Agrarian Law; 111 B.C.

€
FORWARD
In the early Roman Republic there were three kinds of land: private land, co
mmon pasture, and public land or land of the public domain, which was rented to
private entrepreneurs. By the second century B C, however, much of the public la
nd was treated by its occupants as though it were private. Despite early laws li
miting the amount which could be occupied, the wealthy amassed gigantic holdings
a tendency encouraged by the growing importance of the olive and the vine, and
especially of ranching At the same time there was a steady exodus of the small f
armers to the city, partly because the continued demands of military service mad
e farming increasingly hazardous, partly because of the predatory instincts of t
he great landowners, partly because the small farm was now at a competitive disa
dvantage. The result was an impoverished, restless, and unproductive urban popul
ation.
In 133 B C. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, the plebeian tribune, attempted to
improve the situation by enacting in the Tribal Assembly legislation which (1)
limited the amount of public land rented by one person to 500 jugers (about 330
acres), (2) ordered the State's repossession of all lands in excess of this, (3)
assigned these lands to the poor in lots of thirty jugers for a small annual re
nt, (4) appointed a board of triumvirs, as a land commission, to repossess and t
o redistribute this land.
The legislation of Tiberius was reaffirmed in the tribunate of his brother G
aius (123-122 B C ) with certain modifications, and the economic health was to b
e improved further by establishing colonies both in Italy and abroad. The latter
plan was largely abandoned in 121 B.C., however, because it threatened the inte
rests of the Italians and the allied communities and because the cheap grain ava
ilable at Rome disciplined many to undertake the rigors of colonial life.
The death of Gaius Sempronius Gracchus in 121 B.C. followed by further chang
es in the Gracchan laws. In 121 B.C. the restrictions on the sale of the thirty-
juger allotments were removed and in 118 B C the land commission was abolished.
In III B.C the law here translated recognized the accomplished facts of the past
twenty-two years, reassured the Italians as regards their possession of public
lands, and regularized the position of those colonists who had been settled by G
aius Gracchus and of the public lands in Africa.
AGRARIAN LAW, 111 BC.
1) ... The plebeian tribunes duly proposed to the plebs and the plebs duly r
esolved ... the ... tribe was the first to vote, and Quintus Fabius, son of Quin
tus, cast the first vote for the tribe.
2) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in th
e consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, with the exception of that
land which has been excluded and prohibited from division by the law or the ple
biscite proposed by Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune
: ... whatever land or place each former possessor according to the law or the p
lebiscite took for himself or bequeathed from the said land, provided that it is
not greater than the amount of land which one man is permitted by the law or th
e plebiscite to take for himself or to bequeath;
3) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in th
e consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, with the exception of that
land which has been excluded and prohibited from division by the law or the ple
biscite proposed by Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune
: ... whatever of that land or place a triumvir according to the law or the pleb
iscite has granted or assigned to a Roman citizen allotted to a colony and which
is not in the land or place which is beyond ...
4) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in th
e consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, with the exception of that
land which has been excluded and prohibited from division by the law or the ple
biscite proposed by Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune
: whatever land or place from the aforesaid land or place has been granted, exch
anged, or restored for the said land or place by a triumvir to anyone who has ex
changed his private land for public;
 5) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in th
e consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, with the exception of that
land which has been excluded and prohibited from division by the law or the ple
biscite proposed by Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune
: ... whatever portion of such public land or place is in the land of Italy, or
is outside the city of Rome, or in a city, or a town, or a village, and which ha
s been granted or assigned by a triumvir. and anyone holds or possesses when thi
s measure becomes law;
6) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in th
e consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, with the exception of that
land which has been excluded and prohibited from division by the law or the ple
biscite proposed by Gajus Sempronius Gracchus, son son of Tiberius, plebeian tri
bune: whatever of this public land, place or building ... . in the land of Italy
a triumvir has granted, assigned, or bequeathed to anyone, or has entered on an
y register or records, or ordered to be entered;
7) All such land, places, or buildings described above, exclusive of those l
ands or places excepted above, shall be private property ...and the purchase or
sale of such places, land, or building shall be performed exactly as in case of
all other private places, lands, or buildings; and the censor, whoever he shall
be, shall provide that this land, or building, which has been made private prope
rty by this law, shall be registered in the census, just exactly as all other pr
ivate lands, places, and buildings, and he shall order the owner of such land, p
lace, or building, as he shall order the owners of other lands, places, and buil
dings, to make the same tax declaration on such land, place, or building ... nor
shall anyone so act that the person to whom such land, place, building, or poss
ession is or will properly be assigned by law or plebiscite any the less shall u
se, have the usufruct of, hold, or possess such land, place, building, or posses
sion ...nor shall anyone make a motion regarding this matter in the Senate ... n
or by virtue of some magistracy or imperium which he holds shall anyone express
an opinion or make a motion by which anyone to whom such land, place, building,
or possession is or will properly be assigned by law or plebiscite ... any the l
ess shall use, have the usufruct of, hold, or possess such land, place, building
, or possession, or whereby possession shall be taken away without the consent o
f the owner or, if he is dead, of his heirs.
8) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in th
e consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius ... and which the triumvirs
for grantingassigning lands have granted, assigned, and left to the villagers d
welling along the public highways of Italy: no one shall so act that anyone any
the less shall use, have the usufruct of, or hold, or possess this land, which i
ts possessor does not alienate such land, place, or building, with that land exc
epted ... with that land excepted which in accordance with this law can properly
be sold, granted, or restored.
9) It is not the intent of this law that any land, place, or building which
been or is granted, assigned, or bequeathed to a person who is or will be proper
ly among the villagers dwelling along the public highways in accordance with the
decree of the Senate ... shall be private land, place or building, or that the
censor, whoever he shall be, shall reguster this land or place in his census ...
or that this land shall be considered otherwise than it is at present.
10) As regards the public land or place of the Roman people in the land of I
taly in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, with the excepti
on of that land which has been excluded from division by the law or the plebisci
te proposed by Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune ...
and excepting that land which its former possessor has taken or bequeathedsa in
accordance with the law or the plebiscite, provided that it is not greater in si
ze than was legal for a man to take for himself or bequeath: if anyone, after th
is law is enacted, gains possession of or holds for purposes of cultivation a se
ction of this land of no more than thirty jugers, this land shall be private pro
perty.
11) Those who pasture on the common pastures larger animals of no greater nu
mber than ten plus their offspring up to one year of age ... or those who pastur
e there smaller animals of no greater number than ... plus their offspring up to
one year of age, shall not owe any tax or fee for these animals ... to the Stat
e or to any tax farmer nor give security nor pay anything for this reason.
12) As regards the public land of the Roman people in Italy in the consulshi
p of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, whatever of this land a triumvir for
granting and assigning lands grants or assigns to a Roman citizen, according to
the law or the plebiscite, as a colonist, ... and which land neither this citize
n has alienated nor alienates, nor his heir, nor anyone who has received the lan
d by inheritance, will, or surrender from him, nor anyone who has bought it from
anyone of those mentioned such a person shall appear before March 15 following
the enactment of this law at the court of that official for whom it is proper by
the terms of this law to make judicial decisions concerning this land; and that
official shall so settle and decree that he can grant to the aforesaid person o
r to his heir possession of whatever land has been granted or assigned to the af
oresaid person by the lot as a colonist, and which assignment is not alienated a
s has been written above.
13) As regards the public land of the Roman people in Italy in the consulshi
p of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, possession of which a triumvir for gr
anting and assigning lands has granted, assigned, or restored to its former poss
essor or to a person acting in his stead, and which land is in a city, or a town
, or a village, and which land neither the aforesaid person has alienated nor al
ienates, nor his heir, nor successor by inheritance, will, or surrender, nor he
who has bought the land from anyone of the aforesaid persons: such persons shall
appear before March 15 following the enactment of this law at the court of that
official for whom it is proper by the terms of this law to make judicial decisi
ons concerning this land; and that official shall so settle and decree that he m
ay grant possession to the aforesaid person or his heir ... to whom this land ha
s been granted, assigned, or restored to its former possessor or to a person act
ing in his stead; or the person who receives land in a city, a town, or a villag
e ...
14) If any of those persons whose land is described above has been ejected b
y force from his possession which he, who has been ejected, possesses, provided
that he had not got possession of this land by force or by stealth or by precari
um from the person who ejected him from his possession by force: the person so e
jected shall appear concerning the matter before March 15 following the enactmen
t of this law at the court where that official for whom it is proper by the term
s of this law to make judicial decisions concerning this land shall provide that
the person who thus has been ejected by force shall be restored into possession
of that land from which he forcibly was ejected.
