Edicts of Augustus and Decree of the Senate on the Judicial Process in Cyrene, 6

4 B.C.€
FORWARD
In these edicts Augustus regulates the senatorial province of Cyrene, providi
ng for mixed courts in the province, pronounces judgment on three citizens sent
to him for a hearing, refuses immunity to Greeks of the province who obtain Roma
n citizenship unless the privilege is stated expressly in the grant, prescribes
the nature of the court to try disputes of Greek residents, and with the Senate
establishes a new procedure for the trial of provincial governors. The inscripti
on was found in 1926 at Cyrene, Libya, Africa.
EDICTS OF AUGUSTUS AND DECREE OF THE SENATE ON THE JUDICIAL PROCESS IN CYRENE, 6
4 B.C.
I
Emporer Caesar Augustus, pontifex maximus, holding the tribunician power for
the seventeenth time, saluted imperator for the fourteenth time, proclaims:
Since I find that in the province of Cyrene there are altogether 215 Roman ci
tizens of every age whose census rating is 2,500 denarii or more, and that the j
urors are drawn from this number in which several cliques are known to exist, an
d since the delegations coming from the cities of the province have complained t
hat these cliques are unfair to Greeks in capital crimes, when the same people a
ct as prosecutors and as witnesses for each other in turn, and since I myself ha
ve learned that some innocent persons have been overwhelmed in this way and have
suffered the death penalty, until the Senate decides on this point or I myself
find some better remedy, it appears to me that the governors of Crete and Cyrene
will do wisely and fittingly, if they appoint in the province of Cyrene an equa
l number of jurors from both Greeks and Romans of greatest wealth and not less t
han twenty-five years of age, having a census rating and property of not less th
an 7,500 denarii, if a sufficient number of such men can be found, or, if the nu
mber of jurors to be placed on the album cannot be provided in this way, they sh
all post as jurors citizens who have the half of this amount of wealth and not l
ess than half to sit on capital cases involving Greeks.
If a Greek is brought to trial, he shall have the right, on the day before hi
s accuser speaks, to determine whether he wishes his jury to be all Roman or hal
f Greek. If he chooses the latter, then an equal number of balls shall be assign
ed to each Greek and Roman and their names shall be written on them. The names o
f the Romans shall be drawn by lot from one urn, and those of the Greeks from th
e other, until a panel of twenty-five is drawn from each group. The prosecutor,
if he wishes, may reject one from each group; the defendant may reject three in
all, provided that he does not reject all Roman or all Greek. Then the remainder
shall be set aside for jury duty. They shall be separated for voting and shall
cast their votes separately, the Romans in one urn, the Greeks in another. Then,
when the votes are counted separately, whatever the majority declare the govern
or publicly shall pronounce as the verdict. Since for the most part relatives of
the deceased do not suffer an unjust death to remain unavenged and since it is
un1ikely that Greek accusers for relatives or fellow citizens who have been slai
n will be lacking in exacting punishment from the accused, it appears to me that
the governors of Crete and Cyrene will do rightly and properly, if they do not
permit in the province of Cyrene a Roman to accuse a Greek for the murder of a G
reek man or woman, unless some Greek who has been granted Roman citizenship brin
gs an action for the death of some kinsman or fellow citizen.
II
Emperor Caesar Augustus, pontifex maximus, holding tribunician power for the
seventeenth time, proclaims: Pub1ius Sextius Scaeva must not be subjected to cen
sorous abuse, since from the province of Cyrene, he provided that Aulus Stlacciu
s Maximus, son of Lucius, Lucius Stlaccius Macedo, son of Lucius, and Publius La
cutanius Phileros, freedman of Publius, should be sent to me under bonds, when t
hese persons declared that they knew something pertaining not only to my safety,
but also to the public interest, and that they wished to give this information.
In this matter Sextius has acted properly and with care. However, since they kn
ow nothing that concerns me or the public interest and have openly admitted that
they were deceived and deluded when they made their statements in the province,
I have freed and dismissed them from custody. But since envoys from Cyrene accu
se Aulus Stlaccius Maximus of having removed statues from public places, among t
hem one on whose base the city has inscribed my name, I forbid him to leave Rome
without my permission, until I make a decision on this matter.
III
Emperor Caesar Augustus, pontifex maximus, holding the tribunician power for
the seventeenth time, proclaims: If any persons from the province of Cyrene have
been honored with Roman citizenship I command that they nonetheless shall disch
arge their compulsory public services among the body of the Greeks in their prop
er turn, except those persons to whom by a law or by a decree of the Senate, by
my father's or my own decree, the citizenship was granted with exemption from ta
xation. It is my pleasure that these same persons, to whom exemption from taxati
on has been granted, shall be immune in respect to the property in their possess
ion at that time, but that they shall pay taxes on all property that they later
acquired.
IV
Emperor Caesar Augustus, pontifex maximus, holding the tribunician power for
the seventeenth time, proclaims: Except for suits involving the death penalty, w
hich the governor himself shall conduct and upon which he shall pronounce judgme
nt, or for which he shall appoint a panel of jurors, in suits which arise betwee
n Greeks in the province of Cyrene for all other matters, it is my pleasure that
Greeks shall be appointed as jurors, unless the accused or the defendant wishes
to have Roman citizens as jurors, but for those to whom Greeks are given by thi
s my decree it is my pleasure that no juror shall be appointed from that city to
which the plaintiff or the defendant also belongs.
