Editing Interrex

{{Short description|Position in ancient Rome}}
{{For|the interrex of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth|Interrex (Poland)}}
The '''interrex''' (plural '''interreges''') was an extraordinary [[magistrate]] during the [[Roman Kingdom]] and [[Roman Republic|Republic]]. Initially, the interrex was appointed after the death of the [[king of Rome]] until the election of his successor, hence its name—a ruler "between kings" ({{langx|la|inter reges}}). The position was retained during the Republic when both consuls were unable to assume their duties, especially holding elections. Interreges ruled for only five days, which often led several of them to be appointed in succession, the record being 15 interreges in 326 BC. They were exclusively chosen from among [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] senators, and during the [[Conflict of the Orders]], their appointment was sometimes designed to hinder [[plebeians]] from reaching power or passing laws.

As with the [[Roman dictator|dictatorship]], interreges are mostly found until the time of the [[Second Punic War]]. The position was only resurrected by [[Sulla]] in 82 BC so he could become dictator, and between 55 and 52 BC, when [[Pompey]] disturbed the [[Roman Constitution|constitution]] for his own benefit.

==History==
The office of ''interrex'' was supposedly created following the death of Rome's first king [[Romulus]], and thus its origin is obscured by legend. The [[Senate of the Roman Kingdom]] was at first unable to choose a new king. For the purpose of continuing the government of the city, the Senate, which then consisted of one hundred members, was divided into ten [[decury|''decuriae'']] (groups of ten); and from each of these ''decuriae'' one senator was nominated as ''decurio''. Each of the ten ''decuriones'' in succession held the regal power and its badges for five days as ''interrex''; and if no king had been appointed at the expiration of fifty days, the rotation began anew. The period during which they exercised their power was called an [[interregnum]], and on that occasion lasted for one year.  Thereafter [[Numa Pompilius]] was elected as the new king.<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', 1:17</ref>

After the death of each subsequent king, an ''interrex'' was appointed by the Senate. His function was to call a meeting of the [[Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Kingdom#Curiate Assembly|''Comitia Curiata'']], which would elect a new king.<ref>see e.g. Livy, ''Ab urbe condita'', 1:32</ref>

Under the [[Roman Republic|Republic]], ''interreges'' were appointed to hold the ''comitia'' for the election of the [[Roman consul|consuls]] when the consuls, through civil commotion or other cause such as death, had been unable to do so during their year of office. Each ''interrex'' held the office for only five days, as under the kings. During the brief ''interregnum'', they cumulated most of the original power of the king, or the power of the two consuls in the first years of the Republic.<ref>Cambridge, The Five Days Interregnum in the Roman Republic, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/fiveday-interregnum-in-the-roman-republic/0EBEC44DCC8C90C719A8FBE08E7F4189</ref> The ''comitia'' were, as a general rule, not held by the first ''interrex'', who was originally the ''[[curio maximus]]'', but more usually by the second or third; in one instance we read of an eleventh, and in another of a fourteenth ''interrex''. The ''comitia'' to elect the first consuls were held by [[Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus]] either as ''interrex'' or as ''[[praefectus urbi]].''<ref>[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], ''Roman Antiquities'' 4.76.1; 4.84.5. Livy, ''Ab Urbe Condita'' 1.59.2; 1.60.4.</ref> The ''interreges'' under the Republic, at least from 482 BC, were elected from ex-consuls by the Senate, and were not confined to the ''decem primi'' or ten chief senators as under the kings. [[Plebeian]]s, however, were not admissible to this office; and consequently when the Senate included plebeians, the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] senators met together without the plebeian members to elect an ''interrex''. For this reason, as well as on account of the influence which the ''interrex'' exerted in the election of the magistrates, we find that the [[tribune]]s of the plebs were strongly opposed to the appointment of an ''interrex''. The interrex had ''jurisdictio''.{{clarify|date=May 2015}} It is possible that ''interreges'' were the only magistrates exempted from the veto power of a [[tribune]]<ref>''Acta Triumphalia'' (CIL I.p.45), Livy (4–41.10; 8.23.12), and Suetonius (''Jul.'' 51.4)</ref> - which would be exceptional, since even [[Roman dictator|dictators]] were usually subject to the veto.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last1=Sherwin-White |first1=AN |last2=Lintott |first2=Andrew |title=dictator |encyclopedia=The Oxford classical dictionary |year=2012 |editor-first1=Simon |editor-last1=Hornblower |editor-first2=Antony |editor-last2=Spawforth |editor-first3=Esther |editor-last3=Eidinow |isbn=978-0-19-954556-8 |edition=4th |location=Oxford |oclc=959667246 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=448 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.2151 |url=https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-2151|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

