
A (plural ), or college, was any association in
ancient Rome that
acted
Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, commonly known as ACTED, is a French humanitarian non-governmental organisation. It is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organisatio. ACTED works in 37 countries responding to eme ...
as a
legal entity. Following the passage of the ''
Lex Julia
A ''lex Julia'' (plural: ''leges Juliae'') was an ancient Roman law that was introduced by any member of the gens Julia. Most often, "Julian laws", ''lex Julia'' or ''leges Juliae'' refer to moral legislation introduced by Augustus in 23 BC, o ...
'' during the reign of
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
as
Consul and
Dictator of the
Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their reaffirmation during the reign of
Caesar Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
as ''
Princeps senatus
The ''princeps senatus'' ( ''principes senatus'') was the first member by precedence on the membership rolls of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the ''cursus honorum'' and possessing no ''imperium'', this office conferred prestige on t ...
'' and
Imperator
The Latin word ''imperator'' derives from the stem of the verb la, imperare, label=none, meaning 'to order, to command'. It was originally employed as a title roughly equivalent to ''commander'' under the Roman Republic. Later it became a part o ...
of the
Roman Army
The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval continu ...
(27 BC–14 AD), ''collegia'' required the approval of the
Roman Senate or the
Emperor in order to be
authorized as legal bodies.
Such associations could be civil or religious.
The word literally means "society", from (‘colleague’). They functioned as social clubs or religious collectives whose members worked towards their shared interests. These shared interests encompassed a wide range of the various aspects of urban life; including political interests, cult practices, professions, trade, and civic services. The social connections fostered by ''collegia'' contributed to their influence on politics and the economy; acting as lobbying groups and representative groups for traders and merchants. Some ''collegia'' were linked to participating in political violence and social unrest, which resulted in the suppression of social associations by the Roman government.
Civil
could function as
guilds, social
clubs, or
burial societies A burial society is a type of benefit/friendly society. These groups historically existed in England and elsewhere, and were constituted for the purpose of providing by voluntary subscriptions for the funeral expenses of the husband, wife or child o ...
; in practice, in ancient Rome, they sometimes became organized bodies of local businessmen and even criminals, who ran the mercantile/criminal activities in a given urban region (similar to a ). Legal ''collegia'' possessed certain rights, such as common property, a common treasury, and legal right to an attorney. Large portions of the population of a town could be a part of ''collegia'' associations, with many aspects of daily life having corresponding ''collegia''. The organization of a collegium was often modeled on that of civic governing bodies, the
Senate of Rome being the epitome. The meeting hall was often known as the
curia, the same term as that applied to that of the Roman Senate.
The formation of ''collegia'' and other civil organized bodies were subject to the discretion of the central Roman government. After the implementation of
Julius Caesar's social reforms between 49 and 44 BC (''
lex Iulia
A ''lex Julia'' (plural: ''leges Juliae'') was an ancient Roman law that was introduced by any member of the gens Julia. Most often, "Julian laws", ''lex Julia'' or ''leges Juliae'' refer to moral legislation introduced by Augustus in 23 BC, o ...
)'' and their reaffirmation by
Augustus'','' ''collegia'' required the approval of the Roman Senate or the emperor in order to be authorized as legal bodies.
''Collegia'' were often the target of restrictions and bans as a result of suspicions on the part of the Roman government about the function of these social associations.
The legality of civil collegia was subject to constant legislation. In 64 BC, all civic collegia were banned by the Senate for being against the Roman constitution; only to be restored six years later in 58 BC. Part of the social reforms of Julius Caesar's reign disbanded all but the most ancient collegia and instituted that any new collegia had to be deemed by the Senate to be useful to the community. Later in the 2nd century AD, collegia in the Roman world showed signs of an increased tolerance on the part of the Roman government. Under
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
, inscriptions in
Asia Minor depict collegia that functioned with more freedom as Roman restrictions became smaller and more temporary in scope. The
Roman emperor Aurelian
Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited t ...
imposed state control over collegia in the late 3rd century.
