Roman Law Terms with Letters O

Obicere. To oppose a counter-claim to the claim of the plaintiff.

Obicere bestiis. To expose to wild beasts a criminal condemned to death ad bestias (= to fight with them). Syn.

Obicere crimen. To charge a person with a crime.

Obicere exceptionem. To oppose an exception in a civil trial.—See exceptio.

Oblatio. (From offerre.) An offer (to pay a debt, to give a security, to pay the estimated value of a thing). Oblatio votorum, see vota.

Oblatio curiae. See legitimatio per oblationem CURIAE.

Obligare. To tie around, to bind, in a moral and legal sense.

Obligare rem. To “bind” a thing by the tie of a real security (pignus, hypotheca). Syn. pignerare, if the thing is given to a creditor as a pignus. Hence obligatus (e.g., fundus, ager, res, aedes), with or without the addition of iure pignoris (hypothecae) = a thing given as a pignus or charged with a hypothec.

Brasiello, RIDA 4 (= Mel De Visscher 3, 1950) 203.

Obligari (se obligare). To assume an obligation. For obligari civiliter (naturaliter), see obligatio civilis (obligatio naturalis). Obligari actione = to be suable by a specific action.—See obstringi actione.

G. Segre, SY Bonfante 3 (1930) 501.

Obligatio. (From obligare.) Refers to both legal obligations and moral duties. The definition of obli­gatio in the legal field, in Justinian’s Institutes, which obviously goes back to a classical writing, says: “obligatio is a legal tie (vinculum) by which we are forcibly bound (adstringimur) to pay a certain thing (alicuius solvendae rei) according to the laws of our nation” (Inst. 3.13 pr.). “The substance of an obligatio consists in binding (obstringere) another person to give us (dare) something, to do (facere) or to perform (praestare) something” (D. 44.7.3). Praestare comprehends any performance by the debtor which is not a dare or facere, in particular, a payment of a penalty in the case of a private wrongdoing (delictum), an additional liability, as, e.g., that of a seller or a lessor in the case of eviction, the liability for dolus and culpa, etc.

Radin, RE 17; Huvelin, DS 4; Brasiello, NDI 8 (Bibl. 1196); Perozzi, Obbligazioni rom., 1903 (= Scr.giur. 2, 1948, 313) ; idem, Obbligazioni ex delicto (= Scr.giur. 2, 1948, 441, ex 1915-16); Marchi, BIDR 25 (1912), 29 (1916) ; Cornil, Mèi Girard 1 (1912) ; idem, St Bonfante

3 (1930) 41; G. Pacchioni, Concetto e origine dell’obbli­gazione rom., Append, to the Ital. translation of Savigny, Das Obligationenrecht, 1912; P. De Francisci, Synallagma, Storia e dottrina dei contratti innominati, 1-2 (1913, 1916) ; Betti, St Pavia 1920; idem, AG 93 (1925) 272; Arangio- Ruiz, Mèi Cornil 1 (1926) 83; A. Hägerström, Der röm. Obligationsbegriff 1 (1927), 2 (1943); G. Segrè, St Bon­fante 3 (1930) 499; Biondi, ACSR 1931, 3, 251; Leifer, KrVj 26 (1933) ; G. I. Luzzatto, Per un’ipotesi sulle origini e la natura delle obblig. rom., 1934; Lauria, SDHI

4 (1938); Albertario, Studi 3 (1936) 1; De Martino, SDHI 6 (1940) 132; L. Maillet, Le thĂ©orie de Schuld et Haftung en dr. rom., Thèse Aix-en-Provence, 1944; Aran- gio-Ruiz, Fschr Wenger 2 (1945) 56; Pflüger, ZSS 65 (1947) 121; G. Sciascia, Lineamenti del sistema obliga­torio rom., 1947 ; Μ. Kaser, Das altröm. Ius, 1949, 188 ; J. Macqueron, Cours de dr. rom. 2. Les obligations 1949; F. Pastori, Profilo dogmatico e storico dell’obbligazione rom., 1951; Biscardi, StSen 63 (1951) 40; v. Lübtow, Betrachtungen zum Gajanischen Obligationenschema, ACIVer 3 (repr. 1951) 241; A. de la Chevalerie, Obser­vations sur la classification des obligations chez Gaius, ADO-RIDA 1 (1952) 379.

Obligatio civilis. Used in a double meaning : (a) an obligation under ius civile as opposed to obliga­tions recognized only by the ius honorarium (ob­ligatio praetoria, honoraria) ; (b) an obligation suable by an action (civil or praetorian) as opposed to an obligatio naturalis, not enforceable by an action at all.—See OBLIGATIO NATURALIS.

Obligatio condicionalis. (Syn. sub condicione.) An obligation the existence of which depends upon the fulfillment of a condition. The obligation does not exist until the condition is materialized. The legal situation became complicated when the debtor died in the meantime or when the thing eventually due perished. Such cases are dealt with in the sources, but the decisions are not uniform.—See condicio.

Vassalli, RISG 56 (1915) 195; Bohacek, AnPal 11 (1923) 329; Seckel-Levy, ZSS 47 (1927) 168; Riccobono, St Perozzi 1925, 349; Beseler, TR 10 (1930) 233; Flume, TR 14 (1936) 19.

Obligatio consensu contracta. See consensus.

Obligatio ex contractu. An obligation arising from a contract. The obligatio is unilateral when only one of the contracting parties assumes an obligation (as, e.g., in a mutuum, a loan). Bilateral obligations arise when both parties assume reciprocal, but dif­ferent obligations.—See contractus, contractus innominati, and the entries dealing with the vari­ous contracts.

Obligatio ex delicto (malefìcio). An obligation aris­ing from a wrongdoing by which harm was done to a private person; see delictum, furtum, rapina, INJURIA, DAMNUM INIURIA DATUM, LEX AQUILIA, actiones poenales.—Inst. 4.1.

Ferrini, NDI 6, 657; V. Meltzl, Die Obligation im Zei­chen des Delikts, 1909; E. Costa, Le obbligazioni ex de­licto, 1909; F. De Visscher, Etudes (1931) 255; F. Alber- tario, Studi 3 (1936) 88, 99; Lavaggi, SDHI 13-14, 1948, 141.

Obligatio honoraria. See obligatio civilis.

E. Albertario, Studi 3 (1936) 31.

Obligatio in solidum. See duo rei promittendi. Obligatio iudicati. See iudicatum.

Obligatio litterarum (litteris contracta). See lit­terarum OBLIGATIO, NOMINA TRANSCRIPTICIA.—Inst. 3.21.

Obligatio naturalis. An obligation, the fulfillment of which cannot be enforced by an action. The creditor has no means to compel the debtor to pay his debt. Ant. obligatio civilis. An obligatio naturalis, how­ever, was not deprived of legal effects among which the most important was that the payment made by the debtor was valid and could not be claimed back by him through condictio indebiti because an obligatio naturalis was after all a debitum (a debt) and not an indebitum.

