Iudex
In the Roman constitution a general designation of all judges, whether officials exercising
judicial functions or individuals in a private position intrusted on oath with the duty of
deciding in either civil or criminal trials. For standing and for extraordinary criminal
courts (see
Quaestio) the iudices were at first
chosen from the number of the senators by agreement of the parties concerned. Gaius Gracchus
first introduced a list of iudices (
album) for the permanent tribunals
(
quaestiones perpetuae). At first this list was permanent, but
afterwards it was published annually by the
praetor urbanus, who had to
swear that he would be impartial in his selection of names. Under the Empire, as long as the
quaestiones perpetuae existed, it was published by the emperor, who
nominated the iudices to hold office for life, and from time to time revised and completed the
list. By the lex Sempronia of Gaius Gracchus (B.C. 123), the office of judge was taken away
from the senators, who had held it previously, and transferred to the possessors of the
knight's census (the
equites). In B.C. 80 a lex Cornelia of L. Cornelius
Sulla restored it to the Senate. In B.C. 70 the office was equally divided between the
senators, the knights, and the
tribuni aerarii. These last were once more
excluded by Caesar. Augustus formed four
decuriae, or divisions, of
iudices. Of these the first three were obliged to possess the knight's census, and the last
the half of it. Caligula added a fifth decuria.
Under the Empire the judicial functions, hitherto confined to certain definite classes, had
become so general in their obligations that it was considered a privilege to be freed from
them. This exemption was granted to a man with many children, and, afterwards, to those
following the professions of grammarians and teachers. The requisite qualifications, apart
from that of property, were that a person should be by birth a citizen, and not less than
thirty years of age (after Augustus, not less than twenty-five). The other requirements were
bodily and mental capacity, an unblemished reputation, and a long residence in Italy. Under
the Republic the number of those who were sworn in varied at different times; under the Empire
it was fixed at 4000, and later at 5000. For every court of justice the judges were taken from
the general list by lot, and out of this special list the presiding magistrate appointed a
definite number for each trial. Out of these a certain number might be challenged and rejected
by either side; perhaps the president filled up the vacancies by again drawing lots. The
swearing in took place before the trial. When the number of the praetors appointed for the
quaestiones was not sufficiently large, a
iudex
quaestionis was appointed, generally one who had served as aedile.
In civil cases it was customary from early times for the judicial magistrates—i.
e. the praetors—to depute the investigation and decision to a person instructed by
them and appointed by consent of both sides, who was styled
iudex
pedaneus (
χαμαι δικαστής), and corresponded with the
referee of New York state law. The terms
arbiter, iudex delegatus, and
iudex specialis are also used of such a person. From
the time of Augustus a single judge (
iudex unus) was appointed in each
case from the general
album of sworn iudices, but for certain cases
several judges were introduced. (See
Recuperatores;
Judicial Procedure,
II.) The
iudices centumviri formed the single great judicial body for
trying civil cases. (See
Centumviri.) Concerning
the
iudices litibus iudicandis, who were also appointed in civil cases,
see
Viginti-sex Viri.