The Roman Tribunes

 
 EX TEMPORE
  In the city-state of Rome the tribunes were created in 494 BC (or so the story goes) because of the harsh enforcement of debt laws and the plebeians' lack of a voice in civil government. The tribunes were members of the patrician (?) class assigned to watch over the Senate in order to ensure that the Senate took no actions contrary to the well-being of the other class(es).

 The powers of the tribune were thus:
1. He had the power of veto, that is, he could nullify any act of the Senate that went against the well-being of the plebs.
2. He was sacrosanct, meaning that anyone who harmed him was subject to religious pollution.
3. He convened the concilium plebis, that is, the assembly of all the nonpatricians in the state.

There were different numbers of tribunes at other times, increasing in number as time progressed. They are not to be confused with the Military Tribunes, which was an alternate form of the executive branch for a period of Roman history. More on them later.

DOCTUS
The tribunes were created in 494 BC (or so the story goes) because of the harsh enforcement of debt laws and the plebeians' lack of a voice in civil government. The tribunes were members of the plebeian class (no patrician could be tribune, ever, which is why Augustus had the potestas of a tribune but did not serve in the office) assigned to watch over the Senate in order to ensure that the Senate took no actions contrary to the well-being of the other class(es). At the time they were created, they were the only office of high government open to plebeians; the others would only be opened to them in 421 BC.

 The powers of the tribune were thus:
1. He had the power of veto, that is, he could nullify any government act that went against the well-being of the plebs. This included elections and acts of the other tribunes. This also means that the tribunes were spectators in the Senate chamber.
2. He was sacrosanct, meaning that anyone who harmed him was subject to religious pollution. He was only sacrosanct during his term of office (1 year) and inside the city of Rome.
3. He convened the concilium plebis, that is, the assembly of all the nonpatricians in the state. Under the tribunes the assembly could enact their own resolutions known as plebiscites.
4. He had assistants in the plebeian aediles.
5. He had the power of intercessio, which was the power to intervene in a legal action being taken against a citizen if he thought justice was being handled unfairly.

There were different numbers of tribunes at other times, increasing in number as time progressed. The original number is variously stated, but it was at least ten by the mid-fifth century.  They are not to be confused with the Military Tribunes, which was an alternate form of the executive branch for a period of Roman history. More on them later.