AGRARIAN LAW
   
( 111 BC )

 
 
( Johnson, Coleman-Norton & Bourne, Ancient Roman Statutes, Austin, 1961, pp. 50-57, n. 51 ).
 
 
     In the early Roman Republic there were three kinds of land: private land, common pasture, and public land or land of the public domain, which was rented to private entrepreneurs. By the second century B C, however, much of the public land was treated by its occupants as though it were private. Despite early laws limiting the amount which could be occupied, the wealthy amassed gigantic holdings a tendency encouraged by the growing importance of the olive and the vine, and especially of ranching At the same time there was a steady exodus of the small farmers to the city, partly because the continued demands of military service made farming increasingly hazardous, partly because of the predatory instincts of the great landowners, partly because the small farm was now at a competitive disadvantage. The result was an impoverished, restless, and unproductive urban population.
     In 133 B C. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, the plebeian tribune, attempted to improve the situation by enacting in the Tribal Assembly legislation which limited the amount of public land rented by one person to 500 jugers ( about 330 acres ), ordered the State's repossession of all lands in excess of this, assigned these lands to the poor in lots of thirty jugers for a small annual rent, appointed a board of triumvirs, as a land commission, to repossess and to redistribute this land.
     The legislation of Tiberius was reaffirmed in the tribunate of his brother Gaius ( 123-122 B.C. ) with certain modifications, and the economic health was to be improved further by establishing colonies both in Italy and abroad. The latter plan was largely abandoned in 121 B.C., however, because it threatened the interests of the Italians and the allied communities and because the cheap grain available at Rome disciplined many to undertake the rigors of colonial life.
     The death of Gaius Sempronius Gracchus in 121 B.C. followed by further changes in the Gracchan laws. In 121 B.C. the restrictions on the sale of the thirty-juger allotments were removed and in 118 B.C. the land commission was abolished. In III B.C. the law here translated recognized the accomplished facts of the past twenty-two years, reassured the Italians as regards their possession of public lands, and regularized the position of those colonists who had been settled by Gaius Gracchus and of the public lands in Africa.
 
ENGLISH TRANSLATION.
 
 
1) . . . The plebeian tribunes duly proposed to the plebs and the plebs duly resolved . . . the . . . tribe was the first to vote, and Quintus Fabius, son of Quintus, cast the first vote for the tribe.
 
2) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, with the exception of that land which has been excluded and prohibited from division by the law or the plebiscite proposed by Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune: . . . whatever land or place each former possessor according to the law or the plebiscite took for himself or bequeathed from the said land, provided that it is not greater than the amount of land which one man is permitted by the law or the plebiscite to take for himself or to bequeath ;
 
3) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, with the exception of that land which has been excluded and prohibited from division by the law or the plebiscite proposed by Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune: . . . whatever of that land or place a triumvir according to the law or the plebiscite has granted or assigned to a Roman citizen allotted to a colony and which is not in the land or place which is beyond . . .
 
4) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, with the exception of that land which has been excluded and prohibited from division by the law or the plebiscite proposed by Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune: whatever land or place from the aforesaid land or place has been granted, exchanged, or restored for the said land or place by a triumvir to anyone who has exchanged his private land for public ;
 
5) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, with the exception of that land which has been excluded and prohibited from division by the law or the plebiscite proposed by Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune: . . . whatever portion of such public land or place is in the land of Italy, or is outside the city of Rome, or in a city, or a town, or a village, and which has been granted or assigned by a triumvir. and anyone holds or possesses when this measure becomes law ;
 
6) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, with the exception of that land which has been excluded and prohibited from division by the law or the plebiscite proposed by Gajus Sempronius Gracchus, son son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune: whatever of this public land, place or building . . . in the land of Italy a triumvir has granted, assigned, or bequeathed to anyone, or has entered on any register or records, or ordered to be entered ;
 
