Auctoritas is the Latin origin of English "authority". According to Benveniste [citation?], auctor (which also gives us English "author") is derived from Latin augeó ("to augment"): The auctor is is qui auget, the one who augments the act or the juridical situation of another. (J.B. Greenough disputes this etymology of auctor--but not the sense of foundation and augmentation--in "Latin Etymologies", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 4, 1893.) Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... In politics, authority (Latin auctoritas, used in Roman law as opposed to potestas and imperium) is often used interchangeably with the term power. However, their meanings differ. ... Emile Benveniste (1902 - 1976) was a French linguist best known for his work on Indo-European languages and his work expanding the linguistic paradigm established by Ferdinand de Saussure. ... An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ... James Bradstreet Greenough (May 4, 1833 - October 11, 1901), United States classical scholar, was born in Portland, Maine. ...

Auctor in the sense of "author", comes from auctor as founder or, one might say, "planter-cultivator". Similarly, auctoritas refers to rightful ownership, based on one's having "produced" the article of property in question, probably more in the sense of "sponsored" or "acquired" than "manufactured". (See "Hannah Arendt On Auctoritas" below.) This auctoritas would, for example, persist through an usucapion of ill-gotten property. Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive possession or control of property, which may be an object, land/real estate, intellectual property or some other kind of property. ... Auctoritas is the latin word that originated authority. According to Benveniste, it comes from the verb augeo (to augment) (citation?): the auctor is is qui auget, the one who augments the act – or the juridical situation – of another. ...

In the private domain, those under tutelage (guardianship), such as women and minors, were similarly obliged to seek the sanction of their tutors ("protectors") for certain actions. Thus, auctoritas characterizes the auctor: The pater familias authorizes--that is, validates and legitimates--his son's wedding in prostate. In this way, auctoritas might function as a kind of "passive counsel", much as, for example, a scholarly authority. The pater familias was the eldest or ranking male in a Roman household. ...

Finally, politically, auctoritas referred to the Roman Senate's authority, as opposed to power--potestas or imperium, which were held by the magistrates or the people. Auctoritas is thus the juridical power to authorize some other act--in and of itself, it has no sense. (In dialectic terms, law--more generally, right--doubles and recovers life.) The Roman Senate (Latin: Senatus) was the main governing council of both the Roman Republic, which started in 510 BC, and the Roman Empire, which ended in the 6th century AD. The word Senatus is derived from the Latin word senex, meaning old man or elder. ... Political power (imperium in Latin) is a type of power held by a person or group in a society. ... Potestas is a Latin word meaning power or faculty. ... Imperium can, in a broad sense, be translated as power. ... Magistratus ordinarii (ordinary magistrates) and Magistratus extraordinarii (extraordinary magistrates) were two categories of officials who held political, military, and, in some cases, religious power in the Roman Republic. ... In classical philosophy, dialectic (Greek: διαλεκτική) is an exchange of propositions (theses) and counter-propositions (antitheses) resulting in a synthesis of the opposing assertions, or at least a qualitative transformation in the direction of the dialogue. ... Weighing scales represent the way law balances peoples interests For other senses of this word, see Law (disambiguation). ... A right is the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled or a thing to which one has a just claim. ...

The 19th-century classicist Theodor Mommsen describes the "force" of auctoritas as "more than advice and less than command, an advice which one may not safely ignore." Cicero says of power and authority, "Cum potestas in populo auctoritas in senatu sit." ("While power resides in the people, authority rests with the Senate.") Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) The 19th century lasted from 1801 through 1900 in the Gregorian calendar. ... Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity as setting standards for taste which the classicist seeks to emulate. ... Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (30 November 1817–1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar and historian, generally regarded as the greatest classicist of the 19th century. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

