Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/59

Rh they could be prosecuted for official miscouduct only by their successors.

The Aediles. — Just as the tribunate was modeled on the consulship, so the aedileship was modeled on the quaestorship. The aediles were two in number and served for one year. They were inviolable like the tribunes, and acted as their assistants. Under their direction they made arrests, inquired into appeals for intercession, and executed sentences in criminal cases. Independently they investigated minor cases involving a fine; and, if the defendants appealed, they carried the prosecution before the plebeian assembly. They had charge of the plebeian archives in the temple of Ceres.

The Court of Ten. — As a rule the plebeian institutions did not interfere with the civil jurisdiction. But a court of ten men (judices decemviri, later decemviri stlitibus judicandis) was established, probably in 494, for the trial of cases involving personal freedom or slavery. Such cases were of the greatest importance to the plebeians, who in general had descended from slaves, and could apparently appeal to no law limiting the duration of ownership in slaves and their descendants. The judges were inviolable, and may have been appointed by the tribunes.

Organization and Powers of the Plebeian Assembly. — The plebeian assembly (concilium plebis) was in 494 organized according to curies. It consisted of all the plebeians and clients belonging to the curies, but the patricians were excluded. Probably manhood suffrage prevailed.

The assembly had the power to elect tribunes and aediles, and to pass resolutions (plebiscita) which were practically binding in the case of plebeians. Other resolutions were simply petitions. Its decisions in criminal