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[German version] (from the Greek-Lat.   diploma , Latin diplomaticus, late Latin diplomatus) etymologically derives from the similar late antique word for the holder of a passport, who on imperial business was permitted to use the state postal service for the transfer of documents and to cross the borders into foreign lands ( evectio ─ Cod. Iust. 12,50). In all international relations governed by ius gentium throughout antiquity, such activities were always linked with a national system of rules governing the dispatch and reception of messengers and plenipotentiaries ( nuntii, missi…

[German version] designates the professional rise through the ranks of Roman politicians in a series of honorary offices (Cic. Fam. 1,9,17; 3,11,2; Amm. Marc. 22,10,6), in a special sense it is the name given to a complex of legal regulations for politicians of the Roman republic, who, starting with official stages that justify a seat in the Senate, wish to reach via a series of offices the highest senatorial rank, that of consul, i.e. a former consul. The whole process involves rules on a) the ac…

[German version] Acceptance into a defined social group (body, class, tax class, clergy), but also into a circle of friends, a citizenry or a people (Varro, Ling. 66; Sen. Epist. 74,25 Haase; CIL XIII 1688; II 3423). In the political sphere since the Republic, adlectio means above all the rare and honourable acceptance of previously nonofficial or insufficiently qualified persons into the circle of magistrates ( adlectio inter consulares, praetorios, quaestorios, aedilicios, tribunicios; CIL XIV 3611; IX 5533; II 4114; Plin. Ep. 1,14,5; Suet. Vesp. 9), and connected…

[German version] literally ‘adoration’, refers to an especially respectful address, not only to the prayer to the gods (Fest. 162,19). 1. In the Roman imperial court, adoratio is the greeting to the emperor by prostrating oneself introduced into court ceremony by Diocletian according to Achaemenid and Hellenistic models ( προσκύνησις, proskýnēsis: Eutr. 9,26). 2. Pejoratively, adoratio is understood as a special form of courtly or also other flattery ( adulatio). 3. Since the beginning of the imperial era, adoratio also stands for the veneration of the genius Augusti and the divi Au…

[German version] The NC was a ‘note’ from the Roman censores that stated publicly a citizen's discreditable conduct. The official functions of the censores, attested from the 4th cent. BC at the latest ( lex Aemilia of 366 BC: Liv. 9,34,24; but see also Val. Max. 2,9,1; Plut. Camillus 2,2; Cic. Off. 3,31,111), included judging citizens with regard to their ‘honourable behaviour’ ( honor). If in the judgement of the censor the person under scrutiny did not meet the requirements of honour resulting, for example, from the holding of an office, from military disciplin…

[German version] A. Definition As noun to the adjective maius (‘increasing’, ‘bigger’), maiestas in general means an unusual, unquestionably superior power and dignity to be respected, notably 1. the sacredness of the gods or of a god (Cic. Div. 1,82; Christian: Cod. Iust. 1,1,1, pr.), 2. the patria potestas of the pater familias towards the relatives and slaves subordinate to him (Liv. 4,45,8; Val. Max. 7,7,5; Cod. Iust. 6,20,12; see below B.) and especially 3. the majesty of the populus Romanus (Cic. Balb. 35; Cic. Part. or. 105; Dig. 48,4,1,1), the res publica (Cic. De orat. 2,164) …

[German version] (from the Greek lampás = torch, light; Greek lychnophóroi). Generally torch-bearer (Suet. Aug. 29,3); in late antiquity, the lampadarii in the Imperial Palace or high departments were collected into scholae (‘units’) and probably given prime responsibility for issues of ‘lighting’ (torches, candles, lamps etc.). The Codex Iustinianus (12,59,10) mentions lampadarii along with invitatores, admissionales, memoriales etc. as auxiliary staff whose numbers had grown out of proportion (cf. also Not. Dign. Or. 11,12-17). Gizewski, Christian (Berlin) Bibliography…

[German version] (plur. diplomata; from the Greek διπλόω; diplóō = to double, fold over; Lat. duplico) generally refers to a duplicate object, which is folded or in two parts, but in particular to a document on parchment, papyrus or also in the form of a  diptych which has been folded and sealed in order to safeguard the written content. Important private and public records were set down in the form of diplomata, which thus became almost synonymous with document: private letters (Cic. Att. 10,17,4) and legal transactions (testaments, witnessed treaties and contract…

