judaism_and_rome
2026-07-22T02:53:45+02:00
1
274
Inscription
https://heurist.huma-num.fr/heurist/?recID=274&db=judaism_and_rome
<b>Coloni in north Africa complain of mistreatment by Roman officials (CIL VIII, 10570)
</b>
[ Stone (?) ]
<i>
</i>
2022-08-16 23:18:41
2025-07-22 16:56:40
public
Coloni in north Africa complain of mistreatment by Roman officials (CIL VIII, 10570)
Stone inscription, the text of which was originally arranged in four columns. The first column is now lost, along with the bottom lines of the second and third columns, meaning that neither the heading nor final sentences of the whole text survive.
0180
0180
0183
0183
5458
Latin
5310
5309
5308
5307
5306
5304
5303
5302
5313
5301
<p>This long inscription records the text of a petition sent by the tenants of a rural imperial estate in the Bagradas Valley in North Africa, to the emperor Commodus, begging for his intervention in their mistreatment by the lessees of the land and the Roman procurator. It is an important source for the management and cultivation of imperial estates in Africa, but more significantly because of what it reveals about how Rome and the role of the emperor were perceived in an otherwise isolated community; not only did the petitioning tenants of this inscription demonstrate proficiency with issues of Roman law and the benefits of citizenship, but they also appealed to the benevolence and generosity of the emperor, in recognition of his position as the ultimate adjudicator of order amongst his people; given the notoriously negative statements regarding the unscrupulous and vindictive nature of Commodus’s reign that have survived to us in the literary record, this inscription reveals a different image of the emperor in the eyes of his provincial subjects.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Although now badly damaged, the inscription discovered at Souk-el-Khmis – not far from ancient Carthage - was originally a large and imposing text, whose size reflected the importance of the narrative that it recorded. The petition to the emperor and his response were recorded in four columns, of which three today survive. Two smaller fragments of inscription were also discovered at Ain Zaga (<em>CIL</em> VIII, 14451) and Gazr-Mezuar (<em>CIL</em> VIII, 14428), and appear to be similar petitions from other imperial estates nearby (see Clausing, <em>Roman Colonate</em>, p. 142-143). The Souk-el-Khmis inscription is, by far, the most illuminating and presents a revealing picture of how the imperial estates of North Africa were managed. Three groups of people are mentioned in the inscription: <em>procuratores</em> (‘procurators’), who resided in the region and supervised the operation of the estate according to the general policies set out by Rome, in accordance with local contexts and traditions; <em>conductores</em>, the ‘contractors’ or ‘lessees’ who rented and cultivated some of the land themselves and then sub-let other portions to the third group mentioned, the tenant farmers or <em>coloni</em> (Clausing, <em>Roman Colonate</em>, p. 139; Lewis and Reinhold, <em>Roman Civilisation</em>, p. 178).</p><p>The inscription records a complaint of mistreatment of the tenant farmers, or <em>coloni</em>, on the imperial estate of the <em>saltus Burunitanus</em> in North Africa. The surviving second column of the text begins in the middle of the petition addressed to Commodus, in which the <em>coloni </em>complain of the poor behaviour exhibited by their <em>conductor</em>, Allius Maximus, and how it has been ignored by the <em>procurator</em> of their estate. Indeed, it appears that this is not the first time that the <em>coloni</em> have attempted to complain; the petition underway in column II states that they had already approached the <em>procurator</em>, but that it resulted in the arrest, harassment and binding in chains of those who had complained (<em>ali/os nostrum adprehendi et vexari ali/os vinciri</em>). Some of those punished were ‘even Roman citizens’ (<em>non nullos cives etiam Ro/manos</em>), who were ordered to be ‘beaten with rods and clubs’ (<em>virgis et fustibus effligi</em>), in a violation of their legal rights. It is clear that the <em>coloni</em> understand the judicial processes available to them; they had been mistreated by their <em>conductor</em> and appealed to his superior to address the abuse, and were aware that his response was unlawful.