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Magistrate
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==Original meaning== In [[ancient Rome]], the word ''[[magistratus]]'' referred to one of the highest offices of state. Analogous offices in the local authorities, such as ''[[municipium]]'', were subordinate only to the legislature of which they generally were members, ''[[Ex officio member|ex officio]]'', often a combination of judicial and executive power, constituting one jurisdiction. In Rome itself, the highest magistrates were members of the so-called ''[[cursus honorum]]'', 'course of honors'. They held both [[judicial]] and [[Executive (government)|executive]] power within their sphere of responsibility (hence the modern use of the term "magistrate" to denote both judicial and executive officers), and also had the power to issue ''ius honorarium'', or magisterial law. The [[Roman consul|Consul]] was the highest [[Roman Republic|Roman]] magistrate. The [[Praetor]] (the office was later divided into two, the Urban and Peregrine Praetors) was the highest judge in matters of [[private law]] between individual citizens, while the Curule [[Aedile]]s, who supervised [[public works]] in the city, exercised a limited civil jurisdiction in relation to the [[Market (economics)|market]].<ref>p4 and p18, Nicholas, Barry, ''An Introduction to Roman Law'' (Oxford University Press, 1975) {{ISBN|0-19-876063-9}}</ref> Roman magistrates were not lawyers, but were advised by [[jurist]]s who were experts in the law. The term was maintained in most feudal successor states to the western [[Roman Empire]]. However, it was used mainly in Germanic kingdoms, especially in city-states, where the term magistrate was also used as an abstract generic term denoting the highest office, regardless of the formal titles (e.g. Consul, [[Mayor]], Doge), even when that was actually a council. The term "[[chief magistrate]]" applied to the highest official, in sovereign entities the [[head of state]] and/or [[head of government]].
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