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PRAEFECT (praefectus)
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See also:PRAEFECT (praefectus) , the See also:title of various See also:Roman officials, both See also:civil and military. A praefect was not one of the magistrates proper; he was, strictly speaking, only the See also:deputy or See also:lieutenant of a See also:superior See also:magistrate or See also:commander. The following were the most important.
1. The See also:city praefect (praefectus urbis) acted at See also:Rome as the deputy of the See also:chief magistrate or magistrates during his or their See also:absence from the city. Thus he represented in the earliesttimes the See also: His See also:office expired on the return of his superior. There could only be one city praefect at a time, though the dictator See also:Caesar See also:broke the See also:rule by appointing six or eight praefects simultaneously. Under the empire there was introduced a city prefecture which differed essentially from the above. See also:Augustus occasionally appointed a city praefect to represent him in his absence from See also:Italy, although the praetors, or even one of the consuls, remained in the See also:capital. In the absence of Tiberius from Rome during the last eleven years of his reign (A.D. 26—37) the city prefecture, hitherto an exceptional and temporary office, be-came a See also:regular and permanent magistracy; in all subsequent reigns the praefect held office even during the presence of the See also:emperor in Rome. He was always chosen by the emperor and usually from men who had held the consulship; his office was regarded, like the censorship under the See also:republic, as the crowning See also:honour of a long See also:political career. It was not conferred for any definite length of time, but might be held for years or for See also:life. As under the republic, the praefect was not allowed to quit the city for more than a day at a time. His duty was the preservation of See also:peace in the capital; he was, in fact, the chief of the See also:police, being charged with the superintendence of the streets, markets and public buildings. He was further entrusted by Augustus with a See also:summary criminal See also:jurisdiction over slaves and rioters, which was, however, gradually extended till in the time of See also:Severus or even earlier it embraced all offences by whomsoever committed. Further, he had the See also:power of dealing with civil cases where his interference seemed requisite in the interests of the public safety, but such occasions were naturally few. By the beginning of the 3rd See also:century, and perhaps earlier, appeals to the emperor in civil cases were handed over by him to be dealt with by the praefect. Except where See also:special restrictions interfered, an See also:appeal See also:lay from the praefect to the emperor. Though not a military officer, the praefect commanded the city cohorts (cohortes urbanae), which formed part of the See also:garrison of Rome and ranked above the See also:line regiments, though below the See also:guards (see See also:PRAETORIANS). The military power thus placed in the hands of the chief of the police was one of the most sorely-See also:felt innovations of the empire. The constitutional changes of See also:Diocletian and See also:Constantine extended still further the power of the praefect, in whom, after the disbanding of the guards and the removal from Rome of the highest officials, the whole military, administrative and judicial powers were centred.
2. Under the republic judicial praefects (praefecti jure dicendo) were sent annually from Rome as deputies of the praetors to administer See also:justice in certain towns of the See also:Italian See also:allies. These towns' were called prefectures (praefecturae). After the Social See also:War (90-89 B.C.), when. all Italy had received the Roman
See also:franchise, such prefectures ceased to exist in fact, though the name was sometimes retained.
3. Under the empire the praetorians or imperial guards were commanded by one, two, or even three praefects (praefecti praetorio), who were chosen by the emperor from among the knights and held office at his See also:pleasure. From the time of See also: Down to the time of Constantine, who deprived the office of its military See also:character, the prefecture of the guards was regularly held by tried soldiers, often by men who had fought their way up from the ranks. In course of time the command seems to have been enlarged so as to include all the troops in Italy except the See also:corps commanded by the city praefect (cohortes urbenae). Further, the praetorian praefect acquired, in addition to his military functions, a criminal jurisdiction, which he exercised not as the delegate but as the representative of the emperor, and hence it was decreed by Constantine (331) that from the See also:sentence of the praetorian praefect there should be no appeal. A similar jurisdiction in civil cases was acquired by him not later than the time of Severus. Hence a knowledge of law became a qualification for the post, which under See also:Marcus See also:Antoninus and See also:Commodus, but especially from the time of Severus, was held by the first jurists of the See also:age, (e.g. See also:Papinian, See also:Ulpian and Paullus), while the military qualification See also:fell more and more into the background. Under Constantine the institution of the magistri militum deprived the praetorian prefecture altogether of its military character; but See also:left it the highest civil office of the empire. The title of "praefect " was See also:borne by various other Roman officials, of whom we may mention the following: 4. Praefectus Socium (sociorum).—Under the republic the contingents furnished to the Roman armies by the Italian allies were commanded by Roman See also:officers called praefecti socium (sociorum), who were nominated by the consuls and corresponded to the tribunes in the legions. 5. Praefectus Classium.—Down to near the See also:close of the republic a See also:naval command was never held independently but only in connexion with the command of an See also:army, and, when the See also:general appointed an officer to command the See also:fleet in his See also:room, this lieutenant was styled " praefect of the fleet " (praefectus classium). When in 311 B.C. the See also:people took the appointment of these lieutenants into their own hands the title was changed from " praefects " to duo airs navales, or " two naval men "; but under the empire the admirals went by their old name of praefects. 6. Praefectus Fabrum.—The See also:colonel of the engineer and See also:artillery corps (fabri) in a Roman army was called a praefect ; he did not belong to the See also:legion, but was directly subordinate to the general in command. 7. Praefectus Annonae.—The important duty of provisioning Rome was committed by Augustus (between A.D. 8 and 14) to a praefect, who was appointed by the emperor from among the knights and held office at the imperial pleasure. 8. Praefectus Aegypti (afterwards Praefectus augustalis).—Under the empire the See also:government of See also:Egypt was entrusted to a See also:viceroy with the title of " praefect," who was selected from the knights, and was surrounded by royal pomp instead of the usual insignia of a Roman magistrate. He stood under the immediate orders of the emperor. The exceptional position thus accorded to Egypt was due to a regard on the part of the emperors to the See also:peculiar character of the See also:population, the strategic strength of the See also:country, and its political importance as the granary of Rome. (J. G. FR.) 9. Praefectus Castrorum, from the time of Augustus to Severus the title of the commander of the fixed camps of the legions in different parts of the empire. He was a purely military See also:man appointed by the emperor, usually a See also:centurion whose See also:term of service was completed. From the time of See also:Domitian, when each legion had a See also:separate See also:camp, the name of the legion was added to the title, e.g. praefectus castrorum legionis xiii. See also:gem. (C.I.L. iii. 454). The duties of this officer included : the arrangement of the camp and medical service, the transport of the baggage, the construction of roads, See also:bridges and fortifications, the See also:supply of See also:ammunition and engines of war. to. Praefectus Vigilum, the commander of the seven cohortes vigilum, a See also:night police force instituted by Augustus (A.D. 6). To each See also:cohort, consisting of about moo men (chiefly freedmen), was entrusted the care of two of the fourteen city districts; one of its chief duties was that of a See also:fire See also:brigade. The policing of the city had formerly been one of the' duties of the aediles, but was now transferred to the praefectus vigilum, appointed by the emperor from the See also:equites. He exercised criminal jurisdiction in cases of See also:incendiarism and offences committed against the law during the night, and in later times this jurisdiction was considerably extended. The different kinds of praefects are fully discussed in See also:Mommsen, Romisches Staatsrecht (1887) vols. ii., iii.; see also T. M. See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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