Gradenwitz, Fg Schirmer 1900, 137; H. Siber, N.O., Leip­ziger rechtswiss. Studien 11, 1925; Beseler, TR 8 (1928) 319; Lauria, RISG 1 (1926) ; Vazny, Bonfante 4 (1931) 131; W. Flume, Studien zur Akzessorietät der röm. Bürg- schaftsstipulationen, 1932, 70; Albertario, St 3 (1936) 55; idem, SDHI 4 (1938) 529; Maschi, Concezione naturalis· tica, 1937, 121, 348; De Villa, StSas 17 (1939) 85, 185; 18 (1940) 13; idem, Le usurae ex pacto, 1937; Di Marzo, St Calisse 1 (1940) 75; Levy, Natural law (Univ. Notre Dame Natural Law Proceedings 2, 1949, 62 (=SDHI 15, 1949, 15); G. E. Longo, SDHI 16 (1950 ) 86.

Obligatio post mortem. An obligation which had to become effective after the death of the promisor (e.g., a stipulatio “post mortem meam” creating an ob­ligation on the part of the heir). Such a promise was not valid since according to an ancient rule “an obligation could not begin (incipere = to come into existence) in the person of an heir” (Gaius 3.100). Justinian admitted such obligations. An obligation “cum moriar” (= when I shall be dying), how­ever, was valid because it was held that the obligation referred to the last moment of the debtor’s life. See dies mortis, mandatum post mortem, stipulatio post mortem, adstipulatio.

Scheltema, Rechtsgeleerd Magazijn 57 (1938) 380; G. Segre, BIDR 32 (1922) 286; Solazzi, Iura 1 (1950) 49.

Obligatio praetoria. See obligatio civilis.

Obligatio principalis. The obligation of a principal as opposed to that of a surety, or the obligation of a defendant which existed before litis contestatio as opposed to that after litis contestatio in a trial in which the creditor claimed the payment.

Obligatio quasi ex contractu. (I.e., quae quasi ex contractu nascitur = which arises as if from an agreement). An obligation arising from a situa­tion which resembles one originating from a con­tract, but is not a contractual one because of the absence of an accord between the parties involved, as, e.g., in the case of negotiorum gestio, legatum per damnationem, the payment of a non-existing debt {indebitum), communio incidens, guardianship, etc.—Inst. 3.27.—See OBLIGATIO.

Riccobono, AnPal 3-4 (1917) 263.

Obligatio quasi ex delicto (maleficio). An obligation arising from an illicit act which is not qualified as a delictum {quasi ex delicto debere, teneri) but which nevertheless creates a liability, at times even for an­other’s doings. Instances of such obligations are that of a iudex qui litem suam facit, liability for deiecta, effusa, posita, suspensa from one’s house or dwellings (see actio de deiectis).—Inst. 4.5.

G. A. Palazzo, Obblig asioni quasi ex d., 1919; Y. Chas- taignet, La notion de quasi delit, These Bordeaux, 1927.

Obligatio re contracta. An obligation which origi­nates from a contract concluded re, i.e., by handing over a thing to the future debtor.—See contractus, COMMODATUM, DEPOSITUM, MUTUUM, PIGNUS.

Brasiello, St Bonfante 2 (1930) 541.

Obligatio rei. See obligare rem.

Obligatio verborum (verbis contracta). An obliga­tion assumed through the pronunciation of solemn, prescribed words.—Inst. 3.15; D. 45.1.—See con­tractus, STIPULATIO, DICTIO DOTIS, IURATA PROMIS­SIO LIBERTI.

Obligationes mutuae. See mutuae petitiones.

Obligatus. (With regard to persons.) Bound by a contractual or delictual obligation; with regard to things {ager, fundus, aedes, res, bona, fructus, etc.) = given as a pledge (pignus) to the creditor or hypothecated (see hypotheca).—See obligare rem, OBLIGATIO.

Obnoxius. One who is responsible for damages {damnum, noxa) done to another; in a broader sense syn..with obligatus. With regard to criminal matters = one guilty of a crime {obnoxius criminis).

Obnuntiatio. Higher magistrates used to give notice {obnuntiare) to plebeian tribunes of unfavorable celestial signs which were considered as a bad prog­nostic for popular assemblies convoked or already commenced. Consequently, the gathering had to be revoked or interrupted.

Weinstock, RE 17; BouchS-Leclercq, DS 1, 582.

Obreptio. (From obrepere.) Surreptitious conceal­ing of true facts in order to obtain an advantage, in particular, to provoke a favorable decision (rescript) of the emperor. The term subreptio {subrepere) has a similar meaning and refers rather to telling a false­hood for the same purpose. If one succeeded in obtaining an imperial rescript based on false allega­tions made by himself, his adversary in the trial proves the untruth of the pertinent facts and the presence of an obreptio, which led to a dismissal of the plaintiff’s claim.

Obtogare legem (obrogatio legis). Repealing in part an existing law by the substitution of a new provision. Obscurus. Not clear, abstruse. Obscure expressions of will are to be interpreted in a way “which seems more likely or which mostly is being practised” (D. 50.17.114). In the case of unclear terms used in a manumission of a slave, the interpretation should be rather in favor of his liberty. Syn. dubius, ambiguus. Obscuro loco natus — born of low origin.

Solazzi, SDH I 13-14 (1947-48) 276.

Obsequium. A respectful behavior of a freedman towards his patron. There is no juristic definition of obsequium, but it was taken to be customary {con­suetum). A transgression of this duty (use of vio­lence, audacity) exposed the freedman to the charge of ingratitude (see ingratus). A similar term is reverentia which was considered violated if the freed­man sued his patron in court without permission of the competent magistrate.—D. 37.15; C. 6.6.

C. Cosentini, St sui liberti 1 (1948) 239.

Observatio legis (legum). The observance of the law (laws).—See consuetudo fori.

Observatio rerum. The control (custody) of another’s property. It is given to those who are put in pos­session of the debtor’s property; see missiones in possessionem.

Obses. A hostage. He can make a testament only with a special permission. Killing a hostage is treated as high treason {crimen maiestatis).

E. Vassaux, Des prisonniers de guerre et des otages en dr. rom., Th£se Paris, 1890.

Obsignare (obsignatio). To affix a seal (to a written document, to a testament). Money in a sealed bag could be the object of a deposit; the depositee had no right to use the money and was obligated to re­turn it in the same condition as he received it. This kind of deposit of money was used by a debtor when the creditor was absent or unable to accept the pay­ment; see DEPOSITIO IN AEDE.—See SIGNUM, SIGNARE. Radin, RE 17.

Obstare. To impede, to be a hindrance. The term refers to prohibitions or obstacles {obstaculum) re­sulting from legal provisions or from exceptions which may be opposed to a plaintiff’s claim. Nihil obstat = nothing is in the way (there is no hin­drance). With this phrase the jurists used to strengthen their opinions and advices as not being opposed by the law.

Obstringere rem (pignus). To give a thing as a pledge to a creditor.

Obstringi. To be bound by an obligation (see obli­gatio) ; obstringi actione (interdicto) = to be ex­posed to, or to be sued by, a specific action (an interdict)..

