conatus es quot ego tuas petitiones ita coniectas ut vitari posse non viderentur parva quadam declinatione et, ut…
Cicero, in Catilinam
CONSUL(ὕπατος), the highest republican magistrate at Rome. The derivation of the name is still quite uncertain. It was derived by the Romans from consulere: qui recte consulat, consul cluat (Varro, L. L. 5.80: cf. Cic. de Leg. 3.3, 8; de Orat. 2.39, 165), and Corssen (Ausspr. 2.71) admits this, connecting consulere itself with the root sal in salire: others, while finding in consul the same root, deny the connexion with consulere. Some, again, prefer the root sed (sel), sit, or sal, dwell. (Cf. Nettleship in Journal of Philology, 4.272 ff.)
There was a tradition that king Servius, after regulating the constitution of the state, intended to abolish the kingly power, and substitute for it the annual magistracy of the consulship; and whatever we may think of the tradition, the person who devised it must have had a deep insight into the nature of the Roman state and its institutions; and the fact that on the abolition of royalty it was instituted forthwith, seems, at any rate, to show that it had been thought of before. Thus much is also certain, that the consulship was not a Latin institution, for in Latium the kingly power was succeeded by the dictatorship, a magistracy invested with the same power as that of a king, except that it lasted only for a time.
The consulship which was established as a republican magistracy at Rome, immediately after the abolition of royalty, showed its republican character in the circumstance that its power was divided between two individuals (imperium duplex), and that it was only of one year's duration (annuum). This principle was, on the whole, observed throughout the republican period; and the only exceptions are, that sometimes a dictator was appointed instead of two consuls, and that in a few instances, when one of the consuls had died, the other remained in office alone, either because the remaining portion of the year was too short, or from religious scruples (Dionys. 5.57; Dio Cass.), for otherwise the rule was, that if either of the consuls died in the year of his office, or abdicated before its expiration, the other was obliged to convene the comitia for the purpose of electing a successor (subrogare or sufficere collegam). It is only during the disturbances in the last century of the republic, that, after Cinna's death, Carbo maintained himself as sole consul for nearly a whole year (Appian, Bell. Civ. 1.78; Vellei. 2.24; Liv. Epit. lxxxiii.); and that Pompeius was appointed sole consul, in order to avoid the necessity of a dictator. (Ascon. ad Cic. pro Mil. p. 37; Liv. Epit. 107; Appian, Bell. Civ. 2.23, 25.) Even he, after five months, had a colleague elected. On one occasion during the Civil Wars Cinna and Marius, without any election at all, continued to hold the power of the consulship for a second year. (Liv. Epit. lxxx.)
Under the early emperors the practice as to the duration of the consulship varied in the most arbitrary manner. (Mommsen, Staatsr. 2.79-81.)
In the earliest times, the title of the chief magistrates was not only consules, but also praetores (Madvig, Verf. 1.368); characterising them as the commanders of the armies of the republic. Traces of this title occur in ancient legal and priestly documents (Liv. 7.3; Fest. p. 161), and also in the names praetorium (the consul's tent) and porta praetoria in the Roman camp. (Paul. Diac. p. 123; Pseudo-Ascon. ad Cic. in Verr. 1.1. 4) It appears also to have been the title used in the Twelve Tables (Plin. Nat.18.12). After the introduction of the office of praetor urbanus, the consuls. were known as praetores maximi (στρατηγοὶ ὕπατοι), the praetors strictly as praetores minores, though the last epithet was commonly dropped, and they were known to the Greeks simply as στρατηγοί. Sometimes the consuls are designated by the title judices, especially as presiding over the centuriate assemblies. (Varro, de L. L. 6.88; Liv. 3.55.) After B.C. 449 (Zonar. 7.19), the name consules was the established title until the final overthrow of the Roman empire. Upon the establishment of the republic, after the banishment of Tarquin, all the powers which had belonged to the king were transferred to the consuls, except that which had constituted the king high priest of the state; for this was kept distinct and transferred to a priestly dignitary, called the rex sacrorum, or rex sacrificulus.
