The ''lex Ogulnia'' was a Roman law passed in 300 BC. It was a
milestone
A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...
in
the long struggle between the
patricians and
plebeian
In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary.
Etymology
The precise origins of the gro ...
s. The law was carried by the brothers
Quintus
Quintus is a male given name derived from ''Quintus (praenomen), Quintus'', a common Latin language, Latin forename (''praenomen'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Quintus derives from Latin word ''quintus'', meaning "fifth".
Quintus is ...
and Gnaeus Ogulnius,
tribunes of the plebs
Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () 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 Roman Senate ...
in 300 BC. For the first time, it opened the various priesthoods to the plebeians. It also increased the number of
pontifices
In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Religion in ancient Rome, Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term ''pontiff'' was ...
from five to nine (including the
pontifex maximus), and led to the appointment of
Tiberius Coruncanius
Tiberius Coruncanius (died 241 BC) was a consul of the Roman Republic in 280 BC. As a military commander in that year and the following, he was known for the battles against Pyrrhus of Epirus that led to the expression "Pyrrhic victory". He was th ...
, the first plebeian pontifex maximus, in 254 BC. The law further required that five of the
augur
An augur was a priest and official in the ancient Rome, classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the List of Roman deities, gods by studying events he observed within a predetermined s ...
s be plebeians.
See also
*Other laws concerning the status of plebeians:
**
Lex Canuleia
The (‘Gaius Canuleius, Canuleian law’), or , was a law of the Roman Republic, passed in the year 445 BC, restoring the right of (marriage) between patrician (ancient Rome), patricians and plebs, plebeians.
Canuleius' first rogation
Five year ...
, 445 BC
**
Leges Liciniae Sextiae, 367 BC
**
Lex Hortensia
The ''lex Hortensia'', also sometimes referred to as the Hortensian law, was a law passed in Ancient Rome in 287 BC which made all resolutions passed by the Plebeian Council, known as ''plebiscita'', binding on all citizens. It was passed by the ...
, 287 BC
*
Roman Law
Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I.
Roman law also den ...
*
List of Roman laws
This is a partial list of Roman laws. A Roman law () is usually named for the sponsoring legislator and designated by the adjectival form of his ''gens'' name ('' nomen gentilicum''), in the feminine form because the noun ''lex'' (plural ''leges'' ...
External links
The Roman Law Library, incl. ''Leges''
Roman law
300 BC
Social class in ancient Rome
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