Lex
1.
A statute; a rule of law (
ius) laid down by some authorized organ of
the State. In the royal period the kings are said to have exercised legislative power
(whether the assent of the Comitia Curiata was required, is disputed; cf. Dionysius, 4, 13;
Dig. 1, 2, 2.1, 2); but the so-called
leges regiae seems
to be mainly rules of the old religious law formulated by the priests. A collection of the
leges regiae, made towards the end of the Republic by Sextus Papirius,
was called, from its editor, the
ius Papirianum (
Dig. 1, 2,
2.2; 50, 16, 144). With the establishment of the Republic the initiative in legislation
passed to the magistrates, but their proposals (
rogationes) required the
assent of the Comitia Centuriata (
uti rogas=yes;
antiquo=no). All the earlier leges of the Republic, including the Twelve Tables, were
thus enacted. The tribunes might similarly propose bills to the assembly of the
plebs; but these, if ratified (
plebiscita),
originally bound the plebeians only. By a
lex Hortensia (B.C. 286)
plebiscita became binding on the whole people, and the Comitia Tributa
thus obtained concurrent legislative power. In the last centuries of the Republic the
plebiscita were more numerous and more important than the leges voted by
the Comitia Centuriata. Within the limits of their respective powers, resolves of the Senate
and edicts of the magistrates had also the force of laws. In the Empire all legislative power
was practically vested from the outset (by the
lex de imperio, also
called
lex regia) in the emperor. Bills were still submitted by Augustus
to the popular assembly and by his successors to the Senate; but the imperial measures were
invariably approved, and the jurists often cited laws voted by the Senate not as
senatus consulta, but as
orationes principis. The
emperors had also the full
ius edicendi, or right of issuing edicts,
which had been exercised by the republican magistrates. As late as the third century,
however, the jurists confined the term
leges, in the stricter sense, to
the enactments of the Comitia Centuriata, distinguishing between these and all other forms of
law (cf. Gaius Iust. i. 5;
Dig. 1, 1, 7, pr.; 1, 4, 1, pr.). In a wider sense
plebiscita, Senatus consulta, edicta praetorum, and
constitutiones principum were all termed
leges (cf.
Dig. 9, 2, 1.1; 14, 6, 9.4; 38, 8, 1.2; 1, 4, 1.1). In the later Empire
leges designated primarily the imperial constitutions, all the earlier
statutes having become a part of the
ius (cf.
Ius [1]). A complete collection of all the older leges and fragments of
leges that have come down to us in texts or inscriptions (including reconstructions of the
leges regiae and the Twelve Tables) is to be found in Bruns and
Mommsen,
Fontes Iuris Romani Antiqui (5th ed. 1887).
2.
In a looser sense any rule of law, even of customary origin, is occasionally termed
lex (cf.
Dig. 1, 5, 24; 1, 3, 32.1); and in the later
imperial constitutions
leges is occasionally used in a collective sense,
as equivalent to
ius or the whole body of the law (so
legum scientia, legum prudentes).
3.
Lex was also used, from the earliest period, to denote the rule which
private persons impose upon themselves and their successors by contracts or other legal acts.
So
lex contractus (
Dig. 16, 3, 24),
lex
donationis (
ib. 1, 5, 22), for the provisions or conditions of
a contract, gift, etc., and
legum testamento dicere (
ib. 28, 1, 14).
Lex commissoria was a clause in a contract
by which one of the parties reserved the right of annulling the contract. So in sales it was
frequently agreed that if the price were not paid at a certain time
res
inempta fuerit. In mortgages
lex commissoria was an agreement
that if the debtor failed to pay at a stipulated time the mortgagee need not sell the
property and account for any surplus, but might simply appropriate it. Such an agreement
Constantine declared null.
The following list of the principal laws is given for the convenience of the student:
ACILIA. See
Repetundae.
ACILIA CALPURNIA or CALPURNIA. See
Ambitus.
AEBUTIA, of about B.C. 170, which, with two
Iuliae leges, put an end to the
legis actiones, except in certain cases. See
Iudex;
Actio.
This, or another law of the same name, prohibited the proposer of a law which created any
office or power (
curatio ac potestas) from having such office or power,
and even excluded his colleague,
cognati and
affines (
De Domo, 20, 51).
AELIA. This law, and a
Fufia lex, passed about the end of the first century
B.C., gave to all the magistrates the
obnuntiatio, or power of
preventing or dissolving the Comitia, by observing the omens and declaring them to be
unfavourable.
AELIA SENTIA. This law (of A.D. 4) contained various provisions as to the manumission of
slaves. See
Manumissio.
AEMILIA. A law passed in the dictatorship of Mamercus Aemilius (B.C. 433), by which the
censors were elected for a year and a half instead of a whole
lustrum.
After this law they had accordingly only a year and a half allowed them for holding the
census and farming out the public works.
AEMILIA BAEBIA. See Cornelia Baebia, below.
AEMILIA LEPIDI, AEMILIA SCAURI. See
Sumtuariae Leges.
AGRARIAE. See
Agrariae Leges.
AMBITUS. See
Ambitus.
ANNĀLES. Statutes prescribing the age at which a man might be a candidate for the
various offices. The first law of this kind was a
lex Villia (B.C. 80).