As regards the election of the consuls, it invariably took place in the comitia centuriata, under the presidency of a consul or a dictator; and, in their absence, by an interrex. The consuls thus elected at the beginning of a year were styled consules ordinarii, to distinguish them from the suffecti, or such as were elected in the place of those who had died or abdicated, though the privileges and powers of the latter were in no way inferior to those of the former. (Liv. 24.7, &c.; comp. 41.18.) At the time when the consulship was superseded by the institution of the tribuni militares consulari potestate, the latter, of course, presided at elections, as the consuls did before and after, and must in general be regarded as the representatives of the consuls in every respect. It was, however, a rule that the magistrate presiding at an election should not be elected himself, though a few exceptions to this rule are recorded. (Liv. 3.35, 7.24-Z2, 24.9-Z2, 27.6-Z2.) The day of the election, which was made known by an edict three nundines beforehand (Liv. 3.35, 4.6-Z2, 42.28-Z2), naturally depended upon the day on which the magistrates entered upon their office. The latter, however, was not the same at all times, but was often changed. In general it was observed as a rule, that the magistrates should enter upon their office on the kalendae or idus, unless particular circumstances rendered it impossible; but the months themselves varied at different times, and there are no less than eight or nine dates at which the consuls are known to have entered upon their functions, and in many of these cases we know the reasons for which the change was made. The real cause appears to have been that the consuls, like other magistrates, were elected for a whole year; and if before the close of that year the magistracy became vacant either by death or abdication, their successors, of course, undertook their office on an irregular day, which then remained the dies solennis, until another event of a similar kind rendered another change necessary. The first consuls entered upon their office on the ides of September, the day on which in later years the praetor maximus drove the annual nail in the temple of the Capitol; or, according to others (cf. Hartmann, Röm. Kal. p. 228), traditionally on the kalends of March, but really on the kalends of October. (Dionys. 5.1; Liv. 7.3.) The first change seems to have been brought about by the secession of the plebs, B.C. 493, when the consuls entered upon office on the kalends of September. (Dionys. 6.49.) In B.C. 479, the day was thrown a whole month backward; for of the consuls of the preceding year one had fallen in battle, and the other abdicated two months before the end of his year: hence the new consuls entered on the kalends of Sextilis. (Dionys. 9.13; Liv. 3.6.) This day remained until B.C. 451, when the consuls abdicated to make room for the decemvirs, who entered upon their office on the ides of May. The same day remained for the two following years (Dionys. 10.56; Zonar. 7.18; Fast. Cap.); but the third year of the decemvirate not having been completed, another day must have become the dies solennis. We have no information what day it was, until in B.C. 443 we find that it was the ides of December. (Dionys. 11.63.) This change had been occasioned by the tribuni militares who had been elected the year before, and had been compelled to abdicate in the third month of office, to make room for consuls. (Liv. 4.7; Dionys. 11.62.) Henceforth the ides of December remained for many years the dies solennis. (Liv. 4.37.) In B.C. 401, the military tribunes, in consequence of the defeat at Veil, abdicated, and their successors entered upon their office on the kalends of October. (Liv. 5.9.) In B.C. 391, the consuls entered upon their office on the kalends of Quintilis. (Liv. 5.32; comp. 31, 7.25, 8.20.) From this time no further change is mentioned, though several events are recorded which must have been accompanied by an alteration of the dies solennis, until in B.C. 223 we learn that the consuls entered upon their office on the ides of March, which custom remained unaltered for many years (Liv. 22.1, 23.30-Z2, 26.1-Z2, 26, 44.19-Z2), until in B.C. 154 it was decreed that in future the magistrates should enter upon their office on the 1st of January, a regulation which began to be observed the year after, and remained in force down to the end of the republic. (Liv. Epit. xlvii.; Fast. Praenest. Kal. Jan.; cf. Mommsen, Chron. pp. 81-98.)