Obtemperare. To obey. During a judicial proceed­ing obtemperare ius dicenti = to obey the orders of the jurisdictional magistrate. The praetorian Edict started with a section “if one did not obey the juris­dictional magistrate (ius dicenti non obtempera­verit)” in which the praetor granted an action (actio in factum) against the recalcitrant party in a trial, both defendant and plaintiff. The action was of a penal nature, the disobedient party being condemned for the contempt of court to the full value of the object of litigation (quanti ea res est). The edict applied primarily to municipal (municipia, coloniae, fora) courts which had not the necessary auxiliary organs to enforce their orders.—Obtemperare is also used of the fulfillment of the testator’s wishes (ob­temperare voluntati) expressed in his testament.— D. 2.3.

Lenel, Edictum perpetuum, 3rd ed. 1927, 51.

Obtentus. A pretext alleged in order to evade the fulfillment of one’s obligations. Obtentu = under the pretext. In imperial constitutions obtentu = with re­gard, in the face of.

Obtinere.· To obtain (an inheritance, possession, a magistracy) ; obtinere in a trial = to win the case.— See OBTINUIT.

Obtinere legis vicem. See legis vicem obtinere.

Obtingere. To accrue to a person (e.g., an inheri­tance), to fall to a person’s share when common prop­erty or an estate is divided. Syn. obvenire.

Obtinuit. (Syn. placuit, receptum est.) It is (has been) held. The phrase refers mostly to the recep­tion of a legal principle, a juristic opinion'or a legal custom, following the views of the jurists, judicial practice, or a common usage. Sometimes also the contrary opinion or principle is mentioned which was overruled by that which “prevailed (praevaluit).” Placuit often refers to an opinion of the jurists.

A. B. Schwarz, ZSS 69 (1952) 364.

Obvagulatio. According to the Twelve Tables one could force a stubborn witness who refused to testify on an act in which he had participated as a witness, by sufnmoning him publicly (obvagulatum ire) be­fore his house, to appear before court as a witness. Such a spectacular summons, if not justified, was regarded a personal insult (convicium) since the refusal of testimony by a person who was requested to witness an act, was considered a dishonest action. See INTESTABILIS.

Huvelin, DS 4; Radin, RE 17, 1747; Mommsen, Jur. Schriften 3 (1907, ex 1844) 507.

Obvenire. See OBTINGERE.

Obventiones. Proceeds, profits (distinguished from natural products, fructus), income in rents from the lease of a house or a ship (obventiones ex aedificiis, ex nave).

Occasio. An event, a happening (a marriage, an in­heritance) from which (ez occasione) one acquires or expects to acquire some gain. Occasio usuca- piendi = a situation which affords the possibility of USUCAPIO.

Occasus solis. See solis occasus.

Occentare. To write or to recite a slanderous poem (carmen famosum); to affect by witchcraft or sorcery.

Brecht, RE 17; F. Beckmann, Zauberei und Recht in Roms Friihzeit, 1928; Hendricksen, CIPhilol 20 (1925) 289; Lindsay, ibid. 44 (1949) 240; R. E. Smith, Cl Quarterly 44 (1951) 169.

Occultare (occultatio). To conceal a person (a crimi­nal) ; se occultare — to hide oneself to evade sum­mons into court. Syn. latitare.—C. 9.39.

Occultator. A hider, a concealer (of thieves, of stolen goods or of a deserter).—C. 12.45.

Occupantis melior condicio est. “He who holds a thing is in a better position” (D. 9.4.14 pr.). The rule refers to the better procedural situation of the holder of a thing when other persons claim the same thing. When several persons sue the same defendant by actiones noxales or actiones de peculio, the claim­ant who first obtained a favorable judgment was in a better situation than the other claimants since his claim was first satisfied by noxae deditio or from the peculium.

A. Biscardi, Il dogma della collisione alia luce del dir. rom., 1935, 115.

Occupatio. A profession, employment, both civil and military.

Occupatio. A mode of acquisition of ownership by taking possession of a thing which does not belong to anybody (see res nullius) and is capable of being in private ownership. Among such things are in the first place animals caught by hunting or fish­ing, things found on the seashore, things abandoned by their owner, and the like.—See venatio, piscatio, DERELICTIO, INSULA IN FLUMINE NATA, and the fol­lowing items.

Kaser, RE Suppl. 7; Beauchet, DS 4; Romano, 0. delle res derelictae, AnCam 4 (1930).

Occupatio a fisco. The seizure of private property by the fisc either for debts due (in particular by tax- farmers, see publicani) or as a penalty in criminal matters.

Occupatio rerum hostilium. (Called in literature occupatio bellica.) In addition to the occupation of the enemy’s land after a victorious war (see ager occupatorius), things belonging to the enemy used to be seized in war time. When taken by a common action of the army as a booty (see praeda), they became property of the Roman state, but, when seized during an isolated enterprise of a soldier, they became his property. Occupation of immovables was ex­cluded from such kind of acquisition of private owner­ship, since they were always acquired for the state.

Kaser, RE Suppl. 7, 686; Beauchet, DS 4, 143; J. Bray, Essai sur le droit penal militaire des Rom., 1894, 126; De Francisci, AVen 82 (1923) 967; Vogel, ZSS 66 (1948) 394.

Occurrere. To help one by a procedural or another legal measure.

Octava. A special tax of one-eighth (12^ per cent) of the value of the merchandise imposed on sales on a market.

Millet, Mel dots 1932, 615.

Octavenus. A Roman jurist of the late first century after Christ.

Berger, RE 17, 1787; Ferrini, Opere 2 (1929, ex 1887) 113.

Octaviana formula. See metus.

Octoviri, A group of eight functionaries in the earlier organization of municipal administration. They had no jurisidictional power.

Rudolph, RE 17; idem, Stadt und Staat im rom. Italien, 1935, 66; E. Manni, Per la storia dei municipii, 1947, 141. Odofredus. A renowned postglossator in the thir­teenth century (died in 1265).—See glossatores.

Kuttner, NDI 9.

Oeconomus ecclesiae. An administrator of Church property, assistant of the bishop in administrative matters. He acted also as dispensator pauperum (= the guardian of the poor).—See reverentissimus.

Offendere. To offend, to insult. An offense (offensa) committed by a slave against his master was punished by the latter.—See iniuria.

Offendere legem (legi). To violate, to commit a breach of a legal enactment (a statute, an edict, a senatusconsultum).

Offensa. See OFFENDERE.

Offerre. To make an offer. Offerre pecuniam = to offer the payment of a debt; offerre satisdationem, cautionem = to offer a security.—See ius offerendae PECUNIAE, OBLATIO.

Offerre iusiurandum. (Deferre iusiurandum.) See IUSIURANDUM NECESSARIUM.

Offerre Se liti. See LITI SE OFFERRE.

Officere lumini. See servitus ne lumini officiatur. Officiales. Officials of a lower grade in the imperial administration (clerks, assistants, even workmen), mostly freedmen and slaves.—C. 12.47.

Boak, RE 17, 2049; Lecrivain, DS 4.

Officinatores monetae. Officials of the imperial mint, mostly freedmen.—See nummularius, moneta. Vittinghoff, RE 17, 2043.

