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45-545: The origin of the popular assembly is uncertain. Assemblies of free men were already in existence in the 6th–7th centuries in various cities of maritime Venice for the election of local magistrates (or tribunes ). Although the Venetian traditions called for a general meeting of Venetians, in 697 the appointment of the first Doge, Paolo Lucio Anafesto , would have been the prerogative of the Byzantine Emperor through

90-468: A cavalry vexillatio . As tribounos , the title survived in the East Roman army until the early 7th century. From the use of tribunus to describe various military officers is derived the word tribunal , originally referring to a raised platform used to address the soldiers or administer justice. Military tribunes are featured in notable works of historical fiction, including Ben-Hur: A Tale of

135-628: A great majority of the citizens and provoking some unrest. In 1308, during Gradenigo's reign as doge, Venice became involved in war with the Papacy over the control of Ferrara and on 27 March 1309 the Republic was excommunicated by Pope Clement V , barring all Christians from trading with Venice. The Doge's policy, seen by many as disastrous, led to a plot to depose him and the Great Council, led by Bajamonte Tiepolo and other members of

180-461: A senatorial career. Each tribune would be assigned to command a portion of the Roman army, subordinate to the magistrates and promagistrates appointed by the senate, and their legates. Within each of the legions , various middle-ranking officers were also styled tribune . These officers included: In the late Roman army, a tribunus was a senior officer, sometimes called a comes , who commanded

225-705: A serious blow with the Fall of Acre , the last Crusader stronghold in the mainland, to the Mamluks of Egypt in 1291. The war between Venice and Genoa began in 1294, and Venice sustained some serious losses: it lost a naval battle; its possessions in Crete were pillaged; and the Byzantine emperor, Andronikos II , arrested many Venetians in Constantinople . In response, the Venetian fleet sacked Galata and threatened

270-566: Is unclear what role that the Assembly had at the time in the coronation of coreggenti, and whether it could exert some form of confirmation of their appointment. However between the 8th and 11th centuries, there were at least fifteen coreggenti that were associated with the throne. This chaotic phase was resolved in 1032 when the Concio refused to recognize the coronation of Domenico Orseolo and appointed Flabanico Domenico in his place. At this time

315-642: The Exarchate of Ravenna . The first actual election was probably that of the third Doge, Orso Ipato , when in 726 the Venetians, rejecting measures imposed by iconoclasts of the ' Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian , chose their own leadership autonomously. Upon the death of Orso however, the Byzantines replaced the government with a ducal courts annually in the magistri militum until 742 when

360-635: The Luceres, were each headed by a tribune, who represented each tribe in civil, religious, and military matters. Subsequently, each of the Servian tribes was also represented by a tribune. Under the Roman Kingdom , the tribunus celerum , in English tribune of the celeres, or tribune of the knights , was commander of the king's personal bodyguard, known as the celeres . This official

405-613: The Roman Empire , the tribunes continued to be elected, but had lost their independence and most of their practical power. The office became merely a step in the political careers of plebeians who aspired toward a seat in the senate. The tribuni militum, known in English as military tribunes or literally, tribunes of the soldiers , were elected each year along with the annual magistrates. Their number varied throughout Roman history, but eventually reached twenty-four. These were usually young men in their late twenties, who aspired to

450-548: The Roman army , subordinate to higher magistrates, such as the consuls and praetors , promagistrates , and their legates . Various officers within the Roman army were also known as tribunes. The title was also used for several other positions and classes in the course of Roman history. The word tribune is derived from the Roman tribes . The three original tribes known as the Ramnes or Ramnenses , Tities or Titienses, and

495-466: The monarchy from being an elective into a hereditary arrangement. One strategy chosen was to circumvent the electoral power of the Concio by associating the throne with a co-regent , also called co-Dux, selected from children or close relatives. This person would, on the death of the Doge, automatically succeed him, with the co-regent being already on the throne and thus in a position of strength. It

