The Roman Republic and Fascism

[consulscipio236]

The Roman Republic was a stratocracy, and not a military dictatorship (like Italy and Germany during WW2). A stratocracy is a form of government headed by military chiefs. It is not the same as a military dictatorship where the military's political power is not enforced or even supported by other laws. In a stratocracy the state and the military are traditionally the same thing and government positions are always occupied by military leaders. The military's political power is supported by law and the society. As such a stratocracy does not have to be autocratic by nature in order to preserve its right to rule.

 

There are elements within the later Roman Republic which might be considered a stratocracy, but it's certainly not true on any sort of permanent basis prior to the rise of the imperatorial generals. (ie Marius, Sulla, etc.) Even in the later period, there were Consuls who would not be considered "military chiefs", even if their role was officially to act as such when necessary. Cicero comes to mind immediately-and there is a relatively long list of Consuls of whom written history gives us little evidence that these men ruled out of any sort of militaristic necessity. Perhaps this is a semantic argument, but for me, having the authority to wield military power as the Consular heads of state did is not the same as using that military power to wield authority.

 

Cicero is a bad example. Anyone who knows about the Catilinarian conspiracy knows that Cicero's co-consul played almost no role that year. Cicero was a pacifist who didn't much like military commands. Because of this he arranged to give his co-consul the better (and more dangerous) province after their terms ended and they served as governors. In exchange, Cicero effectively ran the state without consular opposition that year. Most years this arrangement was more equal.

 

Actually, the early republic was more of a stratocracy than the later republic. A stratocracy is a government where the military and civil commands and administration are one in the same. In the early republic the consuls almost always commanded the armies. Governors weren't needed because before about 280 BC when Rome expanded beyond Italy, the provinces were run by the natives without Roman governors. It was only after this point, when Rome expanded into Sicily, that governors began to be appointed. A few praetors were enough at that time. As such, it wasn't until after the 3rd Punic war that consuls usually spent most of their time in Rome acting more as civil administrators. It was at this time that the Roman army transitioned from one of yeoman farmers who mobilized a few months a year to fight local battles into a professional standing army in need of a distinct chain of command. By that point there were simply too many provinces for the consuls or a few praetors to manage, and so you had a more obvious division of civil and military command, and Rome became less of a stratocracy. Marius and Sulla were more like military dictators who subverted the civil constitution than they were legitimate constitutional supreme leaders of the military and civil apparatus.

[Primus Pilus]

The point is that their power did not derive from the military. Their power was electory - military authority came with elected power. They were not permanent military chiefs as individuals--well until one particular tyrant came along that is.

[consulscipio236]

The point is that their power did not derive from the military. Their power was electory - military authority came with elected power. They were not permanent military chiefs as individuals--well until one particular tyrant came along that is.

 

If their power had derived from the military and not a legitimate constitutional process, it would have been a military dictatorship. There are few stratocracies around today, so it is hard to find a real-life example. Stratocracies involve officials elected through a legitimate constitutional process, but where the entire civil apparatus is inseparable from the military apparatus. There are a few countries in Africa, for example, where military officers of a certain rank are entitled to a seat in parliament for that reason alone. I think you are missing the point that power in a stratocracy is legitimate and constitutional. It is based on elections, not the army. The emperors, in contrast, (as well as a few people in the later republic like Caesar) had their power based on the army as opposed to legitimate elections. Rome was, in these instances, a military dictatorship and not a stratocracy.

[sylla]

The point is that their power did not derive from the military. Their power was electory - military authority came with elected power. They were not permanent military chiefs as individuals--well until one particular tyrant came along that is.

 

If their power had derived from the military and not a legitimate constitutional process, it would have been a military dictatorship. There are few stratocracies around today, so it is hard to find a real-life example. Stratocracies involve officials elected through a legitimate constitutional process, but where the entire civil apparatus is inseparable from the military apparatus. There are a few countries in Africa, for example, where military officers of a certain rank are entitled to a seat in parliament for that reason alone. I think you are missing the point that power in a stratocracy is legitimate and constitutional. It is based on elections, not the army. The emperors, in contrast, (as well as a few people in the later republic like Caesar) had their power based on the army as opposed to legitimate elections. Rome was, in these instances, a military dictatorship and not a stratocracy.

Usus autem sum, ne in aliquo fallam carissimam mihi familiaritatem tuam, praecipue libris ex bibliotheca Ulpia, aetate mea thermis Diocletianis, et item ex domo Tiberiana, usus etiam [ex] regestis scribarum porticus porphyreticae, actis etiam senatus ac populi. 2 et quoniam me ad colligenda talis viri gesta ephemeris Turduli Gallicani plurimum invit, viri honestissimi ac sincerissimi, beneficium amici senis tacere non debui. 3 Cn. Pompeium, tribus fulgentem triumphis belli piratici, belli Sertoriani, belli Mithridatici multarumque rerum gestarum maiestate sublimem, quis tandem nosset, nisi eum Marcus Tullius et Titus Livius in litteras rettulissent? 4 Publ<i>um Scipionem Afric<an>um, immo Scipiones omnes, seu Lucios seu Nasicas, nonne tenebrae possiderent ac tegerent, nisi commendatores eorum historici nobiles atque ignobiles extitissent? 5 longum est omnia persequi, quae ad exemplum huiusce modi etiam nobis tacentibus usurpanda sunt. 6 illud tantum contestatum volo me et rem scripsisse, quam, si quis voluerit, honestius eloquio celsiore demonstret, et mihi quidem id animi fuit, 6 <ut> non Sallustios, Livios, Tacito<s>, Trogos atque omnes disertissimos imitarer viros in vita principum et temporibus disserendis, sed Marium Maximum, Suetonium Tranquillum, Fabium Marcellinum, Gargilium Martialem, Iulium Capitolinum, Aelium Lampridium ceterosque, qui haec et talia non tam diserte quam vere memoriae tradiderunt. 8 sum enim unus ex curiosis, quod infi[ni]t<i>as ire non possum, ince<n>dentibus vobis, qui, cum multa sciatis, scire multo plura cupitis. 9 et ne diutius ea, quae ad meum consilium pertinent, loquar, magnum et praeclarum principem et qualem historia nostra non novit, arripiam.

