Collegium (Rome)

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The collegium (also corpus or sodalicium ) is an institution of ancient Roman associations. The collegia were non-governmental associations, which, however, often had a character under public law due to their tasks . A member of a college was called a college .

Examples

Examples are guild-like associations of professional groups, e.g. craftsmen ( collegia opificum ) or merchants ( collegia mercatorum ), but also cult associations ( sodalitates or socii cultores ) and funeral associations ( collegia funeraticia ). In addition, there were also "associations" of state officials ( decuriae apparitorum ) and the collegia of the city quarters or rural districts ( montani , vicani , pagani ), which came from the early Roman period . In addition to the public and sacred tasks of these institutions, exchange and shared enjoyment were also part of their fields of activity. The members called themselves "friends" or "companions" ( socius , sodalis ). The Roman jurists also regarded the Jewish communities as collegia .

Early Roman times

In the early Roman times, the formation of the associations was free and took place simply through the union of interested people. The Twelve Tables Act stipulated that a college may adopt any statute as long as it does not violate applicable law. Since the Bacchanalia scandal at the latest, however, the state has been able to dissolve associations or prohibit their establishment. 64 BC All politically suspicious associations were banned, 58 BC. The corresponding law was repealed by Publius Clodius Pulcher , but two years later all political associations were finally banned. The background to this was that the political parties of that time organized themselves, bribed voters or used open violence under their guise.

Finally, Gaius Iulius Caesar is said to have dissolved all associations except the "old and legitimate" ones, which Augustus later repeated. Then, however, he issued the Lex Iulia de collegiis , which is only known through an inscription, but not completely passed down. Every new establishment now required approval from the Senate, which, however, was normally granted in the case of non-political associations of the common people.

Internal affairs were usually left to the association itself. The essential provisions regarding the admission as well as the rights and obligations of members as well as the legal representation of the organization were laid down in a statute ( lex collegii ). If the number of members fell below three, a collegium was considered dissolved (this principle was summarized as tres faciunt collegium ). The reason for this was that a collegium could literally only consist of at least two people, but a vote would require an odd number of members to avoid a stalemate situation, so that the smallest odd number of members had to be three. It was not uncommon for women and slaves to become members. Outwardly, an association was allowed to act as a bearer of private rights and appear as a party in civil proceedings in the form of a legal person . However, no claims could be derived or sued from membership. The association's assets were separated from the members' private assets and were under the joint administration.

Imperial times

During the imperial era , the formation of associations was further regulated in some imperial decrees and senate resolutions . In particular, the collegia of muleteers, grooms, wagons, veterinarians, shipowners, butchers, millers and bakers, which were important for the army, were increasingly subject to state supervision in late antiquity, obliged to provide services and incorporated into the state supply system of the army after slave labor became more important had lost. Compulsory membership became the rule; Bakers and millers were allowed to B. not remove from the guild. But other groups of the population in state craft businesses were also subject to ever stronger, often inheritable, professional ties, so that since the 4th century more and more people have tried to escape the ruinous service obligation.

Byzantium

In the Byzantine Empire , the compulsory colleges continued to live, but from the 7th to the 11th centuries they continuously lost their importance, except in state enterprises. At times monopolies and monopoly prices were banned, then allowed again. The guilds tied to the landlords in Byzantine Egypt were more dependent .

The Sassanid Empire and the Arabs initially took over the structures of the Collegia from the Byzantines, almost unchanged.

literature

  • Dorothea Rohde: Between the individual and the municipality. The integration of collegia in port cities (= studies on ancient history. Volume 15). Verlag Antike, Mainz 2012, ISBN 978-3-938-03244-2 .
  • Jean Pierre Waltzing: Étude historique sur les corporations professionnelles chez les Romains depuis les origines jusqu'à la chute de l'empire d'Occident. 4th vol., Charles Peeters, Löwen 1895–1900 (basic work, albeit partly out of date).
  • Ernst Kornemann : Collegium . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IV, 1, Stuttgart 1900, Col. 380-480.
  • Herbert Hausmaninger : Collegium. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 1, Stuttgart 1964, Col. 1553 f.
  • Frank Martin Beuttel : Investigations into the associations in the west of the Roman Empire (=  Frankfurt ancient historical studies. Volume 11). Michael Laßleben, Kallmünz 1982.
  • Wendy Cotter: The collegia and roman law. State restrictions on voluntary associations, 64 BC-200 AD. In: John S. Kloppenborg, Stephen G. Wilson (Eds.): Voluntary Associations in the Graeco-Roman World. Routledge, London 2002, pp. 74-89 ( online ).
  • François Jaques, John Scheid: Rome and the Empire. Constitutional law – religion – army – administration – society – economy. Licensed edition, Nikol Verlag, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-86820-012-6 , p. 363 ff.
  • Jinyu Liu: Professional Associations. In: Paul Erdkamp (Ed.): Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rome. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2013, pp. 352-368.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cicero , De domo sua ad pontifices 28.74.
  2. ↑ Twelve Tables Law 8.27.
  3. ^ Suetonius , Caesar 42: 3.
  4. ^ Adolf Berger : Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law (= Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 43.2). Reprint 1991, p. 553 ( online ).
  5. ↑ Digest 50,16,85.
  6. ^ Sören A. Croll: Problem - number of meeting participants , in: Jura Online, accessed on April 9, 2020.
  7. ↑ Digest 3,4,7,1.
  8. ↑ Codex Theodosianus 14.3,8 (from the year 365).
  9. ↑ Using the example of the baker: Codex Theodosianus 14,3,11.
  10. ↑ It͡skhok Fishelevich Fikhman: Economy and Society in Late Antique Egypt. Small fonts. Edited by Andrea Jördens (= Historia individual writings. Volume 192). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2006, p. 36 f.
  11. ^ Franz Georg Maier: The transformation of the Mediterranean world. (Fischer Weltgeschichte Volume 9.) Frankfurt 1968, p. 251.