[German version] In the general sense, a slave in a house ( domus), or a person bound to the family or to the head of the household (Dig. 48,19,11,1). However, the word having originally signified the opposite of publicius, during the Republic it already entered the political sphere, to designate the entire cohors of a Roman provincial governor: free and unfree servants ( servi, ministri), subordinate officials ( apparitores, officiales), even subordinates assigned by statute ( adiutores, comites, consiliarii) and the military escort. Although Cicero advised that there sh…

[German version] Subaltern official (officialis) in the administration of an   arca , i.e. a public fund in the responsibility of a higher official (Cod. Theod. 11,28,6) or with a special purpose (see Dig. 50,4,1,2), but especially the imperial treasury (Cod. Just. 10,72,13). The duty of an arcarius (Dig. 40,5,41,17; Cod. Just. 10,72,15) was probably performed by a   scriba in Republican times. Both freemen and slaves were arcarii in the administration of towns, provinces, the imperial court, in colleges and corporations and in the military as administrators of the soldiers'   peculium…

[German version] A. designates generally the ‘helper’ or ‘assistant’, but colloquially is rather pejorative, referring to the ‘accomplice’ (Dig. 47,2,51,3) or the subordinate, less important ‘assistant’ (Hor. Sat. 1,9,46; Phaedr. 5,5,14). In legal language, adiutor is the assistant of a functionary in civil legal tasks, e.g. as in the   tutela (Dig. 26,1,13,1), as well as in the sovereign area of magistrates, later for high officials in judicature, even for leading subordinate officials (Caes. B. Civ. 3,62,4; Tac., Ann. 3,12; Cod. lust. 1,18,5; 1,31,1). At the imperial court a procu…

[German version] (from reconstr. de-stanare, ‘determine’) generally means the determination of a purpose or a decision, legally also a legally-binding unilateral declaration of will (Cod. Iust. 6,30,6; Dig. 50,17,76). In political life destinatio means the delegation of a subordinate or the installation in an office of a person envisaged for the task by a person authorized to do so. The imperial recommendation of a   candidatus to the Senate was also called destinatio as was the direct appointment of an office bearer by the emperor (Dig. 4,4,18,4; Cod. Iust. 11,74,2…

[German version] The original scope of duties of the aediles is still unexplained. Aediles points to aedes (temple) and thus to public buildings; the usual equation in Greek of   agoranomoi leads to an association with market duties (Just. Epit. 21,5,7). Roman tradition (Liv. 3,55,6 f.) places the first two aediles (plebeii) at the side of the tribuni plebis active since 494 BC, probably as assistants in administrative duties at the Temple of Ceres ( aedes Cereris Liberi Liberaeque), the cultic centre of the   plebs , and during market business at the nearby F…

[German version] In public law, abrogatio refers to the suspension of a right or law. 1a: the complete suspension of a law (  lex ) passed by   rogatio by the assembly (Ulp., prooem. 3: abrogatur legi, cum prorsus tollitur). 1b: in a broader sense also the obsoletion of a paragraph of law due to persistent non-observance (Dig. 1,3,32,1: receptum est, ut leges etiam tacito consensu omnium per desuetudinem abrogentur). 2a: the taking away of an   imperium transferred by the comitia via a rogatio. 2b: in a broader sense the denial of rights by a competent court (Cod. Theod. 9,10,3). The abrogatio i…

[German version] In one particular sense indicates  interest of one hundredth of the sum advanced per month, i.e. after Caesar's reform of the calendar 12 per cent per year. Towards the end of the Republic, this is the maximum rate allowed by law, applying in all cases where there is a justifiable obligation to pay interest, unless a lower rate is agreed (from 1 per cent = uncia to 11 per cent = deunx per centesima in each case; Cic. Ad Att. 5,21,11). It is not impossible that the lex XII tab. (8,18) in effect laid down the same maximum annual rate ( nam primo XII tabulis sanctum, ne quis unci…

[German version] (Plural numerarii) had the general meaning of ‘arithmetician’ (Aug. De libero arbitrio 2,121; from numerare, ‘count, reckon, pay out’) but in the later Imperial period the special meaning ‘keeper of accounts’ in all civilian and military authorities (cf. Notitia dignitatum ) and the urban authorities of the civitates. The older word is tabularius (Dig. 11,6,7; Cod. Iust. 12,49,2 and 4). The rank and the - always subordinate - authority of a numerarius varies according to the area of employment (imperial headquarters, prefectural administration for ta…

