Editing Roman Kingdom (section)

===Chief Judge===
The king's ''imperium'' both granted him military powers and qualified him to pronounce legal judgement in all cases as the chief justice of Rome. Though he could assign pontiffs to act as minor judges in some cases, he had supreme authority in all cases brought before him, both civil and criminal. This made the king supreme in times of both war and peace. While some writers believed there was no appeal from the king's decisions, others believed that a proposal for appeal could be brought before the king by any [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] during a meeting of the Curiate Assembly.

To assist the king, a council advised him during all trials, but this council had no power to control his decisions. Also, two criminal detectives (''quaestores parricidi'') were appointed by him as well as a two-man criminal court (''duumviri perduellionis''), which oversaw cases of treason. According to [[Livy]], [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus]], the seventh and final king of Rome, judged capital criminal cases without the advice of counsellors, thereby creating fear amongst those who might think to oppose him.<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab urbe condita libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#49|1.49]]</ref>