Tabula patronatus

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Tabulae patronatus from Amiternum Tabulae patronatus - Da Amiternum, 335 d.C. -FG01.jpg
Tabulae patronatus from Amiternum
Transcription of a tabula patronatus from Bocchorus (AD 6) Tabula Patronatus Bocchorus (AD 6) - Serra Ferragut.jpg
Transcription of a tabula patronatus from Bocchorus (AD 6)

In ancient Rome, a tabula patronatus was a tablet, usually bronze, displaying an official recognition that an individual was a municipal patron. [1]

Patronage of a city was a political extension of the traditional relationship (clientela) between a patron (patronus or patrona) and client (cliens). The primary responsibilities of the patron of a town ( municipium or colonia ) were to advocate for local interests at Rome; to help negotiate legal disputes within the community, especially those that might arise from conflicts between local and Roman law; and to act as a benefactor in endowing public works, religious dedications and foundations, and entertainments. [2] After the death of a patron, it was possible to transfer the agreement and produce another tabula. [3]

The foundation charter published as the Lex Ursonensis included regulations on patronage. [2] Not many patronage tablets have been found, most being unearthed in North Africa and Roman Spain. Five Hispanian tablets are known: two found in Bocchorus (10 BC/AD 6), another in Sasamón (AD 239), one with a pediment in Cañete de las Torres (AD 247), and another in Córdoba (AD 349). [4] In Hispania, the institution of patronage seems to have been linked with hospitium , the Latin name for traditional "guest-host" relations evidenced for pre-Roman Hispania in the form of hospitality tokens (tesserae hospitales or hospitii). [4]

An inscription found in Rome in AD 222 refers to the patronage of Colonia Clunia Sulpicia. [5]

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References

  1. Lomas 1996, pp. 218–219.
  2. 1 2 Lomas 1996, p. 218.
  3. Amorós 1952, pp. 632–637.
  4. 1 2 Abascal 2019, pp. 247ff.
  5. "Tabula patronatus of Caius Marius Pudens Cornelianus (Aventino)". Musei Vaticani . Retrieved 11 September 2019.

Sources

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Tabulae patronatus at Wikimedia Commons