Officium. A moral duty originating in family rela­tionship or friendship (officium amicitiae) ; a duty connected with the defense of another’s interests (officium tutoris, curatoris, advocationis). In public law officium denotes the official duties of any person employed in public service as well as the office (bu­reau) of a magistrate together with its personnel. The term is applied also to provincial offices and of­ficials, in particular to the provincial governors. The

first books of the Digest and of the Code contain a large number of titles dealing with the duties of vari­ous imperial officials in Rome and the provinces. Several jurists (Venuleius, Ulpian, Paul, Macer, Arcadius Charisius) wrote monographs “De officio” ( = On the duties) of higher governmental officials. —Ex officio = by virtue of one’s official duties. In officio alicuius esse — to be employed in one’s services. —Inst. 4.17; D. 1.10-22; C. 1.40; 43-46; 48; 11.39. See MAGISTER OFFICIORUM.

Boak, RE 17; E. Bernert, De vi atque usu vocabuli ĐŸ., Diss. Breslau, 1930.

Officium admissionum. See admissiones.

Officium iudicis. The complex of legal and customary rules (mos iudiciorum, usus fori) which the private judge (iudex) had to observe in his judicial activity in addition to the binding instructions of the formula imposed on him. Syn. officium iudicantis, officium arbitri. “What a judge has done which does not pertain to his duties, is not valid” (D. 50.17.170).— See USURAE QUAE OFFICIO IUDICIS PRAESTANTUR.

Officium ius dicentis. Comprises all rights and duties within^the competence of a judicial magistrate. The term refers in the first place to the praetor (officium praetoris).—D. 1.14; C. 1.39.

Officium palatinum. An office in the imperial resi­dence. The officia palatina became in the later Em­pire state offices. Their number increased consid­erably in the course of time and their holders enjoyed manifold privileges. Princeps officii = the head of an officium palatinum.—See palatini.

Officium pietatis. See pietas.

Officium praetoris. See officium ius dicentis.

Officium virile. Duties, services accomplished by men (munera virilia) from which women were exempt. An officium virile was representing another in a trial, guardianship, curatorship, and the like.—See mu­nera.

Ofilius, Aulus. A jurist of the last century of the Republic. He was a disciple of Servius Sulpicius Rufus and the author of the first commentary on the praetorian Edict.

Münzer, RE 17, 2040.

Olim. Once, formerly. Through olim jurists allude to earlier law to which they oppose the law being in force in their own times (nunc, hodie, temporibus nostris = nowadays, in our times).

Omissum legibus. What has been neglected in statutes (laws). “What has been omitted in the laws, will not be neglected by the conscience of those who render judgments” (D. 22.5.13).

Omittere. To fail to fulfill one’s duty, or not to exercise one’s right, e.g., to neglect the formal acceptance of an inheritance or the request of a bonorum possessio, to fail to bring a suit in due time. In certain cases the failure to make use of one’s right might cause its loss (see non usus). D. 29.2.

Honig, Fg Richard Schmidt 1 (1932) 3.

Omittere. (In a testament.) To omit a person in a last will by neither instituting him as an heir nor disinheriting him. Syn. praeterire.

Omnem. A constitution of the emperor Justinian con­cerning the organization of legal studies. It was addressed to the teachers of law and issued on the same day as the Digest (December 16, a.d. 533). Omnem is the first word of the enactment.—See DIGESTA IUSTINIANI.

Omnes. All men, the whole people (populus).—See res communes omnium. Omnes often refers to all jurists (e.g., inter omnes constat, see constat).

Omnes (omnia). In certain phrases, as per omnia ( = in every respect), in omnibus casibus (= in any case), omnes omnino ( = all throughout), omnimodo ( = at any rate), the word occurs frequently in interpolated sentences as an expression of the tendency of Jus­tinian’s collaborators toward generalizations.

Guarneri-Citati, Indice² (1927) 63; idem, Fschr Koschaker 1 (1939) 144.

Omnia iudicia absolutoria sunt. See absolutorius. Omnimodo. By all means, at any rate.—See omnes. Guarneri-Citati, Indice² (1927) 62.

Omnino. (Combined with omnes, omnia.) See omnes.

Onera hereditatis. Debts, liens, taxes, and all kinds of charges by which an estate is encumbered.

Onera matrimonii. Expenses connected with the com­mon life of married persons. “There should be dowry where there are burdens of marriage” (D. 23.3.56.1).—See dos, parapherna.

Albertario, Studi 1 (1933) 295; Wolff, ZSS 53 (1932) 360; Dumont, RHD 22 (1943) 34.

Onerare libertatem. To aggravate the liberty of a freedman by imposing on him at the manumission heavy duties exceeding the normal obligations of a freedman towards his patron (libertatis onerandae causa imposita). A stipulation of the freedman, as­suming such obligations in the event that he offended his patron, was void for the reason that he would always have lived in fear of being forced to pay the penalty (metu exactionis). However, a promise made by a slave to pay the patron a certain sum as a com­pensation for the manumission, and repeated by him after he was freed, was not regarded as a promise libertatis onerandae causa.

C. Astoul, Des charges imposees par le maitre d la liberte, These Paris, 1890; Albertario, Studi 3 (1936) 397; C. Cosentini, Studi sui liberti 1 (1948) 95.

Onerari. To be burdened with debts and other charges or expenses. The term is applied primarily to an heir on whom the payment of legacies and fidei- commissa was imposed. Hence onerosa hereditas an inheritance encumbered with excessive debts and legacies.

Oneratus. See honoratus, onerari.

Onerosa hereditas. See onera hereditatis, onerari.

Onus. See ONERA, CADUCA, ACTIO ONERIS AVERSI, SER- VITUS ONERIS FERENDI.

Onus probandi. The burden of the proof.—See pro- batio.

Levy, lura 3 (1952) 171.

Ope consilio. By aid and counsel. The phrase is applied in criminal matters with reference to all kinds of accessories who help another in committing a crime. It occurs in connection with crimes against the state or the emperor, with adultery and, in the field of private delicta, with the theft. In the for­mula of actio furti the two words were attached to the name of the defendant whether he was the prin­cipal thief or an accessory. In the first case the words covered the doing of the thief himself (acting with design, intention, see consilium), in the second case they referred to abettors and instigators. Ope means physical help, consilio means no simple advice, but instructing and encouraging. “He who persuades and impels ahother to commit a theft and instructs him with advice, is held to give a consilium, one who gives him assistance and help in taking away the goods is acting ope” (D. 47.2.50.1).

M. Cohn, Beitrage zur Bearbeitung des rom. R., 1880, 10; R. Balougditch, Etude sur la complicity en dr. penal rom., 1920, 44.

Ope exceptionis. Through an exceptio. Syn. per ex- ceptionem. Ant. ipso iure. The phrase is used to indicate that the defendant had to oppose an exceptio in order to repeal the plaintiff’s claim.—See exceptio, COMPENSATIO.

Opera publica. Public constructions, such as buildings, bridges, harbors, roads. They were under the super­vision of the censors (see censores), or special func­tionaries who from the time of Augustus had the title of curatores and depended upon the praefectus urbi.—D. 50.10; C. 8.11(12).—See procuratores OPERUM PUBLICORUM, EXACTOR.

Lengle, RE 18; Humbert, DS 4; E. De Ruggiero, Lo Stato e le opere pubbliche in Roma antica, 1925.