</p><p>The specifics of the mistreatment are given in column III of the text. They refer to the – previously unknown – <em>lex Hadriana</em>, which was included in their original petition (presumably in column I, which has not survived) and which regulated how the land of the estate was managed between the lessee and the tenants (Dieter Flach identified this <em>lex Hadriana</em> as the <em>lex Hadriana de rudibus agris</em>, which established the proper occupation of unused lands, for discussion of which see “Inschriften Untersuchungen,” p. 473-474 and “Die Pachtbedingungen der Kolonen,” p. 450; also Kehoe, <em>Law and the Rural Economy</em>, p. 59-62). The <em>coloni </em>were obliged to pay rent for the land they worked (<em>partes agrariae</em>) and also perform particular services on a certain number of days per year. These services (<em>operae</em>), according to the lost <em>lex Hadriana</em> that they cite, amounted to two days plowing, two days hoeing or weeding and two days of harvesting each year (<em>non amplius annuas quam binas / aratorias binas satorias binas messo/rias operas debeamus</em>). However, it seems that Allius Maximus, as well as other corrupt <em>conductores</em> who came before him, had forced the <em>coloni</em> to work for more days than Hadrian’s reform had regulated for, and it was this that they sought the emperor’s protection from. It was clearly a serious grievance; the <em>coloni</em> claimed that the <em>lex Hadriana</em> was a “perpetual agreement” (<em>perpetua forma</em>), and its official legal status is indicated by their reference to the bronze plaque on which it had been engraved, and from which we can presume the regulations were known from on the estate (<em>cum in aere incisum</em>). Due to their previous negative experience with the <em>procurator</em>, the petition was submitted through an evidently influential individual, named Lurius Lucullus, who presented it to Commodus. The emperor’s reply is given in column IV of the inscription; he confirmed that the procurator of the estate would not exact any service from them “by way of injury” (<em>per iniuriam</em>), and that to do so would be “in violation of the perpetual agreement” (<em>contra perpe/tuam formam</em>), thereby reinforcing the legal statute set up by his predecessor Hadrian. It should be noted that lines 5-6 of column IV, which repeat the specific number of days the <em>coloni</em> were obliged to work the land for the <em>conductor</em>, were most likely added to the imperial reply later, during its inscription in stone, in order to ensure that there could be no possible contravention of their responsibilities in future (Kehoe, <em>Law and the Rural Economy</em>, p. 74). By setting up the petition and imperial response in stone, we can presume that the tenant farmers aimed at the continued restraint of the actions of the <em>conductores</em> and <em>procurator</em> on the estate, by means of its visible, permanent and legal status, however, noted by John Bodel, we cannot be sure of how these measures were enforced, meaning that the strength and efficacy of the inscription relied upon its ‘sanctity’, as emphasised in the text, but as the regulations of the <em>lex Hadriana</em> had clearly not been maintained, it is impossible to say whether or not the erection of this inscription offered any practical solution for the <em>coloni</em> it claimed to protect (Bodel, <em>Epigraphic Evidence</em>, p. 112).</p><p>The inscription has long been cited as evidence for the management of the imperial estates in the provinces, and there has been much discussion regarding the economic structure and regulations of such an arrangement, which do not concern us here (for these issues see Flach, “Die Pachtbedingungen der Kolonen,” p. 427-473; Kehoe, <em>The Economics of Agriculture</em>, p. 63-70 and <em>Law and the Rural Economy</em>, p. 64-77). However, the inscription is also an important source for two further reasons, beyond its utility in the economic history of Rome. Firstly, the inscription indicates just how important it was for the imperial household to maintain a positive and protective relationship with those who worked the land of the imperial estates; as the largest single landowner in the empire, the emperor relied upon these <em>conductores</em> and <em>coloni</em> for the agricultural manpower to ensure their productivity, particularly in North Africa where the majority of the land was cultivated with olives, which represented a major “cash crop” that helped to sustain the urban elites across the empire (Kehoe, <em>Law and the Rural Economy</em>, p. 68). The <em>coloni</em> were not legally bound to the land, only to work it and to pay ‘rent’ in the form of a share of its crops, and the Imperial Treasury (<em>Fiscus</em>) had no means by which to enforce them to continue to cultivate it, which – for a “care-intensive” and essential food source, such as olives – could potentially prove disastrous for? the empire as a whole should the land be neglected and allowed to fail (Clausing, <em>The Roman colonate</em>, p. 155). It was therefore in the interest of the emperor to ensure a positive relationship with his tenant farmers, and to be seen to protect their rights and proper treatment, in order to safeguard the continued productivity of his land, which in turn prevented outbreaks of famine and the associated civil unrest. As Roth Clausing noted, the <em>coloni</em> found themselves to be the “most favoured of the small farmer class,” largely exempt from municipal burdens and “under the especial protection and care of the imperial administrators” (<em>The Roman colonate</em>, p. 165).