IMPERIUM

imperium (im-peer-ee-<<schwa>>m), n. [Latin] Roman law. Power or dominion; esp., the legal authority wielded by superior magistrates under the Republic, and later by the emperor under the Empire. • Imperium implied the right of military command, and the powers of corporal punishment, and of life and death over citizens. It was symbolized by the lictors who carried the fasces and an ax, which symbolized those powers. Imperium was also used less technically; it applied to lesser types of authority under Roman law, and thus had different meanings. For example, imperium domesticum described the power of the head of a household.

imperium merum (im-peer-ee-<<schwa>>m meer-<<schwa>>m). [Latin “bare power” or “absolute executive power”] Roman law. A higher magistrate’s power to use force to repress crime.

imperium mixtum (im-peer-ee-<<schwa>>m miks-t<<schwa>>m). [Latin “mixed power”] Roman law. A magistrate’s authority to make and enforce decisions in civil and criminal matters.

[Blacks Law 8th]