Operae. (Pl.; rarely used in sing, opera.) Labor in all its manifestations, both manual and intellectual. Syn. labor (from the fourth post-Christian century). Operae applies also to the work of animals (operae iumenti). Operas praestare = to render services. To acquire ex operis (or operis) = by one’s work; the phrase is opposed to acquisitions ex re = by means (money) taken from one’s property.—See locatio conductio operarum, and the following items.

F. De Robertis, Rapporti di lavoro, 1946, 13.

Operae animalium. The right to use another’s beasts of burden. Such right was a personal servitude (usus iumenti, pecoris, ovium), usually left by a legacy. It was perhaps a creation of the later (Justinian’s?) law.

G. Grosso, Uso, abitazione, 1939, 128.

Operae diurnae. Services (work) to be done in day- time.

Operae fabriles. Labor done by professional crafts­men (fabri).

Mitteis, ZSS 23 (1902); C. Cosentini, 5/ sui liberti 1 (1948) 125.

Operae liberales. (Termed also artes liberales, in­genuae.) Services rendered by persons exercising a profession worthy of a free (liber) man, primarily intellectuals (lawyers, physicians, architects, land­surveyors, etc.). The operae liberales could not be the object of contract of hire (locatio conductio ope­rarum). But payment for such services could be claimed through proceedings of cognitio extra ordi­nem. Ant. operae illiberales (term unknown in the sources, but used in modern literature).—See hono­rarium, STUDIA LIBERALIA.

Heidrich, IhJb 88 (1940) 142; Siber, ibid. 161; M. Boitard, Les contrats des services gratuits, 1941, 9.

Operae liberti. Services rendered by a freedman to his patron. The duties assumed by the freedman could not be sued for by an action (obligatio natura­lis) unless he promised his operae under oath (see iurata promissio liberti) or through a stipulatio operarum.—D. 38.1; C.6.3.—See onerare liberta­tem.

Lecrivain, DS 3, 1215; G. Segre, StSen 23 (1906) 313; Thelohan, Et Girard 1 (1912) ; Biondi, AnPer 28 (1914) ; M. Chevrier, Du serment promissoire, These Dijon, 1921, 153; O. Lenel, Edictum perp.³ (1927) 338; J. Lambert, Operae liberti, 1934; Giffard, RHD 17 (1938) 92; Lavaggi, Successione dei liberi patroni nelle opere dei liberti, SDH1 11 (1945) 236; E. Albertario, Studi 4 (1946) 3, 13; C. Cosentini, St sui liberti 1 (1948) 103, 2 (1950).

Operae officiales. Services of personal nature due by a freedman to his patron, such as to accompany him, to travel with him, to administer his affairs, and the like.

Mitteis, ZSS 23 (1902) 143; C. Cosentini, 57 sui liberti 1 (1948) 125.

Operae quae locari solent. See locatio conductio operarum.

Operae servorum. (As a personal servitude.) The right to use the services or labor of another’s slave. Syn. usus servi. Such right used to be bequeathed by a legacy.—D. 7.7; 33.2.

Cicogna, Fil 31 (1906) ; G. Grosso, Uso, abit asione, opere dei servi, 1939, 121.

Operarius. A workman, one who renders subordinate Services.—See MERCENNARIUS.

Operis novi nuntiatio (denuntiatio). A protestation by the owner of an immovable (is qui nuntiat) against a neighbor starting a new construction (opus novum) on his realty which might prevent the former from the use of his property. A nuntiatio is justified when the objector acted to defend his right, to prevent a damage which might be caused by the opus novum, or when the construction endangered the use of a public place or road. In the last instance any Roman citizen was entitled to protest; in other cases, only the owner whose property was exposed to damages, the beneficiary of a servitude, or one who held the land on a right similar to ownership (an emphyteuta, a superficiarius). He to whom the protesting notice was given (is cui nuntiatum est) was bound to cease the construction or to give the objector security to the effect that he would not suffer any damages or that the former state would be restored (sätisdatio de op ere restituendo). If he failed to give such security, the objector might request an interdict (interdictum ex operis novi nuntiatione, named in literature inter die turn demolit orium) by which the praetor ordered the demolition of what had been constructed. A refusal to comply with the interdict led to a normal trial (see interdictum). The builder of the opus novum had another remedy to evade the prohibition resulting from the nuntiatio. He might ask the praetor for the annulment of the operis novi nuntiatio (remissio operis novi nuntia- tionis) if he could prove that the objector had no right to oppose the projected construction. The operis novi nuntiatio was reformed by Justinian and various innovations were introduced through inter­polations performed by the compilers on classical texts leaving, however, some details in obscurity.— D. 39.1.—See PATIENTIAM PRAESTARE, DEMOLITIO.

Berger, RE 9, 1670; 18; Humbert, DS 4; Bruno, NDI 4, 713; Martin, Et Girard 1 (1912) 123; R. Henle, Unus casus, 1915, 406; Niedermeyer, St Riccobono 1 (1936) 253; Branca, SDH! 7 (1941) 313; idem, AnTriest 12 (1941) 96, 128, 156; Μ. David, Et sur I’interdit quod vi aut clam, AnnVniv Lyon 3. ser. 10 (1947) 31; Gioffredi, SDH I 13-14 (1947/8) 93; Berger, Iura, 1 (1950) 102, 117; Cosentini, AnCat 4 (1949-50) 297.

Opinator. See opinio.

Opifex. A workman, an artisan.

G. Kühn, De opificum Rom. condicione, Diss. Halle, 1910. Opinio. (In administrative law.) An estimation of a provincial landed property (in the later Empire) for the assessment of the import in corn to be delivered by the landowner for the army. Opinatores — of­ficials charged with the evaluation and collection of such corn contributions.

Cagnat, DS 4.

Opiniones. Opinions on legal questions, expressed in responsa or elsewhere. There is only one work known under the title Opiniones which was excerpted for the Digest, namely, by Ulpian (in six books). The collection of Ulpian “Opinions” was perhaps compiled in postclassical times.

Jörs, RE 5, 1450 (no. 12) ; G. Rotondi, Scritti giur. 1 (1922) 453; F. Schulz, History of R. legal science, 1946, 182.

Oportere. A legal obligation recognized and sanctioned by the ius civile. The verb appears in the intentio of the procedural formula in actiones in personam and is there connected with another verb which de­scribes the nature of the defendant’s obligation: dare (= to give), dare facere ( = to do), damnum decidere (=to indemnify), praestare (=to perform) opor­tere. Oportere occurs also only in the so-called actione s in ius conceptae; see formula in ius con­CEPTA, OBLIGATIO.

Paoli, Rev. des et latines, 15 (1937) 326; Kunkel, Fschr Koschaker 2 (1939) 4.

Oppidum. A town (originally any place surrounded by walls). The term was later replaced, usually by municipium.

Kornemann, RE 18.

Opponere. To oppose. The term refers primarily to exceptions {opponere exceptionem) which the de­fendant opposed to the plaintiff’s claim; see exceptio. It is also applied to counterclaims by which the de­fendant repeals the plaintiff’s demand, as e.g., op­ponere compensationem.—See compensatio.

