367 B.C. Roman Licinian-Sextufa Study

As an important part of the study of the early Roman political history,the struggle between plebs and patricius is the main clue of the early Republican political development.Because of the difference of origin and status between plebs and the patricius,and the imbalance of rights and obligations,plebs in early Rome began to struggle with patricius for centuries around three aspects: debt,land and political rights.Under the leadership of the top leaders of the plebs class,the plebs class took the evacuation movement as the main means to strive for their rights and interests at the legal and social levels,resulting in many legal achievements involving different contents.Among them,the formulation and promulgation of Licinio-Sextian Leges in 367 B.C.is of decisive significance.From 376 B.C.,with the support of the patricius and the leadership of the Tribune Plebs,Licinio and Sextian,plebs finally reached an agreement with patricius after ten years of complex struggle,and passed the Licinio-Sextian Leges of 367 B.Based on the focus of the long-term struggle between plebs and patricius,Licinio-Sextian Leges mainly includes three contents: first,cancel the debt interest,deduct the paid interest from the principal,and relax the three-year debt repayment period;second,limit the land area occupied by patricius by up to 500 yujeres;third,allow and clarify the role of plebs in the position of consul.These three contents directly correspond to the three demands of plebs struggle: to solve the debt problem,to limit the land share and to open the bureaucratic system headed by the consul to plebs.They not only solve the basic contradiction between plebs and patricius in the early Republic economically,but also encourage plebs,break the restrictions for plebs in the political field,and provide plebs the legal way to the bureaucratic system headed by the consul.Based on the results of the early struggle,the Licinio-Sextian Leges of 367 B.C.solved the basic problems of the struggle between plebs and patricius in the early Republic,ensured the balance of the political rights and status between plebs and patricius by law,and announced the beginning of the continuous victory in the struggle of debt,land and political rights.After 367 B.C.,the stability of the social and economic foundation of Rome provided a guarantee for the stable development of the Republic;plebs obtained the legal way to enter the bureaucratic system of the Republic,changed the ruling situation of the clan aristocracy over the Roman state,and the new patricius gradually replaced the old forces to become the new owner of the highest power of the city-state,improved and consolidated the Roman republic regime;the unity from internal of the Roman citizens laid a solid foundation for the later large-scale foreign war in Rome and ensured the stability of political order and national security.Therefore,the promulgation of Licinio-Sextian Leges in 367 B.C.was not only an important achievement of the struggle between the early plebs and patricius,but also determined the political trend of the Roman Republic,which was of epoch-making significance in the history of Roman political system.At present,the study of Roman public law only starts from the aspects of characteristics and results,and there is no systematic discussion on Licinio-Sextian Leges.Based on the specific history of the early Roman Republic,this paper takes Livy's The History of Roman as the main text,Dionysius' s Roman Antiquities and Appian's Roman History as the auxiliary text,analysis and selection the existing historical materials and the research results of Roman public law,we can describe the background and content of Licinio-Sextian Leges,as well as our own views on the influence and significance of Licinio-Sextian Leges.We hope that we can have a more systematic and complete discussion on the reform in 367 B.C.and the introduction of Licinio-Sextian Leges,so as to provide help for the better study of the constitutional history of the Roman Republic.