The Demise of Popular Legislation

Under the new constitutional order established by Augustus, the vested right of the assemblies to enact legislation was maintained as a regular function.

In the early part of this period, several important statutes were passed concerning marriage and divorce: lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus (18 bc), lex Papia Poppaea (ad 9)^{^[50]}; the criminalization of adultery: lex Iulia de adulteriis coercendis (18 bc); the repression of electoral corruption: lex Iulia de ambitu (18 bc); the regulation of legal procedure: leges Iuliae iudiciorum publicorum et privatorum (17 bc)^{^[51]}; the operation of the senate: lex Iulia de senatu habendo (9 bc); the testamentary manumission of slaves: lex Fufia Caninia (2 bc), lexAelia Sentia (ad 4); and the abolition of agnatic tutelage over women: Lex Claudia de tutela mulierum (of unknown date). Some of these laws were passed directly on the emperor's motion while others were passed on the motion of higher magistrates, though obviously the emperor was their real promoter. However, almost since the emergence of the new order, popular legislation was destined to wither away. As the political functions of the assemblies declined rapidly, this form of legislation soon became obsolete and ceased to exist at the end of the first century ad—the last known lex was an agrarian law passed in the time of Emperor Nerva (ad 96-98).^{^[52]}

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Source: Mousourakis G.. Fundamentals of Roman Private Law. Springer, 2012.— 366 p.. 2012

The Demise of Popular Legislation

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