Imperium: Difference between revisions

''Imperium'' originally meant [[Monarchy|absolute or kingly power]]—the word being derived from the Latin verb ''imperare'' (to command)—which became somewhat limited under the republicRepublic by the collegiality of the republican magistrates and the right of appeal, or ''[[Valerian and Porcian laws|provocatio]]'', on the part of citizens. ''Imperium'' remained absolute in the army, and the power of the ''[[imperator]]'' (army commander) to punish remained uncurtailed. The title ''imperator'' later was exclusively held by the emperor, as the commander of the armed forces. In fact, the Latin word ''imperator'' is the root of the English word ''emperor''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Etymology of the word emperor|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/emperor|access-date=13 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="OCD1996">{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-last=Hornblower |editor1-first=Simon |editor1-link=Simon Hornblower |editor2-last=Spawforth |editor2-first=Antony |title=Imperium |url=https://archive.org/details/TheOxfordClassicalDictionary/page/n807/mode/2up |date=1996 |pages=751–752 |encyclopedia=[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]] |edition=3rd |location=Oxford and New York |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-866172-6 |ref={{sfnref|OCD|1996}} |access-date=31 October 2020}}

In ancient Rome, ''imperium'' could be used as a term indicating a characteristic of people, their wealth in property, or the measure of formal power they had. This qualification could be used in a rather loose context (for example, poets used it, not necessarily writing about state officials). However, in Roman society, it was also a more formal concept of [[Right|legal authority]]. A man with ''imperium'' (an ''imperator'') had, in principle, absolute authority to apply the law within the scope of his [[Roman magistrate|magistracy]] or [[promagistrate|promagistracy]]. He could be [[veto]]ed or overruled either by a magistrate or promagistrate who was a colleague with equal power (e.g., a fellow [[Roman consul|consul]]), by one whose ''imperium'' outranked his – that is, one of ''imperium maius'' (greater ''imperium''), or by a [[tribune of the plebs]].

Some modern [[scholar]]s such as [[A. H. M. Jones]] have defined ''imperium'' as "the power vested by the state in a person to do what he considers to be in the best interests of the state".<ref>{{cncite book |last1=Kay-Bujak |first1=Philip |title=The Life of Cicero: Lessons for Today from the Greatest Orator of the Roman Republic |date=30 December 20152023 |publisher=Pen and Sword History |isbn=978-1-3990-9744-4 |page=56 |language=en}}</ref>

''Imperium'' was indicated in two prominent ways: a ''[[curule]]'' magistrate or promagistrate carried an ivory baton surmounted by an eagle as his personal symbol of office (compare the [[field marshal]]'s baton);<ref>{{citationcite book needed|datelast1=OctoberMulligan 2020|reasonfirst1=haven'tBret encountered|title=The any mentionCrisis of aCatiline: baton;Rome, toga63 praetextaBCE (worn|date=24 byOctober any2023 senator),|publisher=UNC curulePress chair,Books and|isbn=979-8-89086-256-3 lictors|page=139 are the insignia usually mentioned|language=en}}</ref> any such magistrate was also escorted by ''[[lictor]]s'' bearing the ''[[fasces]]'' (traditional symbols of ''imperium'' and authority), when outside the ''[[pomerium]]'', axes being added to the ''fasces'' to indicate an imperial magistrate's power to inflict capital punishment outside Rome (the axes being removed within the ''pomerium''). The number of lictors in [[attendance]] upon a magistrate was an overt indication of the degree of ''imperium''. When in the field, a ''curule'' magistrate possessing an ''imperium'' greater or equal to that of a [[praetor]] wore a sash ritually knotted on the front of his [[cuirass]]. Furthermore, any man executing ''imperium'' within his sphere of influence was entitled to the [[curule chair]].

* ''[[Magister equitum]]'' (the [[Roman dictator|dictator]]'s deputy) – 6 lictors

Certain extraordinary [[CommissionedOfficer officer(armed forces)|commissions]], such as [[Pompey]]'s famous command against the [[Piracy|pirates]], were invested with ''imperium maius'', meaning they outranked all other holders of ''imperium'' of the same type or rank (in Pompey's case, even the consuls) within their sphere of command (his being "ultimate on the seas, and within 50 miles inland"). ''Imperium maius'' later became a hallmark of the [[Roman emperor]].

While the Byzantine [[Byzantine Emperor|Eastern Roman Emperors]] retained full Roman ''imperium'' and made the episcopate subservient, in the feudal West a long rivalry would oppose the claims to supremacy within post-Roman Christianity between ''sacerdotium'' in the person of the Pope and the secular ''imperium'' of the Holy Roman Emperor, beginning with Charlemagne, whose title was claimed to have "restored" the office of Western Roman Emperor among the new kingdoms of Western Europe. Both would refer to the heritage of Roman law by their titular link with the very city of Rome: the Pope, Bishop ''of Rome'', versus the Holy ''Roman'' Emperor (even though his seat of power was north of the Alps).