The Ministry of education and science of the Russian Federation P.G.

Demidov Yaroslavl State University

ANCIENT CIVILISATION: POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND LEGAL REGULATION

Proceedings of the International Web Conference conducted by the Centre for Classical Studies (Yaroslavl State University, Russia) in 2011/12

Yaroslavl 2012

 94(3) 3(0)343 30 : : - / . . .. . : , 2012. 230 . ISBN 978-5904894-05-4

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- : . 1 2011 . 31 2012 . . .. (http://antik-yar.ru/). . , , . ( 16.740.11.0104) ( 10-06-00140-). Ancient Civilisation: Political Institutions and Legal Regulation: Proceedings of the International Web Conference / Ed. V.V. Dementyeva. Yaroslavl: Yaroslavl State University, 2012. Pp. 230. ISBN 978-5904894-05-4 The book includes papers presented at the International web conference Ancient Civilisation: Political Institutions and Legal Regulation. The conference was held from October 1, 2011 to May 31, 2012 on the website of the Centre for Classical Studies at P.G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University, Russia (http://antik-yar.ru/?lang=en). The papers and commentaries are given in authors proofs. 94(3) 3(0)343 : .. ; .. , ..
: , 150-160 . .. , ; , , 1865 . , .

ISBN 978-5904894-05-4 . .. , 2012

R. Varga
LAW AND INDIVIDUAL IN A TIME OF CHANGE1 Constitutio Antoniniana, an edict passed during Caracallas first year of reign, is one of the most important Roman documents and certainly one of the most discussed upon in historiography. Reinterpreting the Constitutio seems merely possible at this time and it was never our purpose. The current paper aims only at tracing the main historiographical trends in interpreting the document and at sketching an overview on how it was received by its contemporaries. Caracallas reasons for passing this edict were interpreted as based on financial constraints: by raising the number of citizens the number of tax payers raised as well. Also it is believed that the legions were now recruited from a larger mass of people, though this argument is not entirely convincing. Even though this was not generally treated as a real or valid reason, one also has to mention that the edict evokes religious motifs, implying an increase in the number of the worshippers of the traditional Roman gods. It was said that this was the emperors way to thank the gods for helping him escape the conspiracies orchestrated by his brother Geta. Unfortunately however, the contemporary sources are not as generous on the subject as 20th century historiography: Ulpian refers explicitly to the Constitutio, saying that due to the passing of this decree all free people in the Empire became Roman citizens (which seems to be a general conclusion; Dig. XV. 17), Cassius Dio (LXXVII. 9. 5) and St. Augustine (De civ. Dei. V. 17) allude to the decree (the latter noting its humanitarian character). Echoes of Caracallas decision can be observed in the Codex Iustiniani as well. These brief paragraphs would be however insufficient for a detailed study of the document. Constitutio Antoniniana was recorded in historiography as a first hand instrument after the Giessen papyrus was

CONSTITUTIO ANTONINIANA.

This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-30096.

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published by P. Meyer2. The document edited by P. Meyer, badly deteriorated in its initial form but with the content largely deductible, is considered to be a translation of Caracallas edict. Essential for establishing the edicts identity with Caracallas famous decree was the fact that through this normative act Roman citizenship was in theory expanded limitlessly, to each and every free inhabitant in the Empire3. In order to establish the authenticity of the text and its identification with Constitutio Antoniniana multiple analyses were conducted, ranging from contents ones to linguistic researches. W. Williams gave us a full picture of the arguments that support P. Meyers interpretation4. He claimed that the papyrus holds the translation of at least three of Caracallas decisions, among them the one granting universal citizenship and mentioned by Ulpian, Cassius Dio and all of the other sources. W. Williams identified the personal style and the method of elaboration as being those of Caracalla. The second part of the papyrus refers to the legal status of people recalled from exile, being somewhat in agreement with what was known before about the Constitutio. The third document was a written letter ordering the expulsion of Jews from Alexandria, a decision usefulness of which in the 3rd century can be debated upon, but that must have been connected with the prior conflicts between Emperor Caracalla and the inhabitants of the Egyptian capital. Even so, citizenship will not be absolutely universal even after the passing of this decree. P. Meyer came to this conclusion ever since he first read the papyrus. He believed that those who had been excluded from having citizenship rights were the dediticii. The ambiguity of the interpretation derives from the employed term (), a term without precedent in the Hellenic language, in reference to a nonHellenic institution. The editor translated it with the Latin term dediticius, his translation being justifiable linguistically (in this case it is ac-

