Polityka karna w celu „utrzymania władzy”? Kilka uwag na temat republikańskiej polityki karnej w kontekście procesu katylinarczyków
Penal policy to ‘maintain power’? Some remarks on republican penal policy in the context of the Catilinarian trial

Summary/Abstract: In the article, the author questions the view that punitive policy in Republican Rome wasimplemented in order to ‘maintain power by the ruling elite’. Power in the Roman republic was notthe domain of one governmental body, but rather constituted the sum of the authoritative powersof the central governmental bodies. The author also proves that in the political and legal reflectionof Polybius and Cicero, the mixed government of the Roman republic excluded the concentrationof power, and thus guaranteed ruling rights not only to the aristocratic ruling elite, but also to thepeople. Politics, understood as concern for the common good, concern for the interests of the civiccommunity as a whole (utilitas rei publicae), was associated with mores, constituting an integralpart of ius. Penal policy should also be subordinated to this utilitas rei publicae. The trial of theCatilinarians exemplifies this principle. The specific interdependence of penal policy and theinteraction of governmental bodies, visible both in the actions of consul Cicero preceding the trialand in the trial of the conspirators before the Senate, determined the effectiveness of the penal policyimplemented at that time, which resulted in the political stabilization expected by citizens. Penalpolicy, implemented in accordance with the republican constitution, was therefore not conductedin order to ‘maintain power by the ruling elite’, but was implemented in the interest of the entirepolitical community.

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