Publius Falcidius was an

ancient Roman 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 B ...

Tribune 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 o ...

in 40 BCE, of the ''gens'' Falcidia. He was the author of the ''Lex Falcidia de Legatis'', a law on inheritance which remained in force in the sixth century CE, since it was incorporated by

Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renova ...

in the '' Institutes''. It is remarkable that

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

xlviii. 33 (cited by Donne) mistakes its import. He says that the heir, if unwilling to take the inheritance, was allowed by the Falcidian law to refuse it on taking a fourth part only. But the Lex Falcidia enacted that at least a fourth of the estate or property of the testator should be secured to the heir named in the testament. The Falcidius mentioned by

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 est ...

in his speech for the ''

Lex Manilia The ''lex Manilia'' (Law of Manilius) was a Roman law passed in 66 BC granting Pompey the military command in the East against Mithridates VI of Pontus. Background Previously, the war against Mithridates (commonly known as the Third Mith ...

'' had the praenomen Caius. He had been Tribune of the Plebs and ''

legatus A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in 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. 50 ...

'', but in what year is unknown.

Notes

References

* 1st-century BC Romans Tribunes of the plebs {{AncientRome-bio-stub