7) All such land, places, or buildings described above, exclusive of those lands or places excepted above, shall be private property . . . and the purchase or sale of such places, land, or building shall be performed exactly as in case of all other private places, lands, or buildings; and the censor, whoever he shall be, shall provide that this land, or building, which has been made private property by this law, shall be registered in the census, just exactly as all other private lands, places, and buildings, and he shall order the owner of such land, place, or building, as he shall order the owners of other lands, places, and buildings, to make the same tax declaration on such land, place, or building . . . nor shall anyone so act that the person to whom such land, place, building, or possession is or will properly be assigned by law or plebiscite any the less shall use, have the usufruct of, hold, or possess such land, place, building, or possession . . . nor shall anyone make a motion regarding this matter in the Senate . . . nor by virtue of some magistracy or imperium which he holds shall anyone express an opinion or make a motion by which anyone to whom such land, place, building, or possession is or will properly be assigned by law or plebiscite . . . any the less shall use, have the usufruct of, hold, or possess such land, place, building, or possession, or whereby possession shall be taken away without the consent of the owner or, if he is dead, of his heirs.
 
8) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius . . . and which the triumvirs for grantingassigning lands have granted, assigned, and left to the villagers dwelling along the public highways of Italy: no one shall so act that anyone any the less shall use, have the usufruct of, or hold, or possess this land, which its possessor does not alienate such land, place, or building, with that land excepted . . . with that land excepted which in accordance with this law can properly be sold, granted, or restored.
 
9) It is not the intent of this law that any land, place, or building which been or is granted, assigned, or bequeathed to a person who is or will be properly among the villagers dwelling along the public highways in accordance with the decree of the Senate . . . shall be private land, place or building, or that the censor, whoever he shall be, shall reguster this land or place in his census . . . or that this land shall be considered otherwise than it is at present.
 
10) As regards the public land or place of the Roman people in the land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, with the exception of that land which has been excluded from division by the law or the plebiscite proposed by Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune . . . and excepting that land which its former possessor has taken or bequeathedsa in accordance with the law or the plebiscite, provided that it is not greater in size than was legal for a man to take for himself or bequeath: if anyone, after this law is enacted, gains possession of or holds for purposes of cultivation a section of this land of no more than thirty jugers, this land shall be private property.
 
11) Those who pasture on the common pastures larger animals of no greater number than ten plus their offspring up to one year of age . . . or those who pasture there smaller animals of no greater number than . . . plus their offspring up to one year of age, shall not owe any tax or fee for these animals . . . to the State or to any tax farmer nor give security nor pay anything for this reason.
 
