Sulle leges municipii e coloniae di età imperiale

Research into the development of the organisation of conquest in the western provinces of the Empire has at its disposal, among the most important sources, numerous glimpses of leges municipii, as well as smaller fragments, which allow some conclusions to be drawn: Romanisation in the age of the Principate would have been based not only on the deduction of coloniae, but also on the attribution of the status of municipium to a large number of pre-existing communities, especially in Gaul, Spain and Africa. The most extensive extracts of leges municipii are represented, as known, by the chapters of the lex Salpensana, the lex Malacitana and the lex Irnitana, all coming - together with minor frustules of similar municipal laws - from Betica and all dating back to the Flavian Age. To these must be added the fragments from the territory of Lauriacum in Noricum and some recently emerged understandings of the lex municipii Troesmensium (the latter probably relating to municipia civium Romanorum). In any case, the analysis of the texts of the leges municipii known to us provides fundamental information on what the Roman vision of municipium was in the imperial age and on the importance of administrative issues such as the structure and functioning of the curiae and municipal assemblies, their decision-making processes, dispute resolution and jurisdictional mechanisms.