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540-509: The Christ , by Lew Wallace , and The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas . Both novels involve characters affected by the life and death of Jesus , and were turned into epic films during the 1950s. Messala, the primary antagonist in Ben-Hur , was played by Stephen Boyd , while Marcellus Gallio, the protagonist of The Robe , was played by a young Richard Burton . In 445 BC, the tribunes of

585-501: The Concio enacted the first law of the Constitutional Republic. This law forbade the practice of association to the throne, separated the perpetual Orseoli from the government, and provided two ducal councilors for the Doge, to constantly supervise his actions. After this period the Concio in effect was the supreme arbiter of the state. It now faced the need to create permanent organizations that were able to replace

630-466: The Concio lost significant control over the appointment of the doge. From that, the seven electors from this nominated no longer directly choose the Doge: they instead began to raffle four with the task of appointing the forty ducal actual voters. The Council of Forty sold out the task and then remained in power as an assembly of the government and as a supreme court . In 1207 the appointment of members of

675-427: The Great Council was entrusted to a small group of three voters and then subsequently increased to seven in 1230. A consequence of this choices was that the aristocratic part increased in these municipal bodies. The status quo of popular power supported by an aristocratic power cracked in 1286 when two attempts, rejected, to foreclose access to the Great Council families popular, marked the opening of hostilities between

720-573: The Infantry, also known as the Praetor Maximus or dictator , and his lieutenant, the magister equitum or "Master of the Horse". The tribuni plebis , known in English as tribunes of the plebs, tribunes of the people, or plebeian tribunes, were instituted in 494 BC, after the first secession of the plebs , to protect the interests of the plebeians against the actions of the senate and

765-509: The Latin term tribunatus , meaning the office or term of a Roman tribunus (see above), was a collective organ of the young revolutionary French Republic composed of members styled tribun (the French for tribune), which, despite the apparent reference to one of ancient Rome's prestigious magistratures, never held any real political power as an assembly, its individual members no role at all. It

810-464: The People survived only as a formal meeting at dell'acclamazione under the new Doge that was elected. The body still presented the crowd with a ritual phrase: The meeting was at this point useless and officially abolished in 1423. However, the custom of ritual request for approval to the people remained in use until the fall of the Republic in 1797. Tribunes Tribune ( Latin : Tribunus )

855-509: The Senate from the list of citizens from 25 years up, and annually one fifth was renewed for a five-year term. When it opposed the first parts of Bonaparte's proposed penal code, he made the Senate nominate 20 new members at once to replace the 20 first opponents to his politic; they accepted the historically important reform of penal law. As the Tribunate opposed new despotic projects, he got

900-460: The Senate in year X to allow itself to dissolve the Tribunate. In XIII it was further downsized to 50 members. On August 16, 1807, it was abolished and never revived. Pietro Gradenigo Pietro Gradenigo (1251 – 13 August 1311) was the 49th Doge of Venice , reigning from 1289 to his death. When he was elected Doge, he was serving as the podestà of Capodistria in Istria. Venice suffered

945-628: The State was sanctioned by the Veneciarum Commune ("City of Venice") documents. The first step that marked the beginning of the decline of the power of Concio occurred in 1172. At this time, the Consilium Sapientium, became the Great Council and was entrusted with the ordinary legislative power. Also at this time, it decided to entrust the election ducal seven elected by voters. A second event came six years later in 1178 when

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990-507: The annual magistrates, who were uniformly patrician . The ancient sources indicate the tribunes may have originally been two or five in number. If the former, the college of tribunes was expanded to five in 470 BC. Either way, the college was increased to ten in 457 BC, and remained at this number throughout Roman history. They were assisted by two aediles plebis , or plebeian aediles. Only plebeians were eligible for these offices, although at least two exceptions existed. The tribunes of

1035-463: The aristocratic families. On 15 June 1310, the coup failed and its leaders were severely punished. Tiepolo's plot led to the creation of the Council of Ten , initially as a temporary institution, which later evolved into the permanent body which in reality governed the Republic. On 13 August 1311, Gradenigo died, and, since Venice was under interdict and the religious ceremonies could not be held, he