12) As regards the public land of the Roman people in Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, whatever of this land a triumvir for granting and assigning lands grants or assigns to a Roman citizen, according to the law or the plebiscite, as a colonist, . . . and which land neither this citizen has alienated nor alienates, nor his heir, nor anyone who has received the land by inheritance, will, or surrender from him, nor anyone who has bought it from anyone of those mentioned such a person shall appear before March 15 following the enactment of this law at the court of that official for whom it is proper by the terms of this law to make judicial decisions concerning this land; and that official shall so settle and decree that he can grant to the aforesaid person or to his heir possession of whatever land has been granted or assigned to the aforesaid person by the lot as a colonist, and which assignment is not alienated as has been written above.
13) As regards the public land of the Roman people in Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, possession of which a triumvir for granting and assigning lands has granted, assigned, or restored to its former possessor or to a person acting in his stead, and which land is in a city, or a town, or a village, and which land neither the aforesaid person has alienated nor alienates, nor his heir, nor successor by inheritance, will, or surrender, nor he who has bought the land from anyone of the aforesaid persons: such persons shall appear before March 15 following the enactment of this law at the court of that official for whom it is proper by the terms of this law to make judicial decisions concerning this land; and that official shall so settle and decree that he may grant possession to the aforesaid person or his heir . . . to whom this land has been granted, assigned, or restored to its former possessor or to a person acting in his stead; or the person who receives land in a city, a town, or a village . . .
14) If any of those persons whose land is described above has been ejected by force from his possession which he, who has been ejected, possesses, provided that he had not got possession of this land by force or by stealth or by precarium from the person who ejected him from his possession by force: the person so ejected shall appear concerning the matter before March 15 following the enactment of this law at the court where that official for whom it is proper by the terms of this law to make judicial decisions concerning this land shall provide that the person who thus has been ejected by force shall be restored into possession of that land from which he forcibly was ejected.
15) As regards the public land, place, or building of the Roman people in the land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius which in accordance with the provision of law or plebiscite, or of this law, have been or shall be made private possessions: no magistrate or promagistrate . . . shall contrive that anyone shall give or be obliged to give rent or fee for this land, place, or building, or for the pasturage of animals that are pastured on this land after the taxes cease, which first cease after the passage of this law, nor shall any other person so contrive . . . or by which anything for this reason should be given or exacted for the people or for the tax farmer; nor shall anyone, after the taxes cease, which first cease after the passage of this law, be obliged to make payment to the people or to tax farmers for these lands, places, or buildings, or to make payment to the people or to tax farmers for the pasturage of the animals that are pastured on this land.
16) As regards the public land or place of the Roman people in the land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius . . . excepting that land which the censors Lucius Caecilius and Gnaeus Domitius leased on September 21 together with the land beyond the Curio; and as regards those persons who dwell on this land or place and are Roman citizens or allies of the Latin name and from whom soldiers regularly are requisitioned in Italy in accordance with the military rolls . . . and as regards that public land or place of the Roman people which a former possessor or a person acting in his stead has surrendered from his possession, in order that a town or a colony may be established, founded, or settled on that land or place by the terms of the law or the plebiscite . . . on which land or place a triumvir established, founded, or settled a town or a colony by the terms of the law or the plebiscite: whatever land or place a triumvir has granted, restored, or assigned in exchange for such land or place, which was public land or place of the Roman people in the land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius . . . excepting that land or place which has been excluded from division by the law or the plebiscite proposed by Galus Sempronius Gracchus, son of Tiberius, plebeian tribune . . . such land shall be the private property of the person to whom it was granted, restored, or assigned by a triumvir, or of the person who has obtained or obtains it from him or his heir by will, inheritance, or surrender, or of the person who has bought or buys it from him or from some previous buyer.
17) As regards that part of the public land of the Roman people —- land, place, or building — which a triumvir has granted, restored, or assigned in exchange for that land or place into which he has conducted a colony as is written above: whatever praetor or consul is administrator of this land in accordance with this law and in whose court suit is filed concerning this land before March 15 following the enactment of this law shall so settle and decree concerning this property that he shall grant possession to the aforesaid person or his heir, the person to whom a triumvir granted, restored, or assigned that land or place in exchange for the land or place into which he conducted a colony; and this praetor or consul in whose court suit is filed shall provide that this land shall be private property . . .