</p><p>The inscription is also significant for the generous and custodial image of the emperor Commodus that it suggests, which is perhaps at odds with the picture often presented in the ancient sources. In column III of the text, the <em>coloni</em> first acknowledge his “divine providence” (<em>divina providentia / tua</em>), which they then ask him to use to take pity on them; they appeal to the “benefaction of [his] majesty” (<em>bene/ficio maiestatis tua</em>) and acknowledge their special relationship with him as his own “servants and sons of your estates” (<em>rustici tui vernulae / et alumni saltum tuorum</em>). Commodus is characterised here in the role of <em>paterfamilias</em>, whose duty of care is to those he has raised, in this case the <em>coloni</em> who cultivate his estate. Far from the negative descriptions of Commodus’s cruelty (see e.g. <em>Historia Augusta, Life of Commodus</em>, I; IX; XV), the image presented here is one of assumed benevolence and compassion, as well as of rational application of the law. Commodus’s response to the petition sustains this presentation of his character, responding to the breach of practice appropriately, and in such a way that ensured the security of both the imperial estate and its ‘sons’. This was clearly a self-motivated response, and one that aimed primarily at guaranteeing the productivity of the land and avoiding uprising or unrest, but it is nonetheless interesting to note that the inscription records a version of the emperor here that is less commonly recorded in other sources. Although Commodus’s reign was undoubtedly one of cruelty and persecution, the inscription from Souk-el-Khmis reveals a judicious side of his power and rare display of his own imperial generosity.</p>
abuse of law
corruption
Africa
Carthage
imperial generosity
colony
colonate
rustic
farming
imperial estates
tax
Commodus
Hadrian
Roman law
imperial letter
Louvre Museum, Paris.
Stone (?)
Unknown.
2nd CE
40
Bagradas Valley (Souk-el-Khmis, Tunisia)
Column II<br />
<br />
QVAM NON MOD CVM ALLIO MAXIMO ADV[--]<br />
SARIO NOSTRO SET CVM OMNIBVS FERE [---]<br />
DVCTORIB CONTRA FAS ATQ IN PERNICIEM<br />
RATIONVM TVARVM SINE MODO EXERCVIT<br />
5 VT NON SOLVM COGNOSCERE PER TOT RETRO<br />
ANNOS INSTANTIBVS AC SUPLICANTIB<br />
VESTRAMQ DIVINAM SVBSCRIPTIONEM<br />
ADLEGANTIBVS NOBIS SVPERSEDERIT VE<br />
RVM ETIAM HOC EIVSDEM ALLI MAXIMI<br />
10 [-]ONDVCTORIS ARTIBVS GRATIOSISSIMI<br />
[--]TIMO INDVLSERIT VT MISSIS MILITIB<br />
[----]NDEM SALTVM BVRVNITANVM ALI<br />
[-----]TRVM ADPREHENDI ET VEXARI ALI<br />
[------]IRI NON VLLOS CIVES ETIAM RO<br />
15 [-----] VIRGIS ET FVSTIBVS EFFLIGI IVSSE<br />
[---------]ET EO SOLO MERITO NOSTRO QV<br />
[--------] IN TAM GRAVI PRO MODVLO ME<br />
[---------]IS NOSTRAE TAMQ MANIFESTA<br />
[---------]PLORATVM MAIEATATEM TV<br />
20 [---------] EPISTVLA VSI FVISSEMVS CV<br />
[------------]VRIAE EVIDENTIA CAES<br />
[----------]TO POTEST AESTIMARI QV<br />
[---<br />
<br />
<br />
Column III <br />
<br />
[---------]MPVLIT NOS MISERRIMOS HOMI<br />
[---------]SVM DIVINAE PROVIDENTIAE<br />
[---------]CARE ET IDEO ROGAMVS SA<br />
CRATISSIME IMP SVBVENIAS VT KAPITE LE<br />
5 GIS HADRIANE QVOD SVPRA SCRIPTVM EST ADEMPTVM EST AD<br />
EMPTVM SIT IVS ETIAM PROCB<br />
NEDVM CONDVCTORI ADVERSVS COLONOS AM<br />
PLIANDI PARTES AGRARIAS AVT OPERAR PRAE<br />
BITIONEM IVGORVMVE ET VT SE HABENT LITTERE<br />
10 PROC QVAE SVNT IN T[--]VIARIO TVO TRACTVS KAR<br />
THAG NON AMPLIVS ANNVAS QVAM BINAS<br />
ARATORIAS BINAS SATORIAS BINAS MESSO<br />
RIAS OPERAS DEBEAMVS ITQ SINE VLLA CONTRO<br />
VERSIA SIT VTPOTE CVM IN AERE INCIS ET AB<br />
15 OMNIB OMNINO VNDIQ VERSVM VICINIS NOSTR[--]<br />
PERPETVA IN HODIERNVM FORMA PRAESTITVTV[-]<br />
TVM ET PROCC LITTERIS QVAS SVPRA SCRIPSIMVS<br />
ITA CONF[-]RMATVM SVBVENIAS ET CVM HOMI<br />
NES RVSTICI TENVES MANVM NOSTRARVM OPE<br />
20 RIS VICTVM TOLERANTES CONDVCTORI PROFVSIS<br />
LARGITIONIB GRATIOSISMO IMPARES APVT<br />
