THE POWER OF THE CONSULS IN THE ROMAN CONSTITUTION

After having expelled the Etruscan kings, Rome underwent a revolution in the organization of its political power.Roman never tolerated to have the supreme power in the hands of only one person, and split the supreme prerogative among two officials: the consuls. Rome's government had features deriving from other forms of government: it seems to me that the two consuls do not only recall the monarchy but, more specifically, the Spartan dyarchy. The senate reminds the aristocratic assemblies and the assemblies of the comitia centuriata, are the expression of the will of the people gathered to form an army.Consuls had extensive capacities in peacetime (administrative, legislative and judicial), and in wartime often held the highest military command. Consuls also read auguries, an essential step before leading armies into the field.Two consuls were elected each year, serving together, each with veto power over the other's actions. Consuls were elected by the Comitia Centuriata in the campus Martius and reflected their election based on the people organized in centuriae, that is to say on the basis of their contribution to the army.To be a consul was considered the highest level of the Roman magistracy and of the cursus honorum that started with the Quaestura and the Praetura.The consuls were also the leaders of the legions and had the imperium which is the military command exercised on the army outside the pomerium.However, to contain the risk of dying in battle, normally only one consul led the legions in battle , while the other remained in power in rome. If one of the consul died or was removed from his office, it was replaced by another magistrate called consul suffectus who served for the remainder of the term.