HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was
prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...
of the city of Rome, and later also of
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, and held high importance in
late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...
. The office survived the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and the last urban prefect of Rome, named Iohannes, is attested in 599. Lançon (2000), p. 45 In the East, in Constantinople, the office survived until the 13th century.


Regal period

According to Roman tradition, in 753 BC when
Romulus Romulus (, ) was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of th ...
founded the city of Rome and instituted the
monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...
, he also created the office of ''custos urbis'' (guardian of the city) to serve as the king's chief lieutenant. Appointed by the king to serve for life, the ''custos urbis'' served concurrently as the '' princeps Senatus''. As the second highest office of state, the ''custos urbis'' was the king's personal representative. In the absence of the king from the city, the ''custos urbis'' exercised all of his powers, which included the powers of convoking the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, the popular assemblies and the exercise of force in the event of an emergency. However, the ''
imperium In ancient Rome, ''imperium'' was a form of authority held by a citizen to control a military or governmental entity. It is distinct from '' auctoritas'' and '' potestas'', different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic a ...
'' he possessed was only valid within the walls of Rome. Under the kings, only three men held the position. The first king Romulus appointed Denter Romulius to serve as the first ''custos urbis'', the third king
Tullus Hostilius Tullus Hostilius (; r. 672–640 BC) was the legendary third king of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius. Unlike his predecessor, Tullus was known as a warlike king who, according to the Roman historian Livy, b ...
appointed Numa Marcius, and the seventh king
Tarquinius Superbus Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (died 495 BC) was the legendary seventh and final king of Rome, reigning 25 years until the popular uprising that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic.Livy, '' ab urbe condita libri'', I He is commonly ...
appointed Spurius Lucretius.


Republican period

After the expulsion of
Tarquinius Superbus Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (died 495 BC) was the legendary seventh and final king of Rome, reigning 25 years until the popular uprising that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic.Livy, '' ab urbe condita libri'', I He is commonly ...
in 510 BC and the formation of the
Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
in 509 BC, the office of ''custos urbis'' remained unaltered: having power only within the actual city of Rome and a life term appointed by the
consuls A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...
. The ''custos urbis'' exercised within the city all the powers of the consuls if they were absent from Rome. These powers included: convoking the Senate and '' Comitia Curiata'', and, in times of war, levying and commanding legions. The first major change to the office occurred in 487 BC, when the office became an elective
magistracy A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrates' cour ...
, elected by the ''Comitia Curiata''. The office was only open to former consuls. Around 450 BC, with the coming of the
decemvirs The decemviri or decemvirs (Latin for "ten men") refer to official ten-man commissions established by the Roman Republic. The most important were those of the two decemvirates, formally the decemvirate with consular power for writing laws () w ...
, the office of the ''custos urbis'' was renamed the ''praefectus urbi'' (Prefect of the City of Rome), and was stripped of most of its powers and responsibilities, becoming a merely ceremonial post. Most of the office's powers and responsibilities had been transferred to the urban praetor (''
praetor urbanus ''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the Title#Titles for heads of state, title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''Roman magistr ...
''). The ''praefectus urbi'' was appointed each year for the sole purpose of allowing the consuls to celebrate the Latin Festival, which required them to leave Rome. The ''praefectus urbi'' no longer held the power to convoke the Senate, or the right of speaking in it, and was appointed by the Consuls instead of being elected.