Meyer P.M. Griechische Papyri im Museum des oberhessischen Geschichtsverein zu Giessen. Berlin, 1910; for a detailed presentation of the text of the papyrus see also: Wolff H. Die Constitutio Antoniniana und Papyrus Gissensis 40 I. Kln, 1976. 3 in Orbe Romano qui sunt ex constitutione imperatoris Antonini cives Romani effect sunt. 4 Williams W. Caracalla and the Authorship of Imperial Edicts and Epistles // Latomus. Revue dEtudes Latines. 1979. 38. P. 67-89.

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tually a transliteration), but, obviously, not without ambiguity5. The standard definition of the dediticii, given by Gaius (Inst. I. 14-17), is that of inhabitants of a community who had opposed Rome arms in hand and which, once conquered, surrendered unconditionally. This capitulation became a long-lasting juridical situation, the members of that community becoming dediticii, having no rights (nulla civitas) and remaining in this situation until a future review of their status. Gaius also defines them as the lowest juridical free individuals of the Empire and not being able to directly obtain Roman citizenship. But we must mention that this relation of total subordination towards Rome, involving the condition of dediticius, was not permanent, being only a temporary step towards peregrinus status. The controversies related to P. Meyers interpretation have never ceased to appear. They reached their height through E. Bickermanns papers6, revolutionary when it came to interpreting the Giessen papyrus but ultimately remaining without many followers. E. Bickermann does not consider this papyrus to be Caracallas initial decree but a supplement, passed long after Caracallas reign, that actually gave roman citizenship to the barbarian immigrants (on condition they were not dediticii) and not the peregrini in the Empire. He also distinguished three classes of dediticii, but the generalisations employed in this matter were also consistent. E. Bickermann stated that dediticii were mainly freed people, subject to the provisions of Lex Aelia Sentia. The other categories, according to E. Bickermanns interpretation, were the barbarians who freely surrendered themselves and, last but not least, after the Gainaische Begriff all provincials were dediticii. Contrary to P. Meyer, he also stated that tributum capitis was not a mark of the dediticii. In conclusion, E. Bickermanns theories offered a new interpretation of the Giessen papyrus, but they were too radical and insufficiently grounded in many aspects. In essence, the Giessen papyrus is still considered by most specialists to be a contemporary translation of the original text of the Constitutio.

Jones A.H.M. Another Interpretation of the Constitutio Antoniniana // JRS. 1936. 26. P. 224. 6 Bickermann E. Das Edikt des Kaisers Caracalla in P. Giess. 40. Berlin, 1926.

