Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

LEX SERVILIA. 235 LEGES SUMPTUARIAE.

lending money in the name of the Soeii, who
were not bound by the fenebres leges. The
lex could obviouely only apply within the
, jurisdiction of Rome.

BERVlLIA AGRARIA, proposed by the
tribune P. S. Rullus in the consulship of
Cicero, b.c. 63, was a very extensive agrarian
rogatio. It was successfully opposed by
Cicero; but it was in substance carried by
J. Caesar, b.c. 59 [Lex Julia Agkahia], and
is the lex called by Cicero Lex Campana,
from the public land called ager campanus
being assigned under this lex.

SERVILIA GLAUCIA DE CIVITATE.
[Repetundae.]

SERVILIA GLAUCIA DE REPETUNDIS.
[Repetundae.]

SERVILIA JUDICIARIA, b.c. 106. [Ju-
dex, p. 216.] It is assumed by some writers
that a lex of the tribune Servius Glaucia
repealed the Servilia Judiciaria two years
after its enactment.

SILIA, relating to Publica Pondera.

SILVANI ET CARBONIS. [Lex Papieia
Plai-iia.]

SULPICIAE, proposed by the tribune
, P. Sulpicius Rufus, a supporter of Marius,
b.c. 88, enacted the recall of the exiles, the
distribution of the new citizens and the
libertini among the thirty-five tribes, that
the command in the Mithridatic war should
be taken from Sulla and given to Marius,
and that a senator should not contract debt
to the amount of more than 2000 denarii.
The last enactment may have been intended
to expel persons from the senate who should
get in debt. All these leges were repealed
' by Sulla.

SULPICIA SEMPROXIA, b. c. 304. No
name is given to this lex by Livy, but it was
probably proposed by the consuls. It pre-
vented the dedicatio of a templum or altar
without the consent of the senate or a ma-
jority of the tribunes.

SUMPTUARIAE, the name of various laws
passed to prevent inordinate expense (sump-
tus) in banquets, dress, &c. In the states
of antiquity it was considered the duty of
government to put a check upon extrava-
gance in the private expenses of persons,
and among the Romans in particular we find
traces of this in the laws attributed to the
kings, and in the Twelve Tables. The cen-
sors, to whom was entrusted the disciplina
or cura morum, punished by the nota cen-
soria all persons guilty of what was then
regarded as a luxurious mode of living; a
great many instances of this kind are recorded.
But as the love of luxury greatly increased
with the foreign conquests of the republic
and the growing wealth of the nation, vari-

ous leges sumptuariae were passed at differen'
times with the object of restraining it. These,
however, as may be supposed, rarely accom-
plished their object, and in the latter times
of the republic they were virtually repealed.
The following list of them is arranged in
chronological order :—

Oppia, proposed by the tribune C. Oppius
in b. c. 215, enacted that no woman should
have above half an ounce of gold, nor wear a
dress of different colours, nor ride in a car-
riage in the city or in any town, or within a
mile of it, unless on account of public sacri-
fices. This law was repealed twenty years
afterwards, whence we frequently find the
Lex Orchia mentioned as the first lex sump-
tuaria.

Ouchia, proposed by the tribune C. Orchius
in b. c. 181, limited the number of guests to
be present at entertainments.

Fannia, proposed by the consul C. Fannius,
b. c. 61, limited the sums which were to be
spent on entertainments, and enacted that
not more than 100 asses should be spent on
certain festivals named in the lex, whence it
is called centussis by Lucilius; that on ten
other days in each month not more than 30
asses, and that on all other days not more
than 10 asses, should be expended ; also
that no other fowl but one hen should be
served up, and that not fattened for the
purpose.

Didia, passed b. c. 143, extended the Lex
Fannia to the whole of Italy, and enacted
that not only those who gave entertainments
which exceeded in expense what the law
had prescribed, but also all who were present
at such entertainments, should be liable to
the penalties of the law. We are not, how-
ever, told in what these consisted.

Licinia, agreed in its chief provisions with
the Lex Fannia, and was brought forward,
we are told, that there might be the autho-
rity of a new law upon the subject, inasmuch
as the Lex Fannia was beginning to be ne-
glected. It allowed 200 asses to be spent on
entertainments upon marriage days, and on
other days the same as the Lex Fannia ; also,
that on ordinary days there should not be
served up more than three pounds of fresh,
and ono pound of salt meat. It was probably
passed in b. c. 103.

Cornelia, a law of the dictator Sulla, b. c.
81, was enacted on account of the neglect of
the Fannian and Licinian Laws. Like these,
it regulated the expenses of entertainments.
Extravagance in funerals, which had been
forbidden even in the Twelve Tables, was
also restrained by a law of Sulla.

Aemilia, proposed by the consul Aemilius
Lepidus, n. c. 78, did not limit the expenses