Lex quae dicitur de imperio Vespasiani ( English translation : ARS )

It is disputed whether this celebrated document the so-called Lex de imperio Vespasiani, which conferred constitutional powers and privileges on Emperor Vespasian, is a decree of the Senate (senatus consultum) or a comitial statute (lex) or a combination of the two. Although the clauses in it follow the pattern of a senatorial resolution, yet the appended sanction calls the document "this law" (haece lex). Probably the measure was framed as a decree of the Senate soon after the death of Vespasian's predecessor in the principate (20 December 69 A.D.) and then a magistrate, probably one of the consuls, proposed it to the Centuriate Assembly (comitia centuriata) for enactment. With allowance for the customary interval, the law should have been promulgated early in January 70 A.D.
Beyond stating the obvious, namely, that the document incorporates legislation which confers the supreme authority of the State on Vespasian as emperor, one enters the field of conjecture, since no consensus of opinion on the following alternatives has been achieved : Was the inscription simply special legislation applicable only to Vespasian or was it an example of a general law by which earlier emperors governed ? What provisions were in the initial part, now missing, of the inscription : the award of the tribunician power (tribunicia potestas) and/or of the proconsular imperium (imperium proconsulare) ? Was it conceived as conferring separate prerogatives or as constituting a general empowering enactment ? Perhaps these and other questions, while they perplex us, did not trouble Vespasian, who trusted in the loyalty of his legions, for, as Tacitus was later to remark epigrammatically, the secret of imperial power had been divulged, namely, that an emperor could be made elsewhere than in Rome.

LATIN TEXT ( RICCOBONO )

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

. . . . foedusue cum quibus uolet facere liceat ita, uti licuit diuo Aug(usto), | Ti. Iulio Caesari Aug(usto), Tiberioque Claudio Caesari Aug(usto) Germanico ; |

. . . or it shall be lawful for him to make a treaty with whom he wishes, just as it was lawful for the deified Augustus, for Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, and for Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ;

utique ei senatum habere, relationem facere, remittere, | senatus consulta per relationem discessionemque facere liceat | ita, uti licuit diuo Aug(usto), Ti. Iulio Caesari Aug(usto), Ti. Claudio Caesari | Augusto Germanico ;

And that it shall be lawful for him to hold a session of the Senate, to make a motion in it, to refer a matter to it, to propose decrees of the Senate by a motion and by calling for a vote by division, just as it was lawful for the deified Augustus, for Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, for Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ;

utique cum ex uoluntate auctoritateue iussu mandatuue eius | praesenteue eo senatus habebitur, omnium rerum ius perinde | habeatur seruetur, ac si e lege senatus edictus esset habereturque ; |

And that, when a session of the Senate is held in accordance with his pleasure or authority or order or mandate or in his presence, the authority of all proceedings therein shall be maintained and shall be observed, just as if that session of the Senate had been announced and was held in accordance with a statute ;

utique quos magistratum potestatem imperium curationemue | cuius rei petentes senatui populoque Romano commendauerit | quibusque suffragationem suam dederit promiserit, eorum | comitis quibusque extra ordinem ratio habeatur ; |

And that whatsoever persons seeking a magistracy, power, imperium, or charge of anything he commends to the Roman Senate and people and to whomsoever he gives or promises his electoral support special consideration of them shall be taken in every election ;

utique ei fines pomerii proferre promouere, cum ex re publica | censebit esse, liceat ita, uti licuit Ti. Claudio Caesari Aug(usto) | Germanico ; |

And that it shall be lawful for him to advance and to extend the boundaries of the pomerium whenever he considers it to be in accordance with the public interest, just as it was lawful for Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ;

utique quaecunque ex usu rei publicae maiestateque diuinarum | humanarum publicarum priuatarumque rerum esse | censebit, ei agere facere ius potestasque sit, ita uti diuo Aug(usto), Tiberioque Iulio Caesari Aug(usto), | Tiberioque Claudio Caesari | Aug(usto) Germanico fuit ; |

And that whatever he considers to be in accordance with the public advantage and the dignity of divine and human and public and private interests he shall have the right and the power to do and to execute, just as had the deified Augustus and Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus and Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ;

utique quibus legibus plebeiue scitis scriptum fuit, ne diuus Aug(ustus), | Tiberiusue Iulius Caesar Aug(ustus), Tiberiusque Claudius Caesar Aug(ustus) | Germanicus tenerentur, iis legibus plebisque scitis imp(erator) Caesar | Vespasianus solutus sit ; quaeque ex quaque lege rogatione | diuum Aug(ustum), Tiberiumue Iulium Caesarem Aug(ustum), Tiberiumue | Claudium Caesarem Aug(ustum) Germanicum facere oportuit, | ea omnia imp(eratori) Caesari Vespasiano Aug(usto) facere liceat ; |

