In
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
, the ''lex Fufia Caninia'' (also ''Furia ~'' or ''Fusia ~'', 2 BC) was one of the laws that
national assemblies had to pass, after they were requested to do so by
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
. This law, along with the ''
lex Aelia Sentia
''Lex Aelia Sentia'' was a law established in ancient Rome in 4 AD. It was one of the laws that the Roman assemblies had to pass (after they were asked to do so by emperor Augustus). This law (as well as '' Lex Fufia Caninia''), has made limitation ...
'', placed limitations on
manumissions,
as to how many slaves could be freed at one time. In numerical terms, this meant that a master who had three slaves could free only two; one who had between four and ten could free only half of them; one with eleven to thirty could free only a third, and so on. Manumissions above these limits were not valid.
The limitations were established at the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire, at a time when the number of manumissions was so large that they were perceived as a challenge to a social system that was founded on slavery.
References
Relevant articles
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Roman Law
Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
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Status in Roman legal system
In Roman law, ''status'' describes a person's legal status. The individual could be a Roman citizen (''status civitatis''), unlike foreigners; or he could be free (''status libertatis''), unlike slaves; or he could have a certain position in a ...
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List of Roman laws
This is a partial list of Roman laws. A Roman law (Latin: ''lex'') is usually named for the sponsoring legislator and designated by the adjectival form of his ''gens'' name ('' nomen gentilicum''), in the feminine form because the noun ''lex'' (pl ...
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Lex Aelia Sentia
''Lex Aelia Sentia'' was a law established in ancient Rome in 4 AD. It was one of the laws that the Roman assemblies had to pass (after they were asked to do so by emperor Augustus). This law (as well as '' Lex Fufia Caninia''), has made limitation ...
External links
The Roman Law Library, incl. ''Leges''
2 BC
1st century BC in law
Roman law
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