Edited January 1, 2010 by sylla

[consulscipio236]

This term (or any equivalent) can't be used for the Roman Republic (at least previous to the Marian Reforms of the late II century BC) or in fact for almost any Classical city-state (at least most of the time), including of course the Hellenic poleis (even Sparta), because a citizen army was a prominent feature of virtually all of them.

 

One key difference between the pre-Marian Roman Republic, and the other classical city states, is that typically those other cities had distinct military and civilian functions. The Spartans, for example, had kings who ruled in times of war, but ephori who formed a pentarchy of sorts in times of peace. The Ephori were unquestionably civilian in nature, and their main military use was to accompany the kings on campaign to arrest them if they overstepped their legal authority. The kings were mostly military in nature. The Athenians had a system even more segregated between civilian and military. Monarchies, like that of Rome before the republic, had a king as supreme overlord, but agents under that king whose function was exclusively military or civilian. The same could be said of the Roman Empire (probably pre-Diocletian, and certainly post-Diocletian) The magistracies of the Roman Republic had an inseparable military and civilian function. Sometimes the consuls would administer civil administration in Rome, and sometimes they would lead the army on the battlefield. Sometimes the praetors would serve as judges, sometimes as military commanders. Sometimes the quaestors managed the treasury in Rome, sometimes they assisted military commanders on campaign. Just about the only magistracy (other than the oddball censorship) that was mostly in one field or the other was the tribunate of plebs. However, it of course was an outgrowth of the military tribunate.

[sylla]

One key difference between the pre-Marian Roman Republic, and the other classical city states, is that typically those other cities had distinct military and civilian functions. The Spartans, for example, had kings who ruled in times of war, but ephori who formed a pentarchy of sorts in times of peace. The Ephori were unquestionably civilian in nature, and their main military use was to accompany the kings on campaign to arrest them if they overstepped their legal authority. The kings were mostly military in nature. The Athenians had a system even more segregated between civilian and military. Monarchies, like that of Rome before the republic, had a king as supreme overlord, but agents under that king whose function was exclusively military or civilian. The same could be said of the Roman Empire (probably pre-Diocletian, and certainly post-Diocletian) The magistracies of the Roman Republic had an inseparable military and civilian function. Sometimes the consuls would administer civil administration in Rome, and sometimes they would lead the army on the battlefield. Sometimes the praetors would serve as judges, sometimes as military commanders. Sometimes the quaestors managed the treasury in Rome, sometimes they assisted military commanders on campaign. Just about the only magistracy (other than the oddball censorship) that was mostly in one field or the other was the tribunate of plebs. However, it of course was an outgrowth of the military tribunate.

Usus autem sum, ne in aliquo fallam carissimam mihi familiaritatem tuam, praecipue libris ex bibliotheca Ulpia, aetate mea thermis Diocletianis, et item ex domo Tiberiana, usus etiam [ex] regestis scribarum porticus porphyreticae, actis etiam senatus ac populi. 2 et quoniam me ad colligenda talis viri gesta ephemeris Turduli Gallicani plurimum invit, viri honestissimi ac sincerissimi, beneficium amici senis tacere non debui. 3 Cn. Pompeium, tribus fulgentem triumphis belli piratici, belli Sertoriani, belli Mithridatici multarumque rerum gestarum maiestate sublimem, quis tandem nosset, nisi eum Marcus Tullius et Titus Livius in litteras rettulissent? 4 Publ<i>um Scipionem Afric<an>um, immo Scipiones omnes, seu Lucios seu Nasicas, nonne tenebrae possiderent ac tegerent, nisi commendatores eorum historici nobiles atque ignobiles extitissent? 5 longum est omnia persequi, quae ad exemplum huiusce modi etiam nobis tacentibus usurpanda sunt. 6 illud tantum contestatum volo me et rem scripsisse, quam, si quis voluerit, honestius eloquio celsiore demonstret, et mihi quidem id animi fuit, 6 <ut> non Sallustios, Livios, Tacito<s>, Trogos atque omnes disertissimos imitarer viros in vita principum et temporibus disserendis, sed Marium Maximum, Suetonium Tranquillum, Fabium Marcellinum, Gargilium Martialem, Iulium Capitolinum, Aelium Lampridium ceterosque, qui haec et talia non tam diserte quam vere memoriae tradiderunt. 8 sum enim unus ex curiosis, quod infi[ni]t<i>as ire non possum, ince<n>dentibus vobis, qui, cum multa sciatis, scire multo plura cupitis. 9 et ne diutius ea, quae ad meum consilium pertinent, loquar, magnum et praeclarum principem et qualem historia nostra non novit, arripiam. Edited January 1, 2010 by sylla