PROC TVOS SIMV[-] QUIB [--]R VICES SVCCESSI<br />
ON PER CONDICIONEM CONDVCTIONIS NOTVS EST<br />
MISERS AC SACRO RESCRIPTO N AMPLI<br />
25 VS PRAESTARE NOS QVAM EX LEGE HADRIANA ET<br />
EX LITTERS PROCC TVOR DEBEMVS ID EST TER<br />
BINAS OPERAS PRAECIPERE DIGNERIS VT BENE<br />
FICIO MAIESTATIS TVAE RVSTICI TVI VERNVLAE<br />
ET ALVMNI SALTVM TVORVM N VLTR CONDVC<br />
30 TORIB AGROR FISCALIVM INQVIETEM[--]<br />
[---<br />
<br />
Column IV<br />
<br />
[-----]ES M AVRELIVS COMMODVS AN<br />
[----]NVS AVG SARMAT GERMANICVS<br />
MAXIMVS LVRIO LVCVLLO ET NOMINE A<br />
LIORVM PROC CONTEMPLATIONE DIS<br />
5 CIPVLINAE ET INSTITVTI MEI NE PLVS<br />
QVAM TER BINAS OPERAS CVRABVNT<br />
NE QVIT PER INIVRIAM CONTRA PERPE<br />
TVAM FORMAM A VOBIS EXIGATVR<br />
ET ALIA MANV SCRIPSI RECOGNOVI<br />
10 EXEMPLVM EPISTVLAE PROC E V<br />
TVSSANIVS ARISTO ET CHRYSANTHVS<br />
ANDRONICO SVO SALVTEM SECVNDVM<br />
SACRAM SVBSCRIPTIONEM DOMINI N<br />
SANCTISSIMI IMP QVAM AD LABELLVM<br />
15 SVVM DATAM LVRIVS LVCULLVS [-------]<br />
[---<br />
<br />
------]<br />
A MANV [----]MUS TE FELI<br />
CISSIMVM BE[------]R<br />
E VALE DAT<br />
PR IDVS SEPT KARTHAGIN<br />
25 FELICITER<br />
CONSVMMATA ET DEDICATE<br />
IDIBVS MAIS AVRELIANO ET CORNE<br />
LIANO COS CVRA AGENTE<br />
C IVLIO [----]OPE SALAPVTI MAG
234
Roman
CIL VIII, 10570 (= CIL VIII, 14464)
Yes
<div style="text-align: justify;">Column II</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [praevaricationem]</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> quam non mod(o) cum Allio Maximo adv[er]-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> sario nostro se<d=T> cum omnibus fere [con]-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> ductorib(us) contra fas atq(ue) in perniciem</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> rationum tuarum sine modo exercuit</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">5 ut non solum cognoscere per tot retro</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> annos instantibus ac sup<p>licantib(us)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> vestramq(ue) divinam subscriptionem</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> adlegantibus nobis supersederit ve-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> rum etiam hoc eiusdem Alli Maximi</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">10 [c]onductoris artibus gratiosissimi</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [ul]timo indulserit ut missis militib(us)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [in eu]ndem saltum Burunitanum ali-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [os nos]trum adprehendi et vexari ali-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [os vinc]iri non (n)ullos cives etiam Ro-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">15 [manos] virgis et fustibus effligi iusse-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [rit scilic]et eo solo merito nostro qu-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [od euntes] in tam gravi pro modulo me-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [diocritat]is nostrae tamq(ue) manifesta</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [iniuria im]ploratum maieatatem tu-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">20 [am illicta(?)] epistula usi fuissemus cu-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [ius nostrae in]uriae evidentia Caes(ar)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [inde profec]to potest aestimari qu-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [od]----------------</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> --- <em>several lines follow which cannot be restored</em>---</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">Column III </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [quae res co]mpulit nos miserrimos homi-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [nes iam rur]sum divinae providentiae</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [tuae supli]care et ideo rogamus sa-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> cratissime Imp(erator) subvenias ut kapite le-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">5 gis Hadrian(a)e quod supra scriptum est ademptum est ad-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> emptum sit ius etiam proc(uratori)b(us)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> nedum conductori adversus colonos am-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> pliandi partes agrarias aut operar(um) prae-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> bitionem iugorumve et ut se habent littere</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">10 