Roman diplomacy developed gradually. It is worth noting that it has a history as long as the state itself, and even longer because some of its elements can be found in the period of the family (clan) system.
Diplomacy is also a tool of the foreign policy of the modern state. However, we will focus here on the elements of diplomacy used by the ancient Romans.
In the time of royal Rome, all diplomatic matters were delegated to a separate college of priests at the temple of the supreme god Jupiter. Thus, diplomacy was made sacred.
Priests were called fetiales and they acted according to a special law (ius fetiale). According to him, they officially expressed the will of Jupiter, and in fact the orders of the ruler. There were 20 of them; they wore special woollen robes and headbands.
Their powers included declaring wars and making peace, which was associated with special magical formulas. Their activities were closely related to religious rituals and surrounded by the highest secrecy.
Fetiales were also sent on mission missions to other countries. To this end, they chose one from among themselves, called pater patratus. He went to the border in his priestly garment, with a scepter in his hand and a flint that symbolized Jupiter as the god of oaths, and accompanied by another fetiale who carried a handful of grass uprooted from the Capitoline Hill. If the matter could be settled peacefully, that is, a given country surrendered to Rome, then on its return, appropriate prayers were said in the temple of Jupiter and peace was solemnly proclaimed. The text of the arrangement was read during a service-connected with making an offering to Jupiter.
He ended the pater patratus reading with the words:
From these terms, as they have been publicly rehearsed from beginning to end, without fraud, from these tablets, or this wax, and as they have been this day clearly understood, the Roman People will not be the first to depart. If it shall first depart from them, by general consent, with malice aforethought, then on that day do thou, great Diespiter, so smite the Roman People as I shall here to-day smite this pig: and so much the harder smite them as thy power and thy strength are greater.
– Livy, Ab urbe condita, I.24
If the rulers of the other side refused to submit to Rome, they were declared war, but after the mission returned to Rome, they waited 33 days for a normal response. If it was negative or did not come, the phetics notified the king and the state of war was solemnly declared in the temple of Jupiter. Then pater patratus would go back to the border and throw a spear through it with a burned shaft and a blood-smeared blade. The Roman army entered the confrontation behind the javelin.
One very important point should be made. The Romans divided other countries into only two categories: friendly and hostile. The first included those countries that surrendered to Rome’s rule, while the second included all the others that either had to be subjugated or had to fight for domination (they were too strong). The second category was certainly: Carthage, Persia or later Parthia. Rome waged a loss/victory war with them, interrupted by a truce or temporary peace. So Rome did not recognize such a thing as neutrality.
During the republic, Roman diplomacy fell under the responsibility of Senate. It was on his behalf that messages were sent or received. The college of fetiales was naturally preserved, if only for the reason that the declaration of war or the conclusion of peace had to be sacred in order to give additional meaning to the system. In addition, the officers looked after the diplomatic archives.
An important diplomatic institution, existing almost from the beginning of Rome, were recuperatores, elected judges (from 3 to 5) who dealt with material disputes between the citizens of Rome and other states or neighbouring tribes.
In contacts with other countries, the following was used: the right of hospitality (ius hospiti); the Law of Fetics (ius fetiale) which defined their powers and diplomatic duties; civil law (ius civile) and the first common law (ius gentium) for foreigners. It regulated the relations of the Romans with citizens of other countries.
For the republics, state power was exercised by the elected consuls and praetors, so they appointed the envoys. However, according to the law of senatus consultum, they had to consult the candidates with the senate. As a rule, its members were selected for more important diplomatic missions.
Roman envoys were called legates (legati), meaning “the chosen ones”. They were often the so-called oratores, or seasoned speakers, because diplomats had to argue well and neatly. Hence the first diplomatic studies. These were private schools where young patricians were taught law and rhetoric, so that when they sat in the senate they had better prospects for a diplomatic mission. Being a legate was very prestigious. In addition to being fully equipped with clothes and money necessary for the mission, the legate received a substantial diet (viaticum). Members wore special golden rings as a symbol of their mission.
Missions usually consisted of a few to ten Members. They were accompanied by sp