Imperial period


Rome

When the first Roman Emperor,
Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
(), transformed the
Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...
into the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
in 27 BC, he reformed the office of Prefect at the suggestion of his minister and friend
Maecenas Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( 13 April 68 BC – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. ...
. Again elevated into a
magistracy A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrates' cour ...
, Augustus granted the ''praefectus urbi'' all the powers needed to maintain order within the city. The office's powers also extended beyond Rome itself to the ports of Ostia and the Portus, as well as a zone of one hundred
Roman mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...
s (c. 140 km) around the city. The Prefect's office was called the ''secretarium tellurense'' (secretariat of Tellus). The find-spots of inscriptions honouring Prefects suggest that it was located on the Oppian Hill, near the Baths of Trajan. Acting as a quasi-
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of Rome, the Prefect was the superintendent of all guilds and corporations (''collegia''), held the responsibility (via the '' praefectus annonae'') of the city's provision with grain from overseas, the oversight of the officials responsible for the drainage of the
Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...
and the maintenance of the city's sewers and water supply system, as well as its monuments. The provisioning of the city's large population with the grain dole was especially important; when the Prefect failed to secure adequate supplies, riots often broke out. To enable the Prefect to exercise his authority, the ''
cohortes urbanae The ''cohortes urbanae'' (Latin meaning ''urban cohorts'') of ancient Rome were created by Augustus to counterbalance the enormous power of the Praetorian Guard in the city of Rome and serve as a police service. They were led by the Praefectus ...
'', Rome's
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
force, and the nightwatchmen ('' vigiles'') under their prefect ('' praefectus vigilum''), were placed under his command.Lançon (2000), p. 46 The Prefect also had the duty of publishing the laws promulgated by the Emperor, and as such acquired a legal jurisdiction. This extended to legal cases between slaves and their masters, patrons and their
freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...
, and over sons who had violated the ''
pietas (), translated variously as "duty", "religiosity" or "religious behavior", "loyalty", "devotion", or "filial piety" (English "piety" derives from the Latin), was one of the chief virtues among the ancient Romans. It was the distinguishing virt ...
'' towards their parents. Gradually, the judicial powers of the Prefect expanded, as the Prefect's office began to re-assume its old powers from the ''praetor urbanus''. Eventually there was no appeal from the Prefect's sentencing, except to that of the Roman Emperor, unlike the sentencing of other officials. Even the
governors A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
of the
Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
s were subject to the Prefect's jurisdiction. The Prefect also possessed judicial powers over criminal matters. Originally these powers were exercised in conjunction with those of the
quaestor A quaestor ( , ; ; "investigator") was a public official in ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officia ...
s, but by the 3rd century, they were exercised alone. In late Antiquity, the office gained in effective power, as the imperial court was removed from the city, meaning that the prefects were no longer under the emperor's direct supervision. The office was usually held by leading members of Italy's senatorial aristocracy, who remained largely
pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
even after Emperor Constantine the Great's conversion to Christianity. Over the following thirty years, Christian holders were few.Kazhdan (1991), p. 2144 In such a capacity,
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus Quintus Aurelius Symmachus Nickname, signo Eusebius (, ; c. 345 – 402) was a Roman statesman, orator, and intellectual. He held the offices of governor of proconsular Africa (province), Africa in 373, urban prefect of Rome in 384 and 385, and R ...
played a prominent role in the controversy over the Altar of Victory in the late 4th century. The urban prefecture survived the
fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast ...
, and remained active under the
Ostrogothic Kingdom The Ostrogothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of Italy (), was a barbarian kingdom established by the Germanic Ostrogoths that controlled Italian peninsula, Italy and neighbouring areas between 493 and 553. Led by Theodoric the Great, the Ost ...
and well after the Byzantine reconquest. The last mention of the Roman urban prefect occurs as late as 879.


