Concept in Definition ABC

The auctoritas refers to the personality of an individual and their training. When someone has a charismatic way of being and what he says and does transmits values, others give him a certain authoritymoral.

Your ethical credentials, your flair and your knowledge make the people around you follow your ideas in a spontaneous way.

The auctoritas-potestas binomial

In Ancient Rome the leaders and public representatives had to have the recognition of the citizens. In principle, the patricians, senators and magistrates were those who possessed this capacity, since their assessments were made from a position of power.

Both concepts are key to understanding the idea of ​​power in the civilization Roman and, basically, in any community of citizens. The auctoritas is associated with the knowledge and ethical dimension of the individual, while the potestas expresses the idea of force. In other words, we obey someone's orders when they have the coercive force of power, but if we obey an individual who has no power of ours

conduct It has a different origin: the intellectual and moral authority of the one who gives an order or proposes something.

When we meet a lawWhat forces us to do so is the potestas, that is, the coercive power of the laws. On the other hand, when we decide to follow the teachings of a teacher, all imposition disappears and our action is based on the I respect towards his knowledge.

For the ancient Romans, the analysis of human action does not have a philosophical dimension, but rather manifests itself in the vital reality as it is. In this general framework, life in society should be based on respect for traditions and compliance with the laws. In this way, a community of individuals must be guided by some kind of moral guide or referent.

The figure of the philosopher, the educator or the jurist represents the man who has auctoritas, while the military man or the governor are the personification of the potestas. Obviously, they are not antagonistic concepts, since there are individuals who in their person bring together auctoritas (knowledge) and potestas (socially accepted power).

In western culture the institution that symbolizes the auctoritas is the church

For centuries the highest authority in a community was held by the members of the clergy, since they "knew" the authentic truth revealed by God. Consequently, his words had a dominating effect on the crowd.

The people, mostly illiterate, gave the representatives of the church an evident moral strength and a knowledge of a higher order, that is, an auctoritas.

Photo Fotolia: Andrea Izzotti

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