i. 198), which is incised on a bronze table about 2 metres broad, in

90 lines of about 200 to 240 letters each, and therefore extremely inconvenient to read, and the _lex agraria_ of 643 (111 B.C.), written on the reverse of the table of the Acilia, abrogated shortly afterwards (_C.I.L._ i. 200); this is the third of the celebrated laws of C. Gracchus bearing upon the division of public lands. Then follow the _lex Cornelia de viginti quaestoribus_, a fragment of Sulla's legislation, the eighth table only, of the whole set, being preserved (_C.I.L._ i. 202); the _plebiscitum de Thermensibus_, on the autonomy of Termessus in Pisidia, proposed by the _tribuni plebis_, in 682 (72 B.C.), one of four or five large bronze plates (_C.I.L._ i. 204); the _lex Rubria de civitate Galliae cisalpinae_ of 705 (49 B.C.), written in a new and more convenient form (belonging as it does to Caesar's legislation), in two columns, with numbered divisions, being the fourth out of an unknown number of plates (_C.I.L._ i. 205); the _lex Julia municipalis_, or, from the place where it was found, the _tabulae Heracleenses_ of 709 (45 B.C.), written on the reverse of the much older Greek law of that community, preserved partly at Naples, partly in the British Museum (_C.I.L._ i. 206), also a fragment of Caesar's general municipal institutions; it contains a curious passage relating to the public promulgation of laws (v. 15). These are the laws of the Roman republic preserved in important fragments; some minor ones (brought together in _C.I.L._ i. 207-211) may be left out of account here. In the imperial age, laws in general were replaced by _senatus consulta_ or by imperial decrees. It was also in the form of a _senatus consultum_ that the _leges de imperio_, on the accession of the emperors, seem to have been promulgated. An example of such a law, preserved in part on a bronze tablet found at Rome, is the _lex de imperio Vespasiani_ (_C.I.L._ vi. 930; Orel. i. 567). There is, besides, one special category of imperial constitutions which continued to be named _leges_, viz. the constitutions given by the emperors to the divers classes of _civitates_, based upon the ancient traditional rules of government applied to Rome itself as well as to the _coloniae_ and _municipia_. Of this sort of _leges_ some very valuable specimens have come from Spanish soil, viz. the _lex coloniae Juliae Genetivae Urbanorum sive Ursonis_ (now Osuna), given to that colony by Caesar in 710 (44 B.C.), but incised, with some alterations, in the time of Vespasian, of which three bronze tables out of a much larger number remain (Hubner and Mommsen, _Ephem. epigr._ ii. 150 sq. and 221 sq.); the _lex Salpensana_ and the _lex Malacitana_, given to these two _municipia_ by Domitian, between A.D. 81 and 84, each on a large bronze plate, written respectively in two and in five columns, with the single chapters numbered and rubricated (_C.I.L._ ii. 1963, 1964; compare Mommsen, "Die Stadtrechte der lateinischen Gemeinden Salpensa und Malacca in der Provinz Baetica," in the _Abhandlungen der sachsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, philol.-histor. Classe_, vol. iii., 1857, p. 363 sq.); the _lex metalli Vipascensis_, given, with all probability, by one of the three Flavii, as a constitution to a mining district of southern Portugal, one bronze plate numbered iii.--three or more, therefore, being lost (see Hubner, _Ephem. epigr._ iii. 165 sq. and, for a popular account, the _Deutsche Rundschau_, August 1877, p. 196 sq.). The so-called military diplomas, although in certain respects nearly related to the _leges_ of the later period, are better placed along with the imperial decrees.

