CHAPTER IV.

Of Citizens and Strangers.

THE second division of persons, in a civil con- CHAP. sideration, is into citizens and strangers. This IV. division is wholly omitted by Justinian in his Institutions.

The persons subject to the Roman government were classed under four denominations. They

were: 1. Cives. 2. Latini. 3. Italici. 4. Pro

vinciales. Those who neither belonged to the city of Rome, nor to any state subject to the Romans, were called Hostes and Peregrini.

The Institutes of Gaius do not supply the deficiency of Justinian; and if the reader expects to be able to fix the exact confines of civil privileges which they possessed who were admitted to a partial citizenship, he will find himself often baffled in the attempt; because from the foundation of the city, when the patricians living within the walls were the only Cives Romani, to the time of Caracalla, when all who were in orbe Romano were declared to be citizens, the rights of citizenship were constantly extending.

Three things were necessary to constitute full citizencitizenship: 1. Jus suffragii; the right of voting ship. in the Comitia in passing laws, and electing magistrates. 2. Jus connubii; the right of marrying a Civis Romana according to the prescribed forms. 3. Jus commercii; the right of trading freely, and enforcing contracts in the courts at Rome. The first approach to citizenship was the acquirement Jus Comof the Jus commercii. This was early conceded merci, to the Latini, and then to the Italici for the pro- Suffragii.

BOOK motion of commerce, and so would naturally lead I. to intermarriages, and the concession of the Jus connubii, whereby the children were recognised as legitimate. Last of all came the Jus suffragii, which right of course implied the other two.

et Plotia.

If it be asked, what was the extent of civil privileges enjoyed by the Latini and the Italici respectively, it is difficult to answer the question with Leges Julia reference to any given period. We may venture to assert that before the Leges Julia et Plotia, the former of which passed in the year u.c. 664, and the latter in 665', the Latini had acquired the Jus connubii, while the Italici had probably only the Jus commercii, since Livy states that in the latter times of the Republic the Latins were admitted to full citizenship "si stirpem domi reliquissent, whence we may infer that the children were legitimate. The social war took place in the year U.c. 663. In the following year the Latins were admitted to the Jus suffragii by the Lex Julia; and in the year 665 this was extended to the Italian states by the Lex Plotia, excepting the Samnites and the Lucani; these last, however, were admitted in the year 6703.

Provinciales.

Præses.

Proconsul.

"

The Provinciales were the inhabitants of those districts which had been conquered by the Roman people, who, at the same time they were liable to pay such taxes as were imposed upon them, had no civil privileges whatever. They were governed by a Præses, or Proconsul, or Proprætor, who was sent annually from Rome by the Senate. They were ruled partly by laws passed at Rome, and partly by the edict of the Præses or Proconsul, which he published as soon as he entered upon his office.

The term Præses was the nomen generale which Proprætor, included the Proconsuls, the Proprætors and their legati or deputies. The title of Proconsul was the

IV.

appellatio specialis1. The Proconsul might assume CHAP. the insignia of his office as soon as he left Rome, but as a general rule he could not exercise his authority till he entered his province. He was allowed six lictors3. If he returned to Rome, the moment he entered the city his imperium ceased 4.

All who had no connexion with the Roman Hostes and state were termed Hostes and Peregrini. With Peregrini. reference to Rome they had no civil rights and privileges, since by the law of the Twelve Tables, adversus hostem æterna auctoritas esto.

No one could be a citizen of Rome and of any other city at the same time.

gated

This is a maxim of the Civil law. If any one One citizenallowed himself to be enrolled as a citizen of ship abroanother state his Roman citizenship was thereby another. gone. "Duarum civitatum," says Cicero, "civis esse nostro jure civili nemo potest: non esse hujus civitatis civis, qui se alii civitati dicarit, potest 5.

By a constitution of the Emperor Antoninus Caracalla, the privileges of a Roman citizen were conferred on all the inhabitants of every part of the Roman Empire who were Ingenui: and the same privileges were afterwards extended by Justinian to the Libertini.