ANTIA. See
Sumtuariae Leges.
ANTONIAE, the name of various enactments proposed or passed by the influence of M.
Antonius, after the death of the dictator I. Caesar. Another law that was promulgated allowed
an appeal to the people after conviction for
vis or
maiestas. Various other measures proposed by M. Antonius are mentioned by Cicero, Dio
Cassius, and Appian.
APULĒIA (of B.C. 102), gave a surety an action against his cosureties for
whatever he had paid above his share.
APULĒIA AGRARIA, proposed by the tribune L. Apuleius Saturninus, B.C. 101 (Livy,
Epit. 69).
APULĒIA FRUMENTARIA, proposed about the same time by the same tribune.
APULĒIA MAIESTĀTIS. See
Maiestas.
AQUILIA. A law relating to
damnum (q. v.).
ATERNIA TARPĒIA (B.C. 454). This law empowered all magistrates to fine persons
who resisted their authority; but it fixed the highest fine at two sheep and thirty oxen. See
Multa.
ATIA DE SACERDOTIIS (B.C. 63), proposed by the tribune T. Atius Labienus, repealed the
lex Cornelia de sacerdotiis.
ATILIA. See Iulia Lex et Titia;
Tutor.
ATINIA (of perhaps B.C. 198), allowed no usucapion in a stolen thing. See
Usucapio.
ATINIA, of uncertain date, was a
plebiscitum which gave the rank of
senator to a tribune. The measure perhaps originated with C. Atinius, who was tribune B.C.
130 (
Gell. xiv. 8).
AURELIA. See
Tribunus.
AURELIA IUDICIARIA. See
Iudex.
BAEBIA (B.C. 192), enacted that four praetors and six praetors should be chosen
alternately; but the law was not observed (Livy , xl. 44).
CAECILIA DE CENSŌRIBUS or CENSORIA (B.C. 52), proposed by Metellus Scipio,
repealed a
Clodia lex (B.C. 58) which had prescribed certain regular forms of
proceeding for the censors in exercising their functions as inspectors of morals, and had
required the concurrence of both censors to inflict the
nota censoria.
When a senator had been already convicted before an ordinary court, the law permitted the
censors to remove him from the Senate in a summary way.
CAECILIA DE VECTIGALIBUS (B.C. 62), released lands and harbours in Italy from the payment
of taxes and dues (
portoria). The only vectigal remaining after the
passing of this law was the
vicesima. See
Portorium.
CAECILIA DIDIA (B.C. 88) forbade the proposing of a
lex Satura, on the
ground that the people might be compelled either to vote for something which they did not
approve, or to reject something which they did approve, if it was proposed to them in this
manner. This law was not always operative.
CAELIA TABELLARIA. See
Tabellariae
Leges.
CALPURNIA DE AMBITU. See
Ambitus.
CALPURNIA DE CONDICTIŌNE. See
Actio.
CALPURNIA DE REPETUNDIS. See
Repetundae.
CANULĒIA (B.C. 445) established
conubium between the patres
and plebs, which had been refused by the law of the Twelve Tables (
Livy,
iv. 1, 6).
CASSIA (B.C. 104), proposed by the tribune L. Cassius Longinus, did not allow a person to
remain a senator who had been convicted in a
iudicium populi, or whose
imperium had been abrogated by the people.
CASSIA, empowered the dictator Caesar to add to the number of the patricians, to prevent
their extinction (
Tac. Ann. xi. 25).
CASSIA AGRARIA, proposed by the consul Sp. Cassius, B.C. 486.
CASSIA TABELLARIA. See
Tabellariae
Leges.
CASSIA TERENTIA FRUMENTARIA (B.C. 73), for the distribution of corn among the poor citizens
and the purchasing of it.
CINCIA or MUNERĀLIS, a plebiscitum carried by the tribune M. Cincius Alimentus in
B.C. 204. It provided
- 1. that gifts beyond a maximum amount should not be made; but imposed no penalty for
the violation of this provision, and was therefore a lex imperfecta;
- 2. it prescribed a set form of gift.
CLAUDIA, a law passed in the time of the emperor Claudius, taking away the
agnatorum tutela in the case of women, not
in potestate or
in manu (
Gaius, i. 57,
1.171-172).
CLODIAE, the name of various
plebiscita, proposed by Clodius when
tribune, B.C. 58.
Clodia de Auspiciis prevented the magistratus from dissolving the
Comitia Tributa by declaring that the auspices were unfavourable. This law, therefore,
repealed the Aelia and Fufia. It also enacted that a law might be passed on the
dies fasti. See Aelia Lex, above.
Clodia de Censorĭbus. See
Caecilia.
Clodia de Civĭbus Romānis Interemptis, to
the effect that
qui civem Romanum indemnatum interemisset ei aqua et igni
interdiceretur. It was in consequence of this law that the interdict was
pronounced against Cicero, who considers the whole proceeding as a
privilegium (q. v.).
Clodia Frumentaria, by which the corn, which had formerly been
sold to the poor citizens at a low rate, was given. See
Frumentariae Leges.
Clodia de Sodalitatĭbus or De
Collegiis, restored the
sodalicia, which had been abolished by a
senatus consultum of the year B.C. 64, and permitted the formation of
new
sodalicia.