The day on which the consuls entered on their office determined the day of the election, though there was no fixed rule, and in the earliest times the elections probably took place very shortly before the close of the official year, and the same was occasionally the case during the latter period of the republic. (Liv. 38.42, 42.28-Z2, 43.11-Z2.) But when the 1st of January was fixed upon as the day for entering upon the office, the consular comitia were usually held in July or even earlier, at least before the kalends of Sextilis. (Cic. ad Att. 1.1. 6; ad Fam. 8.4.) But even during that period the day of election depended in a great measure upon the discretion of the senate and consuls, who often delayed it. (Cic. ad Att. 2.2. 0, 4.16; pro Leg. Man. 1.)
Down to the year B.C. 366, the consulship was accessible to none but patricians, but in that year L. Sextius was the first plebeian consul in consequence of the law of C. Licinius. (Liv. 6.42; 7.1-Z2.) The patricians, however, notwithstanding the law, repeatedly contrived to keep the plebeians out (Liv. 7.17, 18, 19, 22, 24, 28), until in B.C. 342 the legislation of Publilius Philo secured the firm establishment of the plebeian consulship; and it is even said that at that time a plebiscitum was passed, enacting that both consuls might be plebeians. (Liv. 7.42.) Attempts on the part of the patricians to exclude the plebeians occur as late as the year B.C. 297 (Liv. 10.15; Cic. Brut. 14, 55); but they did not succeed, and it remained a principle of the Roman constitution that both consuls should not be patricians (Liv. 27.34; 39.42-Z2). The candidates usually were divided into two sets, the one desirous to obtain the patrician, and the other to obtain the plebeian place in the consulship (in unum locum petebant, Liv. 35.10). In B.C. 215, the augurs indeed successfully opposed the election of two plebeians (Liv. 23.31); but not long after, in B.C. 172, the fact of both consuls being plebeians actually occurred (Fast. Capitol.), and after this it was often repeated, the ancient distinction between patricians and plebeians falling completely into oblivion.
The consulship was throughout the republic regarded as the highest office and the greatest honour that could be conferred upon a man (Cic. pro Planc. 25, 60; Paul. Diac. p. 136; Dionys. 4.76), for the dictatorship, though it had a majus imperium, was not a regular magistracy; and the censorship, though conferred only upon consulars, was yet far inferior to the consulship in power and influence. It was not till the end of the republic, and especially after the victories of Caesar, that the consulship lost its former dignity; for in order to honour his friends, he caused them to be elected, sometimes for a few months, and sometimes even for a few hours. (Cic. ad Fam. 7.3. 0; Sueton. Caes. 76, 80, Nero, 15; Dio Cass.; Macrob. Sat. 2.3.)
The power of the consuls was at first equal to that of the kings into whose place they stepped, with the exception of the priestly power of the rex sacrorum, which was detached from it. Even after the Valerian laws and the institution of the tribuneship, the consuls who alone were invested with the executive retained the most extensive powers in all departments of the government. But in the gradual development of the constitution, some important functions were detached from the consulship and assigned to new magistrates. This was the case first with the censorship in B.C. 443,--an office which at first was confined to holding the census and registering the citizens according to their different classes, but afterwards acquired very extensive powers. [CENSOR] The second function that was in this manner taken from the consuls was their judicial power, which was transferred in B.C. 366 to a distinct magistracy under the title of the praetorship [PRAETOR] ; and hence-forth the consuls appeared as judges only in extraordinary cases of a criminal nature, when they were called upon by a senatus consultum. (Cic. Brut. 34, 128; Liv. 8.18, 39.17-Z2ff., 41.9.) But, notwithstanding these curtailings, the consulship still continued to be regarded as the representative of regal power. (Plb. 6.11; Cic. de Leg. 3.3, 8.)