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One of the first advocates of E. Bickermanns theory was H.I. Bell7. He considered the Giessen papyrus to be a late imitation and not the original Constitutio as well, but he analysed the matter of the dediticii using the situation in Egypt and the poll tax raised here. Resuming his theory, the conclusions were that this individual Egyptian poll tax, inherited by the Roman provincial administration from the Ptolemaic dynasty, cannot be regarded as proof for the existence of a class of pariahs, instead of its Roman juridical sense. These autonomous Egyptians, who cannot receive Roman citizenship unless they first become citizens of Alexandria, receive citizenship anyway through the regulations of Constitutio Antoniniana8; the tax was only to disappear in the 3rd century, because of fiscal inefficiency. This is proof that this tax was just a sign of a fiscal status and not a political or social stigma. No matter what theory regarding the status of a dediticius we rally ourselves to, it is clear that this concept is difficult to relate to specific circumstances. Almost all the inscriptions referring to dediticii talk about characters who had gained their freedom because of Lex Aelia Sentia; freedmen9, who had certain reduced rights, and former enemies of Rome, only by extension, fell under the incidence of this law. Thus it is hard to conclude if their situation and their lack of benefits were specific to all dediticii or only to those who had been freed. Their inability to inherit in accordance to the legal and customary conditions of the Roman law was typical of all peregrini. The persisting problem regarding the interpretation of the text of Caracallas edict derives from this exception not being mentioned in any of the writings of jurists and historians. The discovery of Tabula Banasitana10 shed another light on the status of the peregrines after Caracallas decree; it now seems that the dediticii were not excluded from gaining citizenship but, from keeping certain local rights derived from the status of the community11. The

Bell H.I. The Constitutio Antoniniana and the Egyptian Poll-Tax // JRS. 1947. 37. P. 17-23. 8 Ibid. P. 18. 9 Benario H.W. The dediticii of the Constitutio Antoniniana // Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 1954. 85. P. 195. 10 Ibid. 11 Sherwin-White A.N. The Tabula of Banasa and the Costitutio Antoniniana // JRS. 1973. 63. P. 97.

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document, a bronze tablet found at Banassa (Mauretania) resumes in 53 lines three official documents referring to a Berber family who obtained Roman citizenship12. The first document, dated 167, is the copy of a letter from M. Aurelius and L. Verus addressed to Coiedius Maximus, the procurator of Mauritania Tingitana, as answer to a request from Iulianus, a Berber from the Zegrenses tribe. The latter had requested Roman citizenship for himself, his wife and their four children. The imperial letter stated that only the gentiles from Mauretania gained citizenship and only for outstanding services; thus, not many local familiae benefited from this favor displayed towards Iulianus. The second document is another letter, addressed to the procurator V. Maximus Iulianus in 177, in which Marcus Aurelius and Commodus award to the wife and children of Aurelius Iulianus (presumably the son of the first Iulianus) Roman citizenship. It is remarkable that he had asked for citizenship for his wife as well, aware of the fact that had he not done so the children of this mixed marriage could receive citizenship only through some special ratification, at a later date. The third text, dated 6th of July 177, is a commentarius de civitate Romana donatorum. It seems that the Iulianii mentioned in the Tabula Banasitana were not included in any Roman tribe, receiving along with the citizenship jurisdictional privileges: the right to live as Roman citizens in their previous tribe (dedimus civitatem romanam salo iure gentis, as mentioned in the first document). This document is very revealing, as it proves that not only civitates but also gentes were considered to be legal political entities within the Roman state. The most important fact proven by this tabula is the possibility of equivalence between the Latin and Greek versions of the Constitutio. Thus the expression <...> <...> might be translated by civitatem Romanam salvo iure gentis dare and indicates a Roman citizenship that, besides explicit cases, does not infringe upon local citizenship and implicitly local autonomies13. It seems that the obtaining of citizenship due to the Constitutio did not affect the status quo of communities: most likely, it remained unchanged. This hypothesis is supported by the indirect evidence presented here but also by the silence of the sources regarding a
Jacques F., Scheid J. Rome et lintgration de lmpire. Paris, 1990. P. 210. For a broad discussion regarding the dediticii in Constitutio Antoniniana see also Sasse C. Constitutio Antoniniana. Wiesbaden, 1958.
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change in the legal status of cities. Starting mainly from the nuances brought by Tabula Banasitana concerning Caracallas edict, A. Suceveanu also formulated an interesting and well-grounded hypothesis: he suggested that the dediticii could be the inhabitants of communities that still followed the ius gentium as a way of life alongside libertini ex lege Aelia Sentia and barbarians in numero dediticiorum14. Dediticius will be used until the late period as a usual term. Its exact meaning is still questionable but it is mostly tied to immigrants. An interesting hypothesis is suggested by the votive inscription from Walldrn (CIL XVI 6592) that proves the existence of some dediticii Alexandriani in an auxiliary troop. Their presence there seems to be the result of some form of punishment: the members of the respective group were deprived of their citizen rights (interdictio aquae et igni) and were reduced to the status of dediticii15. Probably once their military term was over, their punishment would have been lifted and they would have regained the full legal status as Roman citizens. Thus, in the period post-Constitutio Antoniniana the dediticii can end up in this situation as the result of a punishment as well. C. Sasse said that the term dediticius did not seem to change its meaning from republican times to the Antonine and respectively Severian dynasties: it referred to a member of a population defeated in an armed conflict who surrendered unconditionally16. The result of frontier wars in the Severian epoch must have been a lot of populi dediticii who overlapped socially and juridically over the peregrini dediticii existing since the republican age17. It is reasonable to believe that after Constitutio Antoniniana, dediticius becomes generally a synonymous of the old peregrinus and refers to those who were somehow strangers to the Empire and its society18. The way in which the Constitutio was received by its contemporaries is very debatable and it probably varied a lot, in relation to the gen-