Religious
Religious ''collegia'' were formed by
fraternities of
priests, sanctioned by the Roman government, and provided a number of religious functions in Rome. These included the overseeing of
ritual sacrifices, the practice of
augury
Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds. When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, it is referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" (Latin ''aus ...
, the keeping of
scriptures, the arranging of
festivals, and the maintaining of specific
religious cults. Along with their religious functions, these kinds of ''collegia'' also had funerary and social functions; providing an outlet for fellowship as well as guaranteed burial services for its members.
There were four great religious colleges () of Roman priests, in descending order of importance:
* (the
College of Pontiffs), headed by the
*
*
*
Other minor religious existed, including:
*
*
*
*
*
*
Military Collegium
During
Republican Rome and around 100 AD military Collegia were viewed as small and violent militias. Inscriptions at
Lambaesis date the formation of ''
Legio III Augusta
("Third Augustan Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. Its origin may have been the Republican 3rd Legion which served the general Pompey during his civil war against Gaius Julius Caesar (49–45 BC). It supported the general Octavia ...
'' military clubs to the reign of
Septimius Severus (193–211) and indicate that they were formed by petty officers and specialists attached to the various services of the legion.
During the
Severan dynasty (193–235 AD), when unions, both commercial and industrial, became widespread, the government turned its attention to improving standards of living within the army. The basic purpose of military clubs was to help their members cover their funeral expenses. Officers and personnel assigned to special duties were not forbidden to join the clubs, but average soldiers in active duty could not form clubs or be members of them. Membership in a military ''collegium'' gave the officer insurance against unforeseen events requiring any substantial financial investment. Gathering places for these ' have been identified within Lambaesis.
Locations
Epigraphic
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
inscriptions indicate the ''Collegia'' appeared in 84
Roman cities
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
including Rome. There may have been ''Collegia'' in
Assisi
Assisi (, also , ; from la, Asisium) is a town and ''comune'' of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio.
It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius, born aroun ...
,
Clusium,
Ligures Baebiani,
Marsi,
Pollentia,
Praeneste
Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pre ...
,
Tarraco
Tarraco is the ancient name of the current city of Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain). It was the oldest Roman settlement on the Iberian Peninsula. It became the capital of the Roman province of Hispania Citerior during the period of the Roman Republic ...
,
Vada Sabtia, and
Uthina.
There were ''Collegias'' in
Brixia,
Aquinicum,
Mediolanium,
Ravenna Most ''Collegia'' were located in
Italy,
Pannonia
Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...
, and Southern
Gaul. Collegia are sparsely located in the other provinces.
See also
*
List of Ancient Roman Collegia
This list of ancient Roman collegia (Latin singular collegium, meaning "joined together"; English for "college") denotes a subset of professional, religious, and burial associations that existed during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. The ot ...
*
Articles of association
In corporate governance, a company's articles of association (AoA, called articles of incorporation in some jurisdictions) is a document which, along with the memorandum of association (in cases where it exists) form the company's constituti ...
*
Articles of incorporation
*
Articles of organization
*
Certificate of incorporation A certificate of incorporation is a legal document/license relating to the formation of a company or corporation. It is a license to form a corporation issued by state government or, in some jurisdictions, by non-governmental entity/corporation. Its ...
*
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
*
College of Aesculapius and Hygia The College of Aesculapius and Hygia was an association ''(collegium)'' founded in the mid-2nd century AD by a wealthy Roman woman named Salvia Marcellina, in honor of her dead husband and the procurator for whom he had worked. It is known from a l ...
*
Congressional charter
A congressional charter is a law passed by the United States Congress that states the mission, authority, and activities of a group. Congress issued federal charters from 1791 until 1992 under Title 36 of the United States Code. The first charte ...
*
Municipium - municipal authorities.
*
Royal charter
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collegium (Ancient Rome)
Organizations based in ancient Rome
Roman law