The centumviral court (''centumviri'') was the

chancery court The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...

(court of

equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership *Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the diff ...

) of

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, 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 ...

. It was a court of

justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

dealing with

private law Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the '' jus commune'' that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts and torts (as it is called in the common law), and the law of obligations ...

(what is referred to in

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

systems as civil law).

Evolution

The term ''centumviri'' literally means "100 men"; this was the original number of members from which pool the court was selected. The number of men of which the court consisted is not known. In the

Republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

, the number increased to 105 and later still, during the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

, to 180. The antiquity of the court is attested by the symbol and formula used in its procedure, the lance ( la, hasta, link=no) as the sign of true ownership, the oath or wager ( la, sacramentum, link=no), the ancient formula for recovery of property or assertion of liberty. During the Empire, four courts were usually chosen from the pool, although the entire membership might sit in unusual cases. The ''

Decemviri The decemviri or decemvirs (Latin for "ten men") were some of the several 10-man commissions established by the Roman Republic. The most important were those of the two Decemvirates, formally the " decemvirate with consular power for writing ...

'' (ten men) presided over the court from the Augustan period. Membership of this council was considered to be a standard position for those embarking on the ''

cursus honorum The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The ''c ...

''. A number of notable

orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14th ...

s appeared in this court, including

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

and

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...

Jurisdiction

The

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

of the court is unclear, although cases involving wills and

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Of ...

were certainly part of the court's remit. The ''querela inofficiosi testamenti'' ("complaint about an undutiful will") was established by this court. However, it is uncertain whether this court was simply an alternative to the '' iudex'' or part of a more complex

judicial system The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

. It has been suggested that cases before the ''centumviral court'' had a specific minimum value.

Location

In the second half of the 1st century the court met in the Basilica Julia in the Forum. It is likely that, like many such Roman institutions, the physical location of the court was apt to change.

Cicero's account

The ''centumviri'' were mainly concerned with the property of which account was taken at the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

. It was therefore in their power to make or unmake a citizen. They also decided questions concerning debt. Hence the plebs had an interest in securing their decisions against undue influence. They were never regarded as magistrates, but merely as judices, and as such would be appointed for a fixed term of service by the magistrate, probably by the praetor urbanus. But in Cicero's time they were elected by the Comitia Tributa. They then numbered 105. Their original number is uncertain, although the centum (Latin for the number 100) portion of centumviri may provide a clue. It was probably increased by Augustus and in Pliny's time had reached 180. The office was probably open in quite early times to both patricians and plebeians. The term is also applied in the inscriptions of Veii to the municipal senates and Cures, which numbered 100 members.

Evolution

Jurisdiction

Location

Cicero's account

References

Further reading