Colonia

Colonia

Funerary inscription for Gaius Duccius Phoebus and his wife Julia Restituta, who lived to 80 and 83 respectively. The third line of the inscription mentions the Colonia Augusta Emerita, which chose the location and bore the cost of their burials. From the Museo Nacional de Arte Romano in Mérida, Spain.
Funerary inscription for Gaius Duccius Phoebus and his wife Julia Restituta, who lived to 80 and 83 respectively. The third line of the inscription mentions the Colonia Augusta Emerita, which chose the location and bore the cost of their burials. From the Museo Nacional de Arte Romano in Mérida, Spain.

Colonia (plural: coloniae) was an administrative status establishing a settlement or granted to a settlement. Originally, in the late kingdom and Republic a colonia fell under one of two designations; the coloniae civium, which were settlements established by about 300 families and were typically situated near the sea. Later, from the 2nd century BCE, these coloniae became larger and became more frequently established inland as well. The settlers were given a modest amount of land to subside on and retained their Roman citizenship. The other form of coloniae were the coloniae Latinae, which were usually much larger and were established in hostile or newly conquered territory. These coloniae were established with a variable, but larger, number of citizens than the coloniae civium, and were given larger land grants. Colonists of the coloniae Latinae lost their Roman citizenship and became citizens of the polity in which they were now residing. They could, however, retain their Roman citizenship upon returning to Rome. In the late Republic, the nature of coloniae changed somewhat as the two forms of coloniae were merged and these settlements were primarily established as agricultural outposts aimed at enfranchising the un-landed poor with land.

Inscription dedicated to Mercury Valdivahanus according to the will of Lucius Carinus Solemnis, a decurion of the Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, which is abbreviated as CCAA in the 6th line of the inscription. A Milia Rhenas also donated 4,000 sesterces to the offering. Dated to the 1st century CE. Found in Köln. In the Römisch-Germanisches Museum in Köln.
Inscription dedicated to Mercury Valdivahanus according to the will of Lucius Carinus Solemnis, a decurion of the Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, which is abbreviated as CCAA in the 6th line of the inscription. A Milia Rhenas also donated 4,000 sesterces to the offering. Dated to the 1st century CE. Found in Köln. In the Römisch-Germanisches Museum in Köln.

In the imperial era, the nature changed yet again. With the hundreds of thousands of veterans from the civil wars, coloniae became a means of settling these veterans (many who were not land owning citizens) as well as helping to establish control over newly acquired areas. These were established on a larger scale than those in the Republic. Coloniae were not always newly established in the empire, but were sometimes colonists settled into existing cities with the dual benefit of acting as a sort of garrison to ensure the loyalty of the local inhabitants. The status of colonia also became a title that could be bestowed upon a city, in the same way as municpium, which granted the inhabitants additional benefits and obligations. By the late 2nd century CE, one of these benefits granted to coloniae was exemption from taxes.