1080-583: The blind daughter of "a man with tribunician power" ( vir tribunicae potestatis ). Being that the Roman Empire had withdrawn from Britain in AD 410, the use of this term may imply a continuation of some form of local Roman political system. There exists the possibility that this tribune had commanded a unit of the Roman army which had disbanded after the break with Rome, and was now occupying a more locally-granted appointment to help manage his city's defences. In

1125-412: The city itself, as well as a radius of one mile around. They had no power to affect the actions of provincial governors. The powers of the tribunes were severely curtailed during the constitutional reforms of the dictator Sulla in 81 BC. Although many of these powers were restored in further reforms of 75 BC and 70 BC, the prestige and authority of the tribunes had been irreparably damaged. In 48 BC,

1170-441: The consuls. The first tribuni militum consulare potestate , or military tribunes with consular power , were elected for the year 444. Although plebeians were eligible for this office, each of the first "consular tribunes" was a patrician. Military tribunes were elected in place of the consuls in half the years from 444 to 401 BC, and in each instance, all of the tribunes were patricians; nor did any plebeian succeed in obtaining

1215-519: The consulship. The number of tribunes increased to four beginning in 426, and six beginning in 405. At last, the plebeians elected four of their number military tribunes for the year 400; others were elected in 399, 396, 383, and 379. But apart from these years, no plebeian obtained the highest offices of the Roman State. The patricians' monopoly on power was finally broken by Gaius Licinius Calvus Stolo and Lucius Sextius Lateranus , tribunes of

1260-615: The dictator Marcus Furius Camillus , the senate conceded the battle, and passed the Licinian Rogations . Sextius was elected the first plebeian consul, followed by Licinius two years later; and with this settlement, the consular tribunes were abolished. The exact nature of the Tribuni Aerarii , or Tribunes of the Treasury is shrouded in mystery. Originally they seem to have been tax collectors, but this power

1305-464: The early history of the Republic of Venice , during the tenure of the sixth Doge Domenico Monegario , Venice instituted a dual Tribunal modeled on the above Roman institution - two new Tribunes being elected each year, with the intention to oversee the Doge and prevent abuse of power (though this aim was not always successfully achieved). The " Tribunat ", the French word for tribunate, derived from

1350-413: The emperor formally granted the populate the right to elect the Doge. The power of the assembly at this time had yet be precisely defined and author John Deacon reports that in 887 Doge Giovanni Participazio II had to reaffirm that it was the responsibility of the people's assembly to elect the Doge. Despite the power delegated to the Concio, over time several dukes tried to change the assembly, turning

1395-643: The imperial palace of Blachernae , but in 1298 they lost again - this time at Curzola . Eventually, in 1299 the two republics signed a peace treaty. Doge Gradenigo was responsible for the so-called Serrata del Maggior Consiglio , the "locking" or "closing" of the Great Council of Venice . This new law, passed in February 1297, restricted membership of the future Councils only to the descendants of those nobles who were its members between 1293 and 1297. This move created an oligarchic system, disenfranchising

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1440-466: The last Roman king, this office was held by Lucius Junius Brutus , the king's nephew, and thus the senior member of the king's household, after the king himself and his sons. It was Brutus who convened the comitia and asked that they revoke the king's imperium. After the fall of the monarchy, the powers of the tribune of the celeres were divided between the Magister Militum , or Master of

1485-411: The legality of the action before a magistrate could proceed. This power also allowed the tribunes to forbid, or veto any act of the senate or another assembly. Only a dictator was exempt from these powers. The tribunicia potestas , or tribunician power, was limited because it was derived from the people's oath to defend the tribunes. This limited most of the tribunes' actions to the boundaries of

1530-419: The people, who in 376 BC brought forward legislation demanding not merely that one of the consuls might be a plebeian, but that henceforth one must be chosen from their order. When the senate refused their demand, the tribunes prevented the election of annual magistrates for five years, before relenting and permitting the election of consular tribunes from 370 to 367. In the end, and with the encouragement of