And that by whatever laws or plebiscites it has been recorded that the deified Augustus or Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus and Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus were not bound, from these laws and plebiscites Emperor Caesar Vespasian shall be exempt ; and whatsoever things it was proper for the deified Augustus or Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus or Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus to do in accordance with any law or proposed law, it shall be lawful for Emperor Caesar Vespasian Augustus to do all these things ;

utique quae ante hanc legem rogatam acta gesta | decreta imperata ab imperatore Caesare Vespasiano Aug(usto) | iussu mandatuue eius a quoque sunt, ea perinde iusta rataq(ue) | sint, ac si populi plebisue iussu acta essent. |

And that whatever before the passage of this law has been done, executed, decreed, ordered by Emperor Caesar Vespasian Augustus or by anyone at his order or mandate, these things shall be legal and valid, just as if they had been done by the order of the people or of the plebs.

Sanctio

Sanction.

Si quis huiusce legis ergo aduersus leges rogationes plebisue scita | senatusue consulta fecit fecerit, siue quod eum ex lege rogatione | plebisue scito s(enatus)ue c(onsulto) facere oportebit, non fecerit huius legis | ergo, id ei ne fraudi esto, neue quit ob eam rem populo dare debeto, | neue cui de ea re actio neue iudicatio esto, neue quis de ea re apud | [s]e agi sinito.

If anyone has done or does anything in consequence of this law contrary to statutes or bills or plebiscites or decrees of the Senate, or if he does not do in consequence of this law what it is proper for him to do in accordance with statute or bill or plebiscite or decree of the Senate, this shall not be to his prejudice nor shall he be liable to pay the people anything on this account, nor shall anyone have the right to an action or a judgment concerning this matter, nor shall anyone allow an action concerning this matter to be pleaded before him.


LAW ON VESPASIAN'S IMPERIUM Law conferring constitutional powers and privileges on Emperor Vespasian ( AD 69-70 )

*( Johnson, Coleman-Norton & Bourne, Ancient Roman Statutes, Austin, 1961, pp. 149-150, n. 183 ).*

It is disputed whether this celebrated document the so-called Lex de imperio Vespasiani, which conferred constitutional powers and privileges on Emperor Vespasian, is a decree of the Senate (senatus consultum) or a comitial statute (lex) or a combination of the two. Although the clauses in it follow the pattern of a senatorial resolution, yet the appended sanction calls the document "this law" (haece lex). Probably the measure was framed as a decree of the Senate soon after the death of Vespasian's predecessor in the principate (20 December 69 A.D.) and then a magistrate, probably one of the consuls, proposed it to the Centuriate Assembly (comitia centuriata) for enactment. With allowance for the customary interval, the law should have been promulgated early in January 70 A.D. Beyond stating the obvious, namely, that the document incorporates legislation which confers the supreme authority of the State on Vespasian as emperor, one enters the field of conjecture, since no consensus of opinion on the following alternatives has been achieved : Was the inscription simply special legislation applicable only to Vespasian or was it an example of a general law by which earlier emperors governed ? What provisions were in the initial part, now missing, of the inscription : the award of the tribunician power (tribunicia potestas) and/or of the proconsular imperium (imperium proconsulare) ? Was it conceived as conferring separate prerogatives or as constituting a general empowering enactment ? Perhaps these and other questions, while they perplex us, did not trouble Vespasian, who trusted in the loyalty of his legions, for, as Tacitus was later to remark epigrammatically, the secret of imperial power had been divulged, namely, that an emperor could be made elsewhere than in Rome.