There were other so-called
leges Clodiae, which were, however,
privilegia.
COELIA. See
Tabellariae Leges.
CORNELIAE. Various leges passed in the dictatorship of Sulla , and by his influence, are so
called.
Agraria, by which many of the inhabitants of Etruria and Latium
were deprived of the complete
civitas and retained only the
commercium, and a large part of their lands were made
publicum and given to military colonists.
De Falsis. See
Falsum.
De Iniuriis. See
Iniuria.
Iudiciaria. See
Iudex.
Maiestatis. See
Maiestas.
Nummaria. See
Falsum.
De Proscriptiōne. See
Proscriptio.
De Parricidio. See Cornelia Lex de
Sicariis, below.
De Sacerdotiis. See
Sacerdotium.
De Sicariis et de Venefĭcis. A law passed about B.C.
81 inflicting penalties not only for actual killing, but for carrying weapons with a
murderous purpose, for arson, for selling poisons for the destruction of human life, for
perjury in a capital case, etc. Under Antoninus Pius this law was further extended to cover
the killing of slaves without just cause (see
Servus), and the castration of men.
Sumtuariae. See
Sumptuariae Leges.
Testamentaria. See
Falsum.
Unciaria appears to have been a law which lowered the rate of
interest, and to have been passed about the same time with the
leges
sumtuariae of Sulla.
De Vadimonio. See
Vadimonium.
There are other
leges Corneliae, such as that
de
sponsoribus (see
Intercessio), which may
be laws of L. C. Cinna.
There were also
leges Corneliae which were proposed by the tribune C.
Cornelius about B.C. 67, and limited the edictal power by compelling the praetors
ius dicere ex edictis suis perpetuis. See
Edictum.
Another law of the same tribune enacted that no one
legibus
solveretur, unless such a measure was agreed on in a meeting of the Senate at which two
hundred members were present, and afterwards approved by the people; and it enacted that no
tribune should put his veto on such a
senatus consultum.
There was also a
lex Cornelia concerning the wills of those Roman citizens
who died in captivity (
apud hostes). See
Legatum.
De Vi Publĭca. See Vis
Publica.
CORNELIA BAEBIA DE AMBITU, proposed by the consuls P. Cornelius Cethegus and M. Baebius
Tamphilus, B.C. 181. This law is sometimes, but erroneously, attributed to the consuls of the
preceding year, L. Aemilius and Cn. Baebius. See
Ambitus.
Cornelia Caecilia de Cn. Pompēio. A law of B.C. 57
giving Pompey extraordinary powers for five years for the management of the corn supply of
Rome (
Ad Att. iv. 1, 7).
DECEMVIRĀLIS. See
Twelve Tables.
DIDIA. See
Sumptuariae Leges.
DOMITIA DE SACERDOTIIS. See
Sacerdotium.
DUILIA (B.C. 449), a
plebiscitum proposed by the tribune Duilius,
which enacted
qui plebem sine tribunis reliquisset, quique magistratum sine
provocatione creasset, tergo ac capite puniretur (
Livy, iii.
55).
DUILIA MAENIA
de unciario fenore, B.C. 357. The same tribunes, Duilius
and Maenius, carried a measure which was intended in future to prevent such unconstitutional
proceedings as the enactment of a law by the soldiers out of Rome, on the proposal of the
consul.
DUODĔCIM TABULĀRUM. See
Twelve Tables.
FABIA DE PLAGIO. See
Plagium.
FALCIDIA. See
Legatum.
FANNIA. See
Sumptuariae Leges.
FLAMINIA was an agrarian law for the distribution of lands in Picenum, proposed by the
tribune C. Flaminius in B.C. 228 according to Cicero, or in B.C. 232 according to Polybius.
FLAVIA AGRARIA (B.C. 60), for the distribution of lands among Pompey's soldiers, proposed
by the tribune L. Flavius, who committed the consul Caecilius Metellus to prison for opposing
it.
FRUMENTARIAE. Various leges were so called which had for their object the distribution of
grain among the people at a low price or gratuitously. See
Frumentariae Leges.
FUFIA DE RELIGIŌNE (B.C. 61) was a
privilegium which related
to the trial of Clodius.
FUFIA CANINIA (about A.D. 4) limited the number of slaves to be manumitted by testament.
See
Manumissio.
FURIA TESTAMENTARIA. See
Legatum.
GABINIA TABELLARIA. See
Tabellariae
Leges.
There were various Gabinian laws, some of which were
privilegia, as
that for conferring extraordinary power on Cn. Pompeius for conducting the war against the
pirates.
A Gabinian law (B.C. 58) forbade all loans of money at Rome to
legationes from foreign parts (
Salaminii cum Romae versuram facere vellent, non
poterant, quod lex Gabinia vetabat). The object of the law was to prevent money
being borrowed for the purpose of bribing the senators at Rome.
GELLIA CORNELIA (B.C. 72), which gave to Cn. Pompeius the extraordinary power of conferring
Roman citizenship on Spaniards in Spain, with the advice of his council (
de
consilii sententia).
GENUCIA (B.C. 343) forbade altogether the taking of interest for the use of money. See
Fenus.
HIERONICA was not a law properly so called. Before the Roman conquest of Sicily, the
payment of the tenths of wine, oil, and other produce had been fixed by Hiero, and the Roman
quaestors, in letting these tenths to farm, followed the practice which they found
established. See
Decuma.