15) As regards the public land, place, or building of the Roman people in th
e land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius which
in accordance with the provision of law or plebiscite, or of this law, have been
or shall be made private possessions: no magistrate or promagistrate ... shall
contrive that anyone shall give or be obliged to give rent or fee for this land,
place, or building, or for the pasturage of animals that are pastured on this l
and after the taxes cease, which first cease after the passage of this law, nor
shall any other person so contrive ... or by which anything for this reason shou
ld be given or exacted for the people or for the tax farmer; nor shall anyone, a
fter the taxes cease, which first cease after the passage of this law, be oblige
d to make payment to the people or to tax farmers for these lands, places, or bu
ildings, or to make payment to the people or to tax farmers for the pasturage of
the animals that are pastured on this land.
16) As regards the public land or place of the Roman people in the land of I
taly in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius ... excepting tha
t land which the censors Lucius Caecilius and Gnaeus Domitius leased on Septembe
r 21 together with the land beyond the Curio; and as regards those persons who d
well on this land or place and are Roman citizens or allies of the Latin name an
d from whom soldiers regularly are requisitioned in Italy in accordance with the
military rolls . . and as regards that public land or place of the Roman people
which a former possessor or a person acting in his stead has surrendered from h
is possession, in order that a town or a colony may be established, founded, or
settled on that land or place by the terms of the law or the plebiscite ... on w
hich land or place a triumvir established, founded, or settled a town or a colon
y by the terms of the law or the plebiscite: whatever land or place a triumvir h
as granted, restored, or assigned in exchange for such land or place, which was
public land or place of the Roman people in the land of Italy in the consulship
of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius ... excepting that land or place which h
as been excluded from division by the law or the plebiscite proposed by Galus Se
mpronius Gracchus, son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune ... such land shall be the
private property of the person to whom it was granted, restored, or assigned by
a triumvir, or of the person who has obtained or obtains it from him or his heir
by will, inheritance, or surrender, or of the person who has bought or buys it
from him or from some previous buyer.
17) As regards that part of the public land of the Roman people ---- land, p
lace, or building ---- which a triumvir has granted, restored, or assigned in ex
change for that land or place into which he has conducted a colony as is written
above: whatever praetor or consul is administrator of this land in accordance w
ith this law and in whose court suit is filed concerning this land before March
15 following the enactment of this law shall so settle and decree concerning thi
s property that he shall grant possession to the aforesaid person or his heir, t
he person to whom a triumvir granted, restored, or assigned that land or place i
n exchange for the land or place into which he conducted a colony; and this prae
tor or consul in whose court suit is filed shall provide that this land shall be
private property ...
18) As regards the land or place described above, whatever of this land or p
lace after the passage of this law shall be public property of the Roman people,
with the exception of that land or place which has been designated for public u
se or has been leased publicly, on such land anyone who wishes may pasture anima
ls ... nor shall such land be "common pasturage," nor shall anyone appropriate o
r fence in an area in such land, thus interfering with anyone's desire to pastur
e animals thereon. If anyone transgresses this law for each offense he must pay
fifty sesterces ... for each juger of land so encumbered to that person who leas
es or purchases the taxes on this public land for his own profit.
19) Cattle, horses, mules, asses... may be pastured on this land or place wh
ich is public property of the Roman people, after the passage of this law, to a
number which conforms to that specified by this law; nor need anyone be charged
tax or rental for this privilege.
20) In cases where a person drives his animals into public paths or roads, i
n order to transfer them from pasture to pasture, and allows them to feed en rou
te ... for these creatures that have been driven into public paths or roads for
the purpose mentioned and that feed thereabout no payment need be made to the pe
ople nor to any tax farmer.
21) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in t
he consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius: whatever part of this lan
d or place the people have transferred from public to private ownership, receivi
ng in return an equal amount of private land or place made public, then this for
merly public land or place shall be the private property of its owners in the fu
llest legal sense.
22) As regards the land changed from private to public ownership and in exch
ange for which an equal amountchanged from public to private ownership: the lega
l status of this public land shall be exactly the same as that of land which was
public in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius.
23) As regards that portion of the public land given in exchange for ager pa
tritusla ... the praetor or the consul shall provide that the tax farmer shall m
ake payment on such substituted ager patritus under all future censors at the ra
te current in the censorship of Lucius Caecilius and Gnaeus Domitius, if they wi
sh to contract for the collection of taxes, and that this land shall be register
ed under its old title of ager patritus.
24) Of the duumvirs who ... shall provide that the public roads in the land
of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius are passable
and unobstructed ...
25) Whatsoever shall be permissible for a Roman citizen to do in accordance
with this law, as described on the lands in Italy, which were public lands of th
e Roman people in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, the sa
me also shall be permitted to Latins and other noncitizens without prejudice to
themselves from the consulship of Marcus Livius and Lucius Calpurnius in accorda
nce with law, plebiscite, or treaty.
