Formula of the Urban Prefecture.
[The Urban Prefect (Praefectus Urbi) was the chief magistrate of Rome, responsible for law, order, public games, food supply, and the baths.]
Since the reputation of any judge is always measured by the office entrusted to him, and since he must be held greater than those he is known to govern, no one is raised higher than the man to whom Rome itself is entrusted. It is a great thing to be a senator, but far greater to judge senators. That Senate, glorious in the world's esteem, is shown to have a leader whom all the world looks up to as a maker of law. And so it comes about that those who exercise full authority in the Senate tremble to plead their own cases before you.
Yet this modesty, too, deserves praise -- that they wish to be bound by the very laws they themselves could have established. In this respect, our situation partly resembles theirs. But we differ in this one point: we cannot be subject to another, since we serve as our own judge.
Consider the many learned men before you, and reflect on what it means to address them without fearing the embarrassment of error. You adjudicate among men you know to be your superiors. Conduct your office, then, so that all may recognize you as the worthy judge of that honored assembly. You sit above every consular. You speak your judgment first. In that hall of Liberty [the Senate house] you are regarded with reverence, and within it you are shown to hold in your charge the foremost men of the world.
Who could contemplate a base vice when he knows himself to be surrounded by so many beacons of good character? Do you wish to avoid hatred? Banish the habit of favoritism. You will inevitably win public love if you make no secret promises. It would be a truly great and singular distinction if judges took nothing, in a place where so many compete to give generously.
Your authority extends not only over Rome -- though Rome contains the whole world -- but the ancient laws have also extended your jurisdiction one hundred miles beyond the walls, so that the judge of so great a city would not be confined by its ramparts, since Rome possessed everything. You also hear appeals from legally designated provinces.
Learned advocates serve before your court, since in that city it is no difficulty to find orators when one can always hear masters of eloquence. You ride in a chariot through the noble populace. Public prayers accompany you. Grateful acclamations proceed alongside you in united voice. Govern well, for when you arrive, even the people may fall silent. You have abundant means to win the goodwill of so great a city: ensure that goods of every kind are sold without price-gouging; that the well-managed heating of the public baths is not cooled by the fires of extortion; and that the spectacles provided for entertainment do not become occasions for lawsuits. The man who avoids injustice in the quarrels of rival factions easily makes the people grateful.
So great is the power of glorious truth that even in theatrical affairs people demand fairness. Having run through this series of instructions, we now clothe you in the garb of the toga-wearing office from the coming indiction, so that, dressed in the robe of Romulus, you may pursue Roman law. For if you prove equal to this office, there is nothing you cannot obtain from us. You will be worthy of everything through such an endorsement -- if the Senate praises your administration. The strongest proof of a man's reliability is when the highest men of the state are shown to agree in their testimony.
IIII.
FORMULA PRAEFECTURAE URBANAE.
[1] Cum de dignitate commissa laus semper iudicis aestimetur et potior habendus est quam sunt illi quibus praeesse cognoscitur, nemo amplius videtur erigi quam cui potuit Roma committi. grande est quidem procerem esse, sed multo grandius de proceribus iudicare. senatus ille mirabili opinione gloriosus probatur habere praesulem, quem mundus suspicit iura condentem: eoque fit ut illi utantur in senatu potestate perfecta, qui apud te trepidant dicere proprias causas. [2] Verum haec quoque modestia cognoscitur esse praedicanda, ut optent se legibus teneri, quae ab ipsis sciuntur potuisse constitui. quae res pro parte nobis absolute communis est: sed hac sola ratione discreti, quod alteri subdi non possumus, qui iudices nos habemus. [3] Respice tot doctos viros et considera, quale sit his aliquid dicere nec erroris verecundiam formidare. de talibus disceptas, quos tibi cognoscis esse potiores. sic ergo locum tuum tracta, ut omnes te iudicem honoratae congregationis agnoscant. consides supra omnes scilicet consulares: sententiam primus dicis: et in illa Libertatis aula reverendus aspiceris, in qua commissos habere mundi primarios approbaris. [4] Quis iam de obscuro vitio cogitare possit, qui se inter tot morum lumina esse cognoscit? vis odium non recipere? studium a te gratificationis exclude. publicum amorem necesse est habeas, si secretius nil promittas. erit nimirum magnum et singulare praeconium, si iudices non accipiant, ubi sunt qui multum dare contendant. [5] Dicioni tuae non