''Lex Malacitana'' or ''Lex Flavia Malacitana'' ("

Flavian Flavian may refer to: * A member of the Flavian dynasty of Roman emperors, during the late 1st century AD, or their works * Flavian Zeija, a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge. Principal Judge of Uganda, since December 2019. * A person named Flavian ...

law of Malaca") is a bronze tablet bearing Latin local statutes which deal with the official activities of the ''duoviri iuri dicundo''. The tablet was found in the 20th century near Malaca (modern

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

) with the '' lex Salpensana'', and it was dated from AD 81–84, i.e. the early reign of

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...

. Malaca was governed under this law, which granted free-born persons the privileges of

Roman citizenship Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: ''civitas'') was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in Ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, t ...

. Together with the ''lex Salpensana'' and the ''

lex Irnitana The ''lex Irnitana'' consists of fragments of Roman municipal laws dated to AD 91 which had been inscribed on a collection of six bronze tablets found in 1981 near El Saucejo, Spain. Together with the ''Lex Salpensana'' and the ''Lex Malacitana'' it ...

'' it provides the most complete version of the ''lex Flavia municipalis'', or the

municipal law Municipal law is the national, domestic, or internal law of a sovereign state and is defined in opposition to international law. Municipal law includes many levels of law: not only national law but also state, provincial, territorial, regional, ...

."Lex Irnitana, Encyclopedia of Ancient History"
/ref> and has allowed new insights into the workings of Roman law. The tablets are exhibited in the

National Archaeological Museum, Madrid The National Archaeological Museum ( es, Museo Arqueológico Nacional; MAN) is a museum in Madrid, Spain. It is located on Calle de Serrano beside the Plaza de Colón, sharing its building with the National Library of Spain. History The museum ...

. Since the tablets provide the only surviving copy of large parts of the Flavian municipal law, they have provided new insights into the procedural side of municipal courts.''"The lex Irnitana and procedure in the civil courts"'', A. Rodger
/ref> In December 2016 a petition to

Congreso de los Diputados The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...

was offered to give it back to the

Museo de Málaga The Museo de Málaga is a museum in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. Formed in 1973, it brought together the former Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes (''Provincial Museum of Fine Arts''), born in 1913, and Museo Arqueológico Provincial (''Provincial Arch ...

. The Ministerio de Cultura studied the case, and on 12 March 2018

Spanish Government gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , da ...

denied it.

References

Bibliography

* History of Málaga Collection of the National Archaeological Museum, Madrid 1st-century Latin texts Latin inscriptions Archaeological discoveries in Spain 1st-century artifacts 1st-century inscriptions Archaeological palettes Roman law {{AncientRome-law-stub