56 



DISCOVERY 



show that it was of ancient foundation, or that it served 

 important public needs, l-'rom lliis time all societies 

 existed by favour ; and numerous inscriptions show us 

 that the favour was eagerly sought. But that the 

 societies still used their influence for political purposes 

 appears from the inscriptions which still cover the 

 walls of the disinterred city of Pompeii, of which 

 a great number consist of appeals issued by trade 

 societies on behalf of their favourite candidates. 



The laws of the Roman Empire were not very strictly 

 administered, especially as regards the working classes, 

 and numerous colleges were formed without the per- 

 mission of the Senate. From time to time efforts were 

 made to repress these unlicensed colleges, but in the 

 end a general licence was granted to all societies of 

 p)Oor men, who might meet once a month and make a 

 monthly collection. Amongst the societies thus formed 

 a great number were burial clubs : these aimed at pur- 

 chasing burial sites, and maintaining upon them a 

 temple, and often also halls for meeting or dining. 



Throughout the first two centuries of the Christian 

 Era the trade societies continually increased in number 

 and importance, and the State learnt to rely upon them 

 for the performance of all duties essential to the pros- 

 perity of the community, and in particular for the 

 transport and distribution of food. During this 

 period the societies maintained a voluntary character, 

 and were essentially self-governed. 



The inscriptions reveal to us with fair completeness 

 the inner organisation of the society. The members 

 might be " ordinary " or " honorary " ; the latter 

 did not necessarily belong to the trade of the college, 

 but joined out of sympathy. In small towns two or 

 more trades would combine to form one society. 

 Ordinary members were usually elected by the general 

 meeting, but sometimes by the committee ; they had 

 to pay an entrance fee. They were then formed into 

 groups of about ten members, called " decuries " ; 

 each group was subject to a group-officer, or 

 " decurion." In the larger societies ten decuries 

 (roughly) were formed into " centuries " under the 

 conmiand of a " centurion." This form of organisa- 

 tion is clearly borrowed from that of the Roman army. 



The supreme authority rested with the general 

 assembly (conventus). It held regular meetings at 

 fixed dates, and special meetings when called by the 

 president. It made the rules of the society, controlled 

 the administration, and fi.xed the dates of festivals ; 

 it supervised the finance, and authorised the setting 

 up of statues and altars with their inscriptions. It 

 elected its own officers, except that certain societies 

 had electoral committees {censores), to which they 

 deputed this duty. 



The chief officer was called president or master 

 (magisicr) ; the number of such officers varied from 



two to six, and they took turns in performing the 

 duties of the office — that is, in presiding at the general 

 meetings, and generally in guiding the affairs of the 

 society, .\lthough the humblest member might rise 

 to be president, it was usual to select a man of means 

 for the office. He might be expected to pay a sub- 

 stantial fee upon his installation, to give the members 

 a banquet, or to present a statue or a building. Besides 

 the president there were the trustees {ciiratores), the 

 treasurer (arcarius), the secretary (scriba or tabu- 

 larius), the marshals {viatores), and the chaplain 

 (sacerdos). 



In public celebrations all these officers were over- 

 shadowed by the " patrons " or " patronesses," men 

 and women of high rank who interested themselves in 

 the societies' affairs, and sought popularity and 

 influence as a return for their pubUc-spirited efforts. 

 Naturally the most numerous and wealthy societies 

 secured the most eminent patrons : so that, whUst all 

 the societies were in principle organisations belonging 

 to the humbler classes, there was amongst them every 

 gradation of importance and wealth. Some of these 

 societies had considerable landed property, and 

 imposing buildings and burial-grounds ; others 

 struggled for a bare existence, and perished from time 

 to time by the desertion of their members. All, so long 

 as they maintained their existence, gave to the man 

 who individually was humble and helpless the sense 

 of security and importance in his corporate capacity. ■ 



But the time came when the State not only guaran- 

 teed the corporate e-xistence of the necessary societies, 

 but made membership of them compulsory on all 

 citizens. Alexander Severus (about a.d. 230) pre- 

 scribed that all men throughout the empire should be 

 compulsorOy enrolled in their respective societies. 

 If their numbers were thus increased, their inner 

 strength decayed. Compulsion was used because the 

 societies w'ere growing too weak to discharge their 

 duties ; and the root-cause of this weakness was the 

 shortage of men throughout tlie empire. It was 

 felt in every rank of society ; and each order and 

 profession therefore took steps to conserve its member- 

 ship ; and since each was associated with a particular 

 town, the first step was to prohibit migration. Member- 

 ship of a college thus became a burden instead of a I 

 privilege. If members escaped, it remained possible 

 to confiscate their property ; and so gradually all 

 property was considered as belonging to the society, 1 

 not to the individual. To recruit new members, sons I 

 were bound to the trade which their fathers had! 

 followed before them. The tighter the bonds, the 

 more frequent were the efforts made to escape from 

 them : men fled from the towns to the mountains and i 

 the desert to escape from tlicir duties. 



Thus the life of the towns became completely dis- 



