This paper considers the expression (a/ab) (administratione) re(i) publica(e) removere/summovere . It could indi- cate a Roman magistrate's suspension from office (either formally or in practice). However, its application in the de- scriptions of political realities and in the theoretical discussions of politics is much wider. The author points out that not only public officials but also private individuals could be ‘banished from the administration of the state'. On the occasions when magistrates were involved, the phrase could mean a formal deposition, but this was not necessarily the case. However, all the considered instances seem to have one thing in common: they implied a loss of the ability to take a political action. This conclusion may contribute to our understanding of some controversial episodes of magi- strates' suspension from political activity, especially of the case of 48 B.C. when the praetor M. Caelius Rufus found himself in such a situation.
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