Lex Aternia Tarpeia

Last updated

The lex Aternia Tarpeia was a Roman law, introduced by the consuls Aulus Aternius Varus and Spurius Tarpeius Montanus Capitolinus in 454 BC, and passed during their year of office. The law concerned the regulation of payments for fines and penalties. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Background

The law was promulgated against a background of tensions between the plebeian and patrician orders. The year after their successful campaign against the Aequi, the consuls Titus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus and Gaius Veturius Cicurinus were prosecuted by Gaius Calvius Cicero, one of the tribunes of the plebs, on the grounds that the soldiers had been deprived of their spoils. Romilius was fined 10,000 asses , [lower-roman 1] and Veturius 15,000. [4] [5] The lex Aternia Tarpeia was introduced in order to regulate such fines.

Provisions

The law drew upon Athenian precedent, as Solon's laws allowed fines levied in livestock to be transmuted into coinage. After the prosecution of Romilius and Veterius, Roman emissaries were sent to study Greek law; according to tradition, they went to Athens, but they may instead have drawn on the laws of Magna Graecia, a region of Greek colonies in southern Italy. The best known result of this commission was the establishment of the Decemvirs, who held power from 451 to 449, and established the Twelve Tables of Roman law. [6] [7]

The lex Aternia Tarpeia seems to have been an earlier result of the commission's findings. It is not mentioned by Livy or Dionysius, but was described by Cicero, Aulus Gellius, and is alluded to by Pliny. Before the new law, fines had generally been levied in livestock; for minor offences, fines ranged from two sheep up to thirty oxen. [8] [9] Dionysius mentions a maximum fine of two oxen and thirty sheep, although Gellius gives the reverse. [10] [11] The value of fines was naturally dependent on the quality of the livestock, which could be highly inconsistent. The lex Aternia Tarpeia is said to have addressed this defect by establishing an equivalence scale: ten asses for a sheep, and one hundred for an ox. [11] Some scholars suggest that the law did no more than regulate the maximum fine, or suprema multa, and that the change from fines of property to fines in bronze was the result of the lex Julia Papiria, a law passed in 430 BC. [3]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Originally these would have represented actual pounds of bronze, or aes rude, as these events predate the use of Roman coinage by a century.

Related Research Articles

The gens Tullia was a family at ancient Rome, with both patrician and plebeian branches. The first of this gens to obtain the consulship was Manius Tullius Longus in 500 BC, but the most illustrious of the family was Marcus Tullius Cicero, the statesman, orator, and scholar of the first century BC. The earliest of the Tullii who appear in history were patrician, but all of the Tullii mentioned in later times were plebeian, and some of them were descended from freedmen. The English form Tully, often found in older works, especially in reference to Cicero, is now considered antiquated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Cassia was a Roman family of great antiquity. The earliest members of this gens appearing in history may have been patrician, but all those appearing in later times were plebeians. The first of the Cassii to obtain the consulship was Spurius Cassius Vecellinus, in 502 BC. He proposed the first agrarian law, for which he was charged with aspiring to make himself king, and put to death by the patrician nobility. The Cassii were amongst the most prominent families of the later Republic, and they frequently held high office, lasting well into imperial times. Among their namesakes are the Via Cassia, the road to Arretium, and the village of Cassianum Hirpinum, originally an estate belonging to one of this family in the country of the Hirpini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Junia was one of the most celebrated families of ancient Rome. The gens may originally have been patrician, and was already prominent in the last days of the Roman monarchy. Lucius Junius Brutus was the nephew of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome, and on the expulsion of Tarquin in 509 BC, he became one of the first consuls of the Roman Republic.

The gens Terentia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Dionysius mentions a Gaius Terentius Arsa, tribune of the plebs in 462 BC, but Livy calls him Terentilius, and from inscriptions this would seem to be a separate gens. No other Terentii appear in history until the time of the Second Punic War. Gaius Terentius Varro, one of the Roman commanders at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, was the first to hold the consulship. Members of this family are found as late as the third century AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sempronia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Sempronia was one of the most ancient and noble houses of ancient Rome. Although the oldest branch of this gens was patrician, with Aulus Sempronius Atratinus obtaining the consulship in 497 BC, the thirteenth year of the Republic, but from the time of the Samnite Wars onward, most if not all of the Sempronii appearing in history were plebeians. Although the Sempronii were illustrious under the Republic, few of them attained any importance or notice in imperial times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minucia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Minucia was an ancient Roman family, which flourished from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times. The gens was apparently of patrician origin, but was better known by its plebeian branches. The first of the Minucii to hold the consulship was Marcus Minucius Augurinus, elected consul in 497 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Postumia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Postumia was a noble patrician family at ancient Rome. Throughout the history of the Republic, the Postumii frequently occupied the chief magistracies of the Roman state, beginning with Publius Postumius Tubertus, consul in 505 BC, the fifth year of the Republic. Although like much of the old Roman aristocracy, the Postumii faded for a time into obscurity under the Empire, individuals bearing the name of Postumius again filled a number of important offices from the second century AD to the end of the Western Empire.

