Decemviri in the context of Decemvirate (Twelve Tables)

⭐ Core Definition: Decemviri

The decemviri or decemvirs (Latin for "ten men") refer to official ten-man commissions established by the Roman Republic.

The most important were those of the two decemvirates, formally the decemvirate with consular power for writing laws (Latin: decemviri consulari imperio legibus scribundis) who reformed and codified Roman law during the Conflict of the Orders between ancient Rome's patrician aristocracy and plebeian commoners. Other decemviri include the decemviri for adjudging litigation (decemviri stlitibus judicandis), the decemviri for making sacrifices (decemviri sacris faciundis), and the decemviri for the assignment and giving of arable lands (decemviri agris dandis adsignandis).

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Decemviri in the context of Gaius Licinius Stolo

Gaius Licinius Stolo, along with Lucius Sextius, was one of the two tribunes of ancient Rome who opened the consulship to the plebeians.

A member of the plebeian Licinia gens, Stolo was tribune from 376 BC to 367 BC, during which he passed the lex Licinia Sextia restoring the consulship, requiring a plebeian consul seat, limiting the amount of public land that one person could hold, and regulating debts. He also passed a law stipulating that the Sibylline Books should be overseen by decemviri, of whom half would be plebeians in order to prevent any falsification in favor of the patricians. The patricians opposed these laws, though they finally were passed. Licinius was then elected consul for 361 BC (Fasti Capitolini).

View the full Wikipedia page for Gaius Licinius Stolo

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