ProQuest Dissertations - Historia Antigua

consuls, not praetors, were the officials who presided over the elections: for thefoundation of Interamna (313-312) the consuls of 312, M. Valerius and P. Decius, wereordered to create commissioners; 23 and for the supplement of Narnia (199), the consul, L.Cornelius, was charged with this task. 24Since there is no consistency in the magistratechosen to preside over the elections, whether among Latin or citizen colonies orsupplements or even over time, there must not have been a single, prescribed model onwhich to base the provisions of the leges coloniae. Rather, they seem to have been adhoc measures; this suggests that the magistrate who proposed the colonial foundationmight have had a great deal of influence over its stipulations of the colony's legal status,region, and size. 25As for the election of the commissioners, Gargola postulates that the membershipof the commission may have been largely determined by the presiding magistratesLivy uses creare, the commissioners' names are always in the nominative with a passive participle or verb(Livy 32.2.6-7, 32.29.3-4, 34.53.1-2, 37.46.9-47.2, 39.23.3-4 (with presiding magistrate designated by ab +ablative), 39.55.5-6,40.43.1) and/or Livy names the official who held the elections, with the official's namein nominative, an active form of creare, and triumviros, acsim., in accusative (Livy 9.28.7-8, 10.21.7-10,32.2.6-7, 37.46.9-47.2). Otherwise, the commissioners are listed as the men who deduxerunt the colonistsac sim. Based on Livy's use of creare with presiding magistrates in a way that indicates that thesemagistrates conducted elections for some of the colonies, I think the use of creare in the passive as appliedto the commissioners where the presiding magistrate is not specified should also indicate that electionsoccurred. Cf. Gargola (1995), p. 58 for these magistrates overseeing elections by the comitia tributa. Seealso Feig Vishnia (1996), p. 145 and her discussion of Willems 2.675-683 and his assertion that, while thecommissioners must have been elected for citizen colonies, the senate could appoint the commissioners forLatin colonies. There is insufficient differentiation between the uses of creare in the context of Latin versuscitizen colonies to support this assertion. There is also insufficient evidence that the decision to send asupplement to a colony rested with the senate alone (see Feig Vishnia p. 145 with references).23 Livy 9.28.7-8.24 Livy 32.2.6-7.25 Cf. Gargola (1995), p. 56: "Thus, the official who proposed a colony chose its size, and thus its legalstatus, from a restricted range of options, probably depending on the purpose of the new community, itslocation, and the mood of the surrounding population."103