Suceveanu A. Une nouvelle hypothse de restitution de la 9e ligne du Pap. Giss., 40 I // Dacia. Revue darchologie et dhistoire ancienne. 1990. 34. P. 256. 15 Lemosse M. Linscription de Walldrn et le problme des dditices // Ktma. Civilisations de lOrient, de la Grce et de Rome antiques. 1981. 6. P. 356. 16 Sasse C. Constitutio Antoniniana. Wiesbaden, 1958. P. 117. 17 Sherwin-White A.N. The Roman Citizenship. Oxford, 1973. P. 385. 18 Whittaker C.R. Rome and Its Frontiers: The Dynamics of Empire. London, New York, 2004. P. 206.

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eral level of education and to how each province interacted with the politics of the era. Such an analysis for Dacia is, unfortunately, impossible. Even if, for example, in Alexandria or the other already Romanised areas of Africa19 the implications of the decree, both positive and negative, were, probably, generally understood, in other regions the situation was completely different. The papyri from Dura Europos offer us an example. Here, after Caracallas edict was passed, some soldiers added Aurelius to their name even if they already had a gentilicium (we have cases where Aurelius Iulius form together the nomen20). We can imagine such a state of affairs for Dacia, Germania or other provinces of the northern limes. Even if the lack of sources prevents us from coming to clear conclusions, we can assume that, especially in the rural areas where most of the soldiers from Dura Europos hailed from, the meaning of the new imperial edict was not fully understood. Thus, at the scale of the Empire, the cognomen becomes for the next period the individual name. This evolution is due to the fact that the tria nomina system did not have sense or relevance anymore for a large part of the citizens of the Empire. In the next centuries, as Christian names spread, we can see a social bipartition in the choosing of the names. Thus the lower classes use more and more a single name, while the aristocracy tends to prefer composed, very long name with social and personal significations21 but that had too little in common to typical Roman names. The impact of Caracallas edict on the contemporary society and its immediate effects are hard to determine. Of course, for us it seems like an act of major importance and profound resonance. In its contemporaneousness it might have been received differently. Probably the decree was interesting for those who, upon receiving their citizenship, suffered a change in their life and social status. The others most likely were not very interested or impressed by the new imperial decision.

Lassre J.-M. Ubique Populus. Peuplement et mouvements de population dans lAfrique romain de la chute de Cartage la fin de la dynastie des Svres (146 a.C. 35 p.C.). Paris, 1977. P. 661. 20 Gilliam J.F. Dura Rosters and the Constitution Antoniniana // Historia: Zeitschrift fr Alte Geschichte. 1965. Bd. 14. S. 88. 21 Salway B. Whats in a name? A Survey of Roman Onomastic Practice from c. 700 BC to AD 700 // JRS. 1994. 84. P. 141.

