Lex Voconia

Lex Voconia

"Lex Voconia" (The Voconian Law) was a law established in ancient Rome in 169 BC.

Introduced by Q. Voconius Saxa with support from Cato the Elder, Voconius being tribune of the people in that year, this law prohibited those who owned property valued at 100,000 asses (or perhaps sesterces) from making a woman their heir. This particular limit was not arbitrary but was apparently the traditional property qualification for admission to the highest class in the Comitia Centuriata, and thus the minimum qualification for the Equestrian Order. In addition, it prohibited extraordinary legacies in a will of a greater value than the inheritance of the ordinary heirs. This intention of this legislation according to Gellius was sumptuary in that it limited the wealth available to women, who were presumed to expend it on useless luxury goods. It was evaded by means of avoiding registration in the census, which entailed the loss of some civil rights, or by the common Roman form of trust known as a "fideicommissum". The second provision was essentially voided by the Lex Falcidia. Legislation under Augustus, in particular the Lex Papia Poppaea relaxed the first provision as well, granting full inheritance rights to married women who were mothers of three children (if born free) or of four children (if a freedwoman).

Relevant articles

*Roman Law
*List of Roman laws

External links

* [http://web.upmf-grenoble.fr/Haiti/Cours/Ak The Roman Law Library, incl. "Leges"]
* [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999%2e04%2e0062&query=id%3dvoconia%2dlex#id,voconia-lex Entry from Harry Thurston Peck, "Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities" (1898) (from the Perseus Project)]
* [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/////ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0063;query=id%3D%236915;layout=;loc=vocatio-cn Entry from William Smith, LL.D., William Wayte, G. E. Marindin, eds., "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities" (1890) (from the Perseus Project)]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • lex Voconia — /leks vakowniya/ A plebiscitum forbidding a legatee to receive more than each heir had …   Black's law dictionary

  • lex Voconia — /leks vakowniya/ A plebiscitum forbidding a legatee to receive more than each heir had …   Black's law dictionary

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  • Voconĭa — lex, ein Plebiscit des Volkstribunen Q. Voconius Saxa aus dem Jahr 169 v. Chr., betreffend die Testamente der in der ersten Bürgerklasse (von damals 100,000 Asses, später von 100,000 Sesterzen) censirten römischen Bürger. Nach demselben sollten… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • VOCONIA Lex — a Q. Voconio Saxa Tribuno Pleb. Au. Urb. Cond. 524. lata, mulierum hereditates definivit, vide Thom. Dempster. Ant. Rom. l. 8. c. 18 …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Вокониев закон — (lex Voconia) издан в Риме в 169 г. до Р. Х.; запретил назначать в завещаниях отказы (легаты), превышающие долю, оставляемую завещателем своему наследнику (haeres). Ср. Отказ …   Энциклопедический словарь Ф.А. Брокгауза и И.А. Ефрона

  • ЗАКОН ВОКОНИЯ —    • Lex Voconia,          плебисцит, 169 г. до Р. X., запретил делать наследницами женщин, но дозволил завещать им легаты, если последние не превышали половины всего наследства. Этот закон лишал женщин одного из источников богатства, которое… …   Реальный словарь классических древностей

  • Fideicommissum — The fideicommissum was one of the most popular legal institutions in Roman Law for several decades. It translates from the Latin word fides (trust) and committere (to commit), meaning that something is committed to ones trust. I. Original Source… …   Wikipedia

  • Droit romain — Le Corpus iuris civilis, aussi appelé Code Justinien, du nom de l empereur du VIe siècle, est tout autant une compilation de textes antérieurs, menacés d oubli et de disparition, qu un « code ». Par son caractère de compilation, il …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Catón el Viejo — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Marco Porcio Caton Major …   Wikipedia Español

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