Public Land in the Roman Republic: A Social and Economic History of Ager Publicus in Italy, 396-89 BC (Oxford Studies in Roman Society & Law)

371 Pages·2010·3.17 MB·English

by  Saskia Roselaar

OXFORD STUDIES IN ROMAN
SOCIETY AND LAW
General Editors
Paul du Plessis Thomas A. J. McGinn
OXFORD STUDIES IN ROMAN SOCIETY AND LAW
The aim of this monograph series is to create an interdisciplinary forum
devoted to the interaction between legal history and ancient history, in the
context of the study of Roman law. Focusing on the relationship of law to
society, the volumes will cover the most significant periods of Roman law
(up to the death of Justinian in 565) so as to provide a balanced view of
growth, decline, and resurgence. Most importantly, the series will provoke
generaldebateovertheextenttowhichlegalrulesshouldbeexaminedinlight
ofthesocietywhichproducedtheminordertounderstandtheirpurposeand
efficacy.
Public Land in the
Roman Republic
A Social and Economic History of Ager Publicus
bc
in Italy, 396–89
SASKIA T. ROSELAAR
1
3
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Acknowledgements
ThisbookoriginatedasaPh.D.thesisdefendedattheUniversityofLeidenin
January 2009. My Ph.D. research project was part of a greater project called
‘Peasants,citizensandsoldiers:theeffectsofdemographicgrowthinRoman
Republican Italy (202–88 bc)’ carried out from 2004 to 2009 at Leiden
University under the direction of Prof. Luuk de De Ligt. Firstof all,Iwould
like to thank my fellow members of the project, Paul Erdkamp, Saskia Hin,
SimonNorthwood,JeremiaPelgrom,andRensTacoma.Icannotthankthem
sufficiently for all the suggestions, comments, and moral support they have
givenmeovertheyears,aswellassharingvariouspiecesofforthcomingwork
with me. Luuk de Ligt, my doctoral supervisor, deserves many thanks for
making the project possible in the first place, and for all the insightful
suggestions, comments, and support which he lavished on me over the last
four years.IwouldliketothankSimonNorthwoodforhismercilesscorrec-
tion of the English of virtually every English piece Iwrote over the last four
years.Healsodeservesthanksforbeingsuchanicetravellingpartnerduring
two weeks in Italy in April 2007, as well as for his permission to reproduce
someofthepictureshetookduringthatenjoyable journey.
IwouldliketoDominicRathboneforhiswillingnesstoactasmyexternal
examinerandforhisusefulremarksonmythesis.NathanRosensteinreadthe
whole manuscript, some parts more than once, and his constructive com-
mentshavesavedmefrommanyerrorsandoversimplifications.Forreading
andcommentingonpartsofmythesis,aswellasprovidingawarmwelcome
in England in the spring of 2008, I thank Guy Bradley (Cardiff University),
Neville Morley (University of Bristol), and Jeremy Paterson (University of
NewcastleuponTyne).FruitfulsuggestionswerealsoofferedbyTimCornell,
Wim Jongman, Josephine Crawley Quinn, Kurt Raaflaub, and John Rich
during various discussions in Leiden and Athens. Valuable information
about taxes and rents collected from public land in Hellenistic and Roman
Egypt was provided by Andrew Monson. I would also like to thank all the
participantsoftheinternationalconferencesinLeiden,June2007,andinRome,
January2008,whogaveusefulcommentsonthepapersIpresentedthere.
Jose´ Birker of the Leiden University History Department deserves thanks
for her persisting and efficient administrative support of all Ph.D.s in the
department. I also thank the Department of History at the Ohio State
University for their kind welcome at the department during my stay at
vi Acknowledgements
Columbus in the Winter Quarter of 2007. Rosemary Robson checked the
Englishwithanadmirableeyefordetail,andgavesomevaluableinsightson
thecontents.
The community of Ph.D.s at Leiden University provided a stimulating
environment;LydekevanBeek,AnneliekeDirks,KimBeerden,MarkHeerink,
and Hugo Koning deserve special mention for their support during the past
fouryears.
The staff at the Royal Dutch Institute in Rome (KNIR) made me feel
welcome and provided an indispensable ‘retreat’ for the last stage of writing
in May 2008. Financial support for this book was given by the Netherlands
OrganizationforScientificResearch(NWO),whichmadepossibletheentire
projectbyaverygenerousVICIgrant,andtheRoyalDutchInstituteinRome.