solum Roma commissa est, quamvis in illa contineantur universa, verum etiam intra centesimum potestatem te protendere antiqua iura voluerunt, ne tantae civitatis iudicem muralis agger includeret, cum Roma omnia possideret. tu etiam ex designatis lege provinciis ab appellatione cognoscis. [6] Advocati tibi militant eruditi, quando in illa patria difficile non est oratores implere, ubi magistros eloquentiae contigit semper audire. carpento veheris per nobilem plebem, publica te vota comitantur, favores gratissimi consona tecum voce procedunt. bene age, quia te veniente licet populis et tacere. habes copiose, unde tibi gratiam tantae civitatis adquiras, si merces diversae sub nulla venalitate vendantur, si exhibitio salubriter accensa thermarum rapinarum ardoribus non tepescat, si spectaculum, quod praebetur voluptati, non sit causa litigii. suaviter enim cogit gratum esse populum, quisquis in certaminibus partium declinat iniustum. [7] Tanta enim vis est gloriosae veritatis, ut etiam in rebus scaenicis aequitas desideretur. ammonitionum igitur ordine decurso per indictionem illam habitu te togatae dignitatis ornamus, ut indutus veste Romulea iura debeas adfectare Romana. nam si isti dignitati par fueris, nihil est quod a nobis minime consequaris. ad omnia enim tali suffragio eris nihilominus dignus, si actionem tuam laudet senatus. perfecta enim rei fides est, ubi consentanei testes probantur esse summates.
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Formula of the Urban Prefecture.
[The Urban Prefect (Praefectus Urbi) was the chief magistrate of Rome, responsible for law, order, public games, food supply, and the baths.]
Since the reputation of any judge is always measured by the office entrusted to him, and since he must be held greater than those he is known to govern, no one is raised higher than the man to whom Rome itself is entrusted. It is a great thing to be a senator, but far greater to judge senators. That Senate, glorious in the world's esteem, is shown to have a leader whom all the world looks up to as a maker of law. And so it comes about that those who exercise full authority in the Senate tremble to plead their own cases before you.
Yet this modesty, too, deserves praise -- that they wish to be bound by the very laws they themselves could have established. In this respect, our situation partly resembles theirs. But we differ in this one point: we cannot be subject to another, since we serve as our own judge.
Consider the many learned men before you, and reflect on what it means to address them without fearing the embarrassment of error. You adjudicate among men you know to be your superiors. Conduct your office, then, so that all may recognize you as the worthy judge of that honored assembly. You sit above every consular. You speak your judgment first. In that hall of Liberty [the Senate house] you are regarded with reverence, and within it you are shown to hold in your charge the foremost men of the world.
Who could contemplate a base vice when he knows himself to be surrounded by so many beacons of good character? Do you wish to avoid hatred? Banish the habit of favoritism. You will inevitably win public love if you make no secret promises. It would be a truly great and singular distinction if judges took nothing, in a place where so many compete to give generously.
Your authority extends not only over Rome -- though Rome contains the whole world -- but the ancient laws have also extended your jurisdiction one hundred miles beyond the walls, so that the judge of so great a city would not be confined by its ramparts, since Rome possessed everything. You also hear appeals from legally designated provinces.
Learned advocates serve before your court, since in that city it is no difficulty to find orators when one can always hear masters of eloquence. You ride in a chariot through the noble populace. Public prayers accompany you. Grateful acclamations proceed alongside you in united voice. Govern well, for when you arrive, even the people may fall silent. You have abundant means to win the goodwill of so great a city: ensure that goods of every kind are sold without price-gouging; that the well-managed heating of the public baths is not cooled by the fires of extortion; and that the spectacles provided for entertainment do not become occasions for lawsuits. The man who avoids injustice in the quarrels of rival factions easily makes the people grateful.
So great is the power of glorious truth that even in theatrical affairs people demand fairness. Having run through this series of instructions, we now clothe you in the garb of the toga-wearing office from the coming indiction, so that, dressed in the robe of Romulus, you may pursue Roman law. For if you prove equal to this office, there is nothing you cannot obtain from us. You will be worthy of everything through such an endorsement -- if the Senate praises your administration. The strongest proof of a man's reliability is when the highest men of the state are shown to agree in their testimony.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.