The ''lex Ogulnia'' was a Roman law passed in 300 BC. It was a
milestone
A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...
in
the long struggle between the
patricians and
plebeian
In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary.
Etymology
The precise origins ...
s. The law was carried by the brothers
Quintus and Gnaeus Ogulnius,
tribunes of the plebs
Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power o ...
in 300 BC. For the first time, it opened the various priesthoods to the plebeians. It also increased the number of
pontifices
A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was lat ...
from five to nine (including the
pontifex maximus), and led to the appointment of
Tiberius Coruncanius, the first plebeian pontifex maximus, in 254 BC. The law further required that five of the
augur
An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying ...
s be plebeians.
See also
*Other laws concerning the status of plebeians:
**
Lex Canuleia The (‘ Canuleian law’), or , was a law of the Roman Republic, passed in the year 445 BC, restoring the right of (marriage) between patricians and plebeians.
Canuleius' first rogation
Five years earlier, as part of the process of establishin ...
, 445 BC
**
Leges Liciniae Sextiae, 367 BC
**
Lex Hortensia
The ''lex Hortensia'', also sometimes referred to as the Hortensian law, was a law passed in Ancient Rome in 287 BC which made all resolutions passed by the Plebeian Council, known as ''plebiscita'', binding on all citizens. It was passed by the ...
, 287 BC
*
Roman Law
Roman law is the 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 ...
*
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'' (p ...
External links
The Roman Law Library, incl. ''Leges''
Roman law
300 BC
{{AncientRome-law-stub