PRAEFECTURAE, FORA, VICI, CASTELLA, ETC.
it comprehends all the terms, except territorium, which follow it in the list given above.
The title praefectus was given to an official to whom some higher authority had delegated the power to perform certain functions. So far as the villages and cities of the empire were concerned, the source of authority might be the central government at Rome or some one of the civitates. The officials of the first sort were the praefecti iure dicundo sent out by the urban praetor to administer justice in the settlements founded by Rome or annexed by her, as well as the special praefecti iure dicundo Capuae Cumis who were elected in the comitia on the nomination of the praetor. The term prefecture could also be applied to the small communities which did not have an indepndent status, but were attached to a neighboring civitas. In this case the authority of the prefect came, not from Rome, but from the civitas. The residents in Italian prefectures connected with Rome lacked in the early period some of the qualities of citizenship, but later these communities either attained the position of municipa, or while retaining the name of praefecturae, differed from municipia only in thef act that they did not have II viri or IV viri[1]. As for other class of prefectures, they maintained their existence down to a late date. Civitates usually had territoria dependent upon them. In these territora hamlets were scattered here and there, and in the villages at a distance from the governing city justice was administered and certain other powers were exercised by a prefect sent out for that purpose by the municipal authorities. To such an official, for instance, reference seems to be made in CIL. x, 6104, an inscription of the Augustan age: Carthagine aedilis, praefectus iure dicundo vectigalibusque quinquennalibus locandis in castel is LXXXIII. Similarly the magistrates of the Genuenses exercised jurisdiction over the resident of the castellum
- ↑ Cagnat, Dict. Dar. s.v. praefectura.
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