proc(uratorum) quae sunt in t[ab]u<l=I>ario tuo tractus Kar-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> thag(iniensis) non amplius annuas quam binas</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> aratorias binas satorias binas messo-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> rias operas debeamus i<d=T>q(ue) sine ulla contro-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> versia sit utpote cum in aere incis(um) et ab</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">15 omnib(us) omnino undiq(ue) versum vicinis nostr[is]</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> perpetua in hodiernum forma praestitutu[m]</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> tum et procc(uratorum) litteris quas supra scripsimus</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> ita conf[i]rmatum subvenias et cum homi-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> nes rustici tenues manum nostrarum ope-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">20 ris victum tolerantes conductori profusis</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> largitionib(us) gratiosis(si)mo impares aput</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> proc(uratores) tuos simu[s] quib(us) [pe]r vices successi-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> on(is) per condicionem conductionis notus est</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> miser(eari)s ac sacro rescripto n(on) ampli-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">25 us praestare nos quam ex lege Hadriana et</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> ex litter(i)s procc(uratorum) tuor(um) debemus id est ter</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> binas operas praecipere digneris ut bene-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> ficio maiestatis tuae rustici tui vernulae</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> et alumni saltum tuorum n(on) ultr(a) conduc-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">30 torib(us) agror(um) fiscalium inquietem[ur]</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> --- <em>several lines missing</em> ---</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">Column IV</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [Imp(erator) Ca]es(ar) M(arcus) Aurelius Commodus An-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [toni]nus Aug(ustus) Sarmat(icus) Germanicus</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> maximus Lurio Lucullo et nomine a-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> liorum proc(uratores) contemplatione dis-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">5 cipulinae et instituti mei ne plus</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> quam ter binas operas curabunt</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> ne quit per iniuriam contra perpe-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> tuam formam a vobis exigatur</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> et alia manu scripsi recognovi</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">10 exemplum epistulae proc(uratoris) e(gregii) v(iri)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> Tussanius Aristo et Chrysanthus</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> Andronico suo salutem secundum</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> sacram subscriptionem domini n(ostri)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> sanctissimi Imp(eratoris) quam ad labellum</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">15 suum datam Lurius Lucullus [[accepit]]</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> [[ <em>Column IV lines 16-21 erased</em></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> et ali]]-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> a manu [opta]mus(?) te feli-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> cissimum be[ne vive]r-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> e vale dat(a)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> pr(idie) Idus Sept(embres) Karthagin(e)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">25 feliciter</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> consummata et dedicate</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> idibus Mai(i)s Aureliano et Corne-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> liano co(n)s(ulibus) cura agente</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> C(aio) Iulio [Pelo]ope Salaputi mag(istro)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">Translation taken from Kehoe, Dennis, <em>The Economics of Agriculture on Roman Imperial Estates in North Africa</em> (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1988) p. 67-68. Reproduced by kind permission of the publisher.