18) As regards the land or place described above, whatever of this land or place after the passage of this law shall be public property of the Roman people, with the exception of that land or place which has been designated for public use or has been leased publicly, on such land anyone who wishes may pasture animals . . . nor shall such land be "common pasturage," nor shall anyone appropriate or fence in an area in such land, thus interfering with anyone's desire to pasture animals thereon. If anyone transgresses this law for each offense he must pay fifty sesterces . . . for each juger of land so encumbered to that person who leases or purchases the taxes on this public land for his own profit.
19) Cattle, horses, mules, asses . . . may be pastured on this land or place which is public property of the Roman people, after the passage of this law, to a number which conforms to that specified by this law; nor need anyone be charged tax or rental for this privilege.
20) In cases where a person drives his animals into public paths or roads, in order to transfer them from pasture to pasture, and allows them to feed en route . . . for these creatures that have been driven into public paths or roads for the purpose mentioned and that feed thereabout no payment need be made to the people nor to any tax farmer.
21) As regards the public land of the Roman people in the land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius: whatever part of this land or place the people have transferred from public to private ownership, receiving in return an equal amount of private land or place made public, then this formerly public land or place shall be the private property of its owners in the fullest legal sense.
22) As regards the land changed from private to public ownership and in exchange for which an equal amountchanged from public to private ownership: the legal status of this public land shall be exactly the same as that of land which was public in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius.
23) As regards that portion of the public land given in exchange for ager patritusla . . . the praetor or the consul shall provide that the tax farmer shall make payment on such substituted ager patritus under all future censors at the rate current in the censorship of Lucius Caecilius and Gnaeus Domitius, if they wish to contract for the collection of taxes, and that this land shall be registered under its old title of ager patritus.
24) Of the duumvirs who . . . shall provide that the public roads in the land of Italy in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius are passable and unobstructed . . .
25) Whatsoever shall be permissible for a Roman citizen to do in accordance with this law, as described on the lands in Italy, which were public lands of the Roman people in the consulship of Publius Mucius and Lucius Calpurnius, the same also shall be permitted to Latins and other noncitizens without prejudice to themselves from the consulship of Marcus Livius and Lucius Calpurnius in accordance with law, plebiscite, or treaty.
26) As regards the acts described above on the lands described above which are proper for a Latin or a non-citizen to do or not to do in accordance with this law . . . if anyone does not do those things which it is proper for him to perform or performs certain acts which he is forbidden to perform by the provisions of this law: the magistrate or the promagistrate into whose court charges are brought in accordance with this law shall grant a trial or appoint a judex or recuperators in accordance with the law's provisions; and this court, judex, or these recuperators are properly to be appointed in accordance with this law in exactly the same way as if charges were brought that a Roman citizen had acted contrary to the provisions of this law . . .
27) As regards the land the usufruct of which has been given by the people or by a resolution of the Senate to colonies or to municipalities, or to towns with the legal position of municipalities or to colonies of Roman citizens or of the Latin name; or as regards land pledged by the State to its creditors; and as regards colonists or citizens of a municipality or a town with the legal position of a municipality . . . who have this usufruct; or those who have this usufruct on behalf of a colony or a municipality or of a town with the legal position of a municipality; or those who have land pledged to them by the State as state's creditors . . . which land, held by members of colonies or municipalities or towns with the legal position of municipalities, or held by persons who have acquired it from a colony, a municipality, or a town with the legal position of a municipality, or whatever land pledged by the State has devolved or shall devolve upon any person by will, inheritance, or surrender, and to whom it was lawful before the passage of this law to lease this land or place, to hold it, to have the usufruct of it, to possess it, and to lay claim to it, excluding that land or place which in accordance with this law, just as before the enactment of this law . . .
28) As regards the land the usufruct of which has been given by the people or by a resolution of the Senate to colonies or to municipalities, or to towns with the legal position of municipalities or to colonies of Roman citizens or of the Latin name; or as regards land pledged by the State to its creditors; and as regards colonists or citizens of a municipality or a town with the legal position of a municipality . . . who have this usufruct; or those who have a usufruct on behalf of a colony or a municipality or of a town with the legal position of a municipality; or those who have land pledged to them by the State as state's creditors . . . , which land, held by members of colonies or municipalities or towns with the legal position of municipalities, or held by persons who have acquired it from a colony, a municipality, or a town with the legal position of a municipality, or whatever land pledged by the State has devolved or shall devolve upon any person by will, inheritance, or surrender, and to whom it was lawful before the passage of this law to lease this land or place, to hold it, to have the usufruct of it, to possess it, and to lay claim to it, excluding that land or place which in accordance with this law . . . it is proper to sell, to grant, or to restore; all the aforesaid land it shall be permitted to hold, to have the usufruct of it, to possess it, and to lay claim to it after the passage of this law, just as before the enactment of this law nor decree concerning this land nor grant a trial nor appoint a judex or recuperators, except a consul or a praetor. But if security is promised in this matter and if an appeal is made to other magistrates, it is not the intent of this law that these magistrates shall not decree concerning the matter. And if a trial is granted or if a judex or recuperators are appointed, it is not the intent of this law to deny magistrates, to whom appeal is made, the right of hindering or vetoing anything which seems to them not in the public interest.
