Tribune

I

Introduction

Tribune, official title of several kinds of ancient Roman public officials, the most important of whom were military and people's tribunes.

II

Military Tribunes

In the traditional organization of Roman citizens, the leader of the warriors furnished by each of the three Roman tribes was called tribunus clerum, or commander of the horsemen. From 444 to 367 bc, military tribunes with consular power were frequently elected in place of the regular magistrates or consuls. In the time of the Roman Republic, six military tribunes served as senior officers of the Roman legions. After 362 bc they were elected annually by the people in the comitia tributa, or assembly of tribes. The number was gradually increased to 24, and more could be nominated by the consuls. Toward the end of the republic, however, actual command in the field was entrusted to a skilled officer, and the tribunes were retained as an honorary staff of the general. In the sequence of public offices, the military tribuneship was a means of advancement to higher posts.

III

People's Tribunes

In the early period all the perquisites and prerogatives of government in Rome were controlled by the patricians, while the plebs, constituting the majority of the people, had only the burdens of taxation and military service. This condition was partly remedied by the rebellion of the plebs in 494 bc, when they won the right to choose their own magistrates, called tribuni plebis, to represent their special interests. The number was perhaps originally two, but by 450 bc it had been increased to ten.

The people's tribunes enjoyed three important privileges: the right to defend a member of the plebs on any charge; the right to veto any measure proposed by the Roman Senate; and personal inviolability during their terms of office. These tribunes gradually extended political rights to all the people. The first Roman emperor, Augustus, invested himself with the tribune's office, thus acquiring sacrosanctity for his person; tribunician power was held by all later emperors. The office itself then lost its importance, although it existed until dissolution of the Roman Empire in the 5th century ad.

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