Opprobrium. An ignominious, disgraceful doing. Syn. probrum. “Some doings are ignominious by nature, as theft or adultery, some by the customs of the country” (D. 50.16.42), as, e.g., bad management of a ward’s affairs by his guardian, followed by a condemnation in actio tutelae.

Optimales. A political group (“the best ones,” the aristocrats) composed of wealthy and influential sena­tors and senatorial families in the later Republic who controlled the public administration and finances as an oligarchy, eager to defend their privileged, monopo­listic position against the opposing group, the popu­läres who fought for the extension of the political rights of the people and the defense of its interests. The two groups were not political parties but assem­blages of ambitious individuals and families struggling incessantly for the defense of the interests of their own and their members. *

Strasburger, RE 18; L. R. Taylor, Party politics in the age of Caesar (Los Angeles, 1949) 11.

Optare. See optio.

Optimo iure (optima lege). Refers to persons and things, free from legal restrictions and charges. A person optimo iure is one who has full legal capacity. A land optimo iure indicates a real property free from private charges (servitudes, pledge) and from taxes and public burdens as well.—See lex terentia.

Kiibler, RE 18, 772; Ciapessoni, St Bonfante 3 (1930) 661; Beseler, St Albertoni 1 (1933) 432; Kaser, ZSS 61 (1941) 25.

Optimus (princeps). An attribute (“the best”) given to the reigning emperor {optimus princeps noster), sometimes enhanced by the addition of maximus {op­timus maximusque princeps noster).

Optimus maximus. These words were usually added in sales or legacies of immovables (e.g., jundus uti optimus maximusque) to indicate the legal and factual conditions of the land or building. Through this clause a seller assumed the liability that the immov­able was free from easements {optimus) and had the size affirmed by him {maximus).

Kiibler, RE 18, 803; E. Rabel, Haftung des Verkäufers für Mangel im Recht, 1912, 92.

Optinere, optingere. See OBTINERE, OBTINGERE.

Optio. A title of military and civil officials. In the army optio = a substitute of a centurio. There were also optiones in specific military services as well as in the civil administration, as, for instance, in the staff of the praejectus urbi. Optio was the leading official in the imperial mint.

Lammert, RE 18; Vittinghoff, RE 17, 2044.

Optio. A selection. Syn. electio. A selection between two or more things could be granted the legatee in a testament (see legatum optionis) or established in an agreement in behalf of a contractual party, as, e.g., in a stipulation to give either the slave Stichus or Pamphilus.—See optio servi.

Optio legata. See legatum optionis.—D. 33.5.

Optio servi. The election of a slave. It was granted a legatee as the right to select one slave among those who belonged to the estate. The legatee had the choice also when “a slave” was generally bequeathed without any precise indication, and there were sev­eral slaves in the estate. If the testator did not fix a date for the choice, the heir might ask the praetor to settle a term. Non-execution of the selection by the legatee within the term fixed resulted in the loss of the right and the heir might offer the legatee a slave of his own choice.—See legatum optionis.

Optio tutor is. The choice of a guardian {tutor). A husband under whose power (see manus) his wife was, could in his testament dispose that she might freely choose her guardian. The guardian appointed at the widow’s request = tutor optivus. The perti­nent disposition of the husband could not be restricted by the addition of a condition.—tutela mulierum.

Sachers, RE 7A, 1592.

Opus. See LOCATIO CONDUCTIO OPERIS, ADPROBARE, INTERDICTUM QUOD VI AUT CLAM.

Opus metalli. See metallum.

Opus novum. See operis novi nuntiatio.

Opus publicum. See opera publica, inscribere OPERE PUBLICO.

Opus publicum. (In criminal law.) Forced labor on a public construction or a public work as a punish­ment for crimes {damnatio in opus publicum) com­mitted by persons of the lower classes of the popula­tion. Working in an opus publicum comprised the construction or restoration of roads, cleaning of sewers, service in public baths, bakeries, weaving­mills (for women) and the like. Condemnation for lifetime involved loss of Roman citizenship; in other cases the status of the condemned person remained unchanged.

Lengle, RE 18, 828; Lecrivain, DS 4; Brasiello, Repres­sion penale, 1937, 361.

Oraculum. An imperial enactment (in the language of the imperial chancery of the later Empire).

Orare causam. See causas dicere, causam perorare.

Oratio (principis in senatu). A speech of the em­peror made in the senate by himself or by his repre­sentative (a quaestor) in order to propose a sena­tusconsultum Which alone became the law. This procedure was observed in the first century of the Principate alongside the other form of proposing se­natusconsulta by high magistrates. From the time of Hadrian the proposals of magistrates fell into disuse and the emperor’s discourse in the senate, even made by his representative in his absence, became the normal way leading to a senatusconsultum. The em­peror’s proposal was approved by the Senate without discussion; the approval became a simple formality. Hence oratio principis as a technical term replaced that of senatusconsultum which from the end of the second century was applied only to earlier senatus­consulta. Thus, in the last analysis, the oratio prin­cipio turned out to be an imperial law, promulgated in the senate. For more important orationes, see the following items.—See constitutiones principum.

Radin, RE 18; Pottier, DS 4; Orestano, NDI 9; Volterra, NDI 12, 29; Cuq, Le consilium principis, Memoires Acad. Insc. et Belles Lettres, Ser. 1, v. 9 (1884) 424.

Oratio (orationes) Claudii. (On recuperatores, and on accusatores in criminal matters, a.d. 42-51). The oration of the Emperor Claudius (there may have been two orations), confirmed by a decree of the senate, set the age of twenty-five completed years for recuperatores, and declared guilty of calumnia those accusers in a criminal trial who without any just reason abandoned an accusation in a trial already in course.—See ACCUSATIO, SENATUSCONSULTUM TUR- PILLIANUM, CALUMNIA.

Editions: in all collections of Fontes (see General Bibl., Ch. XII), the most recent in Riccobono, FIR F, no. 44 (Bibl.); L. Mitteis, Grundziige und Chrestomathie der Papyruskunde 2, 2 (1912) no. 370; Stroux, SbMiinch 1929, fasc. 3.—Woess, ZSS 51 (1931) 336.

Oratio Hadriani. Prohibited an appeal from the deci­sions of the senate to the emperor.

Oratio Hadriani. (On fideicommissa.) Confirmed by a senatusconsultum, ordained that a fideicommissum left to peregrines be confiscated by the fisc.

Oratio Marci. (On appellatio.) The Emperor Marcus Aurelius ordered that terms fixed for appel­latio had to be reckoned as tempus utile.

Oratio Marci. On crimen expilatae hereditatis.—See CRIMEN EXPILATAE HEREDITATIS.

Oratio Marci. (On in ius vocatio.) Prohibited from summoning one’s adversary into court during the harvest (messis) or vintage (vindemiae) except in urgent cases, as, for instance, when the plaintiff would lose his action through the lapse of time.

Oratio Marci. (Of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.) Admitted children to intestate succession of their mother. See SENATUSCONSULTUM ORFITIANUM.

Oratio Marci. (Of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.) Protected slaves manumitted in a testament of their master who had been assassinated. According to senatusconsultum siLANiANUM in such a case the testament could not be opened (see apertura testa- menti) before the discovery of the murderer. The oratio settled that, if a slave was manumitted in the testament, his child born in the meantime, i.e., before the opening of the will, was free, and profits which would have come to the slave if he were freed imme­diately after the testator’s death, belonged to him although the testament entered in force much later.