26) As regards the acts described above on the lands described above which a
re proper for a Latin or a non-citizen to do or not to do in accordance with thi
s law ... if anyone does not do those things which it is proper for him to perfo
rm or performs certain acts which he is forbidden to perform by the provisions o
f this law: the magistrate or the promagistrate into whose court charges are bro
ught in accordance with this law shall grant a trial or appoint a judex or recup
erators in accordance with the law's provisions; and this court, judex, or these
recuperators are properly to be appointed in accordance with this law in exactl
y the same way as if charges were brought that a Roman citizen had acted contrar
y to the provisions of this law ...
27) As regards the land the usufruct of which has been given by the people o
r by a resolution of the Senate to colonies or to municipalities, or to towns wi
th the legal position of municipalities or to colonies of Roman citizens or of t
he Latin name; or as regards land pledged by the State to its creditors; and as
regards colonists or citizens of a municipality or a town with the legal positio
n of a municipality ... who have this usufruct; or those who have this usufruct
on behalf of a colony or a municipality or of a town with the legal position of
a municipality; or those who have land pledged to them by the State as state's c
reditors ... which land, held by members of colonies or municipalities or towns
with the legal position of municipalities, or held by persons who have acquired
it from a colony, a municipality, or a town with the legal position of a municip
ality, or whatever land pledged by the State has devolved or shall devolve upon
any person by will, inheritance, or surrender, and to whom it was lawful before
the passage of this law to lease this land or place, to hold it, to have the usu
fruct of it, to possess it, and to lay claim to it, excluding that land or place
which in accordance with this law, just as before the enactment of this law ...
28) As regards the land the usufruct of which has been given by the people o
r by a resolution of the Senate to colonies or to municipalities, or to towns wi
th the legal position of municipalities or to colonies of Roman citizens or of t
he Latin name; or as regards land pledged by the State to its creditors; and as
regards colonists or citizens of a municipality or a town with the legal positio
n of a municipality ... who have this usufruct; or those who have a usufruct on
behalf of a colony or a municipality or of a town with the legal position of a m
unicipality; or those who have land pledged to them by the State as state's cred
itors ..., which land, held by members of colonies or municipalities or towns wi
th the legal position of municipalities, or held by persons who have acquired it
from a colony, a municipality, or a town with the legal position of a municipal
ity, or whatever land pledged by the State has devolved or shall devolve upon an
y person by will, inheritance, or surrender, and to whom it was lawful before th
e passage of this law to lease this land or place, to hold it, to have the usufr
uct of it, to possess it, and to lay claim to it, excluding that land or place w
hich in accordance with this law ... it is proper to sell, to grant, or to resto
re; all the aforesaid land it shall be permitted to hold, to have the usufruct o
f it, to possess it, and to lay claim to it after the passage of this law, just
as before the enactment of this law nor decree concerning this land nor grant a
trial nor appoint a judex or recuperators, except a consul or a praetor. But if
security is promised in this matter and if an appeal is made to other magistrate
s, it is not the intent of this law that these magistrates shall not decree conc
erning the matter. And if a trial is granted or if a judex or recuperators are a
ppointed, it is not the intent of this law to deny magistrates, to whom appeal i
s made, the right of hindering or vetoing anything which seems to them not in th
e public interest.
29) As regards the land or place in Italy which after the passage of this la
w shall be public property of the Roman people: if there is any dispute concerni
ng this land or place, jurisdiction over the dispute shall be with the consul, t
he practor, or the censor, whoever is then in office; or it shall be their duty
to grant a trial or to appoint a judex or recuperators, in such way as shall see
m in the public interest and in accordance with their own good faith nor is any
magistrate or promagistrate, except a consul, a praetor, or a censor, to render
decisions concerning this land or place nor to decree nor to grant a trial nor t
o appoint a judex or recuperators. But if security is promised in this matter an
d if an appeal is made to other magistrates, it is not the intent of this law th
at these magistrates shall not decree concerning the matter. And if a trial is g
ranted or if a judex or recuperators are appointed, it is not the intent of this
law to deny magistrates, to whom appeal is made, the right of hindering or veto
ing anything which seems to them not in the public interest.
