The lex Atinia may refer to one of three pieces of Roman legislation. [1]
Cicero says that the authors of the leges Atiniae came from Aricia (Phillipics, III, 6, 16).
The first lex Atinia was introduced by Gaius Atinius Labeo to order to found five coloniae civium in oram maritimam. It assigned three hundred families for the colonies of Volturnum, Liternum, Puteoli, Salernum and Buxentum and appointed, with three-year powers, the triumvirs M. Servilius Geminus, Q. Minucius Termus and Ti. Sempronius Longo: the implantation actually took place at the end of the three-year period in 194 BC. [2]
The lex Atinia de usucapione was also introduced by Gaius Atinius Labeo in 195-7 BC. The law dealt with usucaption, acquisition of a title or right to property by uninterrupted and undisputed possession for a prescribed term. [3]
The law prevented the acquisition of title by continued possession of stolen goods. [4] [5] Aulus Gellius quotes it and cites its meaning. [6]
The de tribunis plebis in senatum legendis was a law dealing with the enrolment of tribunes of the plebs into the Senate. [7] [8] It probably entitled a holder of the office to sit in the senate as a tribuniscius with a presumptive inclusion for the next senatorial lectio. [9]
The law is mentioned by Gellius in a quotation from Varro. [10]
Tribune was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the authority of the senate and the annual magistrates, holding the power of ius intercessionis to intervene on behalf of the plebeians, and veto unfavourable legislation. There were also military tribunes, who commanded portions of the Roman army, subordinate to higher magistrates, such as the consuls and praetors, promagistrates, and their legates. Various officers within the Roman army were also known as tribunes. The title was also used for several other positions and classes in the course of Roman history.
The Conflictof the Orders, sometimes referred to as the Struggle of the Orders, was a political struggle between the plebeians (commoners) and patricians (aristocrats) of the ancient Roman Republic lasting from 500 BC to 287 BC in which the plebeians sought political equality with the patricians. It played a major role in the development of the Constitution of the Roman Republic. Shortly after the founding of the Republic, this conflict led to a secession from Rome by the Plebeians to the Sacred Mount at a time of war. The result of this first secession was the creation of the office of plebeian tribune, and with it the first acquisition of real power by the plebeians.
The gens Licinia was a celebrated plebeian family at ancient Rome, which appears from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times, and which eventually obtained the imperial dignity. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Licinius Calvus Stolo, who, as tribune of the plebs from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of any of the annual magistrates, until the patricians acquiesced to the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia, or Licinian Rogations. This law, named for Licinius and his colleague, Lucius Sextius, opened the consulship for the first time to the plebeians. Licinius himself was subsequently elected consul in 364 and 361 BC, and from this time, the Licinii became one of the most illustrious gentes in the Republic.
Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of the Roman Senate and magistrates. These tribunes had the power to convene and preside over the Concilium Plebis ; to summon the senate; to propose legislation; and to intervene on behalf of plebeians in legal matters; but the most significant power was to veto the actions of the consuls and other magistrates, thus protecting the interests of the plebeians as a class. The tribunes of the plebs were typically found seated on special benches set up for them in the Roman Forum. The tribunes were sacrosanct, meaning that any assault on their person was punishable by death. In imperial times, the powers of the tribunate were granted to the emperor as a matter of course, and the office itself lost its independence and most of its functions.
The Concilium Plebis was the principal assembly of the common people of the ancient Roman Republic. It functioned as a legislative/judicial assembly, through which the plebeians (commoners) could pass legislation, elect plebeian tribunes and plebeian aediles, and try judicial cases. The Plebeian Council was originally organized on the basis of the Curia but in 471 BC adopted an organizational system based on residential districts or tribes. The Plebeian Council usually met in the well of the Comitium and could only be convoked by the tribune of the plebs. The patricians were excluded from the Council.
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus was a statesman and general of the Roman Republic during the second century BC. He was praetor in 148 BC, consul in 143 BC, the Proconsul of Hispania Citerior in 142 BC and censor in 131 BC. He got his agnomen, Macedonicus, for his victory over the Macedonians in the Fourth Macedonian War.
Secessio plebis was an informal exercise of power by Rome's plebeian citizens, similar in concept to the general strike. During the secessio plebis, the plebs would abandon the city en masse in a protest emigration and leave the patrician order to themselves. Therefore, a secessio meant that all shops and workshops would shut down and commercial transactions would largely cease. This was an effective strategy in the Conflict of the Orders due to strength in numbers; plebeian citizens made up the vast majority of Rome's populace and produced most of its food and resources, while a patrician citizen was a member of the minority upper class, the equivalent of the landed gentry of later times. Authors report different numbers for how many secessions there were. Cary & Scullard state there were five between 494 BC and 287 BC.
Lex Aebutia de formulis was a law established in ancient Rome in around 150 BC, though the date is quite uncertain.
Gaius Ateius Capito was a Roman jurist in the time of emperors Augustus and Tiberius. He was consul suffectus in the year 5 from July to December as the colleague of Gaius Vibius Postumus.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi was a Roman politician and historian. He created the first permanent jury court in Rome to try cases related to provincial corruption during his plebeian tribunate in 146 BC. He also fought, not entirely successfully, in the First Servile War. He was consul in 133 BC and censor in 120 BC.
The Tribal Assembly was an assembly consisting of all Roman citizens convened by tribes (tribus).
Aulus Aternius Varus Fontinalis was consul in 454 BC, with Spurius Tarpeius Montanus Capitolinus.
Gaius Atinius Labeo was tribune of the plebs in 196 BC, and carried a bill authorizing five colonies. He also joined with the tribune Quintus Marcius Ralla in vetoing the attempt of the consul, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, to prevent peace with Philip.
The gens Atinia was a minor plebeian family at Ancient Rome, which came to prominence during the late Republic. No members of this gens ever attained the consulship, although several were praetors in the early second century BC, beginning with Gaius Atinius Labeo 195.
The gens Pomponia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members appear throughout the history of the Roman Republic, and into imperial times. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Marcus Pomponius, tribune of the plebs in 449 BC; the first who obtained the consulship was Manius Pomponius Matho in 233 BC.
The gens Verginia or Virginia was a prominent family at ancient Rome, which from an early period was divided into patrician and plebeian branches. The gens was of great antiquity. It frequently filled the highest honors of the state during the early years of the Republic. The first of the family who obtained the consulship was Opiter Verginius Tricostus in 502 BC, the seventh year of the Republic. The plebeian members of the family were also numbered amongst the early tribunes of the people.
The gens Plaetoria was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. A number of Plaetorii appear in history during the first and second centuries BC, but none of this gens ever obtained the consulship. Several Plaetorii issued denarii from the late 70s into the 40s, of which one of the best known alludes to the assassination of Caesar on the Ides of March, since one of the Plaetorii was a partisan of Pompeius during the Civil War.
Vopiscus Julius Iullus was a Roman statesman, who held the consulship in 473 BC, a year in which the authority of the Roman magistrates was threatened after the murder of a tribune of the plebs.
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.
The Lex Aurelia iudicaiaria was a Roman law, introduced by the praetor Lucius Aurelius Cotta in 70 BC. The law defined the composition of the jury of the court investigating extortion, corruption and misconduct in office, the perpetual quaestio de repetundis. Previously exclusive to senators, the juries henceforth included equites and tribuni aerarii.