''Interreges'' continued to be appointed occasionally until the time of the [[Second Punic War]]. After that no ''interrex'' was appointed until the Senate, by command of [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla|Sulla]], named [[Lucius Valerius Flaccus (princeps senatus 86 BC)|L. Valerius Flaccus]] to hold the ''comitia'' for his election as [[Roman dictator|Dictator]] in 82 BC. In 55 BC, another ''interrex'' was appointed to hold the ''comitia'' in which [[Pompey]] and [[Crassus]] were elected consuls. There were multiple ''interreges'' in 53 and 52 BC, the last known being [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)]];<ref>{{Cite journal|last= Koptev, Aleksandr |url= https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/fiveday-interregnum-in-the-roman-republic/0EBEC44DCC8C90C719A8FBE08E7F4189|title=The Five-Day Interregnum in the Roman Republic|journal= The Classical Quarterly|date=2016|volume= 66|pages= 205–221|publisher=Cambridge University|doi= 10.1017/S000983881600032X|oclc=|url-access= subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last= Bauman, Richard A.|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=15MDF-5_qaoC&dq=lepidus+interrex&pg=PA28|title= Lawyers in Roman Transitional Politics: A Study of the Roman Jurists in Their Political Setting in the Late Republic and Triumvirate|date=1985|publisher= Beck, C.H.|isbn = 9783406304859|oclc=}}</ref> in 52 an ''interrex'' held the ''comitia'' in which Pompey was appointed sole consul. The number of ''interreges'' during these two years was so high that [[Cicero]] ironised about it in a letter.<ref>{{Cite journal|last= Koptev, Aleksandr |url= https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/fiveday-interregnum-in-the-roman-republic/0EBEC44DCC8C90C719A8FBE08E7F4189|title=The Five-Day Interregnum in the Roman Republic|journal= The Classical Quarterly|date=2016|volume= 66|pages= 205–221|publisher=Cambridge University|doi= 10.1017/S000983881600032X|oclc=|url-access= subscription}}</ref>

== List of Roman ''interreges'' (509 - 52 BC) ==
Unless otherwise indicated, the names and dates of the ''interreges'' are taken from [[Thomas Robert Shannon Broughton|Thomas Broughton]]'s ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Broughton, T. Robert S.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1120836609|title=The magistrates of the Roman Republic|date=1952|publisher=American Philological Association|oclc=1120836609}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Year
!Interrex
!note
|-
|509
|[[Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus|Sp. Lucretius Tricipitinus]]
|
|-
|482
|[[Aulus Sempronius Atratinus (consul 497 BC)|A. Sempronius Atratinus]], 1st
[[Spurius Larcius|Sp. Lartius Flavus]], 2nd
|
|-
|462
|[[Publius Valerius Poplicola (consul 475 BC)|P. Valerius Poplicola]]
|
|-
|444
|[[Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus|T. Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus]]
|
|-
|420
|[[Lucius Papirius Mugillanus (consul 427 BC)|L. Papirius Mugillanus]]
|
|-
|413
|[[Quintus Fabius Vibulanus (consul 423 BC)|Q. Fabius Vibulanus]]
|
|-
|396
|[[Lucius Valerius Potitus (consul 393 BC)|L. Valerius Potitus]]
[[Quintus Servilius Fidenas (consular tribune)|Q. Servilius Fidenas]]

[[Marcus Furius Camillus|M. Furius Camillus]]
|
|-
|391
|[[Marcus Furius Camillus|M. Furius Camillus]] II
[[Publius Cornelius Maluginensis Scipio (consular tribune 395 BC)|P. Cornelius Scipio]]

