Page:The Referendum and the Recall Among the Ancient Romans (Abbott, 1915, hvd.32044080048069).pdf/7

Rh would have found the aspirations, ideals, and attitude toward life of the native Romans not unlike his own.

To discuss intelligently the topic which we have in hand, the development of the referendum and the recall among the Romans, it will be necessary to bear in mind some features of their system of government during the last century or two of the Republic.

Almost all Roman magistrates, it will be remembered, held office for a year only. They were grouped in colleges or boards, which comprised from two to forty members. Some of them were primarily executive officials, others judges. They were all chosen by popular suffrage.

Those who had held magistracies became, by virtue of that fact, members of the senate. This organization was the oldest lawmaking body in Rome, but as democratic sentiment developed more and more, the people made good their claim to a larger share in legislation. With this change in method we are especially concerned here in discussing the development of the referendum. In the earliest days it had been the custom of the king, not only to consult the elders in the senate but also to ask for the approval of the people, assembled in the comitium, when the question of declaring an offensive war, or some other matter vitally affecting the community, had arisen. One of these two bodies represented the mos maiorum; in the other the current opinion of the day could be had. It was the perennial struggle between aristocracy and democracy, or to adopt the shibboleth of to-day, between those who enjoyed special privilege and the people. The duel was a long, fierce one. It last for centuries. When the patrician aristocracy had been worsted, its place in the lists was taken by the nobility. The ultimate outcome was the democratic Empire of Cæsar and his successors. Without implying that the referendum and the recall contributed largely to this result, they were at least milestones marking the progress of democracy toward this goal.

In early days, as we have seen, only measures vitally affecting the community were submitted to the people; later, proposals of a less important character also were brought before them. As yet all bills required the approval of the senate to become laws, but by legislation of the fourth century, and notably