Imperium
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Imperium is a Latin word which, in a broad sense, translates roughly as 'power to command'. In ancient Rome, different kinds of power or authority were distinguished by different terms. Imperium referred to the sovereignty of the state over the individual. It is not to be confused with auctoritas or potestas, different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic and Empire. Primarily used to refer to the power that is wielded, in greater or lesser degree, by an individual to whom it is delegated, the term could also be used with a geographical connotation, designating the territorial limits of that imperium. Individuals given such power were referred to as curule magistrates or promagistrates. These included the curule aedile, the praetor, the censor, the consul, the magister equitum, and the dictator.
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