Puneet Varma (Editor)

Ius Italicum

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Ius Italicum (Latin, Italian or Italic law) was an honour conferred on particular cities of the Roman Empire by the emperors. It did not describe any status of citizenship, but granted to communities outside Italy the legal fiction that it was on Italian soil. This meant that it was governed under Roman rather than local or Hellenistic law, had a greater degree of autonomy in their relations with provincial governors, all those born in the city automatically gained Roman citizenship, and the city's land was exempt from certain taxes. As citizens of Rome, people were able to buy and sell property, were exempt from land tax and the poll tax and were entitled to protection by Roman law.

The Digest (50.15) contains a long list of Roman colonies and other communities that had the ius Italicum, including

  • Baalbek
  • Antioch, Pisidia
  • Stobi
  • Cassandreia
  • Philippi
  • References

    Ius Italicum Wikipedia