[German version] Collega generally means the individual who is working together with others to arrange something (from con and leg), including, for example, the member of an association or a corporate body (Dig. 27,1,42; 46,3,101 pr., 50,16,85). In politics, a collega is in particular an official associate in court, administration and government (Dig. 50,16,173 pr.: collegarum appellatione hi continentur, qui sunt eiusdem potestatis). The collegae in the republican offices of consul, praetor, censor, aedile, quaestor and tribune of the people are entitled an…

[German version] The word nobilis (pl. nobiles ), in the Republican period and the Imperial period of the first two cents. AD, presumably denotes in particular the members of a senatorial family which included several consuls. From the 3rd cent. AD, with the increasing prevalence of court titles (Court titles C.,) it served to designate especially distinguished members of both the senatorial class and the imperial household (Dig. 1,2,2,43: members of the Senate; Cod. Iust. 6,23,19: members of the sacrum consistorium). From it was derived - probably from the reign of Constan…

[German version] The office of the curator rei publicae (CRP) is first documented for the turn of the 1st to the 2nd cent. AD and is one of the imperial offices held by the equestrian class. It corresponds roughly to the office of the λογιστής ( logistḗs; Cod. Iust. 1,54,3; Dig. 1,22,6) known from Hellenistic times. If appointed by the emperor (Dig. 50,8,12), the CRP assumes the responsibilities of a state procurator (Dig. 1,19, tit . de officio procuratoris Caesaris vel rationalis) -- if necessary -- in the technically autonomous foreign civitates or in the municipia and coloniae governed …

[German version] Adsectari/assectari (to stubbornly follow close behind) also describes the elements of the statutory offence of persecuting a respectable person in need of protection contra bonos mores (Gai. 3,220; Cod. lust. 47,10,15,19 ff.). In the political and societal realm, assectator denotes the party supporter, adherent or loyal companion for the most part of a person seeking public office. In his self-portrayal of patrons, Cicero (Mur. 70) differentiates three groups of clients in the adsectatio: una salutatorum, cum domum veniunt, altera deductorum, tertia…

[German version] Literally ‘those who are counted by the head’, but meaning ‘those who are counted only by the head’, i.e. who are not liable for taxation because their assets fall below the census minimum. The alternative term to describe them is proletarii (Cic. Rep. 2,22,40). This group is to be distinguished from the lowest assessment class, the infra classem (in the earlier republican period below two iugera of land or 11,000 asses; from the end of the 2nd cent. BC probably 4,000 asses), which included the capite censi. The infra classem were not expected to provide arms for mili…

[German version] Generally a person clothed in white; the colour white can express flawlessness, festive rejoicing, and a pleasant mood (Quint. 2,5,19; Hor. Sat. 1,5,41; Plin. Ep. 6,11,3). In Rome it was customary as early as the 5th cent. BC for candidates for public office to wear white robes (Liv. 4,25,13; 39,39,2; Pers. 5,177; Isid. Orig. 19,24). Thereafter, candidatus became the specific term for a candidate for public office. In the republican period, an applicant for an office that was appointed by public election was obliged to declare himself ( professio) as a candidatus to the…

[German version] (from the Greek δίς; dís = two times and πτύσσω; ptýssō = fold) can refer to anything folded or appearing as a double, such as mussel shells or twins (Eur. Orest. 633 or respectively Ambr. Hex. 6,8,25), but in particular refers to a folded piece of writing on paper or parchment, or two foldable linked writing tablets ─ or a writing tablet with lid ─ and a writing surface made from wax, gypsum or other, mostly light-coloured, material (λεύκωμα; leúkōma), which would be written on with a stylus, a reed, or a brush. As diptycha protected texts against damage or forgery, it be…

[German version] [1] see  Writing materials see  Writing materials Gizewski, Christian (Berlin) [German version] [2] White board for the publication of official announcements The term album designates a white ( albus) board for the publication of official announcements from various Roman offices and also for court decisions ( in albo propositio: Dig. 2,1,7). Of particular significance is also the album praetoris, which contained complaints or other types of applications, authorized by the praetor in his role as court of justice, as well as the formulas f…

[German version] Former consuls seem to have been chosen as officers of the census for the first time in 443 BC by a lex de creandis censoribus, the purpose being to free the consuls of this duty (Liv. 4,8,3; similarly Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,62). The tradition of the office being held in common by a patrician and a plebeian probably becomes the norm only after the leges Liciniae Sextiae of 367. Regular censuses every five years ( lustrum) made a regular election of censors necessary from this time. But there were occasional departures from the prescribed interval; even, d…

