Roman Republic
History of the Late Roman Republic is flawed by numerous tensions, as well as conflicts, and revolutions that ultimately led to the dissolution of the Republican government, and the formation of the Roman Empire in 27 BCE. The empire was formed when an adopted son of Julius Caesar by the name Augustus, became the leader of Rome. He formed an autocratic type of government, whereby he was the solitary ruler and was also responsible for making all significant decisions. Roman Empire, the political system lasted for almost five centuries. At its climax, the empire integrated lands all through the Mediterranean world. During the Roman Republic, Rome expanded into various parts of Italy and neighbouring territories; however, it made broader conquests as well as the hardened political power of these lands in the empire. The empire continued until the Germanic annexations, economic drop, and internal unrest during the 4th and 5th centuries ad ruined Rome’s ability to control such a large territory. The Senatus Consultum Ultimum (Final Decree of the Senate) describes the Roman Senate in the late Roman Republic that was enacted in times of emergency as well as expresses the opinion that to preserve the republic, an urgent threat needed countering.
Thesis
In a Senatus Consultum, the Roman Senate would allow the consuls to appoint a dictator who obtained imperium magnum, great power to act during emergency times (usually military) until the crisis ended (but no longer than half a year).
Discussion
The early Roman Republic was dominated by the aristocracy (wealthy class) and was also referred to as the patricians. The top positions in the administration were held by two consuls, who ruled the Roman Republic. There was also the existence of senate patricians who elected the consuls. From the first crisis which is always marked as the start of the Late Republic – the assassination of the plebeians’ tribune, Tiberius Gracchus, the Senate constantly approved an emergency decree, known as the Senatus Consultum Ultimum. The number of times the Senatus Consultum Ultimum was approved from 121 to 49 is uncertain, however other scholars approximate that it was approved more than ten occasions. Some precise examples where the SCU was passed include; against the tribune Gaius Gracchus in 121, as well as during the Catilinarian plan in 63 and against Caesar in 49. Notably, the SCU described an emergency decree that empowered specific magistrates to determine a social or political crisis based on military methods, frequently for the sake of practicality and repression of sedition.
The key function of the Senatus Consultum Ultimum (SCU) was to solve crises with no damage to the Senate’s authority. Most significantly, the decree promoted resolution of the crises without consideration of the systemic social, economic or political issues which spurred them. Another significant way by which the Senatus Consultum, was used in the political contests of the late Republic is that; the Roman Senate would allow the consuls to appoint a dictator who obtained imperium magnum, great power to act during emergency times until the crisis ended. Underscoring the recognition of the Senatus Consultum Ultimum (SCU) as an emergency decree is the presence of an emergency process that predated the Senatus Consultum Ultimum (SCU): the affirmation of a dictator. The role of the dictatorship was customarily to handle serious issues to the Republic in a way which consuls or the Senate could not, it is considered that the dictator was a dispensation that a monarchical administration or facets of government confirmed to be important in various situations. Despite the resemblance to the archaic monarchs, the essential feature of the office indicated that similar to the magistrate authorized by the SCU, it could exercise supreme military as well as legal power. Furthermore, dictatorship as an approach of crisis-intervention preceded the Senatus Consultum Ultimum (SCU) almost by 400 years. It is based on the capability of the Senatus Consultum Ultimum (SCU) that the senate was permitted to while the magistrates were empowered to elect a dictator who had greater power.
The crises which encourage SCU declaration, as presented before, were majorly internal social or political problems. In the same way, it is noted that the consuls were the only magistrates authorized by the decrees. Based on this point, it is noted that the SCU had a vital spot in the politics of the Late Republic. Although the decree is infrequently discussed, and hardly described when mentioned, the crises which led to the declarations of the SCU, as well as the actions are taken once the SCU was affirmed disclose its significance to the Late Republic. The SCU signified the extension of the Senate’s will in response to pressures to the Senate’s authority. Different from the emergency measure of electing a dictator, a procedure from which the Senate appears mainly excluded, the SCU demanded the Senate uphold a level of control since it significantly impacted the result of the consular elections, and the ruling consuls, who were generally political insiders with a pledge in comforting the Senate. Similar to the dictatorship, the SCU permitted the magistrates to avoid traditional legal as well as political schemes, like a consultation with the whole Senate, the courts.
The Senatus Consultum Ultimum (Final Decree of the Senate) was also used in the political contests of the late Republic in the sense that it enabled for the impermanent immunity from legal reprisal for violating laws, although when the crisis had ended, similar to the case of a dictator, the magistrates were legally susceptible. However, the SCU changed the setbacks of the Late Republic as solemn pressure to the security of the Republic. The magistrates’ responses authorized by the SCU were aggressive. Diplomacy, and even legal process, were evaded, or, when resolving the crises. The outcome of the military responses led to examples and formed patterns for the Senate’s control over other political offices and the overall populace. The impact it created to the damage of the Late Republic, was that the issues that underlay the crises were not solved. The portrayal of the setbacks as military pressures prevented any solemn consideration as to how or why these setbacks happened.
The failure of the Republic is considered to have occurred as a result of the collapse of the Senate to produce solutions to the problems. Although Gaius Gracchus’ political objectives had become a threat to the Senate, Catiline planned to conquer the city, and Caesar had been bestowed from Italy apparently unwilling to surrender, these crises were not the same to the states of emergency which stippled the Republican era. The Senatus Consultum Ultimum (Final Decree of the Senate) was also applied in the political contests of the late Republic as it promoted stripping of power. With the emergence of the Roman Empire, the consuls were stripped of more power. As the emperors of Rome failed to get rid of the consul’s office it became a ceremonial post, gradually more susceptible to corruption and abuse of power. Eventually, convention dictated that the emperor in power could acquire one the consular positions, while the other maintaining just titular administrative power. The Consuls were continuously appointed even past the crumple of the Western Roman Empire, whereby the Pope assumed the right to impart the title as an honorific.
Conclusion
In Senatus Consultum Ultimum (Final Decree of the Senate), the Roman Senate would allow the consuls to appoint a dictator who obtained imperium magnum, great power to act during emergency times (usually military) until the crisis ended. To modern historians, the Senatus Consultum Ultimum represents the joint failures of the Senate in the late Republic. It covers the factionalism, which developed rifts as well as conflicts amongst the political figures with the same views. It is analytic of the Senate’s incapacity to acknowledge or employ social and political problems in the late Republic, considering them as pressures to power, rather than tangible, fixable, issues. Moreover, it portrays why even the senatorial families as well as the well-known elites were involved in a system that shattered the authority of the Senate, for example, Caesar’s dictatorship, as well as Augustus’ principate. Moreover, most of the elements that led to the collapse of the Senate and Republican government are presented based on history as well as the nature of the Senatus Consultum Ultimum.