HORATIA, proposed by M. Horatius (B.C. 449), made the persons of the tribunes, the aediles,
and others
sacrosancti. Another
lex Horatia mentioned by
Gellius (vi. 7, 2-4) was a
privilegium.
HORTENSIA DE PLEBISCĪTIS. See
Plebiscitum.
Another
lex Hortensia enacted that the
nundinae, which
had hitherto been
feriae, should be
dies fasti.
This was done for the purpose of accommodating the inhabitants of the country.
ICILIA (B.C. 456), by which the Aventine Hill was assigned to the plebs as a
dwelling-place. This was the first instance of the public land being assigned to the plebs.
Another
lex Icilia, proposed by the tribune Sp. Icilius, B.C. 469, had for
its object to prevent all interruption to the tribunes while acting in the discharge of their
duties. In some cases the penalty was death.
IULIAE. Most of these were passed in the time of Iulius Caesar and Augustus. The following
are the most important:
Agraria (B.C. 59), providing for the assignment of lands in
Campania to the veterans of Pompey and to poor citizens, especially to those who had three
children.
De Adulteriis. See
Adulterium.
De Annōna, against those who tried to raise the price
of grain—to “corner the market.”
De Bonis Cedendis. See
Bonorum Cessio.
De Fenŏre (B.C. 49), compromising the claims of
creditors and debtors (
B. C. iii. 1).
De Maritandis Ordinĭbus. See
Iulia
et Papia Poppaea, below.
De Provinciis, limiting the praetorian governor of a province to
one year and the consular to two.
Iuliae Iudiciariae, one depriving the
tribuni
aerarii of their share in the
iudicia publica
(
Iul. 41) and the other instituting a select list of
iudices for trying civil cases (
Suet. Aug.
32).
Iulia Maiestātis. See
Maiestas.
Iulia Municipālis, also called the Tabŭla Heracleensis, found on a bronze in the fragments at Tarentum
(Heraclea) in 1732 and 1735, and now in the Naples Museum. On one side is a Greek
ψήφισμα of the town of Heraclea; on the other is a part of a Roman
law containing various police regulations of the city of Rome, and rules for the constitution
of colonies, muncipalities, etc. A lithographed copy of the table is given by Ritschl, tab.
xxxiii., xxxiv. For the text, see
Spangenberg's Monumenta Legalia
(1830).
Iulia et Papia Poppaea. Augustus appears in his sixth consulate
(B.C. 28) to have issued an edict (
Tac. Ann. iii.
28) on the subject of marriage, which he followed up (B.C. 18) by proposing a law to
the Senate regulating certain marriages, imposing disabilities on unmarried persons (
caelibes), and establishing rewards for those who had married and reared
children (Dio Cass. liv. 16). This he carried, with difficulty, through the Senate; but,
apparently owing to the organized resistance of the
equites, it was
rejected at the Comitia (
Suet. Aug. 34).
Towards the end of his reign, however (A.D. 3), he succeeded in passing
it, with its rewards increased and its penalties mitigated; it is referred to in the
Carmen Saeculare of Horace, which was written B.C. 17, and is mentioned under
the name
lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus in
Dig. 38, 11; 23,
2. The opposition of the knights was overcome by a provision that it should not come into
force for three, a period subsequently extended to six, years; and taking advantage of this,
Augustus passed, in A.D. 9, another statute (called Papia Poppaea from the
consules suffecti for the year, M. Papius Mutilus and Q. Poppaeus Secundus: Dio Cass.
lvi. 1-10), containing further enactments on the same subject. Sometimes they are cited by
reference to their various chapters—e. g.
lex Caducaria, lex Decimaria, lex
Miscella, etc.
Many commentaries were written on these laws by the Roman jurists, of which considerable
fragments are preserved in the Digest. Gaius wrote fifteen books, Ulpian twenty, and Paulus
at least ten. The joint statute contained at least thirtyfive chapters (
Dig.
22, 2, 19); but, as a rule, it is impossible to say to which of the two laws, included under
the general title of
lex Iulia et Papia Poppaea, the several
provisions, as now known to us, belong.
Among the enactments of these statutes are the following:
(
a) Prohibition of certain marriages under penalties: viz. of
ingenui and
infames (e. g. actresses and prostitutes);
and of senators or their children with freed women, freedmen, and actors' daughters.
Marriages between a senator or his issue and
libertini were declared
void by a
senatus consult passed under M. Aurelius, and the rule was
subsequently extended to actors and actresses (
Dig. 42, 1).
(
b) Avoidance of conditions against marriage annexed to legacies and
inheritances.
(
c) Provisions to encourage marriage.
Caelibes were
disabled by the
lex Iulia from taking either as heirs or as legatees under a
will, unless the testator was related to them within the sixth degree, or unless they married
within 100 days.