The gens Carvilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which first distinguished itself during the Samnite Wars. The first member of this gens to achieve the consulship was Spurius Carvilius Maximus, in 293 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Antia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. The Antii emerged at the end of the second century BC, and were of little importance during the Republic, but they continued into the third century, obtaining the consulship in AD 94 and 105.

Aulus Aternius Varus Fontinalis was consul in 454 BC, with Spurius Tarpeius Montanus Capitolinus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria gens</span> Family in ancient Rome

The gens Maria was a plebeian family of Rome. Its most celebrated member was Gaius Marius, one of the greatest generals of antiquity, and seven times consul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sicinia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Sicinia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens occur throughout the history of the Republic, but only one of them obtained the consulship, Titus Sicinius Sabinus in 487 BC. Throughout the long Conflict of the Orders, the Sicinii were celebrated for their efforts on behalf of the plebeians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juventia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Juventia, occasionally written Jubentia, was an ancient plebeian family at Rome. After centuries of obscurity, the gens emerges into history with the appearance of Titus Juventius, a military tribune, in the beginning of the second century BC. The first of the Juventii to obtain the consulship was Marcus Juventius Thalna in 163 BC. But the family is renowned less for its statesmen than for its jurists, who flourished during the second century AD.

The gens Maenia, occasionally written Mainia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned soon after the establishment of the Republic, and occur in history down to the second century BC. Several of them held the position of tribune of the plebs, from which they strenuously advocated on behalf of their order. The most illustrious of the family was Gaius Maenius, consul in 338 BC, and dictator in both 320 and 314. In some manuscripts, the nomen Maenius appears to have been erroneously substituted for Menenius or Manlius; there are also instances of confusion with Manilius, Maelius, and Maevius.

Titus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus was a Roman politician in the 5th century BC, consul in 455 BC, and decemvir in 451 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plautia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Plautia, sometimes written Plotia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first appear in history in the middle of the fourth century BC, when Gaius Plautius Proculus obtained the consulship soon after that magistracy was opened to the plebeian order by the lex Licinia Sextia. Little is heard of the Plautii from the period of the Samnite Wars down to the late second century BC, but from then to imperial times they regularly held the consulship and other offices of importance. In the first century AD, the emperor Claudius, whose first wife was a member of this family, granted patrician status to one branch of the Plautii.

The gens Publilia, sometimes written Poblilia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the early decades of the Republic. The lex Publilia passed by Volero Publilius, tribune of the plebs in 471 BC, was an important milestone in the struggle between the patrician and plebeian orders. Although the Publilii appear throughout the history of the Republic, the family faded into obscurity around the time of the Samnite Wars, and never again achieved positions of prominence in the Roman state.

The gens Romilia or Romulia was a minor patrician family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned in the time of the Roman monarchy, and again in the first century of the Republic. Titus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus was consul in 455 BC, and subsequently a member of the first Decemvirate in 451. From this time, the Romilii fell into obscurity for centuries, only to appear briefly in imperial times. A number of Romilii are known from inscriptions.

Gaius Veturius Cicurinus was a Roman consul in 455 BC with Titus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus. His term saw continued divisions between the plebeians and the patricians. His father was named Publius Veturius Cicurinus, possibly identifying him with the consul of 499 BC.

Spurius Tarpeius Montanus Capitolinus was consul in 454 BC, with Aulus Aternius Varus.

References

  1. ↑ Niebuhr, History of Rome, vol. II, p. 300.
  2. ↑ "Lex Aternia Tarpeia", in the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, p. 685.
  3. 1 2 Cambridge Ancient History, vol. VII, part 2, p. 123.
  4. ↑ Livy, iii. 31.
  5. ↑ Dionysius, x. 49.
  6. ↑ Livy, iii. 32.
  7. ↑ Dionysius, x. 54 ff.
  8. ↑ Cicero, De Republica, ii. 35.
  9. ↑ Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis, xviii. 3. § 3.
  10. ↑ Dionysius, x. 50.
  11. 1 2 Gellius, Attic Nights, xi. 1.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.