Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/221

Rh granted a more favorable position. With the present extension of Roman citizenship from the Rubicon to the strait of Messana, further changes were necessary. A system of local self-government is first found in the democratic colony of Capua, which was abolished by Sulla. It was now introduced in the Sullan colonies, in the old, formally sovereign communities, and also in mere judicial districts, or circuits (praefecturae), when they were organized as Roman municipalities.

Each municipality (municipium, colonia, praefectura) had its citizenship (domus, origo), and its popular assembly (comitia tributa or curiata) with the power to elect municipal magistrates and to pass ordinances. A council of one hundred (decuriones, centumviri) corresponded to the Roman senate, a board of two men (duoviri jure dicundo) to the consuls, and another board of two corresponded to the curule aediles; or there might be a commission of four (quattuorviri jure dicundo and aediles). There were also municipal quaestors, pontiffs, augurs, and other officials. But the organization and the official titles were not the same in all the municipalities. The local government had, to a certain extent, charge of the administration of justice in civil and criminal cases, of financial affairs, and of public works. Wherever the local and the central authorities had concurrent powers, the former yielded in case of conflict — as they do in the United States. This municipal system was one of the most remarkable and important reforms in the history of Rome, and proved to be a potent factor in the development of mediaeval and modern municipal institutions.

Regulation of Finances. — Sulla regulated the finances, but does not appear to have thought of reforming the financial system. He recovered for the treasury the income from the public lands in Campania, and abolished the