29) As regards the land or place in Italy which after the passage of this law shall be public property of the Roman people: if there is any dispute concerning this land or place, jurisdiction over the dispute shall be with the consul, the practor, or the censor, whoever is then in office; or it shall be their duty to grant a trial or to appoint a judex or recuperators, in such way as shall seem in the public interest and in accordance with their own good faith nor is any magistrate or promagistrate, except a consul, a praetor, or a censor, to render decisions concerning this land or place nor to decree nor to grant a trial nor to appoint a judex or recuperators. But if security is promised in this matter and if an appeal is made to other magistrates, it is not the intent of this law that these magistrates shall not decree concerning the matter. And if a trial is granted or if a judex or recuperators are appointed, it is not the intent of this law to deny magistrates, to whom appeal is made, the right of hindering or vetoing anything which seems to them not in the public interest.
30) If money is owed to any tax farmer in accordance with this law, no magistrate . . . is to take such action that there shall be paid for the land an amount either less or other than the rent or the tax which is legally required by the terms of this law . . . but if a tax farmer asserts that something is owed or should be paid to him in respect to this case, the consul, the proconsul, the praetor, or the propraetor, in whose jurisdiction the matter lies, within the next ten days after the complaint has been made concerning the matter . . . shall appoint eleven recuperators from fifty citizens of the first class. From these the plaintiff and the defendant may reject alternately individuals up to four apiece . . . the magistrate shall direct the remaining three or more to give judgment on the case on the nearest possible date where payment has not been made, or the matter is not in court or has not been adjudged, and which has not been the object of a collusive action . . . or fraudulent intent on the part of the plaintiff or his patrons. But if the major portion of these recuperators . . . that majority in accordance with its vote shall announce that verdict, which it has found to be as close as possible to the truth of the matter to be adjudged . . . as regards the matter to be judged, it shall provide that the person against whom the judgment is made shall pay his fine without fraudulent intent . . .
31) In the case of laws or plebiscitesis which forbid those persons to hold, to possess, or to have the usufruct of the public land of the Roman people, who have been awarded the right to hold, to possess, and to have the usufruct of this public land by the provisions of this law, and in the case of laws or plebiscites which award the right to hold, to possess, and to have the usufruct of the public land of the Roman people in any other manner than this law does: any person who is ordered to swear to uphold such laws or plebiscites and refuses to do so shall not be subject to fine . . . nor shall he be precluded for this reason from seeking, gaining, administering, or holding any magistracy, nor shall such action be prejudicial to him.
32) If any law or plebiscite is passed which forbids a magistrate to issue a decree concerning anything upon which this law directs him to issue such decree this magistrate nonetheless shall make such decree . . . and if such laws or plebiscites forbid persons to do things which this law orders them to do they shall do all these things without prejudice to themselves and shall not be subject to fine for refusing to swear to uphold the laws and the plebiscites on this matter, which in accordance with this law . . . not to issue a decree or to make a decree otherwise; nor is such action to be the basis for prejudice, fines, or penalties . . .
33) . . . granted or assigned, or that land or place which . . . according to the law or the plebiscite which Marcus Baebius, plebeian tribune and triumvir for founding a colony, proposed . . . he adjudges to have been granted or assigned, as has been written in this law . . . excepting that land or place which is in this division or subdivision of land . . . and excepting that land or place which in accordance with this law the colonists or those enrolled as colonists obtain . . . whatever of this land or place has been sold to anyone . . . neither the buyer nor his security or surety shall be freed from all obligation . . . and the quaestor who has as his province the treasury shall enter their names on the public records . . . nor shall the person who has bought such land or place from the Roman magistrate pay money for it nor give security or surety to the people . . . nor shall anyone who has been made surety in such a case for this reason be obligated to the people . . . and he who has become buyer or surety for this land or place, and the security which has been pledged to the people . . . whatever land or place in Africa which has been sold publicly at Rome . . . and this land or place is to be private but bearing a yearly tax . . . as regards that land or place outside Italy . . . persons of the allies or of the Latin name, from whose rolls soldiers are wont to be recruited in Italy according to the same formula as Roman citizens are . . . that land or place whosoever holds, possesses, or has the usufruct of . . . or shall dispatch into this land or place to care for these affairs . . . without fraudulent intent . . .
