Page:Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire (1926, Abbot and Johnson, municipaladminis00abbo).pdf/21

 ment of a colony called for the enactment of a special law by the popular assembly. This law specified the location of the colony, and the amount of state-land to be assigned, fixed the number of commissioners entrusted with the duty of making the settlement, and determined their duties. A typical instance of the method of founding a colony is the case of Antium. In the period of transition, Sulla, Caesar, and the triumvirs did not trouble themselves to secure the passage of a special law, but acted by virtue of the general powers given to them. Thus Urso is styled a. Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus based their right to found colonies on the lex Titia, which established the triumvirate. When this transfer of authority had come about, of course the new sovereign named the commissioners, as the people had done in earlier days. It was the duty of the commissioners to lead the colonists out, settle them upon the land, establish the form of government, and nominate the first incumbents of office. The colonists were given conquered land set aside for the purpose.

The settlers in a Roman colony were Roman citizens, with an occasional admixture of socii, and in Italy they had full right of ownership in their land, and the Roman settlers enjoyed all the other public and private rights of Roman citizens, except in the matter of holding Roman magistracies. In the enjoyment of this privilege they were for a time restricted. When Roman colonies in the later period were established in the provinces, the land was usually left subject to the burdens of other provincial land.

The Latin differed from the Roman colonies in size, compoisition, and political status. Three hundred was the normal number sent out to a Roman colony, rarely as many as 2000 or 3000 , while Latin colonies usually