The Valerian and Porcian laws were

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

passed between 509 BC and 184 BC. They exempted Roman citizens from degrading and shameful forms of punishment, such as

whipping Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on an ...

scourging A scourge is a whip or lash, especially a multi-thong type, used to inflict severe corporal punishment or self-mortification. It is usually made of leather. Etymology The word is most commonly considered to be derived from Old French ''escorg ...

, or

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

. They also established certain rights for Roman citizens, including ''provocatio'', the right to appeal to the

tribunes of the plebs Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of ...

. The Valerian law also made it legal to kill any citizen who was plotting to establish a tyranny. This clause was used several times, the most important of which was its usage by Julius Caesar's assassins.

Valerian law

The first Valerian law was enacted by

Publius Valerius Publicola Publius Valerius Poplicola or Publicola (died 503 BC) was one of four Roman aristocrats who led the overthrow of the monarchy, and became a Roman consul, the colleague of Lucius Junius Brutus in 509 BC, traditionally considered the first year o ...

in 509 BC, a few years after the founding of

republican Rome The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdo ...

. It allowed a Roman citizen, condemned by a magistrate to death or scourging, the right of appeal to the people that is, to the people composed of senators, patricians, and plebeians. Thus the consuls no longer had the power of pronouncing sentence in capital cases against a Roman citizen, without the consent of the people. The Valerian law consequently divested the consuls of the power to punish crimes, thereby abolishing the vestiges within the Roman government of that unmitigated power that was the prerogative of the Tarquin kings. Nonetheless, the Valerian law was not kept on the books throughout the five hundred years of the Roman republic. Indeed, Titus Livius (Livy) states that the Valerian law was enacted again, for the third time, in 299 BC. Andrew Lintott surmises that the effect of this third Valerian law was to regularize the ''provocatio'': appeals from the people via the Tribune of the Plebs had been a fact of life with which magistrates had to deal prior to the law, but now magistrates were ordered to yield to the decisions of the people in capital cases. Livy notes that in all three cases the law was enacted by the Valerius family. Furthermore, Livy notes that, should a magistrate disregard the Valerian law, his only reproof was that his act be deemed unlawful and wicked. This implies that the Valerian law was not so very effective in defending the plebs.

Porcian laws

The Porcian Laws ( la, Leges Porciae) were three Roman laws broadening the rights of the Valerian law. They were enacted by members of the

Gens Porcia The gens Porcia, rarely written Portia, was a plebeian family at Ancient Rome. Its members first appear in history during the third century BC. The first of the gens to achieve the consulship was Marcus Porcius Cato in 195 BC, and from then u ...

in the 2nd century BC. We do not know their precise dates, but they seem to have ended summary execution of Roman citizens in the field and provinces and provided that citizens could escape sentences of death by

voluntary exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples su ...

. Cicero in the Republic (2.54) refers to three leges Porciae, but is not clear on their specific details. * Lex Porcia I ('): perhaps proposed by the tribune of the plebs P. Porcius Laeca in 199 BC, it extended the right to '' provocatio'' to a further 1000 steps outside of Rome, to Roman citizens in the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

, and to Roman soldiers. Up to this time, it is probable that provincial authorities had unmitigated coercitio. * Lex Porcia II ('): perhaps proposed by M. Porcius Cato (

Cato the Elder Marcus Porcius Cato (; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor ( la, Censorius), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, senator, and historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He was the first to write histo ...

), consul in 195 BC and 184 BC, it extended the right to ''provocatio'' against flogging. * Lex Porcia III: perhaps proposed by M. Porcius Cato (

), or a L. Porcius Licinius, it provided for a very severe sanction (possibly death) against magistrates who refused to grant ''provocatio''. The Porcian Laws do not seem to have fully protected citizen soldiers from

centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 le ...

vine staff __NOTOC__ The vine staff, vine-staff, or centurion's staff ( la, vitis) was a vinewood rod of about in length used in the ancient Roman Army and Navy. It was the mark and tool of the centurion: both as an implement in the direction of drill and ...

s, as Tacitus mentions severe beatings continuing to be inflicted under the

principate The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate. ...

Other laws

Another law that was passed with the intention of protecting citizens from severe punishment at the hands of governors and magistrates, is the ''lex Julia de vi publica'', passed around 50 BC. Yet this law, for all practical purposes, is only a restatement of the right of appeal present in the Valerian and Porcian laws.

Violation

This sanctity of a citizen's person was highly esteemed by the Romans, and so any violation of the Valerian and Porcian laws was deemed to be almost a

sacrilege Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object, site or person. This can take the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things. When the sacrilegious offence is verbal, it is called blasphemy, and when physical ...

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

’s oration in his prosecution of Verres indicates the high pitch to which this feeling was carried. Verres, who as the governor of Sicily (73 - 70 BC) had a number of Roman citizens cruelly killed, was eventually tried before the senators in Rome, on charges of extortion (Cic. Ver. 5.161-2).

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