[[Lucius Valerius Potitus (consul 393 BC)|L. Valerius Potitus]] II
|
|-
|389
|[[Publius Cornelius Maluginensis Scipio (consular tribune 395 BC)|P. Cornelius Scipio]] II
[[Marcus Furius Camillus|M. Furius Camillus]] III
|
|-
|387
|[[Marcus Manlius Capitolinus|M. Manlius Capitolinus]]
[[Servius Sulpicius Camerinus (consul 393 BC)|Ser. Sulpicius Camerinus]]

[[Lucius Valerius Potitus (consul 393 BC)|L. Valerius Potitus]] III
|
|-
|355
|[[Quintus Servilius Ahala (consul 365 BC)|Q. Servilius Ahala]] I & II
[[Marcus Fabius Ambustus (consul)|M. Fabius Ambustus]] I & II

[[Gnaeus Manlius Capitolinus Imperiosus|Cn. Manlius Capitolinus Imperiosus]]

[[Gaius Fabius Ambustus (consul)|C. Fabius Ambustus]]

[[Gaius Sulpicius Peticus|C. Sulpicius Peticus]]

[[Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus (consul 366 BC)|L. Aemilius Mamercinus]]
|Servilius & M. Fabius appointed twice
|-
|352
|11 unknown ''interreges''
[[Lucius Cornelius Scipio (consul 350 BC)|L. Cornelius Scipio]]
|Cornelius as the twelfth of a series of ''interreges''
|-
|351
|[[Gaius Sulpicius Peticus|C. Sulpicius Peticus]] II
[[Marcus Fabius Ambustus (consul)|M. Fabius Ambustus]] III
|
|-
|340
|[[Marcus Valerius Corvus|M. Valerius Corvus]]
[[Marcus Fabius Ambustus (consul)|M. Fabius Ambustus]] IV?

or [[Marcus Fabius Dorsuo|M. Fabius Dursuo]]
|
|-
|332
|4 unknown ''interreges''
[[Marcus Valerius Corvus|M. Valerius Corvus]] II
|Valerius as the fifth and last of a series of ''interreges''
|-
|326
|13 unknown ''interreges''
[[Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus Privernas|L. Aemilius Mamercinus Privernas]]
|Aemilius as the fourteenth of a series of ''interreges'' 
|-
|320
|[[Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus|Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus]]
[[Marcus Valerius Corvus|M. Valerius Corvus]] III
|
|-
|298
|[[Appius Claudius Caecus|Ap. Claudius Caecus]]
[[Publius Sulpicius Saverrio (consul 304 BC)|P. Sulpicius Saverrius]]
|
|-
|291
|[[Lucius Postumius Megellus (consul 305 BC)|L. Postumius Megellus]]
|
|-
|222
|[[Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus|Q. Fabius Maximus Verrucosus]]?
|Fabius was twice Interrex, both at unknown dates.
This is one possible date as suggested by Broughton.
|-
|216
|[[Gaius Claudius Centho|C. Claudius Centho]]
[[Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina|P. Cornelius Scipio Asina]]
|Scipio held the comitia that elected the consul [[Gaius Terentius Varro|Varro]]
|-
|208?
|[[Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus|Q. Fabius Maximus Verrucosus]] II?
|Mommsen and Broughton suggests this as a possible
date for Fabius as interrex. Livy instead attributes the

elections to the Dictator, [[Titus Manlius Torquatus (consul 235 BC)|T. Manlius Torquatus]]
|-
|82
|[[Lucius Valerius Flaccus (princeps senatus 86 BC)|L. Valerius Flaccus]]
|
|-
|55
|[[Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger]]
|
|-
|53
|numerous unknown ''interreges''
[[Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger]]

[[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio]]
|-
|52
|[[Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger]]
[[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)]] 
|
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{cite encyclopedia |title= Interrex|encyclopedia= Oxford Classical Dictionary|year= 2015|publisher= Oxford Research Encyclopedias|doi= 10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.3305|url= https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-3305|access-date=14 May 2019|last1= Drummond|first1= Andrew|isbn= 9780199381135|url-access= subscription}}

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