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AEDILE (Lat. aedilis)

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 244 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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AEDILE (Lat. aedilis)

AEDILE (See also:
LAT
Lat. aedilis) , in See also:

ROMAN

Roman antiquities, the name of certain Roman magistrates, probably derived from See also:

AEDIS

aedis (a See also:

temple), because they had the care of the temple of See also:

CERES

Ceres, where the plebeian archives were kept. They were originally two in See also:

AEDUI, HAEDUT

AEDUI j number, called " plebeian " aediles. They were created in the same See also:

YEAR

year as the tribunes of the See also:

PEOPLE

people (494 s.c.), their persons were sacrosanct or inviolable, and (at least after 471) they were elected at the See also:

COMITIA

Comitia Tributa out of the plebeians alone. Originally intended as assistants to the tribunes, they exercised certain See also:

POLICE (Fr. police, government, civil administration, a police force, Gr. sroXumeia, constitution, condition of a state, roars, city, state)

police functions, were empowered to inflict fines and managed the plebeian and Roman See also:

GAMES, CLASSICAL

games. According to See also:

LIVY [Thus L1v1us] (59 B.C.—A.D: 17)

Livy (vi. 42), after the passing of the Licinian rogations, an extra See also:

day was added to the Roman games; the aediles refused to See also:

bear the additional expense, whereupon the See also:

PATRICIANS (Lat. patricius, an adjectival form from pater, father; not, as some say, from pater and ciere, to call)

patricians offered to undertake it, on See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition that they were admitted to the aedileship. The plebeians accepted the offer, and accordingly two " See also:

CURULE (Lat. currus, " chariot ")

curule " aediles were appointed—at first from the patricians alone, then from patricians and plebeians in turn, lastly, from either—at the Comitia Tributa under the See also:

PRESIDENCY

presidency of the See also:

consul. Although not sacrosanct, they had the right of sitting in a curule See also:

CHAIR (in. Mid. Eng. chcere, through O. Fr. chaire or chaiere, from Lat. cathedra, later caledra, Gr. xaOi3pa, seat, cf. "cathedral"; the modern Fr. form chaise, a chair, has been adopted in English with a particular meaning as a form of carriage; chaire

chair and wore the distinctive toga praetexta. They took over the management of the Roman and Megalesian games, the care of the patrician temples and had the right of issuing edicts as superintendents of the markets. But although the curule aediles always ranked higher than the plebeian, their functions gradually approximated and became practically identical. See also:

CICERO

Cicero (Legg. iii. 3, 7) divides these functions under three heads:—(r) Care of the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city: the repair and preservation of temples, sewers and aqueducts; See also:

street cleansing and paving; regulations regarding See also:

TRAFFIC

traffic, dangerous animals and dilapidated buildings; precautions against See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire; superintendence of See also:

BATHS

baths and taverns; enforcement of sumptuary See also:

LAWS

laws; See also:

PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)

punishment of gamblers and usurers; the care of public morals generally, including the prevention of See also:

FOREIGN

foreign superstitions.

They also punished those who had too large a See also:

SHARE (O. Eng. scearu, chiefly in compounds, e.g. land-scearu, a share of land, from sceran to cut; cf. " shear" )

share of the ager publicus, or kept too many See also:

CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle on the See also:

state pastures. (2) Care of provisions: investigation of the quality of the articles supplied and the correctness of weights and See also:

MEASURES

measures; the See also:

PURCHASE

purchase of See also:

corn for disposal at a See also:

low See also:

price in See also:

case of See also:

NECESSITY (Lat. necessitas)

necessity. (3) Care of the games: superintendence and organization of the public games, as well as of those given by themselves and private individuals (e.g. at funerals) at their own expense. Ambitious persons often spent enormous sums in this manner to win the popular favour with a. view to See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official See also:

ADVANCEMENT

advancement. In 44 See also:

Caesar added two patrician aediles, called Cereales, whose See also:

SPECIAL

special See also:

DUTY (from " due," that which is owing, O. Fr. deu, dil, past participle of devoir; Lat. debere, debitum; cf. " debt ")

duty was the care of the corn-See also:

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply. Under See also:

AUGUSTUS (a name 1 derived from Lat. augeo, increase, i.e. venerable, majestic, Gr. Ee0avr6s)

Augustus the See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office lost much of its importance, its juridical functions and the care of the games being transferred to the See also:

PRAETOR (Lat. prae-itor, " he who goes before," "a leader")

praetor, while its city responsibilities were limited by the aypointment of a praefectus urbi. In the 3rd See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century e. D. it. disappeared altogether. AUTaoatTrES.—Schubert, De Romanorum Aedilibus (1828) ; See also:

Hoffmann, De Aedilibus Romanis (1842) ; Goll, De Aedilibus sub Caesarum Imperio (1860) ; Labatut, See also:

Les Ediles et les maurs (1868) ; See also:

MARQUARDT, JOACHIM (1812–1882)

Marquardt See also:

MOMMSEN, THEODOR (1817–1903)

Mommsen, Handbuch der romischen Altertiimer, ii. (1888) ; Soltau, See also:

Die urspriingliche Bedeutung and Competent der Aediles Plebis (See also:

BONN

Bonn, 1882).

End of Article: AEDILE (Lat. aedilis)

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