Rome’s declaration of war during republic

During the time of the Republic, the Roman procedure for declaring war was extremely complex and involved several stages. It contained numerous rules, the strict observance of which was of paramount importance. Declaring war also involved numerous religious rites.

The Romans strived to ensure that armed conflict was a just and fair war (bellum iustum). However, it should be noted that the concept of “just war” was understood quite differently by the ancient Romans than it is today. Currently, “just war” refers, among other things, to situations where armed conflict is morally justified. During the time of the Republic, the Romans approached this issue purely formally. A just war was a war initiated in accordance with sacral and legal procedures.

The “moral” factor, however, can be seen in the premise for declaring war – it had to be a “just cause” (iusta causa belli). These included, for example, a violation of territory, a breach of an alliance, an attack on allies, a violation of a peace treaty, or insulting envoys.

The priestly college of fecials was responsible for the ceremony of declaring war. The highly formalized ritual was divided into the following stages:

1. demand for redress of damages (rerum repetitio), which also constituted a declaration of war (belli denuntiatio).
2. consent of state bodies (the Senate and the popular assemblies).
3. declaration of war itself (belli indicatio).

First, Rome sent an embassy demanding that the enemy state make reparations for the damages it had caused (rerum repetitio). This rite was very significant, and the sent representative repeated the demand several times. If the enemy state agreed to the demands, war would not break out. However, if the enemy state refused, it was announced that this would trigger the outbreak of war, which was to occur after 33 days (according to other sources, after 30 days).

Consent to a declaration of war had to be granted by both the Senate (through its resolution, the so-called senatus consultum) and the popular assemblies (centurial assemblies, and later also the tribal commission). The latter voted by first voting within each century or tribus, then tallying the votes and deciding by majority, with each assembly counting as one vote.

The third element of the ceremony was the formal declaration of war (belli indicatio). This was performed in a remarkably colorful manner. A priest (fecial) would march with a spear to the border of the enemy state and, after reciting a specific formula, throw it into the enemy’s territory. The spear had either an iron tip or one made of fire-scorched wood. It was also smeared with blood.

Another aspect is somewhat humorous. The Romans, as we know, were an extremely practical people, including when it came to legal solutions. Throwing a spear into hostile territory was no problem when Rome was at war with its close neighbors. However, afterward, traversing the enemy’s borders by a priest would be difficult and time-consuming. Therefore, when war was declared against Epirus, ruled by the famous king Pyrrhus, the solution was to force one of the prisoners of war to purchase a strip of land near the Temple of Bellona. The spear was then thrown there. From that moment on, this land was symbolically treated as the property of any enemy of Rome and used for declaring war.