In regard to the nature of the power of the consuls, we must in the outset divide it into two parts, inasmuch as they were the highest civil authority, and at the same time the supreme commanders of the armies. So long as they were in the city of Rome, they were at the head of the government and the administration, and all the other magistrates, with the exception of the tribunes of the people, were subordinate to them. They convened the senate, and as presidents conducted the business; they had to carry into effect the decrees of the senate, and sometimes on urgent emergencies they might even act on their own authority and responsibility. They were the medium through which foreign affairs were brought before the senate; all despatches and reports were placed in their hands before they were laid before the senate; by them foreign ambassadors were introduced into the senate, and they alone carried on the negotiations between the senate and foreign states. They also convened the assembly of the people and presided in it; and thus conducted the elections, put legislative measures to the vote, and had to carry the decrees of the people into effect. (Plb. 6.12; COMITIA; SENATUS.) The whole of the internal machinery of the republic was, in fact, under their superintendence; and in order to give weight to their executive power, they had the right of summoning and arresting offenders (vocatio and prehensio), but not in their own houses (Cic. in Vat. 9, 22; pro Dom. 41, 109), and a general right of inflicting punishment, limited only by the right of appeal from their judgment (provocatio); which might be exercised even against inferior magistrates.
The outward signs of their power, and at the same time the means by which they exercised it, were twelve lictors with the fasces, without whom the consul never appeared in public (Liv. 25.17, 27.27-Z2; Val. Max.; comp. Liv. 6.34, 39.12-Z2), and who preceded him in a line one behind another. (Liv. 24.44; Val. Max..) In the city, however, the axes did not appear in the fasces; a regulation which is said to have been introduced by Valerius Publicola (Dionys. 5.2, 19, 75; 10.59-Z2), and which is intimately connected with the right of appeal from a consul's sentence, whence it did not apply to the decemvirs nor originally to the dictator. Now as the provocatio could take place only within a thousand paces from the city, it must be supposed that the axes did not appear in the fasces within the same limits, an opinion which is not contradicted by the fact that the consuls on returning from war appeared with the axes in their fasces in the Campus Martins, at the very gates of Rome; for they had the imperium militare, which ceased only when they had entered the city.
But the powers of the consuls were far more extensive in their capacity of supreme commanders of the armies, and wherever they were without the precincts of the city, and were invested with the full imperium. When the levying of an army was decreed by the senate, the consuls conducted the levy, and, at first, had the appointment of all the subordinate officers--a right which subsequently they shared with the people; and the soldiers had to take their oath of allegiance to the consuls. They also determined the contingent to be furnished by the allies; and in the province assigned to them they had the unlimited administration, not only of all military affairs, but of everything else, even over life and death, excepting only the conclusion of peace and treaties. (Plb. 6.12, 5; compare EXERCITUS) The treasury was, indeed, under the control of the senate; but in regard to the expenses for war, the consuls do not appear to have been bound down to the sums granted by that body, but to have availed themselves of the public money as circumstances required; the quaestors, however, kept a strict account of the expenditure (Plb. 6.12, 13, 15; Liv. 44.16). The quaestors also kept the keys of the treasury (even of the aerariums sanctius: cf. Mommsen, Staatsr. 2.117), and their co-operation was therefore necessary for any expenditure (Plb. 23.14). The control thus exercised became a real one when the quaestors were no longer nominated by the consuls, but were elected by the people. In the early times, the consuls had the power to dispose of the booty in any way they pleased; sometimes they distributed the whole or a part of it among the soldiers, and sometimes they sold it, and deposited the produce in the public treasury, which in later times became the usual practice. The first limitation of the military command of the consuls was in B.C. 227, when Sicily was erected into a province, committed to a special governor (praetor), and thus removed from the consular jurisdiction. But a more important change was that introduced by Sulla, who extended to the whole of Italy the legal privileges of the city of Rome. From this time forward the consuls ceased to hold military command during their year of office, and passed at the expiration of it into the ranks of the generals in office in the provinces by virtue of a special resolution of the senate (Mommsen, Staatsr. 2.90).
