Ius Italicum

Ius Italicum (Latin, Italian or Italic law) was an honorable law that conferred on particular cities of the Early Roman Empire by the emperors. This law did not describe any status of citizenship, but granted to colonial provinces outside Italy the legal fiction that they were on Italian soil. This meant that it was governed under Roman law rather than local or Hellenistic law, provinces had a greater degree of autonomy in their relations with provincial governors, people born in the city automatically gained Roman citizenship, and was exempt from certain taxes, including land taxes.[1] As citizens of Rome, people were able to buy and sell property, were exempt from land tax, and the poll tax and were entitled to protection under Roman law.[2] Ius Italicum was the highest liberty a municipality or province could obtain and was considered very favorable. Emperors, such as Augustus and Septimius Severus, made use of the law during their reign.

Emperor Augustus marble bust; he was the first Roman emperor who heavily used the law Ius Itallicum.

Emperor Augustus' Enactment of the Law

Emperor Augustus was one of the first Emperor's to implement the law of Ius Italicum during his reign.[3] During Emperor Augustus' reign he gave land-grants to veterans so participated in civil wars in order reward them for their efforts. The early Roman Empire saw the creation of colonies; settlers in Roman citizen colonies (colonia civium Romanorum) had the same rights and legal privileges as cives. Military Roman colonies founded by Augustus, the first Roman emperor, were to house the civil war veterans while overseas civilian colonies were settled by Roman civilians who were deprived of their property by returning soldiers. Ancient literary sources enumerate some of the cities that were granted the privilege of Ius Italicum. The Digest, a book compiled of published Anceint Roman laws, lists Roman colonies that were granted the privilege of Ius Italicum.[4] This list comprises 16 colonies founded by Augustus Caesar: Berytus, Apamea, Sinope, Philippi, Alexandria Troas, Dyrrhacium, Pax Julia, Emerita, Valentia, Ilici, Lugdunum, Vienna, Cassandrea, Dium, Parium, Antioch of Pisidia. Augstus also enacted the law of Ius Italicum on the following cities in order to househis military legion: Arausio, Baeterrae, Barcino, Caesaraugusta, Cartenna, Corduba, Forum Julii, Gunugu, Narbo, Patrae, Rusazu, Rusguinae, Saldae, Thermae Himeraeae, Thuburbo Minus, Thuburnica, Tubusuctu and Uthina.[4] Providing land for veterans and military was a high priority to Augustus and can be reflected by the amount of provinces that received Ius Italicum. This act was done sparingly as it was economically costly for the Roman Empire because the empire could not receive taxes from provinces under this law.

Other Emperor's Enactment of the Law

Septimius Severus, a Roman Emperor of African provinces from 193 to 211 C.E., granted Ius Italicum rights to several Roman municipalities in Africa including his own. The effects of this were that their land, although outside the physical boundaries of Rome would fall under Roman law.[5] The colony of Carthage was founded by Caesar, re-founded by Augustus and given Ius Italicum by Septimius Severus. After a civil war in which Greece cooperated with Severus he then granted several more provinces this honor as a reward.

According to the Digest, under Claudius's rule the Flavians, Trajan, and Ara Agrippinensium and three other colonies are known to have been founded and receive Ius Italicum. In his "Natural History" (3.25), Pliny adds Acci and Libisosa to the list of Augustan cities possessing Ius Italicum.[4] Later,Trajan founded two colonies on the Danube, one of which, Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizeaugusta and the also received this honor.[4]

References
  1. David S. Potter (3 January 2014). The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180–395. Routledge. pp. 65–. ISBN 978-1-134-69484-6.
  2. Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve; Charles William Emil Miller; Tenney Frank; Benjamin Dean Meritt; Harold Fredrik Cherniss; Henry Thompson Rowell (1895). American Journal of Philology. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 383–.
  3. Nicholas, Barry. "ius Italicum". Oxford Classical Dictionary. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  4. Watkins, Thomas H. (1983). "Coloniae and Ius Italicum in the Early Empire". The Classical Journal. 78 (4): 319–336. ISSN 0009-8353. JSTOR 3296773.
  5. John Roberts. "Iūs Italicum." Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World (2007): Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World, 2007-01-01. Web.


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