LATIN TEXT ( RICCOBONO )		ENGLISH TRANSLATION
. . . . foedusue cum quibus uolet facere liceat ita, uti licuit diuo Aug(usto), \| Ti. Iulio Caesari Aug(usto), Tiberioque Claudio Caesari Aug(usto) Germanico ; \|		. . . or it shall be lawful for him to make a treaty with whom he wishes, just as it was lawful for the deified Augustus, for Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, and for Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ;

utique ei senatum habere, relationem facere, remittere, \| senatus consulta per relationem discessionemque facere liceat \| ita, uti licuit diuo Aug(usto), Ti. Iulio Caesari Aug(usto), Ti. Claudio Caesari \| Augusto Germanico ;		And that it shall be lawful for him to hold a session of the Senate, to make a motion in it, to refer a matter to it, to propose decrees of the Senate by a motion and by calling for a vote by division, just as it was lawful for the deified Augustus, for Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, for Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ;

utique cum ex uoluntate auctoritateue iussu mandatuue eius \| praesenteue eo senatus habebitur, omnium rerum ius perinde \| habeatur seruetur, ac si e lege senatus edictus esset habereturque ; \|		And that, when a session of the Senate is held in accordance with his pleasure or authority or order or mandate or in his presence, the authority of all proceedings therein shall be maintained and shall be observed, just as if that session of the Senate had been announced and was held in accordance with a statute ;

utique quos magistratum potestatem imperium curationemue \| cuius rei petentes senatui populoque Romano commendauerit \| quibusque suffragationem suam dederit promiserit, eorum \| comitis quibusque extra ordinem ratio habeatur ; \|		And that whatsoever persons seeking a magistracy, power, imperium, or charge of anything he commends to the Roman Senate and people and to whomsoever he gives or promises his electoral support special consideration of them shall be taken in every election ;

utique ei fines pomerii proferre promouere, cum ex re publica \| censebit esse, liceat ita, uti licuit Ti. Claudio Caesari Aug(usto) \| Germanico ; \|		And that it shall be lawful for him to advance and to extend the boundaries of the pomerium whenever he considers it to be in accordance with the public interest, just as it was lawful for Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ;

utique quaecunque ex usu rei publicae maiestateque diuinarum \| humanarum publicarum priuatarumque rerum esse \| censebit, ei agere facere ius potestasque sit, ita uti diuo Aug(usto), Tiberioque Iulio Caesari Aug(usto), \| Tiberioque Claudio Caesari \| Aug(usto) Germanico fuit ; \|		And that whatever he considers to be in accordance with the public advantage and the dignity of divine and human and public and private interests he shall have the right and the power to do and to execute, just as had the deified Augustus and Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus and Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ;

utique quibus legibus plebeiue scitis scriptum fuit, ne diuus Aug(ustus), \| Tiberiusue Iulius Caesar Aug(ustus), Tiberiusque Claudius Caesar Aug(ustus) \| Germanicus tenerentur, iis legibus plebisque scitis imp(erator) Caesar \| Vespasianus solutus sit ; quaeque ex quaque lege rogatione \| diuum Aug(ustum), Tiberiumue Iulium Caesarem Aug(ustum), Tiberiumue \| Claudium Caesarem Aug(ustum) Germanicum facere oportuit, \| ea omnia imp(eratori) Caesari Vespasiano Aug(usto) facere liceat ; \|		And that by whatever laws or plebiscites it has been recorded that the deified Augustus or Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus and Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus were not bound, from these laws and plebiscites Emperor Caesar Vespasian shall be exempt ; and whatsoever things it was proper for the deified Augustus or Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus or Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus to do in accordance with any law or proposed law, it shall be lawful for Emperor Caesar Vespasian Augustus to do all these things ;

utique quae ante hanc legem rogatam acta gesta \| decreta imperata ab imperatore Caesare Vespasiano Aug(usto) \| iussu mandatuue eius a quoque sunt, ea perinde iusta rataq(ue) \| sint, ac si populi plebisue iussu acta essent. \|		And that whatever before the passage of this law has been done, executed, decreed, ordered by Emperor Caesar Vespasian Augustus or by anyone at his order or mandate, these things shall be legal and valid, just as if they had been done by the order of the people or of the plebs.

Sanctio		Sanction.

Si quis huiusce legis ergo aduersus leges rogationes plebisue scita \| senatusue consulta fecit fecerit, siue quod eum ex lege rogatione \| plebisue scito s(enatus)ue c(onsulto) facere oportebit, non fecerit huius legis \| ergo, id ei ne fraudi esto, neue quit ob eam rem populo dare debeto, \| neue cui de ea re actio neue iudicatio esto, neue quis de ea re apud \| [s]e agi sinito.		If anyone has done or does anything in consequence of this law contrary to statutes or bills or plebiscites or decrees of the Senate, or if he does not do in consequence of this law what it is proper for him to do in accordance with statute or bill or plebiscite or decree of the Senate, this shall not be to his prejudice nor shall he be liable to pay the people anything on this account, nor shall anyone have the right to an action or a judgment concerning this matter, nor shall anyone allow an action concerning this matter to be pleaded before him.