3. A third species of official documents is formed by decrees of the senate of Rome, of the analogous corporations in the _coloniae_ and _municipia_, and of the divers _collegia_ and _sodalicia_, constituted, as a rule, after a similar fashion and debating in nearly the same way as the Roman and the municipal senates. The oldest Roman _senatus consulta_ are those translated into the Greek language and containing treaties of alliance, as already mentioned. They are preserved either on monuments or by ancient authors, as Josephus: e.g. the fragment found at Delphi, from the year 568 (186 B.C.), and the _senatus consultum Thisbaeum_, from Thisbe in Boeotia, 584 (170 B.C.) (_Ephem. epigr._ i. 278 sq., ii. 102, and Joh. Schmidt, _Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung_, vol. iii., 1881), those of 616, 619, 621, 649 (138-105 B.C.) (_C. I. Graec._ 2905, 2908, ii. 2485, 2737; Le Bas and Waddington iii. 195-198; _Annali dell' Instituto_, vol. xix. 1847, p. 113; _Ephem. epigr._ iv. 213 sq.), and those relating to the Jews, dating from 615, 621 and 710 (139, 133 and 44 B.C.) (Josephus, _Ant._ xiii. 9. 2, xiv. 8. 5 and 10. 9). The two oldest _senatus consulta_ written in Latin are also preserved in a more or less complete form only by ancient authors; they are the _sc. de philosophis et rhetoribus_ of 593 (161 B.C.) (Gellius, _Noct. Att._ xv. 11. 1) and that _de hastis Martiis_ of 655 (99 B.C.) (Gellius iv. 6. 2). The only one belonging to the oldest period preserved in the original Latin form, of which only a part exists, together with the Greek translation, is the _sc. Lutatianum_, relating to Asclepiades of Clazomenae and his companions, dating from 676 (77 B.C.) (_C.I.L._ i. 203). The rest, belonging to the later epoch from Cicero downwards, about twenty in number, are mostly preserved only in an abridged form by ancient writers,--such as Cicero, Frontinus, Macrobius,--or in Justinian's _Digesta_ (see Hubner, _De senatus populique Romani actis_, Leipzig, 1859, p. 66 sq.); a few exist, however, in a monumental form, complete or in fragments--as the two sc. on the _ludi saeculares_, dating from 17 B.C. and A.D. 47, preserved on a marble slab found at Rome (_C.I.L._ vi. 877); the fragments of two sc. in honour of Germanicus and the younger Drusus, from Rome, on bronze tablets (_C.I.L._ vi. 911-912; Henz. 5381-5282); the two _sc._ _Hosidianum_ and _Volusianum_, containing regulations for the demolition and rebuilding of houses in Rome, incised on the same bronze plate, found at Herculaneum, dating from Nero's time, between A.D. 41 and 46 and from 56 (Orel. 3115; Mommsen, _Berichte der sachs. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, philol.-histor. Classe_, 1852, p. 272 sq.); and, of a later period, the _sc._ _Cassianum_ or _Nonianum_ of A.D. 138, containing a market regulation for the _saltus Beguensis_ in Africa, where it has been found preserved in two examples on stone slabs (_Ephem. epigr._ ii. 271 sq., not complete in Wil. 2838), and the fragment of that for Cyzicus, belonging to the reign of Antoninus Pius (_Ephem. epigr._ iii. 156 sq.). There exists, besides, a chapter of a sc., relating to the _collegia_, inserted in the decree of a _collegium_ at Lanuvium, to be mentioned below. Of the municipal decrees, of which a greater number is preserved (see Hubner, _De sen. populique Rom. actis_, p. 71 sq.), only a few of the more important may be mentioned here: the _lex Puteolana de parieti faciundo_ of 649 (105 B.C.) (_C.I.L._ i. 577; Orel. 3697; Wil. 697); the two _decreta_ (or so-called _cenotaphia_) _Pisana_ in honour of Lucius and Gaius Caesar, the grandsons of Augustus, of A.D. 3 (_C.I.L._ xi. 1420, 1421; Orel. 642, 643; Wil. 883); the _decretum Lanuvinum_ of A.D. 133, containing the regulations of a _collegium funeraticium_, styled _collegium salutare Dianae et Antinoi_ (Orel. 6086; Wil. 319); and the _decretum Tergestinum_, belonging to the time of Antoninus Pius (_C.I.L._ v. 532; Henz. 7167; Wil. 693). There are, however, more than thirty others preserved, some of them, such as those from Naples, written in the Greek language. Of the third speciality, the _decreta collegiorum_, only the _lex collegii aquae_ of the 1st century (Marini, _Atti de' fratelli arvali_, p. 70; Rudorff and Mommsen, _Zeitschrift fur Rechtsgeschichte_, vol. xv., 1850, pp. 203, 345 sq.), and the _lex collegii Aesculapii et Hygiae_, of 153 (_C.I.L._ vi. 10,234; Orel. 2417; Wil. 320) need be mentioned here; many more exist. One of them, the _lex collegii Jovis Cerneni_, dating from A.D. 167, found at Alburnus major in Dacia, is preserved on the original _tabella cerata_ on which it was written (_C.I.L._ iii. 924; Henz. 6087; Wil. 321).

