A ''lex Visellia'' ("Visellian law") was any
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 ...
passed by someone whose name was
Visellius.
''Lex Visellia de cura viarum''
A ''lex Visellia'' dating around or before 68 BC is known only from a mention in an inscription that lists the ten-member board of
tribunes overseeing specific road repairs ''(cura viarum)''. The ''lex'' seems to have outlined how public roads were funded and maintained and how the work was contracted. It was possibly authored by the Gaius Visellius Varro who was a cousin of
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
and a
quaestor
A quaestor ( , ; ; "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 officia ...
by 73 BC.
''Lex Visellia'' of AD 24
The ''lex Visellia'' of AD 24 granted full
Roman citizenship
Citizenship in ancient Rome () was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, traditions, and cu ...
to informally manumitted
slaves
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
after they had served for six years as ''
vigiles
''Vigiles'' or more properly the ''Vigiles Urbani'' ("watchmen of the Rome, City") or ''Cohortes Vigilum'' ("Cohort (military unit), cohorts of the watchmen") were the firefighters and police of ancient Rome.
History
The ''triumviri, triumviri ...
'', the ancient Roman equivalent of police and firefighters. The law was passed during the consulship of
Lucius Visellius Varro. The term of service was later shortened by a
decree of the senate to three years.
Slaves received Roman citizenship automatically when they had been manumitted by a citizen owner through certain legal procedures recognized by the state. Slaves whose manumission did not meet these formal criteria held a form of
Latin rights
Latin rights or Latin citizenship ( or ) were a set of legal rights that were originally granted to the Latins and therefore in their colonies ( Latium adiectum). ''Latinitas'' was commonly used by Roman jurists to denote this status. With the ...
, codified by the ''
lex Iunia Norbana'' and based on a status originally developed for the
Italian allies that was not embedded in the particular social structures of the city of Rome. The ''lex Visellia'' was one of several pathways to full citizenship for informally manumitted slaves, called Junian Latins in modern scholarship.
References
Bibliography
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{{AncientRome-law-stub
1st century in law
Roman law
Slavery in ancient Rome