Oratio Marci. (Of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.) On confessio in iure. The contents of this oratio is not quite clear; it is mentioned in connection with CONFESSIO IN IURE.

Giffard, RHD 29 (1905) 449; W. Piischel, Confessus pro iudicato est, 1924, 156; Wlassak, Konfessio, SbMiinch 1934, 42.

Oratio Marci. (Of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.) On marriages, forbade marriage between a sena­tor’s daughter and a freedman, and between a tutor (or curator) and his ward. In a monograph of Paul the latter prohibition appears as introduced by an oratio “divorum Marci et Commodi” (of the late Emperors Marcus and Commodus).

Oratio Marci. (On transactions concerning alimony.) Ordered that they had to be confirmed by the praetor.

Oratio principis. See oratio.

Oratio Seven. (Of a.d. 195.) Prohibited tutors (and curators?) from alienating or pledging real property of their wards unless the transaction was allowed by the praetor.

Sachers, RE 7A, 1550; G. Kuttner, Fschr Martitz 1911, 247; Peters, ZSS 32 (1911) 299; E. Albertario, Studi 1 (1933 ) 477; Brasiello, St Solazzi 1948, 691; idem, RIDA 4 (= Mel De Visschcr 3, 1950) 204.

Oratio Severi et Caracallae. Concerning donations between husband and wife, see donatio inter virum ET UXOREM.

Orator. (In judicial proceedings.) One who assists a party to a civil trial by advice and speech both before the magistrate (in iure) and the judge (apud iudicem), or who defends the accused in a criminal trial. See advocatus, patronus causae. Although trained in law, the orator needed the help of a pro­fessional jurist in a difficult case; in particular in civil matters such help in the first stage of the trial before the praetor might be necessary to write down the formula and its complicated parts or when a new kind of action was requested. Therefore the activity of the orator as an assistant of the party has to be distinguished from that of the jurists. See iurispru- dentia. Some lawyers combined both professions, but instances of a transition from one profession to the other are also known. Under the Principate the two professions are neatly separated. In the second stage of a civil trial before the private judge the eloquence of the orator might exercise a greater in­fluence on the final decision since the proceedings were closed after a recapitulation of the legal arguments and the results of the proofs by the representatives of the parties. Rhetoric had an important role in judicial oratorship inasmuch as the rhetoricians in their capacity as teachers dealt with legal problems on the ground of real or fictitious cases.—See rhetores (Bibl.), CAUSAM PERORARE, CAUSAS DICERE.

Himmelschein, Symb. Frib. Lenel, 1931, 373; Steinwenter, ZSS 65 (1947) 106; J. Stroux, Röm. Rechtswissenschaft und Rhetorik, Potsdam, 1949; F. Schulz, History of R. legal science, 1946, 108.

Orbi. Married persons who have no children.—See LEX IULIA DE MARITANDIS ORDINIBUS, SENATUSCON­SULTUM MEMMIANUM.

Orbis Romanus. The Roman Empire.

J. Vogt, O.R. Zur Terminologie des röm. Imperialismus, 1922.

Orcinus libertus. See LIBERTUS orcinus.

Orbitas. The state of being married and childless. See orbi. In imperial constitutions orbitas means the loss of either a child or a parent.—C. 8.57.

Ordinare. (In the language of the imperial chancery.) To appoint (a tutor, a curator, a procurator}.

Ordinare iudicium (ordinatio iudicii). Comprises the whole activity of the magistrate (the praetor) in the proceedings in iure in a civil trial.—See the follow­ing item.

Holder, ZSS 24 (1903 ) 201; Lenel, ibid. 335.

Ordinare litem (ordinatio litis). Apparently a special act in a trial concerning the status of a person as a free man (causa liberalis), in particular of a defender of the liberty of the person involved and the acceptance of a security (cautio) offered by him. The act is of importance since after litis ordinatio (lite ordinata) the person whose liberty was under examination was considered free until the final decision was rendered. With regard to other trials the phrase ordinare litem seems to be of postclassical origin.—See causa libe­ralis, ADSERTIO.

Wlassak, ZSS 26 (1905) 395; Partsch, ZSS 31 (1910) 424; Μ. Nicolau, Causa liberalis, 1933, 116.

Ordinare testamentum (ordinatio testamenti). To make a testament. Ordinare refers also to codicils. —Inst. 2.10; 6.23.

Ordinarius. Normal, regular. With reference to pro­cedural institutions ordinarius indicates all those which are connected with the normal organization of the courts and the procedure before them (ordo iudiciorum). Ant. extra ordinem, extraordinarius. With regard to officials and offices a distinction is made between dignitates ordinariae (officials in active service) and dignitates honorariae which are only honorific titles.—See IUDEX ORDINARIUS, IUS ORDI­NARIUM, IUDICIA EXTRAORDINARIA, HONORARII.

Born, RE 18.

Ordo. Generally means a sequence, an order or rather a right order. Hence ordine — in a proper order. In the law of successions ordo refers to the order in which a group (a class) of successors under praetorian law (bonorum possessores) are admitted to the in­heritance, see BONORUM POSSESSIO INTESTATI, EDIC­TUM successorium.—Ordo is also the order in which citizens are called to fulfill public services (munera). —See the following items.

Kübler, RE 18; Sachers, RE Suppl. 7, 792.

Ordo. (With reference to a group of persons.) The senate (ordo amplissimus). For the municipal coun­cil, see ordo decurionum. For ordo in the meaning of a social class, see ordo equester (persons of equestrian rank) and ordo senatorius (persons of senatorial rank). Ordo is also used of professional groups, as, for instance, ordo public anorum (tax- farmers, see publicani), or of persons in subordinate service of the state (ordo scribarum, apparitorum, and the like), who were organized as associations.—C. 10.61.

Ordo amplissimus. The senate.—See senatus.

Ordo collegii. Indicates either an association, a guild (see collegium) or its administrative board.

Kübler, RE 18, 931.

Ordo decurionum. The municipal council. See municipium. The ordo decuriorum was the center of the municipal administration and functioned also as a superior instance for the decisions of municipal magistrates in all administrative and certain judicial matters. The decisions of the ordo were passed by a simple majority, in more important matters by two- thirds or three-fourths of the votes. Members of the council were appointed by the highest magistrates of the municipality (see magistratus municipales), in some municipia by their citizens or by the council itself (see adlectio). The new members paid a fee of admission to the council (summa honorarii, see honorarium). The membership in the ordo de­cur io num was considered a dignity, and the families of the decuriones constituted the local nobility. From the middle of the third post-Christian century the situation of the decuriones changed radically to their detriment as a result of the interference of the em­perors in the municipal administration, especially in financial and taxation matters. Heavy financial bur­dens were imposed on the decuriones; the former local nobility became in the later Empire the most vexed group of the municipal population. The membership in the curia (this was the new name for the ordo decurionum, the decuriones being termed ever since curiales) became hereditary. The few personal privi­leges (as, for instance, to be judged by the governor of the province or to be exempt from the most severe penalties or torture in criminal matters) meant very little in face of the financial and personal burdens they had to bear. They were liable for the amount of taxes imposed on the citizens of the municipium. An extensive imperial legislation, of which a con­siderable portion is preserved in the Theodosian and Justinian Codes, dealt with the curiales, their duties and the penalties inflicted for violation of the perti­nent laws and attempts to evade the obligations imposed. Under Justinian the curia became a kind of a penitentiary since the assignment to the curia was applied as a punishment.—D. 50.2; C. 10.32-35; 12.16.—See DECURIONES, ALBUM CURIAE, QUINQUEN­NALES, DUAE PARTES, MOTIO EX ORDINE.

