the assemblies had the right to declare war in the roman republic.
the assemblies had the right to declare war in the roman republic.
who had the right in the roman republic to declare war?
the assemblies
the "centuriate assembly" ("comitia centuriata" or "army assembly") of the roman republic was originally the democratic assembly of the roman soldiers. the centuriate assembly organized the roman citizens into classes, which were defined by a means test and were economic in nature. the roman army was divided into units called "centuries", and these gathered into the centuriate assembly for legislative, electoral, and judicial purposes. however, since the number of centuries in each class was fixed, centuries could contain far more than 100 men. only this assembly could declare war or elect the highest-ranking roman magistrates: "consuls", "praetors" and "censors". the centuriate assembly could also pass a statute that granted constitutional command authority to consuls and praetors, and censorial powers to censors. in addition, the centuriate assembly served as the highest court of appeal in certain judicial cases, and ratified the results of the census. while the voters in this assembly wore white undecorated togas and were unarmed, while taking part in the assembly they were classified as soldiers, and as such they could not meet inside of the physical boundary of the city of rome. the president of the centuriate assembly was usually a consul (although sometimes a praetor). only consuls (the highest-ranking of all roman magistrates) could preside over the centuriate assembly during elections because the higher-ranking consuls were always elected together with the lower-ranking praetors. once every five years, after the new consuls for the year took office, they presided over the centuriate assembly as it elected the two censors.
legislative assemblies of the roman republic
bullet::::- "categorical theory", under which the power to declare war includes "the power to control all decisions to enter war". this means that the power to 'declare war' in effect rests with the ability to engage in combat.









































bullet::::- "pragmatic theory", which states that the power to declare war can be made unnecessary by an act of war in itself.









































bullet::::- "formalist theory", under which the power to declare war constitutes only a formal documentation of executive war-making decisions. this sits closest to traditional legal conceptions of what it is to declare a war.









































section::::history.
declaration of war