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To conclude, we must state that although Constitutio Antoniniana brought major changes in the life of Roman peregrini this whole category ceased to exist de iure it did not lead to the immediate dissipation of solidarities stated and formed previously. Thus, if before 212 certain ties inside collegia or communities were strengthened by belonging to the same juridical category, they were still there, even after the juridical categories no longer existed as before. The fact is generally undoubtful, as the juridical class in which one belonged was certainly too vague at that time in most provinces to form a real and solid base. It had probably always been doubled by other types of convictions or common interests, by other things that created solidarity and which survived unaffected by the formal changes brought about by the year 212.

REFERENCES Bell H.I. The Constitutio Antoniniana and the Egyptian Poll-Tax // JRS. 1947. 37. P. 17-23. Benario H.W. The dediticii of the Constitutio Antoniniana // Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 1954. 85. P. 188-196. Bickermann E. Das Edikt des Kaisers Caracalla in P. Giss. 40. Berlin, 1926. Gilliam J.F. Dura Rosters and the Constitution Antoniniana // Historia: Zeitschrift fr Alte Geschichte. 1965. Bd. 14. S. 74-92. Jacques F., Scheid J. Rome et lintgration de lmpire. Paris, 1990. Jones A.H.M. Another Interpretation of the Constitutio Antoniniana // JRS. 1936. 6. P. 223-235. Lassre J.-M. Ubique Populus. Peuplement et mouvements de population dans lAfrique romain de la chute de Cartage la fin de la dynastie des Svres (146 a.C. 35 p.C.). Paris, 1977. Lemosse M. Linscription de Walldrn et le problme des dditices // Ktma. Civilisations de lOrient, de la Grce et de Rome antiques. 1981. 6. P. 349-358. Meyer P.M. Griechische Papyri im Museum des oberhessischen Geschichtsverein zu Giessen. Berlin, 1910. Salway B. Whats in a name? A Survey of Roman Onomastic Practice from c. 700 BC to AD 700 // JRS. 1994. 84. P. 124-145.
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Sasse C. Constitutio Antoniniana. Wiesbaden, 1958. Seston W., Euzennat M. La citoyennet romaine au temps de MarcAurle et de Commode daprs la Tabula Banasitana // Comptes-rendus des sances de lAcadmie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. 1961. 2. P. 317-324. Sherwin-White A.N. The Roman Citizenship. Oxford, 1973. Sherwin-White A.N. The Tabula of Banasa and the Costitutio Antoniniana // JRS. 1973. 63. P. 66-98. Suceveanu A. Une nouvelle hypothse de restitution de la 9e ligne du Pap. Giss., 40 I // Dacia. Revue darchologie et dhistoire ancienne. 1990. 34. P. 246-257. Whittaker C.R. Rome and Its Frontiers: The Dynamics of Empire. London, New York, 2004. Williams W. Caracalla and the Authorship of Imperial Edicts and Epistles // Latomus. Revue dEtudes Latines. 1979. 38. P. 67-89. Wolff H. Die Constitutio Antoniniana und Papyrus Gissensis 40 I. Kln, 1976.

SUMMARY

R. Varga CONSTITUTIO ANTONINIANA.

LAW AND INDIVIDUAL IN A TIME OF CHANGE The paper resumes an old historiographic line of discussion, namely the one concerning Constitutio Antoniniana. The aim of the author is to place, as far as it is possible, the document and the emperors act in the context of its time. The stake is understanding the position of non-citizens, before and after the law was passed. That non-citizens still inhabited the Empire in the centuries to come is beyond doubt; what remains to be cleared is who exactly they were and which was their connection to the ante 212 peregrini. The author considers the main literature on the Constitutio important, as it offers a variety of interpretations, each of them worthy of notice. The other matter that is discussed in the paper is the impact of Caracallas edict on the contemporary society and its immediate effects. It is possible to speculate towards rea207

sonable conclusions based on the epigraphic documents. What can be certainly said is that the edict changed Roman society and annihilated one of the most important existent types of stratification the one based on citizenship rights. It so roused the Roman world into a new stage of evolution, which was based on social differences and anticipated the society of the Late Empire.