34) As regards the land or place in Africa, whatever such land . . . anyone may hold, possess, or have the usufruct of, as if this land or place had been publicly.
35) The duumvir created in accordance with this law within two days after his appointment shall issue an edict . . . that within twenty-five days of the issue of the edict . . . whatever land has been granted or assigned, and, when he makes declaration of it, he shall produce guarantors . . . a buyer from another in the manner of a private sale . . . in the consulship of Lucius Calpurnius and . . . which afterward neither he nor . . . will be an officer or an enlisted man in the province . . . whatever has been assigned or granted to a colonist or one enrolled as a colonist, or whatever of it . . . as the curator of the estate should make declaration, and also as . . . in accordance with this edict, as he who buys the land from the purchaser of a bankrupt estate, its creditors' agent, or its curator . . . if there is anything which properly should be declared by the duumvir's edict, which was issued in accordance with this law, and which has not been so declared . . . the duumvir shall adjudicate that that land or place has not been sold or assigned to the person concerned . . . to such Roman citizen just as much land or place . . . it is lawful to grant, to restore, or to exchange, provided that it has not already been publicly sold.
36) The duumvir created in accordance with this law . . . shall initiate an accounting concerning these lands, and so . . . nor is he to adjudicate land in Africa which is registered in the name of a person who received it legally by the terms of the Rubrian Law, now repealed, as a colonist or as one enrolled as a colonist . . . or having been granted or assigned to that person; nor in the name of a person shall he adjudge lands to have been granted or assigned to a colonist or a person enrolled as a colonist, to whom land in Africa was allotted legally, but in an amount greater than 200 jugers apiece . . . Nor is he to adjudge a larger number of persons to have been settled in a colony or colonies in Africa than the number specified by the Rubrian Law now repealed . . . which was to be settled legally in Africa in a colony or colonies by the triumvirs for settling a colony.
37) The duumvir created in accordance with this law . . . shall adjudge this land as assigned to that person to whom, upon investigation, he finds land or place could be assigned in accordance with this law, or to his heir which if before the first of . . . which was bought from a second person as if in a sale of private property at the time when this land or place was sold . . . and if he proves that he bought this land or place, which he thus bought, and provided that neither he nor his heir nor the person to whom he is heir has alienated it, and this too be proved, then the duumvir shall so . . . grant and make exchange for what he bought by giving him land which has not been sold publicly. And likewise the duumvir, if he sells publicly any land or place which has been sold privately to anyone, shall grant or restore to him an equal amount of land or place from that in Africa which has not been sold publicly and whatever land or place thus is granted or restored in accordance with this law shall be bought for one sesterce by the person to whom it has been granted or restored, and the land or the place shall be private and subject to tax, as has been written above in this law.
38) If land or place has been granted or assigned to any colonist or person enrolled as a colonist in a division or subdivision of land in Africa, which division or subdivision has been or is sold publicly at Rome . . . whatever portion of this land the duumvir created by this law does not adjudicate to this colonist or his heir, then he shall give in recompense to this man or his heir an equal amount of land or place to that which is in Africa and which has not been sold publicly.
39) If any division or subdivision of land in Africa has been granted or assigned to any colonist or person enrolled as a colonist, which division or subdivision has been sold or is sold publicly at Rome, and if the duumvir created by the law does not adjudicate any portion of this land to the person who has bought or acquired it from the colonist or his heir, then the duumvir shall give in recompense for the land which this person is proved to have bought or acquired, or to his heir, an equal amount of land in Africa; and he shall judge the land so given in recompense as permanently assigned to him.
40) If a magistrate at Rome sells publicly land in Africa which has been granted or assigned to a colonist or person enrolled as a colonist . . . and if the duumvir created by this law does not adjudicate to the buyer, the curator of his estate, or his heir any part of this land. then the duumvir shall give in recompense for this land in Africa which is proved to be so bought an equal amount to the buyer, the curator of his estate, or his heir; and he shall judge the land so given in recompense as permanently assigned to him. As regards the amount of money which is to be paid to the people by that person who has bought or buys the debts saved by those persons who have purchased public land or place from the State in Africa . . . whatever of this money his been or is noted down, assigned, or noted down in the public accounts: that money he shall pay to the people after March 15 which follows the first collection of tax after the passage of this law.
41) Whatever money is owed or shall be owed for public land or place purchased in Africa shall be exacted after said March 15 from the buyers by the person who purchased from the people the right to collect such money . . . nor is anyone to exact this money on an earlier day or otherwise than is specified in this law; and if any money is received for this purpose on an earlier day than is specified in this law, still the person who owes money to the people nonetheless must make payment to the person who purchased from the people the right to collect such money . . . or is any magistrate or promagistrate so to act, or senator so to decree, that this money which is or shall be owed to the people for lands, places, or buildings as described above is exacted in any other way than as specified in this law.