Spadones and Vestal Virgins were exempted from the operation
of the statute, as were widows for twelve months, and divorced women for six. Again, the
penalty of the statute could be evaded by an engagement to marry, if carried out within two
years (
Oct. 34). Finally, males were released from its provisions in this
respect on attaining sixty, women on attaining fifty years of age; but a
senatus
consultum Persicianum, passed under Tiberius, enacted that they should be regarded
as
caelibes in perpetuity if they postponed marrying till so late in
life. A
senatus consultum Claudianum so far modified the strictness of the new
rule as to give a man who married after sixty the same advantage that he would have had if he
had married under sixty, provided he married a woman who was under fifty; but it was enacted
by a
senatus consultum Calvisianum under Nero, that if a woman over fifty
married a husband under sixty, even the latter should not escape the disabilities imposed by
the statute. Similarly, by the
lex Papia, orbi (persons who had married, but
had no children living) were disqualified from taking more than half of what was left them by
way of either inheritance or legacy, unless related to the testator within the sixth degree.
Males escaped the penalties of
orbitas by having a single (even
adoptive) child (Iuv. xix. 83, 86-89), but by a
senatus consultum Memmianum
adoption was deprived of this effect when resorted to merely in order to evade the
statute; but women were not so well off,
ingenuae being released only by
three,
libertinae only by four children. There were exceptions to these
rules if the wife was under twenty or over fifty, or the husband under twenty-five or over
sixty, and also if the husband was residing away from the wife
reipublicae
causa. Legacies and inheritances which could not be taken either in whole or part,
owing to these provisions of the
lex Iulia or
lex Papia
Poppaea, became
caduca (see
Bona Caduca), the law upon which subject was considerably modified by
these statutes.
(
d) Among other provisions may be noticed the rule giving a
preference to candidates for office according to the number of their children; the release of
ingenuae with three and
libertinae with four
children from tutela; and of
libertini with a certain number of children
from
operarum obligationes (
Dig. 38, 1). The exemption of
persons from discharging the office of tutor or curator
iure liberorum
was based on these statutes.
After the enactment of the
lex Papia Poppaea, it became not unusual to
obtain a grant of a fictitious
ius liberorum by special favour from the
Senate, and later from the emperor, whereby those who had no children, or not enough, were
enabled to escape its disabilities and even enjoy most of its benefits. This privilege is
mentioned in some inscriptions, on which the abbreviation I. L. H. (
ius
liberorum habens) sometimes occurs. The emperor Marcus Aurelius enacted that children
should be registered by name within thirty days of their birth with the Praefectus Aerarii
Saturni.
The penalties of
caelibatus and
orbitas were
abolished by Constantine and his sons, and little is left of these statutes in the law of
Justinian.
Iulia et Titia (about B.C. 31), assigning to the
praesides of provinces the duty of appointing guardians for women and
impaberes who were not in
patria potestate, or
already provided with one.
Papiria. See Papiria, below.
Sumptuaria. See
Sumptuariae Leges.
Theatrālis, allowing Roman knights, in case either they
or their parents had ever had a knight's fortune, to sit in the fourteen rows of seats at the
theatre set apart for
equites by the
lex Roscia
theatralis (
Suet. Aug. 40).
Vicesimaria. See Vicesima, under
Vectigalia.
IUNIA DE PEREGRĪNIS, proposed B.C. 126 by M. Iunius Pennus, a tribune, banished
peregrini from the city.
A law of C. Fannius, consul, B.C. 122, contained the same provisions respecting the Latini
and Italici; and a law of C. Papius, perhaps B.C. 65, contained the same respecting all
persons who were not domiciled in Italy.
IUNIA LICINIA. See Licinia Iunia, below.
IUNIA NORBĀNA, of uncertain date, but probably about A.D. 19, enacted that when a
Roman citizen had manumitted a slave without the requisite formalities, the manumission
should not in all cases be ineffectual, but the manumitted person should have the status of a
Latinus. See
Latinitas;
Libertus.
IUNIA REPETUNDĀRUM. See
Repetundae.
IUNIA VELLĒIA (A.D. 10) allowed a
posthumus to be instituted
heres, if he should be born in the life-time of the testator. It also
so far modified the old law that a person who, by the death of a
heres institutus, after the testator had made his will, became a
heres quasi agnascendo, did not break the will if he was instituted
heres.
LAETORIA. See
Curator.
Sometimes the law proposed by Volero for electing plebeian magistrates at the Comitia
Tributa is cited as a lex Laetoria (
Livy, ii. 56, 57).
LICINIA DE SODALICIIS. See
Ambitus.
LICINIA IUNIA or, as it is sometimes called, Iunia et Licinia,
passed in the consulship of L. Licinius Murena and Iunius Silanus, B.C. 62, enforced the
Caecilia Didia, in connection with which it is sometimes mentioned.
LICINIA MUCIA DE CIVIBUS REGUNDIS, passed in the consulship of L. Licinius Crassus and Q.
Mucius Scaevola, B.C. 95, which enacted a strict examination as to the title to citizenship,
and deprived of the exercise of civic rights all those who could not make out a good title to
them. This measure partly led to the Marsic War.
LICINIA SUMTUARIA. See
Sumptuariae
Leges.
LICINIAE ROGATIŌNES. See Rogationes Liciniae.
LIVIAE were various enactments proposed by the tribune M. Livius Drusus, B.C. 91, for
establishing colonies in Italy and Sicily, distributing corn among the poor citizens at a low
rate, and admitting the
foederatae civitates to Roman citizenship. He is
also said to have been the mover of a law for adulterating silver by mixing with it an eighth
part of brass. Drusus was assassinated, and the Senate declared that all his laws were passed
contrary to the auspices, and were therefore not at all.