Abuse of the consular power was prevented, first of all, by each of the consuls being dependent on his colleague, who was invested with equal rights; for, if we except the provinces abroad where each was permitted to act with unlimited power, the two consuls could do nothing unless both were unanimous (Dionys. 10.17; Appian, Bell. Civ. 2.11), and against the sentence of one consul an appeal might be brought before his colleague; nay, one consul might of his own accord put his veto on the proceedings of the other. (Liv. 2.18, 27, 3.34-Z2; Dionys. 5.9; Cic. de Leg. 3.4) But in order to avoid every unnecessary dispute or rivalry, arrangements had been made from the first, that the real functions of the office should be performed only by one of them every alternate month (Dionys. 9.43); and the one who was in the actual exercise of the consular power for the month was preceded by the twelve lictors, whence he is commonly described by the words penes quem fasces erant (Liv. 8.12, 9.8-Z2). In the early times, his colleague was then not accompanied by the lictors at all, but he was preceded by an accensus. (Cic. de Rep. 2.3. 1, 55; Liv. 2.1, 3.33-Z2; comp. Dionys. 5.2, 10.24-Z2.) In later times, the consul, even when he did not perform the functions of the office, was also accompanied by twelve lictors (Suet. Jul. 20), but these followed him: when this custom arose is uncertain, and we only know that, in the time of Polybius, the dictator, as representing both consuls, had twenty-four lictors. It has been maintained that the consul who for the month being performed the functions of the office, was designated as the consul major; but Festus (p. 161) leaves it doubtful whether the term applied to the one who had the fasces, or to the one who had been elected first; and there seems to be good reason for believing that the word major really had reference only to the age of the consul, so that the elder of the two was called consul major. (Liv. 37.47; Cic. de Rep. 2.3. 1, 55; Val. Max.; Plut. Publ. 12; Dionys. 6.57.) Owing to the respect paid to the elder, he presided at the meeting of the senate which was held immediately after the election. (Liv. 9.8; Gellius (Gell. 2.15.) The exercise of the consular power was also checked by the knowledge that after the expiration of their office they might be called to account for the manner in which they had conducted themselves in their official capacity. Many cases are on record, in which after their abdication they were accused and condemned not only for illegal or unconstitutional acts, but also for misfortunes in war which were ascribed either to their carelessness or want of ability. (Liv. 2.41, 52, 54, 61; 3.31-Z2; 22.40-Z2, 49; 27.2-Z2, 3; 27.34-Z2; Cic. de Nat. Deor. 2.3, 8; Val. Max..) The ever-increasing arrogance and power of the tribunes did not stop here, and we not unfrequently find that consuls, even during the time of their office, were not only threatened with punishment and imprisonment, but were actually subjected to them. (Liv. 4.26, 5.9-Z2, 42.21-Z2; Epit. xlviii., lv.; Cic. de Leg. 3.9, 20; in Vat. 9, 21; Val. Max.; Dio Cass., 38.6, 39.39.) Sometimes the people themselves opposed the consuls in the exercise of their power. (Liv. 2.55, 59.) Lastly, the consuls were dependent upon the senate. [SENATUS] There occurred, however, times when the power of the consuls thus limited by republican institutions was thought inadequate to save the republic from perils into which she was thrown by circumstances; and on such occasions a senatus consultum viderent or darent operam consules, ne quid respublica detrimenti caperet, conferred upon them full dictatorial power, not restrained either by the senate, the people, or the tribunes. In the early times, such senatus consulta are rarely mentioned, as it was customary to appoint a dictator on such emergencies; but when the dictatorship had fallen into disuse, the senate by the above-mentioned formula invested the consuls, for the time, with dictatorial power. [DICTATOR] On this senatus consultum ultimum, see Heitland's App. A to Cic. pro C. Rabirio.
