Category talk:Governors (Nova Roma)

Magistrates

Could we have a discussion on the pros and cons of putting this category in Category:Magistrates (Nova Roma)? Are governors magistrates or not? Agricola 16:38, 2 September 2007 (CEST)

An interesting question. My instinct is that governors are not magistrates, or at least that they don't fall entirely comfortably within that class. For what it's worth, the lex constitutiva doesn't classify them as such, though in my opinion the lex constitutiva isn't worth much. The recent change of technical terms has complicated the matter somewhat. The term 'governor' can now refer to a proconsul, a propraetor, or a legatus pro praetore. In ancient Roman law a proconsul and a propraetor are magistrates, though lacking some of the normal characteristics of magistrates, but a legatus pro praetore is decidedly not a magistrate. The majority of our governors are, and for some time probably will be, legati pro praetore. Given the difficulties, I'm inclined to think that it's safer to classify governors as a different animal for the time being. One day the whole messy business of governors in Nova Roma will be sorted out.

- Cordus 19:55, 3 September 2007 (CEST)