Kubler, RE 4 (s.v. decurio) ; Kornemann, RE 16, 621.

Ordo dignitatum. See dignitas.

Ordo equester. See equites.

Ordo iudiciorum privatorum. The ordinary civil, bi­partite proceeding in the classical period, to be dis­tinguished from proceedings extra ordinem. The term was coined in literature as a counterpart to the extraordinary procedure, see cognitio extra ordi­nem.

Sachers, RE Suppl. 7, 793; Lecrivain, DS 4.

Ordo iudiciorum publicorum. The normal criminal procedure (see QUAESTIONES PERPETUAE) in the last centuries of the Republic and under the Principate, distinguished from cognitio extra ordinem in criminal matters which gradually superseded the quaestiones procedure owing to the imperial legislation and the transfer of the criminal jurisdiction to the emperor and bureaucratic officials.—See accusatio, inqui­sitio.

Sachers, RE Suppl. 7, 797; Lecrivain, DS 4.

Ordo magistratuum. See cursus honorum.

Ordo senatorius. A privileged social group from the times of Augustus, composed of the members of the senate and their families (agnatic descendants until the third degree with their wives) and of persons to whom the emperor granted the senatorial rank (see clavus latus). Possession of property of the value of at least one million sesterces was required. The ordo senatorius enjoyed various privileges both in civil and criminal matters. The highest civil and military offices in the state (praefectus urbi, prae­fectus aerarii, legati iuridici, commanders of legions, governors of province^, etc.) were accessible only to persons of senatorial rank. Lower in social rank was the ordo equester (see equites). Persons of eques­trian rank could obtain the admission to the sena­torial rank from the emperor (see adlectio). Both these privileged classes were referred to as uterque ordo when a legal norm applied to both of them. Kubler, RE 18, 931.

Oriens. The Eastern part of the Empire.—See comes ORIENTIS, DIOECESIS.

Originalis. One who belongs to a social group or com­munity by birth (originalis colonus).

Originarii. Citizens of a community by birth (origo). C. 10.39. See INCOLA.

Origo. The birth place. A person acquired the local citizenship in his origo if he was the son of a citizen of the same locality (municeps). He became a civis suae civitatis (= a citizen of his city). Origo was different from the domicilium of a person, if he took domicile in another municipality than in that of his birth. A manumitted slave acquired ius originis in the origo of his patron, an adopted person in that of his pater adoptivus. Municipal citizenship could be granted by the municipal council to a person who was born elsewhere. A person who had origo in a given community was subject to public charges there without regard to the circumstance whether or not he had his domicile there.—C. 10.39.—See incola, MUNICIPIUM, DOMICILIUM, MUNERA.

Berger, RE 9, 1252; Cuq, DS 4; A. Visconti, Note pre-

liminarie sull’o. nelle fonti itnper. rom., St Calisse 1940.

Ornamenta. Distinctive titles and insignia of high magistrates (ornamenta consularia, praetoria, quae­stor ia) or of senators (ornamenta senatoria). Orna­menta were granted under the Principate as a personal distinction to persons who had never been magis­trates or had held a magistracy of a lower rank than the ornamenta bestowed on him. See adlectio, honorarii. Municipal magistrates and decuriones had also ornamenta (ornamenta decurionalia, duo- viralia).—See insignia.

Borcsak, RE 18; Lecrivain, DS 4.

Ornamenta (ornatus) aedium (domus). Things which serve to adorn a building. They are distin­guished from instrumentum domus since the latter “pertain to the protection of a house, and the orna­ments serve for pleasure” (D. 33.7.12.16). To ornamenta belong pictures, sculptures, and other things which embellish a house.—See instrumen­tum.

Ornamenta iumentorum. An ornamental equipment (caparison, trappings) of beasts of burden which they used to wear when sold at the market. According to the aedilician edict which dealt with the sale of domestic animals, the ornamenta were considered sold together with the animals, and the buyer could claim them by a specific action.—See edictum aedi- LIUM CURULIUM.

Biondi, Actiones arbitrariae, AnPal 1 (1911) 153.

Ornamenta mulierum. Women’s ornaments (jew­elry). The term is discussed by the jurists in con­nection with legacies of ornamenta mulierum.—D. 34.2.—See sumptus.

Ornamenta triumphalia. Ornaments worn by a mili­tary commander during his triumphal entrance in Rome after a victorious war.—See triumphus.

Borzsak, RE 18, 1121.

Ornatio provinciae. The assignment of military units to a province for its security, together with the neces­sary provisions of food and money for the expenses of administration. The senate was the competent authority.

O’Brien-Moore, RE Suppl. 6, 728.

Os fractum. An injury inflicted on a person and con­sisting in the fracture of a bone. It is mentioned already in the Twelve Tables as a punishable crime by the side of membrum ruptum which comprises major damages to a human body.

Binding, ZSS 40 (1919) 106; Appleton, Mel Cornil 1 (1926) 51; Di Paola, AnCat 1 (1947) 268.

Osculum. A kiss. If a man kissed his fiancee at the conclusion of the betrothal (osculo interveniente) and died before the marriage, the woman might keep one-half of the gifts he had given her; the other half had to be returned to the heirs of the deceased, ac­cording to postclassical law.

M. B. Pharr, CU 42 (1947) 393.

Ostendere. To prove. It is a favorite term in Jus­tinian’s constitutions; it occurs also in some inter­polated texts.

Guarneri-Citati, Indice\ 1927, 63.

Ostentatio. A display, an exhibition. Consumable things (see res Quae usu consumuntur) could be the object of a gratuitous loan (commodatum) if they were used only for an ostentatious show (osten­tatio) and a vain display (pompa),

Ostia. A house door. A lease of a house or a dwelling could be unilaterally dissolved by the lessee if the landlord refused to restore doors (and windows, fenestrae) which were in a bad condition. On the other hand the tenant who provided the house with doors at his own expense had the right to take them away (see ius tollendi) after restoring the en­trances to their former condition.

Ostiarius. A janitor, normally a slave.

Otiosus. Idle, unemployed, free from charges. Otiosa pecunia = money not lent out on interest.

Ovatio. See triumphus.

Rohde, RE 18.

Ovile. An enclosure on the Campus Martius (— the field of Mars in Rome) where the comitia centuriata gathered and voted (suffragia ferre). The term be­came a popular expression for a voting place. The official term was saeptum. Saepta were also termed the enclosed places assigned to the single tribus or centuriae for the purpose of voting.

Rosenberg, RE 1A (s.v. saepta).