Page:The Referendum and the Recall Among the Ancient Romans (Abbott, 1915, hvd.32044080048069).pdf/10

8 Gaius, ten years later, in the measure which he introduced for social reform, and by the democratic leaders, Mamilius, Appuleius, and Sulpicius, in the years from 122 to 88 But with the dictatorship of Sulla a reaction came. The exclusive right of the senate to initiate legislation was reaffirmed. The rising tide of democratic sentiment, however, broke down this bulwark of conservatism ten years, and from 70 to the downfall of the Republic almost every year witnessed the passage of measures by direct legislation, without the approval, and indeed against the bitter opposition, of the senate. Among them were the bills which gave Pompey his extraordinary commissions to carry on the wars against the pirates and against Mithridates, and conferred on Cæsar his provinces in the North. It was the grant of these unprecedented powers which prepared the way for the coming of the Empire.

The recall had a shorter history. It is confined mainly to the last century of the Republic. To understand how it came into existence, one must bear in mind the Roman theory of the magistracy. In modern times our elective officials are delegates, like the members of our Electoral College, or they are entrusted with large discretionary powers, like our executive officers and the members of the Congress. In very early times neither of these corresponded to the Roman conception of the magistracy. For the Roman the powers of the magistrate were coördinate with those of the people. However, as the theory gradually developed that the people were the sole source of authority, the doctine of the responsibility of magistrates found its advocates. Two serious obstacles stood in the way of the full acceptance of this view. One difficulty lay in the fact that a magistrate, on taking up his duties, was vested with absolute power, the imperium, as the Romans called it, and the removal from office of such an official is unthinkable. But, like other autocrats, the Roman magistrate had to respect tradition, and traditional limitations on the exercise of his authority grew with time and became a part of the constitution, so that his powers were materially restricted and his prestige lowered. The importance of his office was also serious affected by the establihsment of the tribunate and by the right which the incumbents of that