I would like to thank Bas van Bavel, Gert Jan Burgers, David Onnekink,
Henk Singor, and J. E. Spruijt for their willingness to serve as my doctoral
examinersandthevaluablesuggestionsthey madeduringtheexamination.
For their willingness to accept this work as the first instalment of OUP’s
new series ‘Oxford Studies in Roman Society and Law’, I thank the series
editors, Thomas McGinn and Paul du Plessis. Dorothy McCarthy and Tessa
Eaton deserve many thanks for their patience and their advice during all
stagesofthepublishingprocess.IwouldliketothankJackiePritchardandJoy
Mellorfor theirmeticulousediting.
It goes without saying, of course, that all views expressed in this book are
myown,andthatIamsolely responsibleforany mistakesthatmay remain.
Finally, I wish to thank my family, who stimulated my interest in history
fromanearlyage,andhavealwayssupportedmeinpursuingacareerwhich
may seem unrewarding to many. I hope my ‘first real book’ will show that
academiclifecarriesitsownrewards!
Illustrations1,6,9,10,12,13,14,15bySaskiaRoselaar.
Illustrations2,3,4,5,7,8,11bySimonNorthwood.
Figures 1, 2, 7: map base courtesy of the Ancient World Mapping Center,
2009,www.unc.edu/awmc
Figures 3, 4: taken from A. Rudorff, F. Blume, and K. Lachmann, Die
Schriftender ro¨mischenFeldmesser(Berlin,1852).
Figure5bySaskiaHin.
Jacket illustration: photo by J. Bradford, used by permission of the Pitt
RiversMuseum,Oxford.
Contents
ListofTableandFigures x
1. Introduction 1
1.1. Introduction:whystudyager publicus? 1
1.2. Ager publicusandRomanhistory:aimsandobjectives
ofthisbook 2
1.3. Sourcesandmethods 7
2. AgerPublicusfromtheRegalPeriodto133 18
2.1. Introduction 18
2.2. PubliclandintheregalandearlyRepublicanperiods 20
2.2.1. Publiclandintheregalperiod 20
2.2.2. AgerpublicusintheearlyRepublic 25
2.3. Theacquisitionofager publicusby theRomanstate 31
2.3.1. Theamountofconfiscatedlandandcolonysize 31
2.3.2. Latium 37
2.3.3. EtruriaandUmbria 41
2.3.4. Sabinum 44
2.3.5. Picenum 45
2.3.6. Campania 46
2.3.7. Samnium 48
2.3.8. LucaniaandBruttium 49
2.3.9. ApuliaandCalabria 50
2.3.10. CisalpineGaul 52
2.3.11. Viritanedistributions 54
2.3.12. Colonization 58
2.3.13. Conclusion 63
2.4. Confiscationofarableandpasture 64
2.5. Ager publicusandtheItalianallies 69
2.5.1. Reactionsofdefeatedpopulationstothecreation
ofager publicus 69
2.5.2. Thecoloniallandscapeandtheoriginalpopulation 71
2.6. Conclusion 84
viii Contents
3. TheLegalConditionsofAgerPublicus 86
3.1. Introduction 86
3.2. Ageroccupatorius 88
3.2.1. AgeroccupatoriusbeforetheLexLicinia 89
3.2.2. TheLexLiciniademodoagrorum 95
3.2.3. Ageroccupatoriusafter theLexLicinia 113
3.3. Thesaleandleaseofpublicland 119
3.3.1. Agerquaestorius 121
3.3.2. Ager intrientabulis 127
3.3.3. Agercensorius 128
3.4. Agerscripturarius 133
3.5. Ager publicusbelongingtocommunities 136
3.6. Conclusion 144
4. TheSecondCenturyandtheEconomyofAgerPublicus 146
4.1. Introduction 146
4.2. Ager publicusafter theSecondPunicWar 149
4.3. Thegrowthofcommercialagricultureafter
theSecondPunicWar 154
4.3.1. Marketproductiononarableland 155
4.3.2. Regionalspecialization 166
4.3.3. Animalhusbandry 173
4.3.4. Competitionforlandinthesecondcentury 180
4.3.5. Populationdevelopmentsinthesecondcentury 191
4.3.6. Ager publicusandcommercialproduction 200
4.3.7. Theuseofager publicusbysmallfarmers 203
4.4. Consequencesofpressureonthelandforsmallfarmers 209
4.4.1. Populationgrowthandtheprivatization
ofcommonlands 209
4.4.2. Alternativesurvivalstrategiesforsmallfarmers 214
4.5. Conclusion:regionalvariationintheuseofager publicus 218
5. TheGracchiandthePrivatizationofAgerPublicus 221
5.1. Introduction 221
5.2. TheagrarianreformsoftheGracchi 223
5.2.1. TheGracchanlandreforms:introduction 223
5.2.2. TheaimsoftheGracchanlandreform 225
5.2.3. Distributionsoflandby theLexSemproniaagraria 230
5.2.4. TheGracchanlanddistributionsandtheItalians 243
5.2.5. Conclusion:theresultoftheGracchanlandreforms 251
Contents ix
5.3. Thepost-Gracchanlegislation 256
5.3.1. Thethreepost-GracchanlawsinAppian 257
5.3.2. ThethreelawsofAppianandtheLexagrariaof111 261
5.3.3. TheLexagrariaof111 271
5.4. Ager publicusafter111 278
5.4.1. Occupatioofpubliclandafter111 279
5.4.2. TheSocialWar 281
5.4.3. Landinfirst-century politics 284
5.5. Conclusion 288
6. Conclusion 290
Appendix: TheLocationof AgerPublicus 298
References 327
Index 351