On entering upon their office, the consuls, and afterwards the praetors also, agreed among one another as to the business which each had to look after, so that every one had his distinct sphere of action, which was termed his provincia. The ordinary way in which the provinces were assigned to each was by lot (sortiri provincias), unless the colleagues agreed among themselves, without any such means of decision (comparare inter se provincias, Liv. 24.10, 30.1-Z2, 32.8-Z2; Cic. ad Fam. 1.9). The decision by lot was resorted to for no other reason than because the two consuls had equal rights, and not, as some believe, because it was thereby intended to leave the decision to the gods. It it was thought that one of the consuls was eminently qualified for a particular province. either on account of his experience or personal character, it frequently happened that a commission was given to him extra sortem or extra ordinem, i.e. by the senate and without any drawing of lots. (Liv. 3.2, 8.16-Z2, 37.1-Z2; Cic. ad Att. 1.1. 9; comp. Liv. 35.20, 41.8-Z2.) In the earliest times, it seems to have been the custom for only one of the consuls to march out at the head of the army, and for the other to remain at Rome for the protection of the city, and to carry on the administration of civil affairs, unless, indeed, wars were carried on in two different quarters which rendered it necessary for both consuls to take the field. (Dionys. 6.24, 91; comp. Liv. 3.4, 22, 7.38-Z2.) Nay, we find that even when Rome had to contend with one formidable enemy, the two consuls marched out together (Liv. 2.44, 3.8-Z2, 66, 8.6-Z2, &c.); but the forces were equally divided between them, in such a manner that each had as a rule the command of two legions, and had the supreme command on every alternate day (Plb. 3.107, 110, 6.26-Z2; Liv. 4.46, 22.27-Z2, 41, 28.9-Z2; comp. 3.70).
When the Roman dominion extended beyond the natural boundaries of Italy, the two consuls were not enough to undertake the administration of the provinces, and praetors were appointed to undertake the command in some, while the more important ones were reserved for the consuls. Hence a distinction was made between provinciae consulares and praetoriae. (Liv. 41.8.) [PROVINCIA] It lay with the senate to determine into which provinces consuls were to be sent, and into which praetors, and this was done either before the magistrates actually entered upon their office (Liv. 21.17), or after it, and on the proposal of the consuls (Liv. 25.1, 26.28-Z2, 27.7-Z2, &c.). Upon this, the magistrates either agreed among themselves as to which province each was to undertake, or they drew lots; first, of course, the consuls, and after them the praetors. One of the laws of C. Gracchus (de provinciis ordinandis; Cic. de Prov. Cons. 2, 3; Sal. Jug. 27), however, introduced the regulation, that every year the senate, previous to the consular elections, should determine upon the two consular provinces, in order to avoid partiality, it being yet unknown who were to be the consuls. It had been customary from the earliest times for the consuls to enter their province in the year of their consulship; but in the latter period of the republic, the ordinary practice of the consuls was to remain at Rome during the year of their office, and to go into their province in the year following as pro-consuls, until at length in B.C. 53, a senatus consultum, and the year after a law of Pompeius, enacted that a consul or praetor should not go into any province till five years after the expiration of their office. (Dio Cass., 56.) When a consul was once in his province, his imperium was limited to it; and to exercise the same in any other province was, at all times, considered illegal. (Liv. 10.37, 29.19-Z2, 31.48-Z2, 43.1-Z2.) In some few cases, a breach of this rule was pardoned after a brilliant success. (Liv. 27.43, 29.7-Z2.) On the other hand, a consul was not allowed to quit his province before he had accomplished the purpose for which he had been sent into it, or before the arrival of his successor, unless, indeed, he obtained the special permission of the senate. (Liv. 37.47.) Other functions also were sometimes divided between the consuls by lot, if they could not agree: for example, which of them was to preside at the consular elections or those of the censors (Liv. 24.10, 35.6-Z2, 20, 39.32-Z2, 41.6-Z2), which of them was to dedicate a temple (Liv. 2.8, 27), or nominate a dictator (Liv. 4.26). So long as the consuls had to hold the census, they undoubtedly drew lots, uter conderet lustrum; and even when they went out on a common expedition, they seem to have determined by lot in what direction each should exert his activity. (Liv. 41.18.)
