1 gen 366 anni a. C. - Office of Praetor Established

Descrizione:

Livy explains that in the year 366 BC the praetura was set up to relieve the consuls of their judicial duties. The first man to be elected to the new praetura was the patrician Spurius Furius, the son of Marcus Furius Camillus, in exchange for the election of Lucius Sextius, plebeian leader, as one of the consuls for the year. Partisan politics greatly influenced the outcome of elections. The praetor was, in an English sense, the chief justice, and yet more than that. The consuls were his peers; he was elected by the same electorate and sworn in on the same day with the same oath. (The Comitia Centuriata elected consuls and praetors.) Until 337 BC the praetor was chosen only from among the patricians. In that year eligibility for the praetura was opened to the plebeians, and one of them, Quintus Publilius Philo, won the office.

From then on, praetors appear frequently in Roman history, first as generals and judges, then as provincial governors. Beginning in the late Republic, a former Praetor could serve as a Propraetor ("in place of the Praetor") and act as the governor of one of Rome's provinces.