[337] p. 60.
[338] Liv. ii. 18; Festus p. 198; Pompon. in Dig. 1, 2, 2, 18.
[339] The title was, perhaps, originally praetor. This would naturally have been the case if Mommsen’s theory is right that they were regarded as superior colleagues of the consuls (Staatsr. ii. p. 153). The earliest official title known to us is magister populi, and it was the technical title in the augural books. Cic. de Leg. iii. 3, 9 “isque ave sinistra dictus populi magister esto.” Cf. de Rep. i. 40, 63 “Gravioribus vero bellis etiam sine collega omne imperium nostri penes singulos esse voluerunt, quorum ipsum nomen vim suae potestatis indicat. Nam dictator quidem ab eo appellatur quia dicitur; sed in nostris libris vides eum, Laeli, magistrum populi appellari.” The later title, dictator, was perhaps adopted in deference to Republican sentiment; Mommsen (Staatsr. ii. p. 145) conjectures, in imitation of the Latin dictator, a constitutional survival of the monarchy. The meaning of the word is wholly uncertain. Ancient guesses say (i.) from dicitur (Cic. de Rep. l.c.); (ii) from dicto audiens (Varro L.L. v. 81 “quoi dicto audientes omnes essent”); (iii.) from dictare (Priscian viii. 14, 78), or (iv.) because they issued edicts (Dionys. v. 73).
[340] Pompon. in Dig. 1, 2, 2, 19 “Et his dictatoribus magistri equitum injungebantur sic, quo modo regibus tribuni celerum: quod officium fere tale erat, quale hodie praefectorum praetorio, magistratus tamen habebantur legitimi.”
[341] Cic. de Leg. iii. 3, 9 “Ast quando duellum gravius, discordiae civium escunt, oenus, ne amplius sex menses, si senatus creverit, idem juris, quod duo consules, teneto”; Imp. Claudius Oratio i. 28 “Quid nunc commemorem dictaturae hoc ipso consulari imperium valentius repertum apud majores nostros quo in asperioribus bellis aut in civili motu difficiliore uterentur?”
[342] Cicero (de Rep. ii. 31, 53) gives as the tenor of the first Valerian law “ne quis magistratus civem Romanum adversus provocationem necaret neve verberaret.” Dionysius (v. 19) adds ζημιοῦν εἰς χρήματα to ἀποκτείνειν ἢ μαστιγοῦν, and Plutarch (Publ. 11) seems to give it the same wide scope. He also thinks that Valerius fixed the multa suprema (l.c.), i.e. the largest fine the magistrate could impose without appeal. These statements may, however, be deductions from the later provocatio.
[343] Pompon. in Dig. 1, 2, 2 (§ 3) “exactis deinde regibus ... omnes leges hae exoleverunt iterumque coepit populus Romanus incerto magis jure et consuetudine aliqua uti quam per latam legem, idque prope quinquaginta (MSS. “viginti”) annis passus est.” After the Twelve Tables (§ 6) “ex his legibus ... actiones compositae sunt, quibus inter se homines disceptarent: quas actiones ne populus prout vellet institueret, certas sollemnesque esse voluerunt ... Omnium tamen harum et interpretandi scientia et actiones apud collegium pontificum erant, ex quibus constituebatur, quis quoquo anno praeesset privatis.”
[344] p. 64.
[345] The later praetorian interdicts (de locis sacris, de mortuo inferendo) are really within the domain of fas and must at one time have been enforced by the pontiffs.
[346] p. 78.