6

In the year A.D. 242, the Emperor Caracalla Caracalla. conferred the right of citizenship upon all who were freeborn, thus abolishing the classes of the Latini and the Dedititii; but the distinction of the Ingenui and Libertini still continued. Finally, Justinian decreed that there should be no differ- Justinian. ence between the Ingenui and the Libertini, and a man was then "aut liber aut servus"."

Of the states subject to the Roman Empire some were Municipia, others Præfecturæ, others Coloniæ.

BOOK

I.

Munici

ρία.

Fundi facti.

Coloniæ.

Decuma.

Municipia were those towns and districts which, having been annexed to the Roman Empire by conquest or otherwise, had had the rights of citizenship conferred upon them by the Senate. They who had acquired the right of Roman citizenship, but dwelt in their own towns, if they domiciled themselves at Rome, became cives non optimo jure; that is, they had all civic rights excepting the Jus suffragii and the Jus honoris. Aulus Gellius' states that while they used their own laws they were at liberty to adopt the laws of Rome. If they made a formal adoption of the Roman laws they became citizens optimo jure, and were said to be fundi facti2. It was these whom Festus describes, quorum civitas universa in civitatem Romanam venit. There was also a third class, who at the same time they were in alliance with Rome were only governed by their own laws, and so were in no better position than the Provinciales3.

When the Roman people conquered a territory they took to themselves a certain portion of the land absolutely, the rest they left in the possession of the inhabitants, imposing upon them the decuma, a yearly tax of the tenth of the produce. The land which they so reserved to themselves was usually colonized, which served as a check upon the natives of the district, and disposed at the same time of the surplus population of Rome. A law or Senatusconsultum first passed determining the amount of land, and among how many it was to be divided; appointing at the same time all the officials who were to assist in establishing the new community, the principal of whom were the Duumviri, or Triumviri, according as their number was, who were the governors, and represented the Consuls at Rome. The number of colonists being complete, with their full comple

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IV.

ment of handicraftsmen, they went forth sub vexillo, CHAP.
a small square standard, probably bearing some
device intended thenceforth to be the ensign of the
community. Having arrived at their destination,
a site for a town was chosen, and marked out, and
each man had his portion of land assigned him by
the Agrimentores1.

These colonies when so founded were either Roman.
Roman, Latin, Italian, or military. Whether the
Roman colonists possessed the entire rights of citi-
zenship is a matter of dispute which cannot be ac-
curately determined. The better opinion seems to
be that they had not the Jus suffragii or the Jus
honoris at Rome'. The Latin colonists were at Latin.
least cives non optimo jure; for if a Roman citizen
joined a Latin colony he suffered the Capitis dimi-
nutio3, that is, he lost his citizenship. The Italian Italian.
colonies were little better than the Provinciales.
The chief difference seems to have consisted in the
immunity of the former from certain taxes which
were imposed upon the latter. The military colo- Military.
nies consisted of those soldiers who from long
service were entitled to their discharge, and had
lands allotted to them on the frontiers called the

limitrophi fundi. These soldiers settled with their
centurions and tribunes, preserving their military
organization sufficiently to keep off any incursions
of the hostes. They no longer dwelt in castris
but in pagis, thence called pagani, which term Pagani.
came to signify whatever was not military.

turæ.

Those towns or districts which could not safely Præfecbe admitted into the class of municipia or coloniæ, or having been so admitted had broken faith with the Republic, were governed by a Prefect sent annually from Rome. Algeria might be taken as

an instance of a modern Præfectura.

The Civitates fœderata were independent com- Civitates munities between whom and Rome there existed fœderata.

1 Hein. Ant. App. 1. 5. 124; II. I. 2.
3 See post. cap. 5.

4 C. XI. 59. 3

2 Id. I. 5. 127.

5 Hein. Ant. Ap. I. 5. 132.