Deditio

In ancient Rome, deditio was the surrender of an enemy community, resulting in the annexation of its territory. The people of the community became peregrini dediticii, free noncitizens under Roman rule.[1]

The Augustan-era historian Livy narrates an early example of deditio from Rome's semilegendary Regal period, when Tarquinius Priscus defeated the Collatini. When asked "Do you surrender yourselves and the people of Collatia, city (urbs), lands (agri), water (aqua), boundary marks (termini), shrines (delubra), utensils (utensilia), and all appurtenances divine and human (divina humanque omnnia), into my power (dicio) and that of the Roman people?" the Collatini replied in the affirmative.[2] Although Rome claimed rights to the lands and property of the defeated, restitution might be made to some individuals or to the conquered people as a whole. Those who had surrendered (dediticii) under these terms were not to be enslaved, as war captives were by custom.[3]

  1. ^ Adolph Berger, s.v. "Deditio", Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law (American Philosophical Society, 1953), p. 427.
  2. ^ L. De Ligt, "Provincial Dediticii in the Epigraphic Lex Agraria of 111 BC?" Classical Quarterly 58:1 (2008), pp. 358–359, citing Livy 1.38.
  3. ^ De Ligt, "Provincial Dediticii," p. 359.