30) If money is owed to any tax farmer in accordance with this law, no magis
trate ... is to take such action that there shall be paid for the land an amount
either less or other than the rent or the tax which is legally required by the
terms of this law ... but if a tax farmer asserts that something is owed or shou
ld be paid to him in respect to this case, the consul, the proconsul, the praeto
r, or the propraetor, in whose jurisdiction the matter lies, within the next ten
days after the complaint has been made concerning the matter ... shall appoint
eleven recuperators from fifty citizens of the first class. From these the plain
tiff and the defendant may reject alternately individuals up to four apiece ...
the magistrate shall direct the remaining three or more to give judgment on the
case on the nearest possible date where payment has not been made, or the matter
is not in court or has not been adjudged, and which has not been the object of
a collusive action ... or fraudulent intent on the part of the plaintiff or his
patrons. But if the major portion of these recuperators ... that majority in acc
ordance with its vote shall announce that verdict, which it has found to be as c
lose as possible to the truth of the matter to be adjudged ... as regards the ma
tter to be judged, it shall provide that the person against whom the judgment is
made shall pay his fine without fraudulent intent ...
31) In the case of laws or plebiscitesis which forbid those persons to hold,
to possess, or to have the usufruct of the public land of the Roman people, who
have been awarded the right to hold, to possess, and to have the usufruct of th
is public land by the provisions of this law, and in the case of laws or plebisc
ites which award the right to hold, to possess, and to have the usufruct of the
public land of the Roman people in any other manner than this law does: any pers
on who is ordered to swear to uphold such laws or plebiscites and refuses to do
so shall not be subject to fine ... nor shall he be precluded for this reason fr
om seeking, gaining, administering, or holding any magistracy, nor shall such ac
tion be prejudicial to him.
32) If any law or plebiscite is passed which forbids a magistrate to issue a
decree concerning anything upon which this law directs him to issue such decree
this magistrate nonetheless shall make such decree ... and if such laws or pleb
iscites forbid persons to do things which this law orders them to do they shall
do all these things without prejudice to themselves and shall not be subject to
fine for refusing to swear to uphold the laws and the plebiscites on this matter
, which in accordance with this law ... not to issue a decree or to make a decre
e otherwise; nor is such action to be the basis for prejudice, fines, or penalti
es ...
33) ... granted or assigned, or that land or place which ... according to th
e law or the plebiscite which Marcus Baebius, plebeian tribune and triumvir for
founding a colony, proposed ... he adjudges to have been granted or assigned, as
has been written in this law ... excepting that land or place which is in this
division or subdivision of land ... and excepting that land or place which in ac
cordance with this law the colonists or those enrolled as colonists obtain ... w
hatever of this land or place has been sold to anyone ... neither the buyer nor
his security or surety shall be freed from all obligation ... and the quaestor w
ho has as his province the treasury shall enter their names on the public record
s ... nor shall the person who has bought such land or place from the Roman magi
strate pay money for it nor give security or surety to the people ... nor shall
anyone who has been made surety in such a case for this reason be obligated to t
he people ... and he who has become buyer or surety for this land or place, and
the security which has been pledged to the people ... whatever land or place in
Africa which has been sold publicly at Rome. . . and this land or place is to be
private but bearing a yearly tax ... as regards that land or place outside Ital
y ... persons of the allies or of the Latin name, from whose rolls soldiers are
wont to be recruited in Italy according to the same formula as Roman citizens ar
e ... that land or place whosoever holds, possesses, or has the usufruct of ...
or shall dispatch into this land or place to care for these affairs ... without
fraudulent intent ...
34) As regards the land or place in Africa, whatever such land ... anyone ma
y hold, possess, or have the usufruct of, as if this land or place had been publ
icly.
35) The duumvir created in accordance with this law within two days after hi
s appointment shall issue an edict ... that within twenty-five days of the issue
of the edict ... whatever land has been granted or assigned, and, when he makes
declaration of it, he shall produce guarantors ... a buyer from another in the
manner of a private sale ... in the consulship of Lucius Calpurnius and ... whic
h afterward neither he nor ... will be an officer or an enlisted man in the prov
ince ... whatever has been assigned or granted to a colonist or one enrolled as
a colonist, or whatever of it ... as the curator of the estate should make decla
ration, and also as ... in accordance with this edict, as he who buys the land f
rom the purchaser of a bankrupt estate, its creditors' agent, or its curator ...
if there is anything which properly should be declared by the duumvir's edict,
which was issued in accordance with this law, and which has not been so declared
... the duumvir shall adjudicate that that land or place has not been sold or a
ssigned to the person concerned ... to such Roman citizen just as much land or p
lace ... it is lawful to grant, to restore, or to exchange, provided that it has
not already been publicly sold.
