The ''lex Irnitana'' consists of fragments of Roman municipal laws dated to AD 91 which had been inscribed on a collection of six bronze tablets found in 1981 near El Saucejo,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

."Lex Irnitana, Encyclopedia of Ancient History"
/ref>''"The lex Irnitina, a new copy of Flavian Municipal Law"'', Julian Gonzales
/ref> Together with the '' Lex Salpensana'' and the '' Lex Malacitana'' it provides the most complete version of the ''lex Flavia municipalis'', or the Flavian municipal law. and has allowed new insights into the workings of Roman law.''Das römische Zivilprozessrecht'', Kaser, Beck, 1996
/ref> The tablets are exhibited in the

Archeological Museum of Seville The Archeological Museum of Seville (Spanish: ''Museo Arqueológico de Sevilla'') is a museum in Seville, southern Spain, housed in the ''Pabellón del Renacimiento'', one of the pavilions designed by the architect Aníbal González. These pavili ...

. Since the tablets provide the only surviving copy of large parts of the Flavian municipal law, they have provided new insights into the procedural side of municipal courts.''"The lex Irnitana and procedure in the civil courts"'', A. Rodger
/ref>

Description

The tablets measure and each has three holes at the top and bottom to fix them to the facade of an official building at a height where it could easily be read, as expressly required by article 95. In total they must have stretched some like an unrolled '' volumen''. The letters measure in height and the text is framed by a simple molding. The six surviving tablets are engraved ''III'', ''V'', ''VII'', ''VIII'', ''IX'' and ''X''. Fragments of tablet II have later been discovered. A ''sanctio'', a legal endorsement, on tablet ''X'' shows that it is the last tablet. The plates each consist of three columns of text which survives largely intact. It contains 96 articles (''rubricae''), an addendum and a letter from

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...

. The articles are not numbered but marked by ''Rubrica'' followed by a short description. Correlating the Lex Irnitana with other finds, it is possible to reconstruct most of the original numbering except for twelve sections at the end of tablet ''V''.

Dating

The letter which is included at the end provides two dates for the text: ''Litterae datae IIII idus Apriles Circeis recitatae V idus Domitianas'', which dates the letter to the 10th of April and its (public) reading to the 11th of the month ''Domitian'' (October) both in the year that Manius Acilius Glabrio and

Marcus Ulpius Traianus Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

were consuls (AD 91) and is consistent with the granting of Latin Rights to

Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic d ...

in 73/74''"Agree to Disagree: Local Jurisdiction in the lex Irnitana"'', Ernest Metzger
/ref> and the original text of the document must have been composed somewhere in between using fragments of existing provisions in older laws from Augustean and even Republican times. The addendum is written in a smaller script than the rest of the text and is thought to have been added in the second or third century.

Content

The text deals with the competencies of '' duumviri'', '' aediles'' and ''

quaestor A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...

es'', regulates the decurional order, manumission and the appointment of guardians, the relations between ''patronus'' and ''cliens'', the acquisition of Roman civil rights by magistrates and public affairs, including the funding of cults, priesthoods, rituals, calendar and games, which were considered a religious matter.

References

{{Italic title Latin inscriptions Roman law Archaeological discoveries in Spain 1981 archaeological discoveries 1st-century inscriptions