Lex Valeria (82 BC)

The Lex Valeria was an 82 BC law under which the Senate of the Roman Republic appointed Lucius Cornelius Sulla dictator of Rome. It also allowed Sulla dictatorial imperium, which gave him total control of the republic and set no limit on his time as dictator.

This decision is even more important because, at the time, leaders were only appointed dictators in times of extreme danger to the city of Rome. This was the first time that a single individual was given dictatorial powers since the end of the Second Punic War, nearly 100 years before. Also, it was the last time an individual would be appointed dictator of Rome until Julius Caesar.

Sulla's powers as dictator

As dictator of Rome, Sulla was granted the power to make numerous decisions within the state. More importantly, as Boatwright notes, "His appointment to it specifically validated all his actions in advance."

• These are listed below:
  1. The power to execute anybody without a trial
     • The prime example of this was the massacre of 6,000 captive Samnites by Sulla's troops
  2. Sulla was not required to submit any legislative proposals to the citizen assembly
  3. His appointment as dictator also included no time limit to how long he could hold the position
  4. The power to change the numbers within certain senatorial positions
     • Sulla changed the number of senators from 150 to 600. He also increased the size of the curia (senators' meeting place) in the Forum; the majority of these new members of the senate were from the equestrian class, the most affluent group of Roman citizens outside of the Senate
     • Sulla also increased the number of quaestors to 20. Quaestors were the least powerful in the senatorial magistracy.
     • The number of praetors was also increased from 6 to 8
  5. The power to change the rules of advancement and age within the Roman senate
     • Sulla restored the law that only ex-quaestors could become praetors; that only ex-praetors could become consuls
     • Nobody could become quaestor before the age of 30; nobody could become praetor before the age of 39; nobody could become consul before the age of 42
     • It was set into law that a member of the senate, after their term is finished, must wait 10 years before holding office again
     • The office of Tribune of the Plebs was altered significantly: Sulla declared that anybody who had served as Tribune was now prohibited from ever holding office again; their authority was also drastically limited
     • Equites were banished from participating in any jury courts
  6. Sulla got rid of the grain distributions that were set forth by Gaius Gracchus, thus ridding the subsidies that came with it
  7. Governors' (Commanders) powers and activities were limited as well
     • A governor could only enter war with prior authorization from the senate
     • A governor could not leave his province unless it was granted by the senate
     • A governor must depart his province within 30 days of his successor's arrival

The results of the Lex Valeria were as harsh as they were short-lived. Sulla retired as dictator in 81, and died of acute liver failure not long after. Even before his death however, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (elected consul in 78) overturned most of Sulla's acts and re-introduced the grain distributions.