Utente:Puxanto/Sandbox/Ius latium

Il diritto latino (latino ius Latii o Latinitas o Latium) era uno status civile dato in epoca romana a livello intermedio tra la piena cittadinanza romana e lo stato di non cittadino (peregrino).

Permetteva di contrarre matrimonio legale con una Romana o un Romano (ius conubii), di commerciare con i Romani con la garanzia di poter ricorrere al magistrato per la tutela dei propri atti negoziali (ius commercii), e, ma solo inizialmente, anche di trasferirsi a Roma (ius migrandi) in condizioni di parità coi cittadini romani, e quindi di votare (ius suffragii) nei comizi elettorali.

Alle città i cui abitanti godevano del ius Latii era riconosciuta l'indipendenza per quanto riguardava la politica interna, quindi eleggevano i loro magistrati e si autogovernavano; però erano vincolate alla politica estera romana ed erano tenute a fornire un contingente di soldati che combattevano a fianco delle legioni, ma in reparti diversi.

Col passare del tempo, e con l'espansione del dominio romano ben oltre i confini del Lazio, il "diritto latino" venne riconosciuto e applicato anche a città non laziali, e che non avevano abitanti di origine latina: il ius Latii passò allora a indicare una condizione giuridica e perse qualunque connotazione etnico-geografica; coloro che ne godevano (e che erano oramai divenuti troppo numerosi) persero però il diritto di votare a Roma.

Voci correlate

• cittadinanza romana
• Diritto romano

Collegamenti esterni

• L’adtributio e la tabula clesiana, su alpiantiche.unitn.it. URL consultato il 19-04-2008.
• (EN) definizione di "ius Latii" nel dizionario di Antichità greca e romana, 1875, su penelope.uchicago.edu. URL consultato il 28-04-2009.
• (EN) definizione di "jus Latii" nell'enciclopedia Britannica, 2007, su britannica.com. URL consultato il 28-04-2009.
• (EN) "Rivolta latina", su unrv.com. URL consultato il 28-04-2009.

Bibliografia

• Livio XLIII. 3-4. cf. Galsterer 1971, 8-9: (G 15); Humbert 1976, 225-34: (H 138).

• The Cambridge Ancient History Volume XI: The High Empire A.D. 70-192, 2nd Edition. Pp. 139, 364-365

• The Cambridge Ancient History Volume VII: The Rise of Rome to 220 BC. Pp 269-271

• Roman Civilization Volume II: The Empire. Lewis and Reinhold

• Giovanni Pugliese, Istituzioni di diritto romano, con la collaborazione di Francesco Sitzia e Letizia Vacca, Torino, G.Giappichelli Editore, pp. 1013, ISBN.
• Giovanni Pugliese, Istituzioni di diritto romano — sintesi, con la collaborazione di Francesco Sitzia e Letizia Vacca, Torino, G.Giappichelli Editore, pp. VIII - 567, ISBN.
• Mario Amelotti, Lineamenti di storia del diritto romano, sotto la direzione di Mario Talamanca, Giuffré, 1989, pp. VIII - 762, ISBN 88-14-01823-5.
• Giorgio Luraschi, Foedus, ius Latii, civitas : aspetti costituzionali della romanizzazione in Transpadana, Giorgio Luraschi, CEDAM, 1979, pp. XXIV - 531, ISBN.

[[Categoria:Diritto romano]]

Versione inglese

The Latin Right (Latin ius Latii or Latinitas or Latium) was a civic status given by the Romans, intermediate between full Roman citizenship and non-citizen status (peregrines). The most important tenets of the Latin right were commercium, conubium, and ius migrationis. Commercium allowed Latins to own land in any of the Latin cities and to make legally enforceable contracts with their citizens. Conubium permitted them to make a lawful marriage with a resident of any other Latin city. Ius migrationis gave people with Latin status the capacity to acquire citizenship of another Latin state simply by taking up permanent residence there. People with the Latin right were protected under Roman law.

Origin of the Latin Right

The Latin War (340-338 BC) was a conflict between the Roman Republic and the people of Latium. The war ended with a Roman victory and the dissolution of the Latin League, a confederation of about 30 villages in the province of Latium. With this victory, some city-states were fully incorporated into the Republic while others were given fewer rights. These provincial rights came to be known as the Latin right. From this time on Latin status no longer depended on membership of a distinct ethnic, jural and sacral community, but rather possession of legally defined rights and privileges that could be exercised in dealings with Roman citizens. The Latin right subsequently was extended to other Latin colonies in the 3rd century BC, and in 171 BC, the city of Carteia in the present day town of San_Roque,_Cádiz, Spain was founded as the first Latin colony outside of Italy.

The Latin Right under the Empire

Following the great spate of colonial settlements under Caesar and Augustus, the Latin right was used more as a political instrument that aimed at integration of provincial communities via local leadership. The core right imparted by Latin status was the acquisition of Roman citizenship upon the holding of municipal office (ius adipiscendae civitatis per magistratuum), which presumed a trajectory of development that would carry at least the local elites along the path to the creation of a Roman-style community. In 123 AD, the emperor Hadrian made a key modification to the Latin right. This so-called "greater" Latin right (Latium maius), made all of the councilors in communities Roman citizens.

The Latin right was an acquisition that relied solely on an imperial gift. This beneficence could span the whole range from grants to individuals, to awards made to whole towns, and could even be applied to an entire population, as when the emperor Vespasian gave the Latin right to all of Spain in 74 AD. Although this decree could encompass whole cities, it is important to note that it did not necessarily entail the establishment of a municipium. Often, as in Spain, the constitution of formal municipalities might have followed some years after the initial grant.

The Latin Right and Citizenship

The Latin right was an intermediate step in obtaining full-fledged Roman citizenship. In the days of the Republic, those holding the Latin right had most of the liberties of citizens except the right to vote. Furthermore, only citizens could run for office in Rome and serve in the Roman army. For the mass of the population, though, the formal meaning of citizenship symbolized being part of the empire. This was instrumental in foreign policy, allowing rulers to incorporate new territories into the empire under the incentive of improved standing. Citizenship was granted to Italy after the Social War (91-88 BC) and was then extended to some of its Western provinces under the leadership of Julius Caesar and Augustus. Finally in 212 AD, emperor Caracalla issued the Constitutio Antoniniana, which gave full citizenship to any free-born man in the Roman Empire. With this edict, the Latin right became more of a formality than a political standing.

External sources

"ius Latii" from Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 1875.

"jus Latii" from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007

"Latin Revolt"

Livy XLIII. 3-4. cf. Galsterer 1971, 8-9: (G 15); Humbert 1976, 225-34: (H 138).

The Cambridge Ancient History Volume XI: The High Empire A.D. 70-192, 2nd Edition. Pp. 139, 364-365

The Cambridge Ancient History Volume VII: The Rise of Rome to 220 BC. Pp 269-271

Roman Civilization Volume II: The Empire. Lewis and Reinhold