[German version] The authority of Roman magistrates to intervene where they judged the public order had been violated by citizens and non-citizens, restricting their rights and exercising sovereign power. This authority ranges from an interim order ( interdicta) via the forced collection of public claims, the imposition of fines ( multae), arrests ( vincula, prensio), seizing of property ( pignoris capio), [corporal] punishment ( verbera), right up to the imposition of capital punishment ( c. plenissima, c. capitalis, Dig. 7,1,17,1; 50,16,200). Even in the early republic…

[German version] In spite of Roman traditionalism, in the course of time the different forms of popular assemblies arising under the Roman constitution undergo a pronounced developmental change on the one hand and must, on the other, be considered in terms of their functional role at any one period. The following forms occur: the comitia curiata, the comitia centuriata, the   concilium plebis, the comitia tributa and the   contiones. It must also be said that, owing to fundamental methodical and factual reservations due to the relatively late d…

[German version] All manner of servants could be called apparitores (from apparere = to appear -- on command). In the public sphere apparitores specifically referred to the free and unfree servants of a magistrate, who (as opposed to the officiales) appeared as aids in official acts. In the Republican period apparitores accompanied consuls and praetors as   lictores with   fasces as symbols of the imperium (Liv. 9,46,2) and served magistrates as scribes, record officials and account keepers ( scribae, librarii), criers ( praecones), messengers ( viatores), ‘assistants’ ( accensi) as…

[German version] From the general meaning of censere (etymologically from centrum) the following specialized uses of the term census are derived: 1. The census of citizens in the Republican period. According to Roman historical tradition (Liv. 1,42,5), it was first the kings and later the consuls who carried out censuses of the citizenry in order to establish obligations for military and other types of service, and liability for tax. From 443 BC (Liv. 4,8,2) two censors bear responsibility for the census over a term of office lasting five years (  lustrum ). They ha…

[German version] (from Lat. ovare, equivalent to Greek euázein,'to cheer'). In its wider sense, it referred to the Roman triumph as well as to smaller official public celebrations in honour of meritorious generals. In its narrower sense, the word referred from the 5th cent. BC to about the 1st cent. AD to the smaller-scale celebration for generals who did not fully meet all the requirements for a large victory celebration, the triumph (Cic. Phil. 14,12: ovantem ac prope triumphantem). The latter was not possible in cases of legal doubt regarding the reason for war, of vic…

[German version] Legally binding decision of the comitia curiata (organized by curiae) -- probably the oldest type of Roman popular 's assembly. The early form can hardly be deduced from the sources (cf. Cic. Rep. 2,25). Presumably, all questions of the succession of influential families, religion, citizenship, military call-ups ( legio), taxes, the inauguration of kings and priests and later the responsibilities of the offices were regulated by leges curiatae (Liv. 1,17,8f.; 1,22,1). In the struggle of the orders, elections and the administration of justice did …

[German version] (from dictare, ‘to dictate’, ‘to have recorded in writing’, ‘to arrange’; other etymologies in Cic. Rep. 1,63: quia dicitur). The holder of an exceptional, emergency, comprehensive ─ yet temporary ─ appointment under the Roman Republic. An empowered civil servant, i.e. a consul or if necessary even a praetor, could name a dictator ( dictatorem dicere), theoretically on his own initiative, but in practice after consultation with the Senate and other officials. The dictator would then hold an   imperium limited to six months, free from coll…

[German version] Generally adlocutio means a greeting or address, in literature and rhetoric among other things the type of the personally encouraging or comforting speech (Greek paraínesis) and the direct address of an auditorium by the rhetorician (Greek apostrophḗ: Quint. Inst. 9,2,37, Sen. Ad. Helv. 1,3; Val. Max. 2,7,4; Varro, Ling. 6,57). In political and military life, adlocutio refers to a personal address to the senate, the citizens' assembly or a military assembly (Suet. Tib. 23; Liv. per. 104; Fronto Hout, Verus 132,1: orationes et adlocutiones nostras ad senatum). Often…

[German version] Lat. memoria (Greek mnḗmē) refers to official issuing of documents in the sense of ‘lasting testimonial’ (cf. Aristot. Pol. 1321b 39: mnḗmones). It is accepted that from the time of Augustus an official sphere a memoria existed for the various official activities of the emperor to his court. Its head is, however, not mentioned until the 2nd cent. AD as magister a memoria or magister memoriae; this title survives until late antiquity (ILS 1672; Pan. Lat. 9,11 Baehrens; Cod. Iust. 1,23,7,1). The office head was initially a freedman, later a membe…

