- Lex Claudia
"Lex Claudia" was a law established in
ancient Rome in218 BC . The law was written by Quintus Claudius, thenTribune of the Plebs , stating that no senator or senator’s son could own a sea-going ship with a capacity of more than 300amphorae (an amphorae is roughly the equivalent of six gallons, making the total ship capacity equal to about seven tons [Livy. Foster, B.O. trans. Livy, with an English Translation by B.O. Foster . Harvard University Press. London: 1967. Pg 188.] ) [ Livy, Book XXI, Chapter 63.3] . Though Q. Claudius was the only proponent of the law, the law was pushed through the Senate because of the support ofGaius Flaminius Nepos , consul at the time. The law prevented senatorial families from profiting from overseas trade. In Rome, senators were legally prohibited from participating in trade. Gaining wealth through mercantile activities was considered a lower-class activity and those of higher status based their wealth on landholdings, government positions, and profits from war. Regardless of this, senators had found ways of circumventing these laws [Boatwright, Mary T., Gargola, Daniel J., Talbert, Richard J.A. A Brief History of the Romans. Oxford University Press. New York: 2006.] . Lex Claudia sought to curtail these mercantile profits by senatorial families. As it was introduced right before the beginning of the secondPunic War , it may also have been an attempt by the plebeians and common people of Rome to prevent senators from benefiting financially from overseas wars [Botsford, George Willis. The Roman Assemblies: From Their Origin to the End of the Republic. The Macmillan Company. New York: 1909. Pg 336.] . The law can be viewed as an attempt to ensure that the senators who made decisions regarding wars did so with the good of theRoman Republic in mind, not their own personal financial interests. This view allows us to understand whyFlaminius , though all the senators opposed him, pushed the law through the Senate in order to ensure allegiance to theRoman Republic and strengthen military decision-making [ The Cambridge Ancient History. New Ed. Cambridge University Press. London: 1970. Pg 452.] . Senators seem to have opposed the law simply because it interfered with their freedom [ The Cambridge Ancient History. New Ed. Cambridge University Press. London: 1970. Pg 452.] . As a result of the law, senatorial families increased investments in commercial companies and land holding in theItalian peninsula . The law represents one of the first instances of an attempt to separate the governing class from the commercial class in theRoman Republic [Botsford, George Willis. The Roman Assemblies: From Their Origin to the End of the Republic. The Macmillan Company. New York: 1909. Pg 336.] .The
law forcedRoman senators into large-scale farming and pushed theequites into the business of international shipping. The enormousfarms ofRoman senators are said to have created conditions leading to the rise of theGracchi in133 BC , during the lateRoman Republic References
Relevant articles
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Roman Law
*List of Roman laws External links
* [http://web.upmf-grenoble.fr/Haiti/Cours/Ak The Roman Law Library, incl. "Leges"]
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