Lands, Laws, and Gods: Magistrates and Ceremony in the Regulation of Public Lands in Republican Rome (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780807857052)

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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Author: Daniel J. Gargola
ISBN-10: 080785705X
ISBN-13: 9780807857052
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Language: English
Published: 07/01/2009
Pages: 280
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.92lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.64d