[German version] ( duceni = ‘two hundred each’) generally indicates a reference to the number 200, as for example in weights ( duceni pondo = two centenarii/two ‘hundredweight’). In the political sphere, after Sulla's judicial reform (82 BC) ducenarius denoted the 200 judges belonging to the equestrian class in the jury panels (  decuriae ) (Vell. Pat. 2,32,3; Liv. per. 89; Suet. Aug. 32 concerns the Augustan reform). In the Principate the term ducenarius derives from the salary of 200,000 HSS for equestrian officials in the Emperor's service and generally refers to …

(from decuria = a quantity made up of 10 parts, or the tenth part of a quantity) are members of a group of ten or the tenth part of a group (Varro, Ling. 9,86; Vitr. De arch. 7,1,). [German version] [1] Members of an equestrian decuria The members of an equestrian decuria under the orders of a   decurio (Varro Ling. 5,91), and in late antiquity the members of a decuria of foot-soldiers under the orders of a decanus (Veg. Mil. 2,8), are called decuriales. Gizewski, Christian (Berlin) [German version] [2] Groups within the civil service In the Republican period decuriales were members of particu…

[German version] (‘Renunciation’, ‘Rejection’) means in a general sense the renunciation of a duty, habit or conviction, but also the formally underlined rejection like the termination of a friendship, refutation of a vice or the Christian renunciation of pagan gods (Cic. Orat. 2,102; Leo the Gr. Sermo. 72,5). Abdicatio acquired a special meaning in legal language: 1. In constitutional law: the premature resignation of an office (also renuntiatio); this can happen voluntarily for political reasons, especially with dictators and consuls (typical reasons include …

[German version] Correspondence constituted one of the central tasks of the administration; this had to be undertaken within the bounds of the responsibility of a particular authority in an impersonal businesslike manner and in accordance with generally applicable instructions ( officii formae). The term epistula ( Epistle), adopted into Latin administrative terminology from the original Greek, officially referred to a written communication by an authority, delivered to a real addressee. An epistula could result from a previous enquiry, petition, or application by…

[German version] Ceremonial admittance to an audience with the emperor. The responsible office ( admissionales, officium admissionum: Suet. Vesp. 14; Amm. Marc. 15,5,18) were subordinated in the late imperial era to the magister admissionum in the area of the magister officiorum (Cod. Theod. 11,18,1; Not. Dign. or. 11,17). Depending on the sometimes generous (Plin. Pan. 47,3), but usually strictly formal (SHA Alex. Sev. 20) practice of the emperor, visitors were divided into classes for the   salutatio depending on their differing degree of distance to the emperor. The imperial amic…

[German version] The exemption of individual legal persons from the obligations to military service, public service and consent, Lat. immunitas (... vacationem militiae munerisque ... immunitatem appellari: Dig. 50,16,18; Greek atéleia, aneisphoría, aleitourgeisía: Dig. 27,1,6,2), can be based on legal, generally formulated non-inclusion of a circle to which they belong, or on a temporary or long-term personal dispensation (Dig. 50,6: de iure immunitatis; 50,5: de vacatione et excusatione munerum). Depending on the duties in question, the immunitas personae exempted from…

[German version] (literally ‘interim king’). The Roman official who had to conduct the election of a suffectus when someone holding the highest office became incapacitated. The word and the non-collegial nature of the office suggest that it has its origins in the period of kings (Liv. 1,17,12; Cic. Rep. 2,12,23; Plut. Numa 2). In the Republic the interrex intervened when the supreme office became vacant with the death of both consuls ( interregnum) and substitute elections had to be held that for consuls would normally be held by a consul who was still in office. Th…

[German version] The office of the magister equitum (ME) (‘Master of the Cavalry’) was an office assigned to the dictator , and was never an independent office. Like the original designation of the dictator as magister populi (Master of the Infantry) (Cic. Rep. 1,40,63; Varro Ling. 5,82), it contains the word magister (root mag- = ‘head, leader’) and an indication of the original function as cavalry leader ( equites ). The ME was appointed by the dictator as deputy (Liv. 8,32,1-8) for the period of his dictatorship. Appointment by a consul (Cass. Dio 42,21) or by …

[German version] Absence of persons or lack of facts with significant public or civil legal consequences: 1. Absence of a civis Romanus on the   census date, when personal presence is required (Vell. Pat. 2,7,7; exceptions: Gell. NA 5,19,16). Inexcused absentia can cause disadvantageous estimation of assets and class assignment (Cic. Att. 1,18,8), and can also bring sanctions as harsh as the forced sale of assets (Zon. 7,19). 2: The absentia of a candidate for public office during registration as a candidate and also during candidacy. Candidacy assumes personal re…

