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This paper argues that the three original and prototypical concepts that denote the supreme powers which form the core of the Roman constitution—the imperium, the tribunicia potestas and the patria potestas—are based on physical violence. Moreover, these forms of legitimate violence are founded on the right of their bearer to decide over the life or death of the persons subjected to them. The aim of this paper is to examine the mechanisms by which Roman law incorporated and institutionalized acts of violence in these essential notions of power, as well as the forms in which the decision over life or death is expressed.