V
Emperor Caesar Augustus, pontifex maximus, holding the tribunician power for
the nineteenth time, proclaims: I have resolved to forward to the provinces the
decree of the Senate passed in the consulship of Gaius Calvisius and Lucius Pass
ienus, when I was present and joined in drafting the decree which pertains to th
e security of the allies of the people of Rome, that all persons for whom we pro
vide may know of the decree; and I have resolved to attach it to my edict, that
to all those persons living in the provinces may be clear the great concern whic
h I and the Senate have, that no one of our subjects may suffer any unfair treat
ment or may be subjected to unfair exactions.
VI
Decree of the Senate. Whereas Gaius Calvisius Sabinus and Lucius Passienus Ru
fus, the consuls, said "Whereas in accordance with the decision of his advisory
council chosen by lot from the Senate, Emperor Caesar Augustus, our prince, wish
ed us to bring before the Senate these matters which pertain to the security of
the allies of the Roman people," the Senate voted as follows: Although our foref
athers established courts for the recovery of property, that our allies more eas
ily might bring suit and recover property of which they had been wrongfully depr
ived, since the nature of such trials sometimes proved most burdensome and incon
venient for the very persons for whom the law was devised, to drag from distant
provinces witnesses who were impoverished or who in some cases were weak in heal
th or infirm from old age, it is the pleasure of the Senate that if, after this
decree of the Senate has been enacted, any of our allies shall wish to recover p
roperty that has been exacted either publicly or privately, provided that the pe
rson accused is not also being brought to trial on a capital charge, they shall
appear before one of the magistrates who is empowered to summon the Senate and s
hall state their case.
The magistrate shall bring them immediately before the Senate and shall appoi
nt whatever advocate they request to speak on their behalf to the Senate. He sha
ll not act as advocate against his will if by law he is given the right to decli
ne this compulsory public service.
That the charges which they lay before the Senate may have a judicial hearing
, the magistrate who gives them audience to the Senate shall select by lot on th
at same day, in the presence of the Senate when not less than 200 are present, f
our from all the consulars in Rome or within twenty miles of the city. Likewise
from all those persons of praetorian rank in Rome or within twenty miles of the
city he shall select three. Likewise he shall select two from the rest of the se
natorial order or from all those persons who have the right to vote in the Senat
e, who may be in Rome at that time or within twenty miles of the city. But he sh
all select by lot no person who is seventy years of age or older, or is serving
in some magistracy or office, or is presiding over a court of justice, or is cur
ator for the distribution of grain, or is prevented by illness from performing t
his compulsory public service, after he has taken oath to that effect in the Sen
ate and has given three members of the Senate to swear to his incapacity, or is
a cognatic or agnatic kinsman of the defendant, so that he is exempted by the Ju
lian Law on judiciary matters from testifying as a witness in public court again
st his will, or if the defendant takes oath in the presence of the Senate that s
uch a person is his personal enemy, provided that he does not reject more than t
hree in this way. When nine persons have been selected by lot in this way, the m
agistrate who drew the lots shall provide that in the next two days the plaintif
fs and the defendants shall reject in turn, until five are left. If any of these
jurors dies before the issue is decided or if anyone of them is prevented for a
ny other reason from sitting in judgment, whose reason is approved by five senat
ors under oath, then the magistrate in the presence of the jurors, the prosecuto
rs, and the defendant shall select by lot from those persons who are of the same
rank and have held the same magistracies as the man whose place is to be filled
, provided that the lot does not fall on one who is ineligible to serve in a cas
e against the accused by this decree of the Senate.
The jurors thus chosen shall hear and shall decide only on those matters whic
h the defendant is accused of having appropriated, whether in his official or hi
s private capacity and whatever amount of property the plaintiffs prove have bee
n taken from them publicly or privately, so shall the jurors order to be restore
d, on condition that they give their judgment within thirty days. Those persons
whose duty it is to determine this matter and to give judgment shall be exempt f
rom all other compulsory public service, except state religious ceremonial, unti
l they judge and render their decision.
It is the pleasure of the Senate that the magistrate who drew the lots for th
e jurors shall preside over the hearing or, if it is impossible for him to do so
, the ranking consul, and he shall be given power to summon witnesses who are in
Italy: for the plaintiff, whose claim is for private reparation, not more than
five; for official reparation, not rnore than ten.
Likewise it is the pleasure of the Senate that the jurors who may be chosen b
y lot in accordance with this resolution of the Senate, shall declare their opin
ion openly, as seems to each, and whatever the majority declare shall be binding
.
Source:
Ancient Roman statutes : translation, with introduction, commentary, glossary, a
nd index€
by Allan Chester Johnson, Paul Robinson Coleman-Norton, Frank Card Bourne ; gene
ral editor, Clyde Pharr€
Austin : University of Texas Press, 1961€
Used with the Permission of the University of Texas Press.