Lands, Laws, and Gods: Magistrates and Ceremony in the Regulation of Public Lands in Republican Rome (Studies in the History of Greece and Rome) - Softcover

Gargola, Daniel J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080785705X ISBN 13: 9780807857052

Publisher: University of North Carolina Press, 1999

Synopsis

In Lands, Laws, and Gods, Daniel Gargola examines the formulation and implementation of laws regulating the use of public lands, including the establishment of colonies, in Republican Rome (509-27 B.C.). During this period of territorial expansion, the Romans developed the basic legal forms by which they governed captured land, and they constructed the processes and ceremonies by which those forms were translated into practice. Using agrarian law as a case study and focusing especially on rituals that both validated and gave structure to the administrative process, Gargola demonstrates the fundamental connections between religion, law, and government. Essential acts in the administration of agrarian legislation, such as the transfer of land from one party to another and the granting of contracts for public works, depended upon ritual formulas and gestures, often within the context of religious ceremonies. By recovering these formulas and their larger significance, Gargola reconstructs an important dimension of Roman life.

Originally published in 1995.

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About this title

Book Description:

"Here you will find the methods and meanings of Roman land acquisition, equally accessible to student, generalist, or specialist. . . . Gargola's marvelous book . . . is clear, lively, and wears its learning lightly yet impressively."-- Classical World

About the Author:

Daniel J. Gargola is associate professor of history at the University of Kentucky.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 080785705X
• ISBN 13: 9780807857052
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 280