Adapting Imperial Economic Choices to Regional Contexts
New Evidence from the Sermo Procuratorum and the Lex Hadriana
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20084966 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hernán González Bordas (0000-0002-6780-1908, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Pages | 79-91 |
| Publication date | 2022-08-08 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Law and Economic Performance in the Roman World (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/9789004525139_005 |
| OpenAlex | W4318062327 |
| ISBN | 9789004525139 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
In recent years new finds have been added to the Large Agrarian Inscriptions from Africa (LAIA) and new documents identified in the known inscriptions. Of particular interest is a recently discovered inscription from Henchir Hnich containing a copy of the Lex Hadriana de rudibus agris. This paper compares the beginnings of the lex Hadriana—now known directly from the Henchir Hnich inscription—and the sermo procuratorum—a modification of the lex Hadriana for the imperial estates of the regio Thuggensis documented in three other inscriptions. The lines of text concern types of crops sown on the imperial estates following Hadrian’s regulation and provide clues on how the imperial administration intervened at a regional or even local level with regards to these arrangements. Hadrian took a new perspective on interventions by the Fiscus on the imperial estates. The text of his Lex Hadriana invites coloni to occupy uncultivated imperial land in order to cultivate it, granting them tax-exemptions. The sermo procuratorum in contrast orders them to cultivate specific crops in the plots, particularly olives, grapes, and cereals. This chapter displays the versatility of Hadrian’s regulation for imperial estates and argues that whereas the lex Hadriana was intended as a frame regulation, the sermo procurotorum was an adaptation by the Fiscus of this general lex to specific estates. It also provides a possible explanation, based on epigraphic evidence, of how adaptations were forged
Agrarian society · Agriculture · Archaeology · Art · Economics · Humanities · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · History
| Citations per year | 1.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |