The were sets of laws first enacted in 146 BC designed to aid in the regulation and administration of the Roman provinces. Written specifically for each province

Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...

, the was drafted by the victorious general with the help of a commission of ten , or advisors, whom were usually of senatorial rank. Then the charter was enacted, provided it was approved by the Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

.

History

Provincial administration before 146 BC was achieved in essentially the same manner as it was after the advent of the . In 167 BC, for example, Lucius Aemilius Paulus imposed an extensive settlement on Macedonia

Macedonia (region)

Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...

. Paulus and his commission divided Macedonia into four independent republics; and they wrote laws for each region, including the amount of tribute to be paid to Rome. Settlements prior to 146 BC, including Paulus' settlement of Macedonia, were informal. The , or originated in 146 BC after Scipio Aemilianus' settlement of Africa. Like previous provincial organization, Africa was settled without a formal charter³. Later that year, however, the senate seems to have passed the leges provinciae, which created formal constitutions for the provinces and set a precedent for future conquests⁵. Examples include Publius Rupilius

Publius Rupilius

Publius Rupilius, Roman statesman, consul in 132 BC. During the inquiry that followed the death of Tiberius Gracchus, conducted by himself and his colleague Popillius Laenas, he proceeded with the utmost severity against the supporters of Gracchus. In the same year he was despatched to Sicily,...

' for Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 in 132 BC and Pompeius Magnus' for Bithynia

Bithynia

Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...

¹. and were used interchangeably over the course of Roman history.

Although drafting formal constitutions for provinces became more common after the advent of the , having a was not a necessary condition for the Romans exercising direct rule. Several territories settled after 146. BC had provincial status without a . For example, parts of Germania

Germania

Germania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube...

 seem to have been subject to paying tribute without a formal charter³.

Provisions

The had four main objectives: I) it divided the province into regions, II) it made arrangements for taxes and marked out tax districts, III) it divided the province into for judicial purposes, and IV) it defined the relationships between the senate, magistrates, and popular assemblies¹.

The main objective of the was to formalize the conquered territory's status as a province and to exact tribute

Tribute

A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer...

from it. The were not detailed constitutions designed to resolve everyday affairs. Rather, they were basic charters or formulas which organized the territory and specified certain basic regulations. The day-to-day administration of the province was done by a combination of magistrates and senatorial commissions. The governor of the province had autonomous power and was free to enact edicts so long as they complied with the ⁴. The determined the extent of the governor's power in the sense that it limited the kinds of cases that the governor could hear².