36) The duumvir created in accordance with this law ... shall initiate an ac
counting concerning these lands, and so ... nor is he to adjudicate land in Afri
ca which is registered in the name of a person who received it legally by the te
rms of the Rubrian Law, now repealed, as a colonist or as one enrolled as a colo
nist ... or having been granted or assigned to that person; nor in the name of a
person shall he adjudge lands to have been granted or assigned to a colonist or
a person enrolled as a colonist, to whom land in Africa was allotted legally, b
ut in an amount greater than 200 jugers apiece ... Nor is he to adjudge a larger
number of persons to have been settled in a colony or colonies in Africa than t
he number specified by the Rubrian Law now repealed ... which was to be settled
legally in Africa in a colony or colonies by the triumvirs for settling a colony
.
37) The duumvir created in accordance with this law ... shall adjudge this l
and as assigned to that person to whom, upon investigation, he finds land or pla
ce could be assigned in accordance with this law, or to his heir which if before
the first of ... which was bought from a second person as if in a sale of priva
te property at the time when this land or place was sold ... and if he proves th
at he bought this land or place, which he thus bought, and provided that neither
he nor his heir nor the person to whom he is heir has alienated it, and this to
o be proved, then the duumvir shall so ... grant and make exchange for what he b
ought by giving him land which has not been sold publicly. And likewise the duum
vir, if he sells publicly any land or place which has been sold privately to any
one, shall grant or restore to him an equal amount of land or place from that in
Africa which has not been sold publicly and whatever land or place thus is gran
ted or restored in accordance with this law shall be bought for one sesterce by
the person to whom it has been granted or restored, and the land or the place sh
all be private and subject to tax, as has been written above in this law.
38) If land or place has been granted or assigned to any colonist or person
enrolled as a colonist in a division or subdivision of land in Africa, which div
ision or subdivision has been or is sold publicly at Rome ... whatever portion o
f this land the duumvir created by this law does not adjudicate to this colonist
or his heir, then he shall give in recompense to this man or his heir an equal
amount of land or place to that which is in Africa and which has not been sold p
ublicly.
39) If any division or subdivision of land in Africa has been granted or ass
igned to any colonist or person enrolled as a colonist, which division or subdiv
ision has been sold or is sold publicly at Rome, and if the duumvir created by t
he law does not adjudicate any portion of this land to the person who has bought
or acquired it from the colonist or his heir, then the duumvir shall give in re
compense for the land which this person is proved to have bought or acquired, or
to his heir, an equal amount of land in Africa; and he shall judge the land so
given in recompense as permanently assigned to him.
40) If a magistrate at Rome sells publicly land in Africa which has been gra
nted or assigned to a colonist or person enrolled as a colonist ... and if the d
uumvir created by this law does not adjudicate to the buyer, the curator of his
estate, or his heir any part of this land. then the duumvir shall give in recomp
ense for this land in Africa which is proved to be so bought an equal amount to
the buyer, the curator of his estate, or his heir; and he shall judge the land s
o given in recompense as permanently assigned to him. As regards the amount of m
oney which is to be paid to the people by that person who has bought or buys the
debts saved by those persons who have purchased public land or place from the S
tate in Africa ... whatever of this money his been or is noted down, assigned, o
r noted down in the public accounts: that money he shall pay to the people after
March 15 which follows the first collection of tax after the passage of this la
w.
41) Whatever money is owed or shall be owed for public land or place purchas
ed in Africa shall be exacted after said March 15 from the buyers by the person
who purchased from the people the right to collect such money ... nor is anyone
to exact this money on an earlier day or otherwise than is specified in this law
; and if any money is received for this purpose on an earlier day than is specif
ied in this law, still the person who owes money to the people nonetheless must
make payment to the person who purchased from the people the right to collect su
ch money ... or is any magistrate or promagistrate so to act, or senator so to d
ecree, that this money which is or shall be owed to the people for lands, places
, or buildings as described above is exacted in any other way than as specified
in this law.
42) That person who has bought or buys public land or place in Africa ... if
he does not pay to the people the money which he owes or shall owe within ... d
ays after the purchase of such land or place at Rome: within 120 days thereafter
he shall register at the discretion of the urban praetor sufficient securities
therefor.
43) The urban praetor ... unless before that time security for this land or
place is provided in public or surety is provided, shall sell for ready cash tha
t land or place for which, in the opinion of the praetor, proper security in acc
ordance with this law has not been registered. Who ...