(): Is it possible to estimate the approximate number of new citizens? (Rada Varga) (PhD., -, ): Unfortunately, no. The relativity of the figures is directly connected to the relativity of the demographic data for the Roman imperial period. Anyhow, a viable estimation would be that 60% 70% of the Empires population did not withhold citizen rights before the Constitutio. (): Do we have any information concerning impact of the Constitutio on tax revenues? (Rada Varga) (PhD., -, ): One theory stipulates that Caracallas main reason for this decree was of fiscal order. Many taxes were connected solely to the legal rights of the citizens (for example, the testamentary inheritance tax) and thus the number of tax-payers was immensely increased. (): The assessment of the Constitutio in modern researches and historical sources is different, as you noted. Is the Constitutio Antoniniana overrated in modern scientific researches, in your opinion? (Rada Varga) (PhD., -, ): This is a slightly tricky question, as the answer can only be subjective and intuitive. Undoubtedly, the Constitutio was an important and
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unprecedented decree, as the literary sources prove, but its historiographic notoriety is mostly based on the discovery of the Giessen papyrus. As it is the case of the municipal laws, we tend to generalise and maybe overstress the information provided by the so few preserved documents of this kind. Finally, personally I believe that the Constitutio is not so much overrated, as it is over-interpreted, in our pursuit for details and facts that are actually far beyond the disclosing possibilities of a single document. (): Do you believe that the Constitutio was more just an indication and confirmation of socio-economic changes which had already occurred at the beginning of the 3rd century? Or rather this edict itself provoked important alterations? (Rada Varga) (PhD., -, ): This is a very important and hotly debated matter. I believe that a combination of both variants holds the truth. The world and the Roman provincial society were deeply changed in 212 A.D., compared to preSeveran period. The Constitutio basically accelerated the evolution of Roman society towards an economically structured society, levelling and thus annihilating the most important form of non-economical social distinction the Roman citizenship.

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. (IVS ANTIQVVM). . - (1917-1968) / . .. , .. . , 1968. AE LAnne pigraphique. Paris, 1888 AJPh American Journal of Philology. Baltimore CIL Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum. Berlin, 1863 CJ Classical Journal. Ashland ClAnt Classical Antiquity. Berkeley CPh Classical Philology. Chicago CQ Classical Quarterly. Oxford DK Diels H.A. Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, griechish und deutsch. Bd. 1-3. Berlin, 1959-1960. G&R Greece & Rome. Oxford GRBS Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies. Durham ICUR Inscriptiones christianae urbis Romae. Roma, 1922 IG Inscriptiones Graecae. Berlin, 1873 GDO Dubos L. Inscriptions grecques dialectales dOlbia du Pont. Geneve, 1996. ILCV Diehl E. Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres. Berlin, 1925-1967. InscrIt Inscriptiones Italiae Academiae Italicae consociatae ediderunt. Roma, 1931 IOSPE Latyschev B. Inscriptiones antiquae orae septentrionalis Ponti Euxini Graecae et Latinae. Petropoli, 1916. JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies. London JRS Journal of Roman Studies. London LSJ Liddell H.G., Scott R., Jones H.S., McKenzie R. A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford, New York, 1996. Milet. I McCabe D.F., Plunkett M.A. Miletos Inscriptions. Text and List. Princeton, 1984.

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RE Paulys Real-Encyclopdie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft: neue Bearbeitung / Hrsg. G. Wissowa, W. Kroll. Stuttgart, 1894-1980. RIB Collingwood R.G., Wright R.P. The Roman Inscriptions of Britain. Vol. I. Inscriptions on Stone. Oxford, 1965. SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum. Leiden, 1923 SH Studia historica.

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