4. The fourth species of _instrumenta_ are the decrees, sometimes in the form of letters, of Roman and municipal magistrates, and of the emperors and their functionaries, incised, as a rule, on bronze tablets. The oldest decree in the Latin language which has been preserved is that of L. Aemilius Paulus, when praetor in Hispania Baetica, dating from 189 B.C., for the Turris Lascutana in southern Spain (_C.I.L._ ii. 5041; Wil. 2837); of the same date is a Greek one of Cn. Manlius, consul of the year 565, for the Heracleenses Cariae (Le Bas and Waddington n. 588). Then follow the famous _epistula consulum_ (falsely styled _senatus consultum_) _ad Teuranos de bacchanalibus_, dated 568 (186 B.C.) (_C.I.L._ i. 196); the sentence of the two Minucii, the delegates of the senate, on a dispute concerning the boundaries between the Genuates and Viturii, 117 B.C. (_C.I.L._ i. 199; Orel. 3121; Wil. 872); and the _epistula_ of the praetor L. Cornelius (perhaps Sisenna), the praetor of 676 (78 B.C.) _ad Tiburtes_ (_C.I.L._ i. 201). These belong to the republican age. From the imperial period a great many more have come down to us of varying quality. Some of them are decrees or constitutions of the emperors themselves. Such are the decree of Augustus on the aqueduct of Venafrum (_C.I.L._ x. 4842; Henz. 6428; Wil. 784); that of Claudius, found in the Val di Nona, belonging to A.D. 46 (_C.I.L._ v. 5050; Wil. 2842); of Vespasian for Sabora in Spain (_C.I.L._ ii. 1423), and for the Vanacini in Corsica (Orel. 4031); of Domitian for Falerii (Orel. 3118); the epistles of Hadrian relating to Aezani in Phrygia, added to a Greek decree of Avidius Quietus (_C.I.L._ iii. 355; Henz. 6955), and relating to Smyrna, in Greek, with a short one of Antoninus Pius, in Latin (_C.I.L._ iii. 411; Orel. 3119); the decrees of Commodus relating to the _saltus Burunitanus_ in Africa (_C.I.L._ viii. 10,570; cf. _Eph. epigr._ v. 471); of Severus and Caracalla for Tyra (Akkerman in Moesia), Latin and Greek (_C.I.L._ iii. 781; Henz. 6429); of Valerian and Gallienus for Smyrna, also Latin and Greek (_C.I.L._ iii. 412); of Diocletian _de pretiis rerum venalium_, containing a long list of prices for all kinds of merchandise, preserved in divers copies more or less complete, in Latin and Greek (_C.I.L._ iii. 801 sq.; compare _Ephem. epigr._ iv. 180, and, as similar monuments, the _lex portus_ of Cirta, of A.D. 202 Wil. 2738, and the fragment of a regulation for the importation of wines into Rome, Henz. 5089, Wil. 2739); and some of the age of Constantine, as that relating to Hispellum in Umbria (Henz. 5580; Wil. 2843), that of Julian found at Amorgos (_C.I.L._ iii. 459; Henz. 6431), and some others, of which copies exist also in the juridical collections. Of two imperial rescripts of a still later age A.D. 413, fragments of the originals, written on papyri, have been found in Egypt (see Mommsen and Jaffe, _Jahrbuch des gemeinen deutschen Rechts_, vol. vi., 1861, p. 398; Hanel, _Corpus legum_, p. 281). Imperial decrees, granting divers privileges to soldiers, are the _diplomata militaria_ also, mentioned above, incised on two combined bronze tablets in the form of _diptycha_ (L. Renier, "Recueil de diplomes militaires"; _C.I.L._ iii. 842 sqq., 1955 sqq.; Wil. 2862-2869), belonging to nearly all emperors from Claudius down to Diocletian. Though not a decree, yet as a publication going back directly to the emperor, and as being preserved in the monumental form, the speech of the emperor Claudius, delivered in the senate, relating to the Roman citizenship of the Gauls, of which Tacitus gives an abstract (_Ann._ xi. 23), ought also to be mentioned here; it was engraved on large bronze slabs by the public authority of Lugudunum (Lyons), where a large fragment of it is still preserved (Boissieu, _Inscriptions antiques de Lyon_, p. 132 sq.). Another sort of decrees, relating to a great variety of subjects, has to be mentioned, emanating, not directly from the emperors, but from their functionaries. Such are the decree of the proconsul L. Helvius Agrippa, of the year A.D. 68, on the boundaries of some tribes on the island of Sardinia (_C.I.L._ x. 7852; Wil. 872 a); that of the prefect of Egypt, Tiberius Julius Alexander, written in Greek, the same year (_C. I. Graec._ 4957); that of C. Helvidius Priscus, on a similar question relating to Histonium, belonging perhaps to the end of the 1st century (Wil. 873); that of the legate of Trajan, C. Avidius Nigrinus, found at Delphi, in Greek and Latin (_C.I.L._ iii. 567; Orel. 3671; Wil. 874); a rescript of Claudius Quartinus, perhaps the imperial legate of the Tarraconensis, of the year A.D. 119, found at Pampluna (_C.I.L._ ii. 2959; Orel. 4032); the epistle of the _praefecti praetorio_ to the magistrates of Saepinum, of about A.D. 166-169 (_C.I.L._ ix. 2438; Wil. 2841); the decree of L. Novius Rufus, another legate of the Tarraconensis, who _ex tilia recitavit_, of A.D. 193 (_C.I.L._ ii. 4125; Orel. 897; Wil. 876); the sentence of Alfenius Senecio, then subprefect of the _classis praetoria Misenensis_, belonging to the beginning of the 3rd century, formerly existing at Naples (_C.I.L._ x. 3334); and some others of the 4th and 5th centuries, not requiring specific mention here. Quite a collection of epistles of high Roman functionaries is found in the celebrated inscription of Thorigny (Mommsen, _Berichte der sachs. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften_, 1852, p. 235 sq.). The letter of a provincial functionary, a priest of Gallia Narbonensis, to the _fabri subaediani_ of Narbonne, of the year 149, may also be mentioned (Henz. 7215; Wil. 696 a). To these must be added the _tabulae alimentariae_, relating to the well-known provision made by Trajan for the relief of distress among his subjects, such as that of the Ligures Baebiani (_C.I.L._ ix. 1455; Wil. 2844) and that of Veleia near Parma (Wil. 2845); while evidence of similar institutions is furnished by inscriptions at Tarracina, at Sicca in Africa, and at Hispalis in Spain (Wil. 2846-2848; _C.I.L._ ii. 1174). At the close of this long list of official documents may be mentioned the _libellus_ of the _procurator operum publicorum a columna divi Marci_ of the year 193 (_C.I.L._ vi. 1585; Orel. 39; Wil. 2840) and the _interlocutiones_ of the _praefecti vigilum_ on a lawsuit of the _fullones_ of Rome, of A.D. 244, inscribed on an altar of Hercules (_C.I.L._ vi. 266; Wil. 100). These documents form a most instructive class of _instrumenta_.