42) That person who has bought or buys public land or place in Africa . . . if he does not pay to the people the money which he owes or shall owe within . . . days after the purchase of such land or place at Rome: within 120 days thereafter he shall register at the discretion of the urban praetor sufficient securities therefor.
43) The urban praetor . . . unless before that time security for this land or place is provided in public or surety is provided, shall sell for ready cash that land or place for which, in the opinion of the praetor, proper security in accordance with this law has not been registered. Who . . .
44) As regards the land or the place in Africa which has been or is sold publicly in Rome and which land or place has been granted or assigned by a resolution of the Senate to the free peoples of Africa, who remained friends of the Roman people in the last Punic War or who deserted from the enemy and surrendered to a Roman general last Punic War . . . within . . . days after he has been appointed in accordance with this law, the duumvir shall provide that whatever amount of land or place has been made the property of a Roman citizen in accordance with this law, and the said land or place belonged to any free people whatever or was in the land or the place which has been granted or assigned to deserters, and for the said land or place other land or place has not been exchanged or given in recompense to the Roman citizen in accordance with this law, just so much land or place shall be granted or assigned to any free people whatever or to deserters . . .
45) Since the decemvirs who were or have been created by the Livian Law have granted or assigned in Africa to certain persons lands on which it is proper for them to pay a fixed tax to the Roman people, provided that any portion of such land is or shall be properlyab the property of a Roman citizen in accordance with this law, the duumvir created by this law, within 150 days of his appointment. an equal amount of land from the land which is public land of the Roman people in Africa, as that land once subject to a fixed tax, which land is or shall be properly the property of a Roman citizen in accordance with this law. This he shall grant or assign to persons subject to a fixed tax and he shall provide that this land shall be entered on the public records in a manner as seems to him in the public interest and in accordance with his own good faith.
46) The duumvir created by this law shall make the following arrangements within 250 days after this law is ratified by the people or the plebs concerning all the land in Africa with the exception of the lands here specified: (1) that land or place which has been granted or assigned to a colonist or to a person registered as a colonist in accordance with the Rubrian Law now repealed . . . and for which land or place no exchange or restoration is made; (2) land which was within the territories of the free peoples of Utica, Hadrumetum, Tampsus, Leptis, Aquilla, Usalis, and Teudalis, when they most recently entered into friendship with the Roman people; (3) that land or place which was granted or assigned by a resolution of the Senate . . . to those persons who deserted from the enemy and surrendered to a general of the Roman people in the last Punic War; (4) that land which is made private by this law and for which land or place no exchange or restoration is made; (5) that land or place which a duumvir grants or assigns to people paying a fixed tax in accordance with this law and which is registered in the public records in accordance with this law; (6) that land which . . . our general Publius Cornelius granted to the sons of King Mass inissa and ordered that they were to hold and to enjoy the fruits thereof; (7) that land or place where the city of Carthage once was situated; (8) and that land or place which the decemvirs, created by the Livian Law, left and assigned to the people of Utica: with the exception of these lands, as regards all the remaining land in Africa, all those who owe tax, tithe, or fee for pasturage on this land to the people or the tax farmer, which land has been granted, restored, or granted in exchange to them in accordance with this law, these lands they shall hold, possess, and have the usufruct of, and they shall pay to the people or the tax farmer tax, tithe, or fee for pasturage for whatever land or place they have the usufruct of after the passage of this law.
47) Those persons who have not been wont to pay tax, tithe, or fee for pasturage in accordance with the Sempronian Law and to whom land has been granted, restored, or granted in exchange in accordance with this law, which land they now hold, possess, and have the usufruct of: these persons shall not be liable to pay tax, tithe, or fee for pasturage for this land or place of which they have the usufruct after the passage of this law.
48) Whatever land or place the Roman people leases in accordance with this law, which land or place a Latin or a noncitizen possesses in accordance with this law, he shall for this land or place. shall be liable to pay tax, tithe, or fee for pasturage to the people or to the tax farmer to the same amount for the said land or place as properly shall be paid by a Roman citizen to whom such land or place is leased by the Roman people in accordance with this law and who possesses the said land or place in accordance with this law.
49) The praetor who makes public sales at Rome and who shall demand in accordance with this law sufficient security at his own discretion for land or place sold shall demand a threefold security, though the debtor may be unwilling; and he shall provide that securities given in accordance with this law shall be properly registered and that no one shall do anything to prevent anyone who wishes in accordance with this law from registering securities or paying the cash or becoming surety in accordance with this law.