The entering of a consul upon his office was connected with great solemnities: before day-break each consulted the auspices for himself, which in the early times was undoubtedly a matter of great importance, though, at a later period, we know it to have been a mere formality. (Dionys. 2.4, 6.) It must, however, be observed, that whatever the nature of the auspices were, the entering upon the office was never either rendered impossible or delayed thereby, whence we must suppose that the object merely was to obtain favourable signs from the gods, and as it were to place under the protection of the gods the office on which the magistrate entered. After the auspices were consulted, the consul returned home, put on the toga praetexta (Liv. 21.63; Ov. ex Pont. 4.4, 25, Fast. 1.81), and received the salutatio of his friends and the senators. (Dio Cass.; Ov. ex Pont. 4.4, 27, &c.) Accompanied by these and a host of curious spectators, the consul, clad in his official robes, proceeded to the temple of Jupiter in the Capitol, where a solemn sacrifice of white bulls was offered to the god. It seems that in this procession the sella curulis, as an emblem of his office, was carried before the consul. (Ov. l. c. 4.4, 29 ff., 9, 17 ff.; Liv. 21.63; Cic. de Leg. Agr. 2.3. 4, 92.) After this, a meeting of the senate took place, at which the elder of the two consuls made his report concerning the republic, beginning with matters referring to religion, and then passing on to other affairs (referre ad senatum de rebus divinis et humanis, Liv. 6.1, 9.8-Z2, 37.1-Z2; Cic. ad Quir. post Red. 5, 11). One of the first among the religious things which the consuls had to attend to, was the fixing of the feriae Latinae, and it was not till they had performed the solemn sacrifice on the Alban mount that they could go into their provinces. (Liv. 21.63, 22.1-Z2, 25.12-Z2, 42.10-Z2.) The other affairs upon which the consuls had to report to the senate had reference to the distribution of the provinces, and many other matters connected with the administration, which often were of the highest importance. After these reports, the meeting of the senate broke up, and the members accompanied the consuls to their homes (Ov. ex Pont. 4.4, 41); and this being done, the year of office was formally begun.
Respecting the various offices which at different times were temporary substitutes for the consulship, such as the dictatorship, the decemvirate, and the office of the tribunl militares consulari potestate, the reader is referred to the separate articles.
Towards the end of the republic, the consulship lost its power and importance. Caesar, in his dictatorship, gave it the first severe blow, for he himself took the office of consul along with that of dictator, or he arbitrarily caused persons to be elected who in their actions were entirely dependent upon his will. He himself was elected at first for five years, then for ten, and at length for life. (Sueton. Jul. 76, 80; Dio Cass., 43.1, 46, 49; Appian, de Bell. Civ. 2.106.) In the reign of Augustus the consular power was a mere shadow of what it had been before, and the consuls who were elected did not retain their office for a full year, but had usually to abdicate after a few months. (Dio Cass., 43.46; Lucan (Luc. 5.399.) The emperors themselves usually took the consulship at the beginning of the year, and laid it down in a month or two. (Dio Cass.; Tac. Hist. 1.77.) Nero received from the senate continui consulatus (Tac. Ann. 13.41), and Vitellius arranged the elections for ten years in advance, with himself as perpetuus consul (Suet. Vitell. 11). Vespasian was consul eight times in ten years, Domitian seventeen times in all. The usual time for the tenure of the office came to be either four or two months (Dio Cass.). In A.D. 69 there were fifteen consuls. (Cf. Mommsen in Ephem. Epigr. 1872, p. 189.) In the reign of Commodus there were no less than twenty-five consuls in one year. (Lamprid. Commod. 