MAENIA LEX is only mentioned by Cicero, who says that M. Curius compelled the patres
ante auctores fieri, in the case of the election of a plebeian consul,
“which,” adds Cicero, “was a great thing to accomplish, as the
lex Maenia was not yet passed.” The law, therefore, required the
patres to give their consent, at least to the election of a magistrate;
or, in other words, to confer, or agree to confer, the
imperium on the
person whom the Comitia should elect. It was probably proposed by the tribune Maenius, B.C.
287.
MAIESTĀTIS. See
Maiestas.
MANILIA, proposed by the tribune C. Manilius, B.C. 66, was a
privilegium, by which was conferred on Pompey the command in the war against
Mithridates. The law was supported by Cicero when praetor. See
Pompeius.
The Leges Maniliānae, mentioned by Cicero, were
evidently not leges proper, but probably forms which it was prudent for parties to observe in
buying and selling.
MANLIA, also called LICINIA (B.C. 196), created the
triumviri
epulones.
MANLIA DE VICESIMA. See Vicesima, under
Vectigalia.
MARCIA, probably about the year B.C. 352, against usury (
Gaius, iv.
23).
MARIA, proposed by Marius when tribune, B.C. 119, for narrowing the
pontes at elections. See
Pons.
MENSIA. This law enacted that if a woman who was a Roman citizen (
civis
Romana) married a
peregrinus, the offspring was a
peregrinus. If there was
conubium between the
peregrinus and the woman, the children, according to the principle of
conubium, were
peregrini, as the legal effect of
conubium was that children followed the condition of their father (
liberi semper patrem sequuntur). If there were no
conubium, the children, according to another rule of law, by which they followed the
condition of the mother, would have been Roman citizens; and it was the object of the law to
prevent this.
MINUCIA (B.C. 46) created the
triumviri mensarii.
MUNERĀLIS. See Cincia; Iuliae, above.
OGULNIA, proposed by the tribunes B.C. 300, increased the number of pontifices to eight and
that of the augurs to nine; it also enacted that four of the pontifices and five of the
augurs should be taken from the plebeians.
OPPIA (B.C. 215). See
Sumptuariae
Leges.
ORCHIA (B.C. 171). See
Sumptuariae
Leges.
OVINIA, of uncertain date, was a
plebiscitum, which gave the censors
certain powers in regulating the lists of the senators (
ordo
senatorius); the main object seems to have been to exclude all improper persons from
the Senate, and to prevent their admission, if in other respects qualified.
PAPIA DE PEREGRĪNIS. See Iunia de Peregrinis, above.
PAPIA POPPAEA. See
Iuliae Leges.
A
lex Papia on the manner of choosing the Vestal Virgins is mentioned by
Gellius; but the reading appears to be doubtful, and perhaps it ought to be called
lex
Popilia (
Gell. i. 12).
PAPIRIA or IULIA PAPIRIA DE MULTĀRUM AESTIMATIŌNE (B.C. 430) fixed a
money value, as an equivalent for fines, which formerly were paid in sheep and cattle.
Gellius and Festus make this valuation part of the Athenian law.
PAPIRIA (B.C. 89), by which the
as was made
semuncialis, one of the various enactments which tampered with the coinage.
PAPIRIA (B.C. 332), proposed by the praetor Papirius, gave the Acerrani the
civitas without the
suffragium. It was properly a
privilegium, but is useful as illustrating the history of the extension of the
civitas Romana.
PAPIRIA (B.C. 303) enacted that no
aedes should be consecrated without
a
plebiscitum (iniussu Plebis).
PAPIRIA PLAUTIA, a
plebiscitum of the year B.C. 89, enacted that all
citizens and inhabitants of
foederatae civitalis (q. v.) who at the date
of the statute were domiciled in Italy should be qualified to obtain Roman citizenship on
giving in their names to the
praetor urbanus within sixty days
(
Pro Archia, 4, 7).
PAPIRIA POETELIA. See Poetelia, below.
PAPIRIA TABELLARIA. See
Tabellariae
Leges.
PEDUCAEA (B.C. 114), a
plebiscitum, seems to have been merely a
privilegium relating to Vestal Virgins, and not a general law against
incest.
PESULANIA provided that if an animal did any damage, the owner should make it good or give
up the animal. There was a general provision to this effect in the Twelve Tables, and it
might be inferred from Paulus that this law extended the provisions of the old law to dogs.
PETRĒIA, a law under this title, De Decimatiōne
Milĭtum, in case of mutiny, is mentioned by Appian. See
Decimatio.
PETRONIA, probably passed in the reign of Augustus, and subsequently amended by various
senatus consulta, forbade a master to deliver up his
slave to fight with wild beasts. If, however, the master thought that his slave deserved such
a punishment, he might take him before the authorities (
iudex), who
might condemn him to fight if he appeared to deserve it.
PINARIA related to the giving of a
iudex within a limited time (
Gaius, iv. 15).
PLAETORIA. See
Curator.
PLAUTIA or PLOTIA DE VI. See
Vis.
PLAUTIA or PLOTIA IUDICIARIA (B.C. 89) is mentioned by Asconius as having enacted that
fifteen persons should be annually taken from each tribe to be placed in the list of
iudices.
POETELIA (B.C. 358), a
plebiscitum, and noted as the first law
against
ambitus. See
Ambitus.
POETELIA PAPIRIA (B.C. 326) made an important change in the liabilities of the
nexi. See
Nexum.
POMPĒIAE. There were various leges so called:
Pompēia, proposed by Cn. Pompeins
Strabo, the father of Cn. Pompeius Magnus , probably in his consulship (B.C. 89), gave the
ius Latii or
Latinitas to all the towns of the Transpadani,
and probably the
civitas to the Cispadani.
Pompēia de Ambĭtu. See
Ambitus.
Pompēia de Iure Magistratuum forbade a person to be a
candidate for public offices (
petitio honorum) who was not at Rome; but
Iulius Caesar was excepted. This was, doubtless, the old law, but it had apparently become
obsolete (
Iul. 28).
Pompēia Iudiciaria. See
Iudex.
Pompēia de Parricidiis. See Cornelia de Sicariis;
Parricidium.
Pompēia Tribunicia (B.C. 70) restored the old
tribunicia potestas, which Sulla had nearly destroyed. See
Tribunus.
Pompēia de Vi was a
privilegium,
and only referred to the case of
Milo (q.v.).
POPILIA. See Papia, above.
PORCIA DE CAPITE CIVIUM or DE PROVOCATIŌNE (B.C. 197) enacted that a Roman
citizen should not be scourged or put to death.
PORCIA DE PROVINCIIS (about B.C. 198). The passage in Livy (
Sumptus quos in cultum
praetorum, etc.) is supposed to refer to a Porcian law, to which the
plebiscitum de thermensibus refers; and the words quoted by Cicero (
Ne quis
emat mancipium) are taken, as it is conjectured, from this Porcian law.
PUBLICIA permitted betting at certain games which required strength, as running and
leaping.
PUBLILIA DE SPONSŌRIBUS. See
Intercessio.
PUBLILIAE of the dictator Q. Publilius Philo , B.C. 339. See
Publiliae Leges.
PUBLILIAE LEGES of the tribune Q. Volero Publilius, B.C. 472. See
Publiliae Leges.
PUPIA (B.C. 224), mentioned by Cicero, seems to have enacted that the Senate could not meet
on days when the Comitia were held.
QUINTIA was a law proposed by T. Quintius Crispinus, consul B.C. 9, and enacted by the
populus for the preservation of the aqueducts.
REGIA. See Regia Lex.
REGIAE. See
Lex.
REPETUNDĀRUM. See
Repetundae.
RHODIA. The Rhodians had a maritime code which was highly esteemed. Some of its provisions
were adopted by the Romans, and have thus been incorporated into the maritime law of European
states. Strabo speaks of the wise laws of Rhodes and their admirable policy, especially
in naval matters; and Cicero to the same effect. The
Digest contains so much
of the
lex Rhodiorum as relates to
iactus, or the
throwing overboard of goods in order to save the vessel or remainder of the cargo. This
lex Rhodiorum de Iactu is not a law in the proper sense of the term. See
Schryver,
Sur la Loi Rhodia de Iactu (Brussels, 1884).
ROSCIA THEATRĀLIS, proposed by the tribune L. Roscius Otho (B.C. 67), which gave
the
equites a special place at the public spectacles in fourteen rows or
seats (
in quattuordecim gradibus sive ordinibus) next to the place of
the senators, which was in the orchestra. This law also assigned a certain place to
spendthrifts (
decoctores). The phrase,
sedere in
quattuordecim ordinibus, is equivalent to having the proper
census
equestris which was required by the law. There are numerous allusions to this law,
which is sometimes simply called the law of Otho, or referred to by his name.
RUBRIA. The province of Gallia Cisalpina ceased to be a province, and became a part of
Italia about the year B.C. 49 or 42. When this change took place, it was necessary to provide
for the administration of justice, as the usual modes of provincial administration would
cease with the determination of the provincial form of government. This was effected by a
law, the name of which is unknown, but a large part of it, on a bronze tablet, is preserved
in the Museum at Parma. This law arranged the judiciary establishment of the former province,
and appointed
duo viri and
quattuor viri iure
dicundo; a
praefectus Mutinensis is also mentioned in the law. In two
passages of this law a
lex Rubria is mentioned, which, according to some, is
an earlier law, by which Mutina was made a
praefectura; and, according
to others, the
lex Rubria is this very
lex de Cisalpina. This
subject is discussed by Savigny and by Puchta.
This law has been published several times; the text is lithographed in Ritschl's volume of
inscriptions, i. taf. 32.
RUPILIAE LEGES (B.C. 131) were the regulations established by P. Rupilius and ten
legati for the administration of the province of Sicily after the close of
the first Servile War. They were made in pursuance of a
consultum of the
Senate. Cicero speaks of these regulations as a
decretum of Rupilius,
which, he says, they call
lex Rupilia; but it was not a law proper. The powers
given to the commissioners by the
lex Iulia municipalis were of a similar
kind.
