The end of local magistrates in the Roman Empire

  • Leonard A. Curchin University of Waterloo, Canadá
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_GERI.2014.v32.46676
Keywords: Cursus honorum, Late Roman Empire, Roman administration, Roman cities, Roman government, Roman magistrates

Abstract

Previous studies of the status of local magistrates in the Late Empire are unsatisfying and fail to explain when and why local magistracies ended. With the aid of legal, epigraphic, papyrological and literary sources, the author re-examines the functions and chronology of both regular and quasi-magistrates, among them the curator, defensor and pater civitatis. He finds that the expense of office-holding was only part of the reason for the extinction of regular magistracies. More critical was the failure of local magistrates to control finances and protect the plebeians.

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How to Cite
Curchin L. A. (2014). The end of local magistrates in the Roman Empire. Gerión. Revista de Historia Antigua, 32, 271-287. https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_GERI.2014.v32.46676
Issue
Vol. 32 (2014)
Section
Varia

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