5. Many documents, as may be supposed, were connected with religious worship, public and private. The oldest _lex templi_, which continued in force until a comparatively late period, was the regulation given by Servius Tullius to the temple of Diana on the Aventine, after the conclusion of the federal pact with the Latini, noticed above. Mention is made of this ancient law as still in force in two later documents of a similar character, viz. the dedication of an altar to Augustus by the plebs of Narbo in southern France, of A.D. 764, but existing only, at Narbonne, in a copy, made perhaps in the 2nd century (_C.I.L._ xii. 4333; Orel. 2489; Wil. 104), and that of an altar of Jupiter, dedicated at Salonae in Dalmatia in A.D. 137, still existing in part at Padua (_C.I.L._ iii. 1933; Orel. 2490; Wil. 163). Another _lex fani_ still existing is that of a temple of Jupiter Liber at Furfo, a _vicus_ of southern Italy, of the year 696 (58 B.C.), but copied, in vernacular language, from an older original (_C.I.L._ i. 603; Orel. 2488; Wil. 105; compare Jordan in _Hermes_, vol. vii., 1872, pp. 201 sq.). The lists of objects belonging to some sanctuaries or to the ornaments of statues are curious, such as those of the _Diana Nemorensis_ at Nemi (Henz. _Hermes_, vol. vi., 1871, pp. 8 sq.), and of a statue of Isis in Spain (Hubner, _Hermes_, vol. i., 1866, pp. 345 sq.; compare _C.I.L._ ii. 2060, 3386, Orel. 2510, Wil. 210), and two _synopses_ from a temple at Cirta in Africa (Wil. 2736, 2737). The _sortes_ given by divinities may also be mentioned (see _C.I.L._ i. 267 sq.; Wil. 2822). To a temple also, though in itself of a secular character, belonged a monument of the highest historical importance, viz. the _Index rerum a se gestarum_, incised on bronze slabs, copies of which Augustus ordered to be placed, in Latin and Greek, where required, in the numerous Augustea erected to himself in company with the Dea Roma. This is known as the _Monumentum Ancyranum_, because it is at Angora in Asia Minor that the best preserved copy of it, in Greek and Latin, exists; but fragments remain of other copies from other localities (see _C.I.L._ iii. 779 sq., and the special editions of Mommsen, Berlin, 1865, and Bergk, Gottingen, 1873). Among the inscriptions relating to sacred buildings must also be reckoned the numerous fragments of Roman calendars, or _fasti anni Juliani_, found at Rome and other places, which have been arranged and fully explained by Mommsen (_C.I.L._ i., 2nd ed., part ii.; compare for those found in Rome, _C.I.L._ vi. 2294-2306). Local, provincial or municipal _calendaria_ have likewise been found (as the _feriale Cumanum_, _C.I.L._ i. part ii. p. 229, and the _Capuanum_, _C.I.L._ x. 3792). Many other large monumental inscriptions bear some relation, more or less strict, to sacred or public buildings. Along with the official calendar exhibited on the walls of the residence of the _pontifex maximus_, the list of the eponymous magistrates, inscribed by the order of Augustus on large marble slabs, was publicly shown--the _fasti consulares_, the reconstruction and illustration of which formed the life-work of Borghesi. These have been collected, down to the death of Augustus, by Henzen, and compared with the additional written testimonies, by Mommsen, in the _Corpus_ (vol. i., 2nd ed.,