44) As regards the land or the place in Africa which has been or is sold pub
licly in Rome and which land or place has been granted or assigned by a resoluti
on of the Senate to the free peoples of Africa, who remained friends of the Roma
n people in the last Punic War or who deserted from the enemy and surrendered to
a Roman general last Punic War ... within ... days after he has been appointed
in accordance with this law, the duumvir shall provide that whatever amount of l
and or place has been made the property of a Roman citizen in accordance with th
is law, and the said land or place belonged to any free people whatever or was i
n the land or the place which has been granted or assigned to deserters, and for
the said land or place other land or place has not been exchanged or given in r
ecompense to the Roman citizen in accordance with this law, just so much land or
place shall be granted or assigned to any free people whatever or to deserters
...
45) Since the decemvirs who were or have been created by the Livian Law have
granted or assigned in Africa to certain persons lands on which it is proper fo
r them to pay a fixed tax to the Roman people, provided that any portion of such
land is or shall be properlyab the property of a Roman citizen in accordance wi
th this law, the duumvir created by this law, within 150 days of his appointment
. an equal amount of land from the land which is public land of the Roman people
in Africa, as that land once subject to a fixed tax, which land is or shall be
properly the property of a Roman citizen in accordance with this law. This he sh
all grant or assign to persons subject to a fixed tax and he shall provide that
this land shall be entered on the public records in a manner as seems to him in
the public interest and in accordance with his own good faith.
46) The duumvir created by this law shall make the following arrangements wi
thin 250 days after this law is ratified by the people or the plebs concerning a
ll the land in Africa with the exception of the lands here specified: (1) that l
and or place which has been granted or assigned to a colonist or to a person reg
istered as a colonist in accordance with the Rubrian Law now repealed ... and fo
r which land or place no exchange or restoration is made; (2) land which was wit
hin the territories of the free peoples of Utica, Hadrumetum, Tampsus, Leptis, A
quilla, TJsalis, and Teudalis, when they most recently entered into friendship w
ith the Roman people; (3) that land or place which was granted or assigned by a
resolution of the Senate ... to those persons who deserted from the enemy and su
rrendered to a general of the Roman people in the last Punic War; (4) that land
which is made private by this law and for which land or place no exchange or res
toration is made; (5) that land or place which a duumvir grants or assigns to pe
ople paying a fixed tax in accordance with this law and which is registered in t
he public records in accordance with this law; (6) that land which ... our gener
al Publius Cornelius granted to the sons of King Mass inissa and ordered that th
ey were to hold and to enjoy the fruits thereof; (7) that land or place where th
e city of Carthage once was situated; (8) and that land or place which the decem
virs, created by the Livian Law, left and assigned to the people of Utica:with t
he exception of these lands, as regards all the remaining land in Africa, all th
ose who owe tax, tithe, or fee for pasturage on this land to the people or the t
ax farmer, which land has been granted, restored, or granted in exchange to them
in accordance with this law, these lands they shall hold, possess, and have the
usufruct of, and they shall pay to the people or the tax farmer tax, tithe, or
fee for pasturage for whatever land or place they have the usufruct of after the
passage of this law.
47) Those persons who have not been wont to pay tax, tithe, or fee for pastu
rage in accordance with the Sempronian Law and to whom land has been granted, re
stored, or granted in exchange in accordance with this law, which land they now
hold, possess, and have the usufruct of: these persons shall not be liable to pa
y tax, tithe, or fee for pasturage for this land or place of which they have the
usufruct after the passage of this law.
48) Whatever land or place the Roman people leases in accordance with this l
aw, which land or place a Latin or a noncitizen possesses in accordance with thi
s law, he shall for this land or place. shall be liable to pay tax, tithe, or fe
e for pasturage to the people or to the tax farmer to the same amount for the sa
id land or place as properly shall be paid by a Roman citizen to whom such land
or place is leased by the Roman people in accordance with this law and who posse
sses the said land or place in accordance with this law.
49) The praetor who makes public sales at Rome and who shall demand in accor
dance with this law sufficient security at his own discretion for land or place
sold shall demand a threefold security, though the debtor may be unwilling; and
he shall provide that securities given in accordance with this law shall be prop
erly registered and that no one shall do anything to prevent anyone who wishes i
n accordance with this law from registering securities or paying the cash or bec
oming surety in accordance with this law.
50) As regards the amount of tax, tithe, or fee for pasturage to be paid by
those possessing land, place, or building in Africa ... and which land or place
is not the property of free peoples or deserters: whatever tax, tithe, or fee fo
r this land, building, or place they properly had to pay to the tax farmer in ac
cordance with the terms of the lease, and which the censors Lucius Caecilius and
 Gnaeus Domitius determined as the tax on land, building, or place, or the fee f
or the usufruct of, leasing, or sale of the public taxes: after the passage of t
his law whoever possesses or shall possess land, place, or building in Africa ..