Constantinople

When the Emperor
Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...
(306–337) named
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
the capital of the Roman Empire, he also established a
proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...
to oversee the city.Heather & Moncur (2001), p. 45 In the late 350s,
Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...
(337–361) expanded the city's
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
and set it as equal to that of Rome. Correspondingly, on 11 September or 11 December 359, Constantinople was also granted an urban prefect, commonly called in English the Eparch from his Greek title (, ''ho eparchos tēs poleōs''). The prefect was one of the emperor's chief lieutenants: like his Roman counterpart, the Constantinopolitan prefect was a member of the highest senatorial class, the '' illustres'', and came immediately after the
praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect (; ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief ai ...
s in the imperial hierarchy. As such, the office possessed great prestige and extensive authority, and was one of the few high state offices which could not be occupied by a
eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...
. The prefect was also the formal head of the Senate, presiding over its meetings. Hence, the prefect's nomination had to be formally ratified by the Senate, and unlike the other senior administrative positions of the state (
praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect (; ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief ai ...
s and diocesan vicars) with their military connotations, the office's ancient and purely civilian origins were emphasized by the prefect's wearing of the ''
toga The toga (, ), a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tra ...
'' as a ceremonial garb.Bury (1923)
Book I, Ch. 2, pp. 28–29
/ref> The prefect was solely responsible for the administration of the city of Constantinople and its immediate area. His tasks were manifold, ranging from the maintenance of order to the regulation and supervision of all guilds, corporations and public institutions. The city police, the (''taxiōtai''), came under the prefect's authority,Evans (1996), p. 43 and the city jail was located at the basement of his official residence, the ''
praetorium The Latin term ''praetorium'' (also and ) originally identified the tent of a general within a Roman '' castrum'' (encampment), and derived from the title praetor, which identified a Roman magistrate.Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roma ...
'', located before the Forum of Constantine. As with the Prefect of Rome, the night watch came under a subordinate prefect, the (''nykteparchos'', "night prefect"). In the 530s, however, some authority for the policing and regulation of the city passed to two new offices, created by
Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
(r. 527–565). In 535 the '' praitōr'' of the ''demoi'' (; ''praetor plebis'' in Latin), who commanded 20 soldiers and 30 firemen, was put in charge of policing and firefighting, while in 539, the office of the '' quaesitor'' (κοιαισίτωρ) was established and tasked with limiting the uncontrolled immigration to the city from the provinces, with supervising public mores, and with prosecuting sexual offenders and heretics. In the middle Byzantine period (7th–12th centuries), the prefect was regarded as the supreme judge in the capital, after the emperor himself.Kazhdan (1991), p. 705 His role in the economical life of the city was also of principal importance. The 10th-century '' Book of the Prefect'' stipulates the various rules for the various guilds that fell under the prefect's authority. The prefect was also responsible for the appointment of the teachers to the University of Constantinople, and for the distribution of the grain dole to the city. According to the late 9th-century '' Klētorologion'', his two principal aides were the '' symponos'' and the '' logothetēs tou praitōriou''. In addition, there were the heads (, '' geitoniarchai'', the old ''curatores regionum'') and judges (''kritai'') of the city's districts (Latin ''regiones'', in Greek , ''regeōnai''), the '' parathalassitēs'' (παραθαλασσίτης), an official responsible for the capital's seashore and ports, as well as their tolls, and several inspectors (''epoptai''), the heads of the guilds (''exarchoi'') and the ''boullōtai'', whose function was to check and append the seal of the eparch on weights and scales as well as merchandise. The office continued until the early 13th century with its functions and authority relatively intact, and may possibly have survived into the
Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzantin ...
following the capture of the city in the
Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
in 1204, being equated in Latin with the ''castellanus'' of the city.Van Tricht (2011), pp. 114–115 After the reconquest of the city by the Byzantines, however, the office of the Eparch was replaced throughout the
Palaiologan period The Byzantine Empire, officially known as the Roman Empire, was ruled by the Palaiologos dynasty in the period between 1261 and 1453, from the restoration of Byzantine rule to Constantinople by the usurper Michael VIII Palaiologos following its r ...
(1261–1453) by several ''kephalatikeuontes'' (sing. ''kephalatikeuōn'', κεφαλατικεύων, "headsman"), who each oversaw a district in the now much less populous capital.


References


Bibliography

*Tacitus ''Ann.'' 6.11 *Cassius Dio 59.13 *Dig. 1.12; 4.4.16; 5.1.12; 4.8.19 * * * * * * * * Ruciński, Sebastian (2009). ''Praefectus urbi. Le Gardien de l’ordre public à Rome sous le Haut-Empire Romain'' raefectus urbi. The Guardian of Public Order in Rome under the High Roman Empire Xenia Posnaniensia, volume 9. Poznań: Wydawnictwo Naukow, . * * Wojciech, Katharina (2010). ''Die Stadtpräfektur im Prinzipat'' he urban prefecture in the principate Antiquitas, series 1, volume 57. Bonn: Rudolf Habelt, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Praefectus Urbi Ancient Roman titles Heads of local government