Latin rights or Latin citizenship ( Latin : ius Latii or ius latinum ) were a set of legal rights that were originally granted to the Latins and therefore in their colonies ( Latium adiectum ). Latinitas was commonly used by Roman jurists to denote this status. With the Roman expansion in Italy , many settlements and coloniae outside of Latium had Latin rights.
23-896: All the Latini of Italy obtained Roman citizenship as a result of three laws which were introduced during the Social War between the Romans and their allies among the Italic peoples ( socii ) which rebelled against Rome. The Lex Iulia de Civitate Latinis (et sociis) Danda of 90 BC conferred Roman citizenship on all citizens of the Latin towns and the Italic towns who had not rebelled. The Lex Plautia Papiria de Civitate Sociis Danda of 89 BC granted Roman citizenship to all federated towns in Italy south of
46-571: A city senate in the Roman Empire . Decurions were drawn from the curiales class, which was made up of the wealthy middle class citizens of a town society. The emergence of the post of decurion may be found in Rome's decision to allow office-holders in Latin colonies in Italy to become Roman citizens in an attempt to create loyalty in 125 BC. Decurions were the most powerful political figures at
69-465: A Latin colony lost their Roman citizenship and acquired ius Latii . Latin colonies were usually larger than Roman colonies and were populated largely by Latins and other allies. With Roman expansion beyond Italy, Latin colonies were also founded outside Italy, e. g. Carteia (contemporary San Roque ), which was founded in Hispania in 171 BC and was the first Latin colony outside of Italy. In 122 BC,
92-419: A Roman-style community. In AD 123, the emperor Hadrian made a key modification to Latin rights. He introduced Latium maius ("greater Latin [rights]"), which conferred Roman citizenship on all the decurions of a town, as distinguished from Latium minus , which conferred it only on those who held a magistracy. The acquisition of ius Latii was wholly dependent on imperial gift. This beneficence could span
115-420: The curiales (from co + viria , 'gathering of men') were initially the leading members of a gentes (clan) of the city of Rome. Their roles were both civil and sacred. Each gens curialis had a leader, called a curio. The whole arrangement of assemblies was presided over by the curio maximus . The Roman civic form was replicated in the towns and cities of the empire as they came under Roman control. By
138-522: The Late Empire , curiales referred to the merchants, businessmen, and mid-level landowners who served in their local curia as local magistrates and decurions . Curiales were expected to procure funds for public building projects, temples, festivities, games, and local welfare systems. They would often pay for these expenses out of their own pocket, to gain prestige. From the mid-third century, this became an obligation, as Constantine I confiscated
161-413: The ius Latii was used more as a political instrument that aimed at integration of provincial communities via their local leadership. Latin status included the acquisition of Roman citizenship upon the holding of municipal magistracy ( ius adipiscendae civitatis per magistratum ), which presumed a trajectory of development that would carry at least the local magistrates along the path to the institution of
184-439: The 4th century, but also the cities were hard put to maintaining their public infrastructure and public amenities even with help from the imperial government. The curiales were also responsible for the collection of Imperial taxes, provide food and board for the army (the assignments were under the control of the civilian administration), and support the imperial post ( cursus publicus ) whose expenses and maintenance were laid at
207-575: The Empire and precipitated a decline in living standards by half from 400 to 600 A.D . Many curiales tried to escape by enrolling in the army, the Imperial government, or the Church, or by gaining senatorial rank, which exempted them from service on the councils. The imperial government tried to prevent this; curials and/or their sons found to have escaped before fulfilling their obligations were returned to
230-698: The Latins) which was allied with Rome, rebelled in what has been called the Latin War . The Romans won the war and dissolved the Latin League. Many of the city-states of Latium were fully incorporated into the Roman Republic, while others were given limited rights and privileges which could be exercised in dealings with Roman citizens. These came to be known as ius Latii . The ius Latii was given to some Roman colonies which were founded around Italy in
253-598: The River Po (in northern Italy). The Lex Pompeia de Transpadanis of 89 BC granted the ius Latii to the communities of Transpadania, a region north of the Po, which had sided with Rome during the Social War. It also granted Roman citizenship to those who became officials in their respective municipia (cities). The exact content of the ius Latii , under Roman law, varied from city to city. It could include some or all of
