Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

9.6...PRAETOR. PRAETOR.
tion of the hereditas (C2um2 petitor, &c.... praeizt- the armies-, he exercised their functions withili the
diciurn hereditati facist). Compare Gaius Dig. city. Ile was a Magistratus Curulis and he had
10. tit. 2. s. 1; and see PRAEJUDICIUMI). the Imperinmn, and consequently was one of the
-Savigny shows that in the legislation of Jus- Magistratus Majores: but he owed respect and
tinian, Praescriptio and Exceptio are identical and obedience to the consuls. (Polyb. xxxiii. 1.) His
that either term can be used indifferently. He insignia of office were six lictors, whence he- is
observes that the Praescriptiones which in the old called by Polybius'jye/dbV' or Tr'par-lybs'a7rEAeform of procedure were introduced into the formula ecus, and sometimes simply sa7re'XEAsvs. Plutarch
for the benefit of the defendant, were properly Ex- (S&dll, 5) uses the expression o'rpaemyia 7r0XLlK7,T.
ceptiones, and it was merely an accident that cer- At a later period the Praetor had only two lictors
tainl Exceptiones were placed before the intentio in Rome. (Censorinus, c. 24.) The praetorship
instead of being placed at the end of the formula, was at first given to a consul of the preceding year
as was the usual practice. Subsequently, as ap- as appears from Livy. L. Papirius was praetor
pears from Gaius, only the Praescriptiones pro after being consul. (Liv. x. 47.)
actore were prefixed to the formula; and those In the year n. c. 246 another Praetor was appro reo were placed at the end, and they retained, pointed, whose business was to administer justice
though improperly, the name of Praescriptiones. in matters in dispute between peregrini, or pereThus Exceptio and Praescriptio camne to be used as grini and Roman citizens; and accordingly he was
equivalent terms, a circumstance to which the disuse called Praetor Peregrinus. (Dig. i. tit. 2. s. 28.)
of the Ordo judiciorum contributed. Yet in the The other Praetor was then called Praetor Urbanus
case of particular exceptiones, one or other of the " (qui jus inter cives dicit," and sometimes simply
names was most in use, and the indiscriminate Praetor Urbanus and Praetor Urbis. The two
employment of them was an exception to the Praetors determined by lot which functions they
general rule. The prevalence of one or the other should respectively exercise. If either of them
name in particular cases is easily explained: thus, was at the head of the army, the other performed
the Doli and Rei Judicatae Exceptiones were al- all the duties of both within the city. Somefways at the end of the Formula, and the Temporis times the military imperium of a Praetor was pro,
and Fori Praescriptiones in earlier times were longed for a second year. When the territories of
placed at the beginning. Savigny adds that in the state were extended beyond the limits of
modern times Praescriptio has acquired the sense Italy, new praetors were made. Thus two praeof Usucapion, but this is never the sense of the tors were created B. c. 227, for the administration
word Praescriptio in the Roman law. Though of Sicily and Sardinia, and two more were added
Exceptio and Praescriptio came to be used as when the two Spanish provinces were formed B. c.
equivalent, yet neither Exceptio nor Praescriptio 197. When there were six praetors, two stayed
is used in the sense of Temporis praescriptio with- in the city, and the other four went abroad.
out the addition of the words Temporis, Temporalis, (Liv. xlv. 44). The Senate determined their
triginta annorum, &c. (Savigny, Systems, &c. iv. provinces, which were distributed among them by
309, v. 163.) [G. L.] lot. (Liv. xxxii. 27, 28.) After the discharge of
PRAESES. [PROVINCIA.] his judicial functions in the city, a Praetor often
PRAESUL. [SALIo.] had the administration of a province with the title
PRAETE'RITI SENATO'RES. [SENATUS.] of Propraetor, and sometimes with the title of ProPRAETEXTA. [ToGA.] consul. Sulla increased the number of Praetors
PRAETOR. According to Cicero (de Leg. iii. 3) to eight, which Julius Caesar raised successively to
Proaetor was a title which designated the consuls ten, twelve, fourteen, and sixteen. (Dion Cassius,
as the leaders of the armies of the state; and he xlii. 51, xliii. 51, and the notes of ReiInarus.)
considers the word to contain the same elemental Augustus after several changes fixed the number
pIarts as the verb praeire. The period and office of at twelve. Under Tiberius there were sixteen.
the command of the consuls might appropriately be Two praetors were appointed by Claudius for muat
called Praetorium. (Liv. viii. 11.) Praetor was ters relating to Fideicommissa, when the business
also a title of office among the Latins: and it is in this department of the law had become conthe name which Livy gives to the strategus of the siderable, but Titus reduced the number to one;
Achaeans. and Nerva added a Praetor for the decision of
The first praetor specially so called was ap- matters between the Fiscus and individuals.
pointed in the year B. C. 366, and he was chosen "Thus," says Pomponlius, speaking of his own
only from the Patricians, who had this new office time, " eighteen praetors adclinister justice -(jus
created as a kind of indemnification to themselves dicZunt) in the State." (Dig. 1. tit. 2. s. 34.) M.
for being compelled to share the consulship with Aurelius, according to Capitolinus (Al. Ant. c. 10),
the Plebeians. (Liv. vi. 42, vii. 1.) No Plebeian appointed a Praetor for matters relating to tutela,
praetor was appointed till the year B. c. 337. The which must have taken place after Pomponius
Praetor was called collega consulibus, and was wrote. [PANDECTAE.] The main duties of the
elected with the same auspices at the Comitia -Praetors were judicial, and it appears that it was
Celturiata. The consuls were elected first, and found necessary from time to time to increase their
then the praetors. (Liv. xlv. 44.) number, and to assign to them special departments
The Praetorship was originally a kind of third of the adlministration of justice.
consulship, and the chief functions of the praetor Sometimes, extraordinarv duties were imposed
(jues ine urbe dicere, Liv. vi. 42; jzra sleddere, Liv. on them, as in the case of the Psaetor Peregrinus
vii. 1) were a portion of the functions of the con- (B. C. 144) who was commissioned by a Senatussels, who according to the passage of Cicero above consultum to look after the repair of'certain uaquereferred to, were also called judices a judicando. ducts and to prevent the improper use of the water.
qThe praetor sometimes commanded the armies of (Frontilums, De A quaedlct, lib. 1.)
the state; and while the consuls were absent with The Praetor Urbanus was specially named