. shall be liable to pay the same amount of tax, tithe, or fee for pasturage the
refor; but he shall not be liable to pay a greater amount, or in another place o
r manner, and he shall not graze cattle on this land in any other manner or with
other conditions.
51) As regards the public taxes of the Roman people in Africa, the collectio
n of which the censors Lucius Caecilius and Gnaeus Domitius leased or sold: it i
s not the intent of this law to prevent any magistrate who shall lease or sell s
uch privileges of tax farming after the passage of this law from setting conditi
ons to the tax farmer whereby he shall be liable to pay a greater amount to the
people.
52) No magistrate or promagistrate or other person invested with imperium or
judicial office or authority and who shall lease or sell the right of collectin
g the public taxes of the Roman people which are or shall be in Africa shall ins
ert at that time any clause for the benefit of the tax farmers by which, against
the wishes of the possessors of the land, the tax farmers will be permitted to
do anything ... which they were not permitted to according to the terms of contr
act, which were established by the censors Lucius Caecilius and Gnaeus Domitius,
when they leased or sold the right of collecting the lands ... nor without the
consent of those persons who possess the lands shall they insert any clause conc
erning the fee paid for the pasturage of cattle on these lands by which the term
s of pasturage shall be other than those set by the censors Lucius Caecilius and
Gnaeus Domitius, when they leased or sold the right of collecting the taxes on
these lands.
53) As regards the right to collect taxes in Africa was sold or leased by th
e consul Gnaeus Papirius: it is not the intent of this law that the conditions i
n the contract of lease specified by the consul Gnaeus Papirius shall be changed
for those sales or leases.
54) As regards the land in Africa ... the roads which were in the land befor
e the capture of Carthage: all these shall remain public, as are the pathways be
tween the visions of land ...
55) If anyone to whom land has been assigned in Africa makes declaration of
this land before the duumvir created by this law and declares it in any other ca
tegory than in that in which it properly should be declared ... then the duumvir
shall neither grant nor restore nor adjudge it to him. And the magistrate shall
grant and restore a portion of this land ... to whosoever gives evidence that s
uch land has been declared in a category that in which it properly should be dec
lared.
56) As regards those persons who have taken the necessary steps that they ma
y hold, possess, or have the usufruct of the goods which they had and the lands
which had been assigned to them by the people ... the magistrate shall them in e
xchange ... for any land which had been granted or assigned to them by the peopl
e, but which had been sold publicly, an equal amount of the publicly owned land
of the Roman people in Africa which has not been sold publicly.
57) Whoever holds, possesses, or has the usufruct of land or property or a b
uilding upon the land or property Africa, which land or property or building upo
n the land or property the quaestor or the praetor publicly sells ... shall pay
neither tax nor fee for the pasturage of cattle on such land, place, property, o
r building upon the land ... this land has been granted and assigned by a decree
of the Senate, those lands which have been described above and the properties,
all these belonging to the persons ... the magistrate in whose court jurisdictio
n belongs gives judgment in this matter in accordance with the provisions of thi
s law, nor ... shall collect, to whom the land or place has been granted, restor
ed, given in exchange, or assigned in accordance with this law ... which land or
place a Roman citizen ... what fruits are raised in this land or place or what
grapes, olives, or whatever harvest or vintage consulship of Publius Cornelius a
nd Lucius CaIpurnius or afterward in this land or place ... these fruits which t
hen this land ...
 58) The duumvir appointed in accordance with this law shall within ... days
after being created duumvir in accordance with this law that land or place which
belonged to the Corinthians ... except for that land or place ... land or place
which is to be sold in accordance with this law he shall provide that it shall
be completely surveyed and markers shall be erected ... which land ... and he sh
all let out the work and shall set a day for its completion; and he shall cause
... whatever of this land, place, or building is sold to anyone, he ... of such
money ... the purchaser and his surety shall not be freed thereby, and the quaes
tor who has as his province the treasury shall have the names of the purchasers
and the sureties registered in the public accounts ... exaction shall be made fr
om the aforesaid persons or their heirs.
59) As regards the land, place, or building ... he shall adjudge as payment
to the people. The praetor or the propraetor in whose court suit shall be made .
..
Source:
Ancient Roman statutes : translation, with introduction, commentary, glossary, a
nd index€
by Allan Chester Johnson, Paul Robinson Coleman-Norton, Frank Card Bourne ; gene
ral editor, Clyde Pharr€
Austin : University of Texas Press, 1961€
Used with the Permission of the University of Texas Press.