817 



PROVINCIA. 



PllOVINCIA. 



813 



not be the subject of quiritarian ownership, that is, it had not the 

 privileges of- Italian land, and it was capable of being transferred 

 without the forms required in the case of Italian land. There was 

 private property in provincial lands, but the ultimate ownership, in 

 the Imperial period at least, was considered to be in the Ceesar or in 

 the Roman state (populus Romauus). (Gaius, ii. 7.) All provincial 

 lands paid taxes (vectigalia et tributa). But certain provincial towns 

 received as a special favour the Jus Italicum, the legal effect of which 

 was to give the land included within the limits of such town all the 

 qualities of Italian land, and consequently freedom from taxation. 

 Such towns also received, as a part of the Jus Italicum, a free consti- 

 tution like that of the Italian towns, and with it the various magistrates, 

 decemviri, quinquennales (censors), sediles ; and also jurisdictio, or the 

 power of holding courts of justice. Various towns which enjoyed this 

 privilege are enumerated, in Spain, Myria, Gaul, and elsewhere. The 

 origin of this privilege is assigned by some writers to the Imperial 

 period ; but perhaps it commenced earlier. In all the provinces the 

 regular jurisdiction was in the hands of the Roman governor, who 

 exercised it by himself and his quaestor and legati ; and for this purpose 

 he made circuits in his province. In reference to this part of his 

 duties, the governor is sometimes called Judex Ordinarius under the 

 later emperors. These circuits, sometimes called conventus, formed 

 what we may call the divisions of a province for judicial purposes. 

 Thus Pliny (iii. 3) says that Hispania Citerior was divided into seven 

 conventus, which he enumerates. The towns which had the Jus 

 Italicum were not comprised in the conventus ; they had their magis- 

 trates, in the Italian sense of the term, who had jurisdictio ; but there 

 was an appeal to the governor. At these conventus there were present 

 a great number of Roman citizens, who were engaged in commerce in 

 the province, or who were publicani, farmers of the revenues. These 

 conventus, which are frequently mentioned by the Roman writers, 

 were not accidental assemblages of persons, but meetings at stated 

 times and places appointed by the governor, and principally for the 

 purpose of judicial decision on matters in dispute, both between Roman 

 citizens, and Roman citizens and the provincials. The judices were 

 chosen, after the Roman fashion, from the persons who attended the 

 conventus, or circuit courts. It appears that the fundamental laws of 

 a province were not interfered with, for, as we have seen, the soil 

 retained its former legal character, and was not invested with that of 

 Italic soil, and the personal status or condition of Roman citizens was 

 not communicated to the provincials merely as such. Some of the 

 provinces, as Sicily, obtained the Latinitas [LATINUM Jus] from Julius 

 Ciesar, and the Civitas, or complete Roman citizenship, was given to 

 the Sicilians after his death (Cic., ' Ad Att.,' xiv. 12) ; but this was not 

 the general rule. By means of the edict, which the praetor published 

 on entering upon his' duties, and which was often framed upon the 

 pnctorian edict at Rome [Pn^TOB], many important changes must 

 have been gradually introduced into the legal system of the provinces, 

 and particularly with reference to matters of contract and forms of 

 procedure, in which there could be no ground for the same distinction 

 that was maintained between provincial and Italic land, and which 

 necessarily influenced the rights of landholders and the forms of action. 

 The prsetor had complete jurisdiction in criminal as well as civil 

 matters, and both over provincials and Roman citizens ; but a Roman 

 citizen could appeal to Rome in a criminal matter. 



A province consisted of a variety of parts. Some towns included hi 

 it had from the commencement an alliance with Rome, and were in all 

 respects free. Others, which had been subdued, were declared free, 

 and were not under the immediate jurisdiction of the pnctor. The 

 provinces also contained numerous colonies, and both colonies of 

 Roman citizens and colonies of the class called Latime. [LATINUM Jus.] 

 Thus towards the close of the republican period a province contained, 

 besides those parts of it which were subject to the complete jurisdic- 

 tion of the governor, allied towns, free towns, Roman colonies, and 

 Latin colonies. According to this view, the provincia properly com- 

 prised those parts and towns which were subject to taxation and to 

 the praetor's immediate jurisdiction. Some writers assert that the 

 Roman and Latin colonies which were sent from Italy into the pro- 

 vinces were in all respects like such colonies in Italy, and that these 

 colonies had quiritarian ownership of the soil, and consequently free- 

 dom from taxes. But there is some difficulty about this part of the 

 Hubjcct. The privileges called Latinitas, or Latium, were often given 

 to particular towns, one effect of which was to release them from the 

 immediate jurisdiction at least of the Roman governor, and to give 

 them a jurisdictio, or power of holding courts : citizens who filled 

 certain offices (magistratus in such towns), thereby obtained the Roman 

 citizenship. (Strabo, p. 186, speaking of Nlmes.) 



The taxes which were raised in the provinces varied in the different 

 countries, but generally consisted in a capitation tax and a property 

 tax : the latter was sometimes paid in money and sometimes in kind. 

 The state did not collect the taxes, but they were wild or farmed : 

 thus, after the Sempronia lex, those of tli of Asia were sold 



by the censors at Rome, and those of Sicily, with some exceptions, 

 were sold in the respective districts of the country, according to a 

 practice estaUMn-il by Hiero. There was also money paid for the use 

 of the open pasture-lands, which the Roman state appropriated to itself. 