[German version] The word domain (from the Lat. [ res] dominica through Late Latin domenica, Old French ‘domenie’, ‘domaine’) describes in the Middle Ages and in early modern times, rather more narrowly than the Late Latin original, the ‘feudal’ or ‘allodial real estate’ of a ‘landowner’ (‘noble’) and may denote the property as a whole or a single segment of it. In Roman legal language the res dominica is roughly covered by dominium (Dig. 50,16,195,2; 1,5,20), with the property being taken as plots or other things but possibly also applying to the whole property com…

[German version] The lictores (from ligare = to bind; Greek rhabdoûchos, rhabdophóros = carrier of the rods) were Roman bailiffs ( apparitores ) of the higher magistrates and of some priests (Liv. 1,8.; Lucr. 3,996; 5,1234). They signify the latter's power by carrying the fasces (bundles of rods with the executioner's axe). They are appointed for the term of office of the magistrate or permanently. Their number is determined by the rank of the official (consul 12, praetor 6, more in the Imperial period). Lictores are free-born or freedmen, slaves cannot hold the office (Liv. 2,…

[German version] Members of a community that, having been vanquished in war by Rome, has surrendered unconditionally to the hegemony of the Roman people (  deditio ), and may by a decree of Rome have forfeited its existence as a state. Thus dediticii were all provincial inhabitants ( provinciales) whose community had been dissolved by Rome (Gai. Inst. 1,14): insofar as they had not already acquired Roman or Latin citizenship and been able to retain it, or were now granted it, or autonomous status had not been restored to their community. Diss…

[English version] im Wortsinne “Anbetung”, meint eine bes. respektvolle Anrede, nicht nur das Gebet zu den Göttern (Fest. 162,19). 1. Am röm. Kaiserhof ist a. die von Diokletian nach achäm. und hell. Vorbild im Hofzeremoniell eingeführte fußfällige Begrüßung des Kaisers (προσκύνησις, proskýnēsis: Eutr. 9,26). 2. Pejorativ wird a. als bes. Form höfischer oder auch anderer Schmeichelei ( adulatio) verstanden. 3. Seit Beginn der Kaiserzeit steht a. auch für die Verehrung des genius Augusti und der divi Augusti, die zusammen mit der Dea Roma im Mittelpunkt des röm. Staatsku…

[English version] (von co-optare: “hinzuwählen”) kann u.a. die Aufnahme einer Person in eine Gens, in ein Klientelverhältnis, in einen Verein ( collegium) oder in eine öffentliche Körperschaft ( corpus, corporatio, collegium) bezeichnen (Liv. 2,33,2; Suet. Tib. 1, 1-2; Plin. epist. 4,1,4; Cic. Verr. 2,2,120; Dig. Iust. 50,16,85 tres faciunt collegium; Lex col. Genetivae 67=FIRA 1, 177ff.; SC de collegiis, FIRA 1, 291: coire, convenire, collegiumve habere). Im polit. Bereich bezeichnet c. eine Form legitimer, aber oft außerordentlicher Ergänzungswahl. (1) Schon in …

[English version] (von curiosus “sorgfältig”, “wißbegierig”) werden in der Spätant. Bedienstete des kaiserlichen Hofes aus der Gruppe der bis zu 1300 agentes in rebus genannt (Cod. Iust. 12,20,3), denen verschiedene Spezialaufgaben am Orte der zentralen Reichsregierung, aber auch in den Prov. oder im Ausland übertragen werden. Als Sondergruppe sind die c. als agentes in rebus in curis agendis et evectionibus publici cursus inspiciendis (Cod. Iust. 12,22,2) definiert, die vor allem eine mißbräuchliche Benutzung der Staatspost (Cod. Iust. 12,22,4) zu verhind…

[English version] bezeichnet substantivisch einen ehemaligen consul oder einen Senator, dem die Würde eines ehemaligen consul zuerkannt worden ist, ferner adjektivisch alle Kompetenzen, Ehrenrechte und Pflichten eines amtierenden oder eines ehemaligen consul. Da das Amt des consul das höchste Staatsamt in der Republik und nominell (d.h. eponymisch) auch in der Kaiserzeit ist, kommt auch den gewesenen Consuln eine in der Rede- und Abstimmungsordnung des Senats nach den jeweils amtierenden höchsten Beamten vorgeordnete Rolle zu, vor…