Antiquae sunt istae leges et mortuae: the plebiscitum Claudianum and associated laws
This paper examines the evidence for four laws which restricted the activities of senators. Two of these, the plebiscitum Claudianum of 218 BC, restricting senatorial ship-owning, and the undated prohibition on senators undertaking public contracts are positively attested and widely accepted, even i...
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| Pubblicato in: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/mefra, |
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| Autore principale: | |
| Natura: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Lingua: | Anglais |
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Mélanges de l’École française de Rome - Antiquité
2016
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| Soggetti: | |
| Accesso online: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Riassunto: | This paper examines the evidence for four laws which restricted the activities of senators. Two of these, the plebiscitum Claudianum of 218 BC, restricting senatorial ship-owning, and the undated prohibition on senators undertaking public contracts are positively attested and widely accepted, even if their purpose and date (in the latter case) are debated. The other two, which prohibited senators from travelling outside of Italy and from owning land outside Italy, are only alluded to indirectly. This paper argues firstly that these two measures deserve much more serious consideration, on the basis both of the negative evidence in their favour and the later legislative tradition; and secondly that all four laws should be imagined not within the later traditions of sumptuary legislation, but as part of the development of imperial rule (and senatorial identity) in the later third century BC. |
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