''Compascuus'' is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for commonly grazed, and hence often used in the forms ''ager compascuus'' (common

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

land) and ''compascuum'' (the common pasture). In the early

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

, there were three kinds of land: private, public and common pasture. The of 111 BC, which formalized the existing situation after the land reforms, set limits on how many cattle an individual could graze on ''ager compascuus'' without having to pay dues.

Placenames

This ancient term is still preserved in some placenames in

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Jan ...

, because the border between the Netherlands and Germany in the Bourtange moor was not delimited and was a common pasture for shepherds from both sides of the border. * Barger-Compascuum * Emmer-Compascuum

References

Agricultural land {{geo-term-stub