SACRĀTAE, mentioned by Livy (ii. 33) and by Cicero (
De Leg. ii. 7,
18). Leges were properly so called which had for their object to make a thing or person
sacer. The
consecratio was, in fact, the sanction by
which a law was to be enforced. In the latter case, it was the opinion of the
jurisconsults that the law did not make
sacrosancti
the persons for whose protection it was designed, but that it made
sacer
(
sacrum sanxit) any one who injured them; and this interpretation
is consistent with the terms of the law. An example of a
lex sacrata is
that making the tribunes of the people sacred (
Livy, ii. 8).
A
lex sacrata militaria is also mentioned by Livy.
SATŬ See
Lex.
SCANTINIA, proposed by a tribune. The date and contents are not known, but its object was
to suppress unnatural crimes. It existed in the time of Cicero. The
lex Iulia de adulteriis considered this offence as included in
stuprum, and it was punishable with a fine; but by the later imperial constitution
the punishment was death (
Domit. 8).
SCRIBONIA. The date and whole import of this law are not known; but it enacted that a right
to
servitutes should not be acquired by usucapion, from which it appears
that the law was once different. See
Servitus.
SEMPRONIA DE FENŎRE (B.C. 193) was a
plebiscitum proposed
by the tribune M. Sempronius, which enacted that the law (
ius) about
money lent (
pecunia credita) should be the same for the Socii and Latini
(
Socii ac nomen Latinum) as for Roman citizens. The object of the law was to
prevent Romans from lending money in the name of the
Socii, who were not bound
by the
fenebres leges. The law could obviously only apply within the
jurisdiction of Rome.
SEMPRONIAE. Various
leges proposed by the Gracchi were so named. See
Agrariae Leges.
Sempronia de Capĭte Civium, carried by C. Gracchus
(B.C. 123), reaffirming the old principle that no judgment involving the life or freedom of a
citizen should be valid without the assent of the Roman people (
Gell. x.
3).
SERVILIA AGRARIA, proposed by the tribune P. Servilius Rullus in the consulship of Cicero
(B.C. 63), was a very extensive agrarian law. It was successfully opposed by Cicero; but it
was in substance carried by Caesar (B.C. 59), and is the law called by Cicero
lex
Campana, from the public land called Ager Campanus being assigned under this law.
SERVILIA GLAUCIA DE REPETUNDIS. See
Repetundae.
SILIA. The
legis actio called
condictio was
established by this law in the case when the demand was a determinate sum of money (
certa pecunia). See
Actio.
SULPICIAE, proposed by the tribune P. Sulpicius Galba, a supporter of Marius (B.C. 88),
enacted the recall of the exiles, the distribution of the new citizens and the
libertini among the thirty-five tribes, that the command in the Mithridatic War
should be taken from Sulla and given to Marius, and that a senator should not contract debt
to the amount of more than 2000
denarii ($100). The last enactment may
have been intended to expel persons from the Senate who should get into debt. All these laws
were repealed by Sulla.
SEMPRONIA (B.C. 304). No name is given to this law by Livy , but it was probably proposed
by the consuls. It prevented the dedication of a temple or altar without the consent of the
Senate or a majority of the tribunes.
SUMTUARIAE. See
Sumptuariae Leges.
TABELLARIAE. See
Tabellariae Leges.
TARPEIA ATERNIA. See Aternia Tarpeia, above.
TERENTILIA, proposed by the tribune C. Terentilius (B.C. 462) but not carried, was a
rogatio which had for its object an amendment of the constitution, though in
form it only attempted a limitation of the consular imperium. This rogatio probably led to
the subsequent legislation of the Decemviri. See
Twelve Tables.
TESTAMENTARIAE. Various laws, such as the Cornelia, Falcidia, Furia, and Voconia, regulated
testamentary dispositions. See
Legatum;
Testamentum.
THORIA. The importance of this law requires that it should have a separate notice. See Thoria Lex.
TITIA. Similar in its provisions to the
lex Publicia.
TITIA DE TUTŌRIBUS. See Iulia et Titia, above; and cf.
Gaius, i. 195.
TREBONIA, a
plebiscitum proposed by L. Trebonius (B.C. 448), which
enacted that if the ten tribunes were not chosen before the Comitia were dissolved, those who
were elected should not fill up the number (
coöptare), but
that the Comitia should be continued till the ten were elected.
TRIBUNICIA. See
Tribunus.
TULLIA DE LEGATIŌNE LIBĔRA. See
Legatus.
VALERIA HORATIA. See
Plebiscitum.
VARIA. See
Maiestas.
VATINIA DE PROVINCIIS (B.C. 59) was the enactment by which Caesar obtained the province of
Gallia Cisalpina with Illyricum for five years, to which the Senate added Gallia Transalpina.
This
plebiscitum was proposed by the tribune Vatinius. A
Trebonia lex subsequently prolonged Caesar's
imperium
for five years.
VATINIA. See
Repetundae.
VATINIA DE COLŌNIS, under which the Latina Colonia (cf.
Latinitas) of Novum-Comum in Gallia Cisalpina was planted, B.C. 59.
LEGES DE VI. See
Vis.
VICESIMARIA. See
Vectigalia.
VILLIA ANNĀLIS. See
Annales
Leges.
VISELLIA (A.D. 23) made a man liable to a criminal prosecution who, being a Latinus,
assumed to exercise the rights of an
ingenuus.
VOCONIA. See
Voconia Lex.