The Augustan Revolution
roughlydescribedastheintroductionintothecityof Romeofthesystem
of‘‘investigation’’(cognitio)^63 byarepublicanprovincialgovernor,cannotbe
discussedhere.Butitmustbeemphasisedthatwehaveexcellentevidence,
whichseemstobeneglectedbothinbooksonJuliusCaesar^64 andinthoseon
thelegalprocedureofthelateRepublic,^65 thatCaesarasdictatorexerciseda
routinepersonaljurisdictioninRome—‘‘headministeredjusticemostcon-
scientiouslyandmostseverely,’’asSuetoniusrecords(Div. Jul.).Thegen-
eralizationisconfirmedbytwoanecdotes.ValeriusMaximus(,)tellsa
storyofGalba,‘‘whodaredtoaccostthedeifiedCaesarinthismannerwhen
thelatter,hisvictoriesaccomplished,wasdispensingjusticeintheforum.’’
Fromthesameperiod,afterMunda,Seneca(De benef.,)recordsaninci-
dentwhenaveteranofCaesar’sarmywasengagedinacasebeforehimwhich
concernednothingmorethanadisputebetweenhimselfandhisneighbour.
Itisclearthatthefactthatthemanwasaveteranwasnotthereasonwhythe
casecametoCaesar.Foritisonlyinthemiddleoftheproceedingsthathe
succeedsinestablishinghisidentityassuch,andhencehisclaimtoabene-
faction.Caesarisdescribedas‘‘angrybecausedivertedinthemiddleofthe
investigationbythisoldstory.’’Sotheprocedurewasthatofcognitio,andthe
point at issue an entirely insignificant matter. (Whether it was a civil ora
criminalcaseisnotentirelyclear.)
Whetheritresultsfromthelimitednatureofoursourcesornot,itisa
factwhichhasnotyetreceiveditsdueemphasisthatthereisverylittleevi-
dence fora routine personal jurisdiction by theTriumvirs in minor, non-
politicalmatters,andnoneatallforitsexerciseinRome.Theevidenceof
TriumviraljurisdictionotherthanoverRomanpoliticalenemiesinfactall
relatestoAntonius.Plutarch’sLiferecords‘‘thatinhisjudicialdecisionshe
was reasonable’’ (), and that he often gave judgement ‘‘seated on a tri-
bunal’’ to tetrarchs and kings (). An example, illustrating the confusion
. Not‘‘cognitioextraordinem,’’anexpressionwhich,asindicatedinJRS():
, is a grammatical monstrosity, since ‘‘extra ordinem’’ (out of order) is an adverbial
phrase,whichcanqualifyvariousverbsincluding‘‘cognoscere’’(toinvestigate),butisnot
foundasanadjectivalphrase.Themodernuseofthepseudo-concept‘‘cognitioextraordi-
nem,’’eveninthetitlesofbooks—somearelistedinM.Kaser,Das römische Zivilprozessrecht
(),—isaclassicinstanceoftheprocessofnominalizationbrilliantlydiscussedby
D.Daube,Roman Law: Linguistic,Social and Philosophical Aspects(),chap..
. Notraceofthequestionintheexcellentworkof M.Gelzer,Caesar: Politician and
Statesman().
. EvenA.H.J.Greenidge,The Legal Procedure of Cicero’s Time(),containsnodis-
cussionofthejurisdictionofCaesarasdictator.