| DECREE
OF A PREFECT OF EGYPT ON THE STATUS OF VETERANS ( AD 63 ) |
| ( Johnson, Coleman-Norton & Bourne, Ancient Roman Statutes, Austin, 1961, p. 147, n. 179 ). |
This
decree was issued apparently by the prefect of Egypt assisted by his
advisory council. Ten names were listed, omitted in translation, of
whom the most important was Norbanus Ptolemaeus, juridicus and idiologus,
and Claudius Heraclides, dioecetes. Apparently the veterans were not
altogether pleased with their grant of privileges and a hearing was
granted to permit them to state their case. The document is on a papyrus reported in 1939. |
ENGLISH TRANSLATION. |
| Copy
of a decree. Year 10 of Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, August 7, in the Great Hall, on the Tribunal . . . On the question of citizenship of discharged soldiers. I have already stated that your claims do not stand on the same or on equal footing. Some of you are veterans of the legions, some are cavalry, some are auxiliaries, and others are marines, so that all do not have the same rights. I shall take care of this matter and I have written to the strategi of the nomes, that the imperial constitution shall apply to you fully according to the rights of each of you . . . I have written. |
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