The Ancients and the Recess Appointments Clause

Certainly, the ancients understood the difference between an officer and an acting officer. See, e.g., 5 Livy: From the Founding of the City (trans. B.O. Foster, reprint 1982):

   Nearly all the annalists state that Fabius was dictator in his campaign against Hannibal; Coelius even writes that he was the first to be created dictator by the people. But Coelius and the rest forget that only the consul Gnaeus Servilius, who was then far away in his province of Gaul, had the right of naming a dictator. It was because the nation, appalled by their great disaster, could not put up with so long a delay that resort was had to the popular election of an acting dictator.

Id. at book 22, ch. 31, at 307. Furthermore, the editor explains: “the erroneous impression that Fabius was in 217 formally elected dictator, whereas he was in fact invested with the powers of a dictator but not with the actual title.” Id. at 307 n.2. Similar considerations may apply to recess appointees. See U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 3 (“The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.”).

The above is from: Seth Barrett Tillman, The 1792 Madison-to-Pendleton Letter: A Time for Reconsideration, Reflection, and Response? (Feb. 5, 2020), <https://ssrn.com/abstract=3531075>. 

Seth Barrett Tillman, The Ancients and the Recess Appointments Clause, New Reform Club (Feb. 8, 2020, 3:39 PM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-ancients-and-recess-appointments.html>.