Page:Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire (1926, Abbot and Johnson, municipaladminis00abbo).pdf/25

 followed Roman law. If a municipium in Italy adopted Roman law, it was known as a municipium fundanum.

In the provinces we find two main classes of municipia, those whose citizens had Roman, and those whose citizens were restricted to Latin citizenship. Some cities of the second clss had the maius Latium, others only the minus Latium. Citizens in communities having the maius Latrium gained Roman citizenship when admitted to the local senate. In towns having minor Latin rights only election to a local magistracy could win this privilege for them. Provincial municipia, like colonies and peregrine civitates, were subject to tribute, and did not enjoy full ownership of land, although perhaps the ius Italicum was granted to favored municipia. This right by a legal fiction made their land part of Italy, and therefore conferred full ownership, or dominium, on the holders, as well as freedom from the payment of tribute. So far as local administration was concerned, most municipia were more or less under the control of the governor of their province, whereas the colonies were strictly autonomous in the matter of local affairs. This difference explains in part why so many provincial municipia begged the emperor to make them colonies.