50) As regards the amount of tax, tithe, or fee for pasturage to be paid by those possessing land, place, or building in Africa . . . and which land or place is not the property of free peoples or deserters: whatever tax, tithe, or fee for this land, building, or place they properly had to pay to the tax farmer in accordance with the terms of the lease, and which the censors Lucius Caecilius and Gnaeus Domitius determined as the tax on land, building, or place, or the fee for the usufruct of, leasing, or sale of the public taxes: after the passage of this law whoever possesses or shall possess land, place, or building in Africa . . . shall be liable to pay the same amount of tax, tithe, or fee for pasturage therefor; but he shall not be liable to pay a greater amount, or in another place or manner, and he shall not graze cattle on this land in any other manner or with other conditions.
51) As regards the public taxes of the Roman people in Africa, the collection of which the censors Lucius Caecilius and Gnaeus Domitius leased or sold: it is not the intent of this law to prevent any magistrate who shall lease or sell such privileges of tax farming after the passage of this law from setting conditions to the tax farmer whereby he shall be liable to pay a greater amount to the people.
52) No magistrate or promagistrate or other person invested with imperium or judicial office or authority and who shall lease or sell the right of collecting the public taxes of the Roman people which are or shall be in Africa shall insert at that time any clause for the benefit of the tax farmers by which, against the wishes of the possessors of the land, the tax farmers will be permitted to do anything . . . which they were not permitted to according to the terms of contract, which were established by the censors Lucius Caecilius and Gnaeus Domitius, when they leased or sold the right of collecting the lands . . . nor without the consent of those persons who possess the lands shall they insert any clause concerning the fee paid for the pasturage of cattle on these lands by which the terms of pasturage shall be other than those set by the censors Lucius Caecilius and Gnaeus Domitius, when they leased or sold the right of collecting the taxes on these lands.
53) As regards the right to collect taxes in Africa was sold or leased by the consul Gnaeus Papirius: it is not the intent of this law that the conditions in the contract of lease specified by the consul Gnaeus Papirius shall be changed for those sales or leases.
54) As regards the land in Africa . . . the roads which were in the land before the capture of Carthage: all these shall remain public, as are the pathways between the visions of land . . .
55) If anyone to whom land has been assigned in Africa makes declaration of this land before the duumvir created by this law and declares it in any other category than in that in which it properly should be declared . . . then the duumvir shall neither grant nor restore nor adjudge it to him. And the magistrate shall grant and restore a portion of this land . . . to whosoever gives evidence that such land has been declared in a category that in which it properly should be declared.
56) As regards those persons who have taken the necessary steps that they may hold, possess, or have the usufruct of the goods which they had and the lands which had been assigned to them by the people . . . the magistrate shall them in exchange . . . for any land which had been granted or assigned to them by the people, but which had been sold publicly, an equal amount of the publicly owned land of the Roman people in Africa which has not been sold publicly.
57) Whoever holds, possesses, or has the usufruct of land or property or a building upon the land or property Africa, which land or property or building upon the land or property the quaestor or the praetor publicly sells . . . shall pay neither tax nor fee for the pasturage of cattle on such land, place, property, or building upon the land . . . this land has been granted and assigned by a decree of the Senate, those lands which have been described above and the properties, all these belonging to the persons . . . the magistrate in whose court jurisdiction belongs gives judgment in this matter in accordance with the provisions of this law, nor . . . shall collect, to whom the land or place has been granted, restored, given in exchange, or assigned in accordance with this law . . . which land or place a Roman citizen . . . what fruits are raised in this land or place or what grapes, olives, or whatever harvest or vintage consulship of Publius Cornelius and Lucius CaIpurnius or afterward in this land or place . . . these fruits which then this land . . .
58) The duumvir appointed in accordance with this law shall within . . . days after being created duumvir in accordance with this law that land or place which belonged to the Corinthians . . . except for that land or place . . . land or place which is to be sold in accordance with this law he shall provide that it shall be completely surveyed and markers shall be erected . . . which land . . . and he shall let out the work and shall set a day for its completion; and he shall cause . . . whatever of this land, place, or building is sold to anyone, he . . . of such money . . . the purchaser and his surety shall not be freed thereby, and the quaestor who has as his province the treasury shall have the names of the purchasers and the sureties registered in the public accounts . . . exaction shall be made from the aforesaid persons or their heirs.
59) As regards the land, place, or building . . . he shall adjudge as payment to the people. The praetor or the propraetor in whose court suit shall be made . . .