ProQuest Dissertations - Historia Antigua

command extended into a pro-magistracy by a vote of the senate. The first recordedinstance of a pro-magistracy was in 326 BCE when Q. Publilius Philo was voted aprorogatio imperii in order to finish his capture of Naples. 7The titles of the powersinvolved were imperium pro consule or pro praetore, and these positions granted all ofthe powers previously held by the general as consul or praetor. This includes the duties toenroll troops if not already in the field, to requisition supplies, and to ensure the troopshave a safe camp each night. The fact that over a third (25 of 65) of the knowncommissioners had held multiple commands in the army reinforces the view that thetresviri coloniae deducendae were chosen or formed themselves specifically so that atleast one man on each commission had the experience that would allow them to found acolony: the commissions included the men who had the most experience possible becausethey had successfully led a legion many times.Three colonial colleges, those for Vibo Valentia (194), Copia (194), and thesupplement for Aquileia (169) all had legates as their most experienced militarycommissioners. These are among the colleges that were exempt from discussion ofmilitary commanders, above, but they, too, had members that brought military experienceto the colonization effort. 8Broughton divides legateships into three categories: envoys,ambassadors, and lieutenants, who controlled one of the legions under orders from theexcluding Tempsa and Aquileia are the same as given above. Note that the least experienced commissionsare either the ones we know least securely or the ones for the year in which the most commissions wereformed.7 Southern (2006), p. 66: "It has been pointed out that during the Republic the prolongation of a commandoften had far less to do with military necessity than with political influence at Rome, but the establishmentof the pro-magistracy was a useful device that separated the annual magisterial office on one hand from itsfunction and power on the other."271