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#1732779708885276-591: The Sicilians in 44 BC. This status was later given to whole towns and regions: Vespasian granted it to the whole of Hispania and the emperor Hadrian gave it to many towns. The ius Latii or Latinitas persisted to the reign of Justinian I in the sixth century AD. Rome was one of the many Latin cities of Italy. From 340 to 338 BC the Latin League , a confederation of circa 30 towns in Latium (land of
299-487: The cities' endowments, local taxes and dues, rent on city land and buildings. Julian returned these, but Valentinian I (363-375) and Valens (364-378) confiscated the resources. They did return one-third to the cities which was paid out by the Crown Estates which set aside city assets as separate line-items in the budget. Eventually management of these were returned to the cities. Not only were the curiales squeezed from
322-489: The community with temples, baths, and other public facilities. Under the Dominate (284 and later), when the empire's finances demanded more draconian tax collection measures, the position of decurion ceased being a status symbol and became an unwanted civil service position. It was still limited to the aristocracy, but the primary emphasis was clearly on tax collection, and decurions were expected to make up any shortfall in
345-471: The councils. The Emperor Julian tried to combat this development by increasing the size of curial councils, spreading the burden more evenly to make the position less costly. This attempt was not successful, and Julian himself died before he had time to see the policy through. Other efforts to remedy the situation failed as well, and the councils dwindled in importance through the Late Roman period. In
368-401: The course of the 5th century the governance of the cities fell into the hands more and more of an outside group of 'Notables' made up of persons who did not have to belong to the councils: senators, magnates, ex-military officers with estates, the richer former curiales, bishops, ex-imperial officials of higher standing and certain exempted professional classes. A decurion was a member of
391-450: The feet of the provincial landowners through whose territory the post moved. In the course of the 4th and 5th centuries, membership in the curial class became financially ruinous to all but the most wealthy among them (who in many cases were able to purchase exemptions from their obligations), especially in the West, which was beset by settlements of tribes that disrupted the administration of
414-517: The following rights: Some also had, under certain conditions, the Ius suffragii ("right to vote"); this was exercised as part of a single tribe and only if they migrated to Rome (differently from Roman citizens, who could exercise their right to vote, if they were in Rome, as part of their various tribes). Outside of Italy, the term Latinitas continued to be used for other cases. Cicero used this term in relation to Julius Caesar's grant of Latin rights to
437-487: The fourth and third centuries BC to strengthen Roman control, as Rome expanded its hegemony over the peninsula. They were colonies which were given Latin legal status, and their settlers the ius Latii , instead of the Roman legal status of other colonies whose settlers kept Roman citizenship. Colonies of Latin status were called "Latin colonies" and those of Roman status were called "Roman colonies". Roman citizens who settled in
460-491: The initial grant. Social War (91%E2%80%9388 BC) Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 565832907 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:41:49 GMT Decurion (administrative) In ancient Rome ,
483-597: The local level. They were responsible for public contracts, religious rituals , entertainment , and ensuring order. Perhaps most importantly to the imperial government, they also supervised local tax collection. Early in the imperial period, aristocratic citizens actively sought the post as a mark of prestige. They would gain seats in the front row of the theatre and be accepted into the class of honestiores (honourable men). Once elected, they were expected to pay large sums of their own money to perform public works; decurions would typically compete with each other to furnish
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#1732779708885506-521: The plebeian tribune Gaius Gracchus introduced a law which extended the ius Latii to all other residents of Italy. This reflected the increasing ties between Rome and the Italic peoples through trade and the ties between the leading families in the Italian towns and patrician families in Rome. In 44 BC, Julius Caesar granted the ius Latii to all free-born Sicilians. Following the great spate of colonial settlements under Julius Caesar and Augustus ,
529-565: The whole range from grants to individuals to awards made to whole towns, and could even be applied to an entire population, as when Emperor Vespasian gave the ius Latii to all of Hispania in AD 74. Although this decree could encompass whole cities, it is important to note that it did not necessarily entail the establishment of a municipium (self-governing town). Often, as in Hispania, formal municipia might have been constituted several years after
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