Legislation in the Later Roman Empire: the Laws on the Patrocinium Vicorum and Colonatus

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  • 後期ローマ帝国における農民逃亡と法形成
  • コウキ ローマ テイコク ニ オケル ノウミン トウボウ ト ホウ ケイセイ

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Abstract

According to traditional understanding of Roman History, the Later Roman Empire was a despotic state ruled in an arbitrary manner by autocratic emperors. This image of the Empire, however, has been criticized on various points. In this paper, examining the formation of laws on the peasants' flight, the author compares this traditional image of the Later Roman Empire with reality, using the laws on the Patrocinium vicorum and Colonatus as his main source. Analysis by the author demonstrates that the laws on the Patrocinium vicorum were designed not only for the financial advantage of the empire, but also in consideration of the interests of peasants in a variety of contexts. The laws on the Colonatus, on the other hand, had minimal financial content. In the process of formulating these laws, the interests of everyone, including the emperors, landowners, and farmers, appear to have been taken into consideration. Scholars have long searched for a single legislative principle during the Later Roman Empire, but the author of this paper argues that there is no single principle with relation to legislation on the Patrocinium vicorum or Colanatus. The emperors and officers did not in fact monopolize the legislative process, instead we find the interests of the ruled classes, and their initiatives, reflected in the laws. Therefore the author emphasizes that the Later Roman Empire was in fact a pluralistic state in which the interests of many strata of society were represented.

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