L’auctoritas à Rome. Une notion constitutive de la culture politique

Studies on Republican Rome and the early Empire have highlighted the notion of “political culture”, defined as a mode of legitimation that involved images, rituals and acts. Decision-making in the assemblies and the Senate has been the subject of studies that go beyond issues of public law. The question of qualifications for exercising power has given rise to reflections on intellectual skills such as law, but also on sociological skills, levels of wealth, the support of clients, prestige. One key element has not yet received the analysis it deserves. Political actors were defined by their actions and their status, but the authority – auctoritas – which made it possible for them to prevail in decision-making has not yet been the subject of a satisfactory study. This quality was embodied in individuals, but it was also granted to institutions, such as the Senate. Statements and standards that were based on it were so compelling that they were immediately acted upon. The studies gathered in this publication share the view that auctoritas was a bonus, conferring superiority on any individual or group that possessed such a quality which structured behaviours.