The ''Lex Manciana'' is a Roman law dealing with tenancy agreements of
imperial estates
An Imperial State or Imperial Estate ( la, Status Imperii; german: Reichsstand, plural: ') was a part of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise si ...
in Roman
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
.
Location
The Imperial estates in question are all from the
Bagradas Valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
region of
Africa Proconsularis
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
(modern day
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, around c.50 km west of the ancient city of
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
. The inscription from
Henchir-Mettich (c. AD 116-117 ) consists in an adaptation of the ''Lex Manciana'' for the ''fundus Villa Magna Variana''.
Two additional inscriptions dealing with a similar subject matter, also in the same region, are known from
Ain-elDjemala (
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
ic period) and
Ain Wassel c. AD 198-209).
Inscription
The inscription from
Henchir Mettich details the tenancy agreement for ''
coloni'' tenant farmers on the ''Fundus Villae Magnae Variane'' (an Imperial estate). The content of the translation
[Kehoe, D, 1988, ''Econonmics of Agriculture on Roman Imperial Estates in North Africa'', Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht] runs as follows:
1. Preamble – Identifies Licinius Maximus (an
Equite
The ''equites'' (; literally "horse-" or "cavalrymen", though sometimes referred to as "knights" in English) constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian ...
) and Felicior (a
freedman
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
of
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
) as the
procurator
Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to:
* Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency
* ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title o ...
s who oversaw the establishment at Henchir-Mettich.
2. Authorisation to cultivate ''subseciva'' – Allows unused land (''subseciva'') on this Imperial estate to be brought under cultivation under the following agreement.
3. Assessment of share rents – Tenants will pay rents in kind (i.e., part of the total crop) according to their own judgement.
4. Rents of ''subseciva'' – Rents are one third total crop of wheat, barley, wine and olive oil. Additional rents include one quarter or one fifth of beans and of honey if over five hives are owned.
5. Penalties – Beehives cannot be moved from the estate onto free land in order to avoid rent.
6. Incentives – No rents are charged on newly planted vines and
figs
The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...
for the first five years, and newly planted
olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
trees for the first ten years.
7. Grazing – An annual fee of 4 ''
asses
Ass most commonly refers to:
* Buttocks (in informal American English)
* Donkey or ass, ''Equus africanus asinus''
**any other member of the subgenus ''Asinus''
Ass or ASS may also refer to:
Art and entertainment
* Ass (album), ''Ass'' (album ...
'' is payable per animal grazing on the land.
8. Damage – Avoidable damage to other tenants' crops is paid for by the offender.
9. Bequesting – Land under tenancy can be bequeathed to an heir in a legally binding contract. This clause intends to promote generational farming of the same land and thus further investment.
10. Confiscation – Land neglected and uncultivated for two consecutive years will be reclaimed by the landlord.
11. Labour Services – In addition to rents, each tenant must supply two consecutive days labour for ploughing and two for harvesting, on top of a day supervising the livestock. Labour services could be seconded to slaves or retainers of the tenants.
Sharecropping
Subsistence farming for a family of six in the ancient world requires three
hectares
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...
of land to provide crops and enough seed for the next year, though to include a one third payment to a landlord requires cultivation of at least five hectares of land.
Sharecropping forces the ''
colonii
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
'' to cultivate their land with more effort to attain a minimum level of income than they would otherwise have to supply. It also allows the farmer to pass some of the risks involved in farming onto the landlord as a poor crop would mean lower rents.
See also
*
Roman agriculture
Roman agriculture describes the farming practices of ancient Rome, during a period of over 1000 years. From humble beginnings, the Roman Republic (509 BC to 27 BC) and the Roman Empire (27 BC to 476 AD) expanded to rule much of Europe, northern Af ...
*
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 ...
References
{{Italic title
Roman law