 The t<>ll and port duties, as well as the pasture-land tax (scriptura) 

 were farmed by the publicani. [PuBUCANI.] Besides these and other 

 ARTS ASD SCI. D1V. Vol.. V . 



regular sources of revenue, the province was subjected to many ex- 

 actions, some of which had a kind of legalised form, and others were 

 merely gifts made to satisfy the demands of the governor, or to secure 

 his favour. 



The governor had to give an account of his administration from his 

 own books and those of his quaestor. Originally he gave in this 

 account at Rome ; but after the Julian law (B.C. 61), he was required 

 to deposit two copies hi the two principal towns of his province, and 

 to send one to the yErarium at Rome. If the province had ground of 

 complaint against him for mal-administration (repetundse, peculatus), 

 which was no uncommon thing, application was made to the Roman 

 senate; and the great Romans, who were the patrons and friends 

 of ,the cities which made the complaint, were also applied to for 

 their aid and interest. If he had betrayed the interests of the 

 Roman state, he was guilty of the offence of majestas. A regular 

 mode of inquiry and trial (quaestio) were adopted for such occasions. 

 Yet little was done without bribing the powerful men at Rome; 

 and the chance of redress against a governor who had even grossly 

 misconducted himself was very small : it was more frequently obtained 

 through the influence of the powerful Romans, stimulated by motives 

 of private hostility to the accused, than through the justice of the 

 case. 



With Augustus commenced a new period. He took under his own 

 care the more important provinces, and those which required a large 

 military force ; the rest he left to the care of the senate and the Roman 

 people. This arrangement continued, with some modifications, to the 

 3rd century. Of the provinces of the senate, two were yearly given to 

 consular men, and the rest to those who had been pnetors : these 

 governors were all called proconsuls, and they were assisted by legates. 

 They had the jurisdictio both of the praetor urbanus and peregriuus. 

 Qiucstors were also sent with them to their provinces : the quaestors 

 had the same jurisdictio that the sediles had at Rome. It seems how- 

 ever that the power of the proconsuls in their provinces was consider- 

 ably diminished. The emperor considered himself as the proconsul of 

 his own provinces ; and he governed them, though residing in Rome, 

 by his representatives called legati Caesaris, who had praetorian power. 

 They were selected from those who had held the office of praetor and 

 consul, or were senators of inferior rank. The Imperial governor of 

 Egypt was called pnefectus, and he was always an eques. They held 

 their office so long as the emperor pleased, and received all their powers 

 directly from him. These governors of the emperor's provinces were 

 called praesides and correctores in the later periods, though the name 

 prases was applied under the emperors to a governor either of a sena- 

 torial or an Imperial province. They had also legati under them ; but 

 in the place of quaestors there was a procurator Caesaris, who was an 

 eques or a freedman of the Caesar ; he looked after the taxes and other 

 dues of the emperor, paid the troops, and attended generally to the 

 business of the fiscus. After the time of Claudius, the procurator had 

 jurisdiction in matters that concerned the fiscus. There were also 

 procuratores Caesaris appointed by the emperor in the senatorian pro- 

 vinces, who collected certain dues, even in those provinces, for the 

 fiscus, independent of what was the due of the aerarium, or public 

 treasury. Sometimes a small province, or a part of a larger one, was 

 governed by a procurator Caesaris, with the full power of a praeses ; this 

 was the case with Judiea, which was a part of Syria, and governed by 

 a procurator who was under the prases of Syria. The general con- 

 stitution of the provinces remained the same, though as before ob- 

 served, a greater uniformity in administration was gradually introduced, 

 and from the time of Hadrian the Imperial rescripts and the writings 

 of the Roman jurists contributed to form a body of common law for 

 the whole empire. The taxes continued as before, and were partly 

 paid in money, and partly in kind ; but the object of the Romans was 

 always to have them paid in money. The basis of the taxation was a 

 general census of persons and property, which Augustus introduced, 

 and which was taken from time to time. Certain taxes, as tolls and 

 duties, were let, as before, to the publicani. The towns, at least under 

 the early emperors, seem to have retained their privileges ; though 

 some modifications were very early introduced ; for instance, Augustus 

 indirectly deprived the citizens of the colonies of their suffrage at 

 Rome, a measure which seems to have led the way to other changes. 

 Numerous colonies, chiefly if not exclusively of the class called military, 

 were also established by the emperors in the provinces ; and it is to 

 this period that some writers refer the gift of the Jus Italicum to 

 provincial cities. 



The inhabitants of the provinces were now divided into three classes 

 as to political rights, Roman citizens, Latini, and Peregrini. The 

 Roman citizens were either Italians resident in the provinces ; or 

 members of Municipia and colonies which had the Roman citizenship ; 

 or those who had individually obtained this right. The two latter 

 classes had all the privileges of Italians, except with some restrictions 

 as to attaining the senatorian dignity ; but many of them obtained the 

 rank of equates. The Latini had not the connnbiuni only and the 

 commercium, but they could obtain the civitas in several ways. The 

 Peregrini had neither the connubium nor commercium ; in fact, they 

 had none of those rights which characterised a Roman citizen ; but yet 

 they served in the army. By a constitution' of Antoninus Caracalla 

 (A.D. 211-17), the citizenship was given to all.persons within the Roman 

 empire, aud accordingly the distinction of Civis, Latiui, and Pcregriui 



3 a 