6; Dio Cass..) In the republican time, the year had received its name from the consuls, and in all public documents their names were entered to mark the year; but from the time that there were more than two in one year, only those that entered upon their office at the beginning of the year were regarded as consules ordinarii, and gave their names to the year, though the suffecti were likewise entered in the Fasti. (Sueton. Domit. 2, Galb. 6, Vitell. 2; Senec. de Ira, 3.31; Plin. Paneg. 38; Lamprid. Al. Sev. 28.) The consules ordinarii ranked higher than those who were elected afterwards. The election from the time of Tiberius was in the hands of the senate, who, of course, elected only those that were recommended by the emperor; those who were elected were then announced (renuntiare) to the people assembled in what were called comitia. (Dio Cass.; Plin. Paneg. 77; Tac. Ann. 4.68.) In the last centuries of the empire, it was customary to create honorary consuls (consules honorarii), who were chosen by the senate and sanctioned by the emperor (Cassiod. 1.10; Justin. Nov. 70.80, 100.1), and consules suffecti were then scarcely heard of at all, for Constantine restored the old custom of appointing only two consuls, one for Constantinople, and the other for Rome, who were to act as supreme judges (under the emperor) for a whole year, and besides these two there were no others except honorary consuls and consulares. Although the dignity of these honorary consuls as well as of the consules ordinarii and suffecti was merely nominal, still it was regarded as the highest in the empire, and was sought after by noble and wealthy persons with the greatest eagerness, notwithstanding the great expenses connected with the office (Dio, 60.27) on account of the public entertainments which a newly appointed consul had to give to his friends and the people. (Fronto, Ep. 2.1; Lydus, de Magistr. 2.8; Liban. Orat. 8; Symmach. 2.64, 4.8, 10.44; Sidon. Apollin. Epist. 2.3; Cassiod. 2.2, 6.1; Procop. de Bell. Pers. 1.25.) Julius Caesar (Suet. Jul. 76) and Augustus (Dio Cass.) conferred the ornamenta consularia without the actual office; and this practice became so common afterwards, that the title consulares was used for this class, which held rank as the most distinguished class of senators, and their honour ultimately became hereditary. After Diocletian, however, they ranked below the viri illustres and the viri spectabiles. The last consul of Rome was Decimus Theodorus Paulinus, A.D. 534, and at Constantinople Flavius Basilius Junior, in A.D. 541. After that time, the emperors of the East took the title of consul for themselves, until in the end it fell quite into oblivion.
Under the empire the consuls were regarded as the official representatives of the senate, and were even allowed by some emperors a formal precedence (Suet. Tib. 31). Their official functions were as follows:--1. They presided in the senate, though, of course, never without the sanction of the emperor; 2. They administered justice, partly extra ordinem (Tac. Ann. 4.19, 13.4-Z2; Gell. 13.24) [SENATUS], and partly in ordinary cases, such as manumissions or the appointment of guardians (Dig. 1, 10, 1; Ammian. Marcell. 22.7; Cassiod. 6.1; Sueton. Claud. 23); 3. The letting of the public revenues, a duty which had formerly been performed by the censors (Ov. ex Pont. 4.5, 19), although the consuls had always possessed the right of acting as the representatives of the censors, when there were none in office at the time; 4. The conducting of the games in the Circus and of public solemnities in honour of the emperors, for which they had to defray the expenses out of their own means. (Sueton. Nero, 4; Juven. 11.193, &c.; Cassiod. l. c., and 3.39, 5.42, 6.10.) Some emperors indeed granted the money necessary for such purposes, and endeavoured to check the growing extravagance of the consuls, but these regulations were all of a transitory nature. (Lamprid. Al. Sever. 43; Vopisc. Aurel. 12; Justin. Nov. 105.)
Compare besides the various works on Roman history, K. D. Hüllmann, Röm. Grundverfassung, p. 125, &c.; K. W. Göttling, Gesch. der Röm. Staatsverf. p. 269, &c.; above all, Mommsen, Staatsrecht, 2.70-124; and Becker, Handbuch der Röm. Alterth. vol. ii. part ii. pp. 87-126, and part iii. pp. 235 if.
[L.S] [A.S.W]