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Hannah Arendt On Auctoritas

Hannah Arendt considers auctoritas a reference to founding acts as the source of political authority in Ancient Rome, taking foundation to include, (as augére suggests), the continuous conservation and increase of principles handed down from "the beginning", (hence, pietas). According to Arendt, this source of authority was rediscovered in the course of the 18th-century American Revolution, (see "United States of America" under Founding Fathers), as an alternative to an intervening Western tradition of absolutism, claiming absolute authority, as from God, (see Divine Right of Kings), and later from Nature, Reason, History, and even, as in the French Revolution, Revolution itself. (See Le Terreur.) Arendt views a crisis of authority as common to both the American and French Revolutions, and the response to that crisis a key factor in the relative success of the former and failure of the latter. Hannah Arendt (October 14, 1906 – December 4, 1975) was a German political theorist. ... The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... Pietas, as virtue of the Roman Emperor Herennius Etruscus, celebrated with the instruments of cult, such as patera and lituus. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800 in the Gregorian calendar. ... The American Revolution was a political movement that in 1776 created a new nation, the United States of America, ending British control. ... Founding Fathers are persons instrumental in the establishment of an institution, usually a political institution, especially those connected to the origination of its ideals. ... For this articles equivalent regarding the East, see Eastern culture Western Culture refers to the culture that has developed in the Western world. ... The term absolutism can mean: A belief in absolute truth moral absolutism, the belief that there is some absolute standard of right and wrong political absolutism, a political system where one person holds absolute power, also called apolytarchy from Gr. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... The Divine Right of Kings is a European political and religious doctrine of political absolutism. ... Natural law (Latin jus naturale) is law that exists independently of the positive law of a given political order, society or nation-state. ... Nous (Νους) is a Greek word (pronounced noose), that corresponds to the English words intelligence, intellect, or mind. ... Historical materialism is the methodological approach to the study of society, economics and history which was first articulated by Karl Marx (1818-1883), although Marx himself never used the term. ... The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a pivotal period in the history of French, European and Western civilization. ... It has been suggested that Revolutionary be merged into this article or section. ... The Reign of Terror (5 September 1793 – 28 July 1794) or simply The Terror (French: la Terreur) was a period in the French Revolution characterized by brutal repression. ...

Arendt further considers the sense of auctor and auctoritas in various Latin idioms, and the fact that auctor was used in contradistinction to--and, (at least by Pliny), held in higher esteem than--artifices, the artisans to whom it might fall to "merely" build up or implement the author-founder's vision and design. An idiom is an expression (i. ... There are two famous persons named Pliny: Pliny the Elder, a Roman nobleman, scientist and historian who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD The great-nephew of the former, Pliny the Younger, a statesman, orator, and writer who lived between 62 AD and 113 AD. This... An artisan, also called a craftsman, is a skilled manual worker who uses tools and machinery in a particular craft. ...

Giorgio Agamben On Auctoritas

Philosopher Giorgio Agamben suggests a relationship between the Roman auctoritas, Max Weber's "charismatic power", and Carl Schmitt's theoretical/ideological basis for the Nazi Führertum doctrine. Agamben compares auctoritas to the Führer (who embodies nomos empsuchon or "living law") in their relationship to the observance of gramma (written law). (More at Giorgio Agamben, State of Exception.) Giorgio Agamben (1942 –) is an Italian philosopher who teaches at the University of Verona. ... Maximilian Weber (IPA: ) (April 21, 1864 – June 14, 1920) was a German political economist and sociologist who is considered one of the founders of the modern study of sociology and public administration. ... Jesus is considered by historians such as Weber to be an example of a charismatic religious leader; The sociologist Max Weber defined charismatic authority as resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained... Carl Schmitt Carl Schmitt (July 11, 1888 - April 7, 1985) was a German legal theoretician and political scientist. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... (Fuehrer in English when umlauts are not used) is a proper noun meaning leader or guide in the German language. ... Nomos (plural: Nomoi) can refer to: the prefectures of Greece, the administrative division immediately below the peripheries of Greece (Greek: νομός, νομοί) the subdivisions of Ancient Egypt, see Nome (subnational division) law (Greek: νόμος, νόμοι). It is the origin of the suffix -onomy. ... Gramma may refer to: A grandmother. ... Giorgio Agamben (1942 –) is an Italian philosopher who teaches at the University of Verona. ...

See also

• Authority
• Authoritarianism
• Roman law
• Giorgio Agamben
• Hannah Arendt
• Dignitas
• Gravitas
• Pietas

In politics, authority (Latin auctoritas, used in Roman law as opposed to potestas and imperium) is often used interchangeably with the term power. However, their meanings differ. ... Bold text:This article applies to political ideologies. ... Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome. ... Giorgio Agamben (1942 –) is an Italian philosopher who teaches at the University of Verona. ... Hannah Arendt (October 14, 1906 – December 4, 1975) was a German political theorist. ... Dignitas was a unique social concept in the ancient Roman mindset. ... Look up gravitas in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Pietas, as virtue of the Roman Emperor Herennius Etruscus, celebrated with the instruments of cult, such as patera and lituus. ...

References

• Cicero, De Legibus (1st century BC)
• Giorgio Agamben, State of Exception (2005)
• Hannah Arendt, Between Past and Future, Chapter 3, Section IV. (1968)
• Hannah Arendt, On Revolution, Chapter 5, Section 2. (1965)
• Theodor Mommsen, Römisches Staatsrecht, Volume III, Chapter 2. (1887)
• William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. (1875, 1890 editions)