The punishment of a prmmunire has already been stated. After judgment, the defendant might formerly havo been killed by any man. " But Qucene Elizabeth and her parliament, liking not the extreme and inhumane rigor of the law in that point," made it unlawful to slay him. (5 Eliz., e. 1.) Still, being out of the protection of the law, he cannot sue in any action (Co. Lit., 129 b), and he forfeits all his goods and chattels, his lands and tenements in fee, and his life interest in lands in tail. (3 Inst.,' 119, " Of Prmmunire.") Prosecutions for this offence are now obsolete.
I'lLETOR, a word which apparently contains the same elements as the verb praire. The consuls were originally called prstors, but the name pnctor was specially appropriated to a magietrate called the praetor urbanus, who was first appointed B.C. 365. He was called a colleague of the consuls, and was created with the same auspices. (Liv., vii. 1.) The prrator was at first only chosen from the patri cians, as a kind of compensation to them for admitting the plebeiims to fill one of the consulships. (Liv., vi. 42.) In the year B.C. 836 the first plebeian praetor was created.
The praetor, in his origin, seems to have been a kind of third con sul. While the consuls were at the head of the armies in the field, the prmtor exercised the consular power within the city, in the senate, and in the comitia. He also administered justice (" jus iu urbe dice bat," Liv., vi. 42). On some occasions the prtetor led the armies of the state. (Liv., vii. 23, &c.) Yet the imperium of the prretor was less than that of the consuls, to whom he owed obedience. There was also a distinction in his insignia of office, for the practor had only six lictors, from which circumstance he is called by Polybius "the general with six lictors" or arpernrybr ilariAfuus, and sometimes simply 4ar(Aeuus, &e.). It appears from Livy that the prtetorshm was originally given to a consul of the preceding year; and after the plc beians obtained asitniasion to this magistracy, it was given alternately, at least for a to the patrician Mid plebeian consul of the preceding year. As the praetor was a kind of substitute for the consuls, there was nothing in the mature of the office which limited the number : and accordingly in n.c. 247, another praetor, called Praetor Peregrinate. was created, who administered justice in matters between citizens and foreignete, and in matters between foreigners only. It is conjectured
that one praetor was a patrician and the other a plebeian, but this does not appear certain. If one of the praetors left the city to coals mend the army, the other had the authority of both within the city ; and when the military service required it, the imperium of a praetor was prolonged for another year by the senate or the comitia. When conquesta were made beyond the limits of Italy, and foreign countries were minced to the form of provinces, praetors were sent to govern them. Thus two new praetors were oppointed for Sicily and Sardinia (a.c. 227), and subsequently two more when the two provinces of Spain were formal n.c. 197. The provinces of the praetors were determined annually by the senate, and distributed among them by lot. As the judicial labour, of the praetors increased, they generally spent their year of office at Rome, and then took the charge of a province with the title of proprietor. Sylla increased ,the number of praetors to eight. The praetor urbanite had the highest rank, and was specially called praetor : the duties of his office required his constant attend ance at Rome, and lie could not leave the city for more than ten days at a time. He had the troublesome and expensive duty of super intending the Ludi Apollinares and giving gladiatorial shows to the people. Julius Caesar increased the number of praetors to ten, then to twelve, fourteen,and sixteen ; Augustus reduced the number to ten, then again raised it to sixteen, and finally fixed it at twelve. Under Tiberius there were sixteen. A permanent praetor for fidei commissa was subsequently appointed e Dig; .i., tit. 2, a. 3), and another for matters between the Fiscus and private individuals; and a praetor was appointed by the emperor M. Autoninus (Capitol. ' M. Anton.; c. 10) solely for matters relating to guardianship (tutela). The office con tinued in Rome with varying numbers and powers till the fall of the Western empire. At Constantinople it endured somewhat longer.
An office like the prwtorship in some respects may be traced far ther back than the first election of a praetor ; and the vicarious duties of the office appear clearly in the functions of the ancient preefectus urbi [PLEFECTU8 UAW], whose office became of less importance on the appointment of the praetor urbanus. As late as the time of Cicero (' Gp. Fain.; x. 12, xii. 2S), we find the praetor performing the duties of the consuls in their absence.