1575-403: The plebs had the power to convene the concilium plebis , or plebeian assembly, and propose legislation before it. Only one of the tribunes could preside over this assembly, which had the power to pass laws affecting only the plebeians, known as plebiscita , or plebiscites. After 287 BC, the decrees of the concilium plebis had the effect of law over all Roman citizens. By the 3rd century BC,

1620-405: The plebs succeeded in passing the lex Canuleia , repealing the law forbidding the intermarriage of patricians and plebeians, and providing that one of the consuls might be a plebeian. Rather than permit the consular dignity to pass into the hands of a plebeian, the senate proposed a compromise whereby three military tribunes, who might be either patrician or plebeian, should be elected in place of

1665-439: The previous ducal power structures. At the same time, the ancient noble families were no longer committed to push for a hereditary sovereign and began to form, along with other prominent families, a class of aristocrats able to influence and direct the city politics. In 1143, the city installed its first Consilium Sapientium, who was appointed by and responsible to support the Doge permanently in government. The new communal form of

1710-401: The sacrosanctity of the tribunes might be killed without penalty. This was also the source of the tribunes' power, known as ius intercessionis, or intercessio, by which any tribune could intercede on behalf of a Roman citizen to prohibit the act of a magistrate or other official. Citizens could appeal the decisions of the magistrates to the tribunes, who would then be obliged to determine

1755-434: The senate granted tribunician powers ( tribunicia potestas , powers equivalent to those of a tribune without actually being one) to the dictator Julius Caesar . Caesar used them to prevent the other tribunes interfering with his actions. In 23 BC, the senate granted the same power to Augustus , the first Roman emperor , and from that point onwards it was regularly granted to each emperor as part of their formal titles . Under

1800-484: The tribunes could also convene and propose legislation before the senate. Although sometimes referred to as "plebeian magistrates," technically the tribunes of the plebs were not magistrates, having been elected by the plebeians alone, and not the whole Roman people. However, they were sacrosanct , and the whole body of the plebeians were pledged to protect the tribunes against any assault or interference with their persons during their terms of office. Anyone who violated

1845-541: The two factions. Rejected again in 1296, with difficulty, the proposed Serrata was finally approved at the urging of the Doge Pietro Gradenigo on 28 February 1297. After these events, in 1300 and in 1310 a plot of Marin Bocconio and Tiepolo attempted a restoration of the people. However, these failed and the aristocratic form of the state was now a reality. Deprived of any real power, the Concio of

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1890-624: Was instituted by Napoleon I Bonaparte 's Constitution of the Year VIII "in order to moderate the other powers" by discussing every legislative project, sending its orateurs ("orators", i.e. spokesmen) to defend or attack them in the Corps législatif , and asking the Senate to overturn "the lists of eligibles, the acts of the Legislative Body and those of the government" on account of unconstitutionality. Its 100 members were designated by

1935-433: Was second only to the king, and had the authority to pass law, known as lex tribunicia , and to preside over the comitia curiata . Unless the king himself elected to lead the cavalry into battle, this responsibility fell to the tribune of the celeres. In theory he could deprive the king of his imperium , or authority to command, with the agreement of the comitia curiata . In the reign of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus ,

1980-464: Was slowly lost to other officials. By the end of the Republic, this style belonged to a class of persons slightly below the equites in wealth. When the makeup of Roman juries was reformed in 70 BC, it was stipulated that one-third of the members of each jury should belong to this class. In his Vita Germani , a hagiography of St. Germanus of Auxerre , Constantius of Lyon writes that during his visit to Britain in AD 429, Germanus miraculously healed

2025-478: Was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome . The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes . For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the authority of the senate and the annual magistrates , holding the power of ius intercessionis to intervene on behalf of the plebeians , and veto unfavourable legislation. There were also military tribunes , who commanded portions of

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