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">Column II</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">[… collusion], which he has practiced without restraint not only with Allius Maximus our adversary, but with almost all lessees contrary to justice and to the detriment of your accounts, that he has not only failed to take notice despite our insistence and entreaties and petitioning your divine subscription, but he has also indulged in the devices of the same most influential Allius Maximus in this final outrage, that having sent soldiers onto the same Burunitan estate, he has ordered some of us to be arrested and harassed, some to be bound in chains, and some, even Roman citizens, to be beaten with rods and clubs, apparently for this single merit of ours, that we had recourse to an [unrestrained] letter as we were proceeding to implore your majesty in an [injury] so serious with respect to the measure of our [mediocrity] and one so manifest. By the evidence of this injury [to us], Caesar, it is possible to estimate [directly] , what…</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">Column III</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">[This matter] has compelled us most wretched people [once] again to supplicate to [your] divine providence, and for this reason we ask, most sacred emperor, that you aid us. As it has been denied in the chapter of the law of Hadrian, which is written above, let the right also be denied to procurators, let alone a lessee, to increase the agricultural shares or the furnishment of labor or draft animals against the interest of the tenants, and, as the letters of the procurators read, which are in your archive of the Carthaginian district, we should owe no more than two days of plowing labor each year, two days of weeding labor, and two days of harvesting labor; and that matter should be without any controversy, since it has both been inscribed in bronze and has been provided by all our neighbours in every direction in the agreement perpetual up to this day, and also has thus been confirmed in the letters of your procurators, which we have written above. Please come to our aid, and since, as poor rustic people tolerating a livelihood gained from the work gained from the work of our own hands, we are unfairly matched with a lessee most influential among your procurators because of his lavish gifts, to whom he is known through the changes of succession by the circumstances of his lease, take pity on us and deign to instruct by your rescript that we not furnish more than we are obliged to in accordance with the law of Hadrian and the letters of your procurators, that is two days of labor three times, so that by the benefit of your majesty we rustics, your servants and sons of your estates, should no longer be disturbed by the lessees of fiscal farmland.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">Column IV</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">[The Emperor] Caesar Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus Sarmaticus Germanicus Maximus to Lurius Lucullus and on behalf of others. The procurators in the contemplation of my discipline and practice – (added by the <em>coloni</em>) ‘not more than two days of labor three times’ – will take care that nothing be extracted from you by way of injury in violation of the perpetual agreement.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">And in a second hand: I have signed it. I have approved it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">A copy of the letter of the procurator of equestrian rank: Tussanius Aristo and Chrysanthus send greetings to Andronicus. In accordance with the sacred subscription of our lord the most sacred emperor, which Lurius Lucullus [received] after it was given in answer to his petition,…</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">[…and] by another hand: We hope that you live very happily. Farewell. Presented on the 12 September at Carthage. Happily completed and dedicated on the 15 May in the consulship of Aurelianus and Cornelianus, under the care of Caius Iulius Pelops, son of Salaputus, <em>magister</em>.</div>
Yes
controversia
largitio
vicis
beneficium
fiscalis
discipulina
adversarius
conductor
fas
supplico
divinus
subscriptio
gratiosus
indulgeo
miles
saltus
Burunitanus
vexo
civis Romanus
virga
iniuria
imploro
maiestas
epistula
potestas
rus
providentia
Hadrianus
lex
colonus
agrarius
iugum
Karthaginis
Caroline Barron
English
Imperial letter
Yes
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