In the Roman republic, a (from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, "ask, place a question before") is a proposed piece of legislation. All legislation during the republic was moved before an assembly of the people. The ''rogatio'' procedure underscores the fact that the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

could issue decrees, but was not a legislative. Only the people, organised in an assembly, could pass legislation. A

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

with the could call a , an informal assembly of the people, before which he could announce new legislation. A bill's proposer was its ; a supporter was an . After a magistrate promulgated a bill, under the of 98 BC, a had to elapse. A meant three market days. Immediately before an assembly was called to vote on a bill, a special was called so that a debate on the proposal could be held. Once that debate was over, the immediately became the assembly that could vote on the matter. With only a few exceptions, the main legislative assembly was the . Told to depart into your groups (), the organised into the appropriate legislative assembly. Then after an initial prayer, the presiding magistrate opened voting by asking the people ("Do you wish, do you command, ... I ask you, citizens"). Each tribe was then called by an order set by lot; the centuries voted according to a pre-determined order with the wealthier centuries voting first. The citizens in each tribe then voted either ("as you ask") or ("I contradict"). When a majority was reached, voting ended and all tribes which had not yet voted were dismissed.

Plebeian tribune Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of the Roman Senate ...

s and other magistrates, most especially the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

s, could veto proceedings but only before the taking of lots for the order in which the tribes were to vote. It was also not acceptable for bills to be vetoed by any magistrate without any discussion. Threats of veto against a bill or its general unpopularity among the people usually led to the bill's withdrawal. If a bill was passed (''rogatio lata est''), it became a law ('' lex'') after the presiding magistrate made a formal announcement (''renuntiatio'') of the assembly's decision. In the early

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 ...

, the Senate had to approve the constitutionality of a law before it was enacted; after the passage of the '' lex Publilia Philonis'' in 339 BC, which required that at least one of the two '' censores'' be a plebeian, this approval (''patrum

auctoritas is a Latin word that is the origin of the English word "authority". While historically its use in English was restricted to discussions of the political history of Rome, the beginning of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenological philosophy ...

'') was required before the bill was put to a vote in the assembly. With controversial measures, however, the Senate was sometimes bypassed. If a bill was proposed for the purpose of declaring war, it had to be brought before the . All copies of statutes, proposed laws, and other public documents were recorded in the under the stewardship of the urban

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 ...

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* * * * Reprinted 2009. * * * * {{Italic title Roman Republic Roman law Legal history Parliamentary procedure Proposed laws

See also

References

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