Public Lands and Agrarian Laws of the Roman RepublicStephenson, Andrew
History
Public Lands and Agrarian Laws of the Roman Republic
Stephenson, Andrew
Agricultural laws and legislation (Roman law); Colonate; Public lands -- Rome
Lines 19-20. Land assigned by the Sempronian commission, in compensation
for land in a colony which had been made public, to become private.
Lines 23-24. Confirmation of the title or restitution of such land to be
made before the Ides of March next.
Lines 24-25. Land besides this which remains public is not to be occupied,
but to be left free to the public for grazing. A fine for occupation is
imposed. The law allowed all persons to feed their beasts great and small
on this public pasture, up to the number mentioned in lines 14-15 as the
limit to be pastured on the _ager campascuus_, free of all tax. This,
according to Rudorff, was done for the benefit of the small holders. Those
who sent more than this number of animals to the public pastures must pay a
_scriptura_, for each head.
Line 26. While the cattle or sheep were driven along the '_calles_,' or
beast-tracks, and along the public roads to the pasture grounds, no charge
was made for what they consumed along the road.
Line 27. Land given in compensation out of public land, to be _privatus
utei quoi optuma lege_.
Line 27. Land taken in this way from private ownership to be _publicus_, as
in 133.
Lines 27-28. Land given in compensation for _ager patritus_ to be itself
_patritus_.
Line 28. Public roads to remain as before.
Line 29. Whatever Latins and _peregrini_ might do in 112, and whatever is
not forbidden citizens to do by this law, they may do henceforward.
Lines 29-30. Trial of a Latin to be the same as for a Roman citizen.
Lines 31-32. Territory (1) of borough towns or colonies (2), in
trientabulis, to be, as before, public.
Lines 33-34. Cases of dispute about land made private between 133 and 111,
or by this law, to be judged by the consul or praetor before next Ides of
March.
Lines 35-36. Cases of dispute after this date to be tried by consuls,
praetors, or censors.
Lines 36-39. Judgment on money owing to publicani to be given by consuls,
proconsuls, praetors or propraetors.
Line 40. No one to be prejudiced by refusing to swear to laws contrary to
this law.
Lines 41-42. No one to be prejudiced by refusing to obey laws contrary to
this law.
Lines 43-44. On the colony of Sipontum (?).
Thus we see that the _lex Thoria_ had two main objects in view: (1) The
guaranteeing to possessors full property in the land which they occupied.
(2) The freeing from _vectigal_ or _scriptura_ the property of every one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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