Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

COLONIA. COLONIA. 315
for the extension and pernianence of her colonial propugnaculum." Another object was to increase
settlements. His principal object- was to provide the power of Rome by increasing the population.
for the redundancies of population, and raise the (Liv. xxvii. 9.) Sometimes the immediate object
poorer citizens to a fortune becoming the dignity of a colony was to carry off a number of turbulent
of Athenian citizens. It was of this class of and discontented persons. Colonies were also
persons the settlers were chiefly composed; the established for the purpose of providing fobr veteran
state provided them with arms, and defrayed the soldiers, a practice which was begun under the
expenses of their journey. The principle of divi- republic (Liv. xxxi. 4), and continued under the
sion, doubtless, was, that all who wished to par- emperors: these coloniae were called militares.
take in the adventure, applied voluntarily; it was It is remarked by Strabo (p. 216. ed. Casaub.),
then determined by lot who should or should not when speaking of the Roman colonies in the north
receive a share. Sometimes they had a leader ap- of Italy, that the ancient names of the places were
pointed, who, after death, received all the honours retained, and that though the people in his time
of the founder of a colony (oiKLears). were all Roman, they were called by the names of
The Cleruchiae were lost by the battle of Aegos- the previous occupiers of the soil. This fact is in
potami, but partially restored on the revival of accordance with the character of the old Roman
Athenian power. colonies, which were in the nature of garrisons
(Spanhelm, De Usu et Praest. Numisnz. vol. i. planted in conquered towns, and the colonists had
p. 559, &c.; Bougainville, Quels etoient les droits a portion of the conquered t-rritory (usually a third
degs setropoles Grecques sur les colonies, &c., Paris, part) assigned to them. The inhabitants retained
i745; Heyne, De Vetermn Coloniaruzm Jure the rest of their lands, and lived together with the
ej~usque Causis, Gott. 1766, also in Opuscula, vol. i. new settlers, who alone composed the proper cop. 290; Sainte Croix, De l'Etat et du Sort des Colonies lony. (Dionys. A2ntiq. Roos. ii. 53.) The conquered
desanciensPeuples, Philadelphie, 1779; Hegewisch, people must at first have been quite a distinct
Geogr. und Hist. N2achrichten, die Colonien der class from, and inferior to, the colonists. The
Griechen 1etrejffnd, Altona, 1808; Raoul-Rochette, definition of a colonia by Gellius (xvi. 13) will
Ilistoire critique de l'Etablissement des Colonies appear, from what has been said, to be sufficiently
G(recques, Paris, 1815, 4 vols.; Wichers, De exact: -" Ex civitate quasi propagatae - populi
Coloniis VTeterum, Groningae, 1825; Pfefferkorn, Romani quasi effigies parvae simulacraque."
Die Colonien de? Alt-GUriechen, Kbnigsberg, 1838; No colonia was established without a lex, pleHermann, Lehlzbuce der Gsiech. Staatsalth. ~ 73. bisciturn, or senatusconsultum; a fact which shows
&c.; Wachsmuth, Hellen. Alterthlumsk. vol. i. p. 95, that a Roman colony was never a mere body of
2nd ed.; Schrmann, Antiq. Juris Publici Graec. adventurers, but had a regular organisation by the
p. 414. &c.; MBickh, Public Econ. of' Atlens, p. parent state. According to an ancient definition
424, &c.) [B. J.] quoted by Niebuhr (Serv. ad Virg. Aen. i. 1 2), a
2. RoMAN. The word colonia contains the same colony is a body of citizens, or socii, sent oult to
element as the verb colere, "to cultivate," and as possess a commonwealth, with the approbation of
the word colonus, which probably originally signified their own state, or by a public act of that people
a " tiller of the earth." The English word colony, to whom they belong; and it is added, those are
which is derived from the Latin, perhaps expresses colonies which are founded by public act, not by
the notion contained in this word more nearly any secession. Many of the laws which relate to
than is generally the case in such adopted terms. the establishment of coloniae were leges agrariae,
A kind of colonisation seems to have existed or laws for the division and assignment of public
among the oldest Italian nations, who, on certain lands, of which Sigonius has given a list in his
occasions, sent out their superfluous male popu- work already referred to.
lation, with arms in their hands ([epa vedorls), to When a law was passed for founding a colony,
seek for a new home. (Dionys. Antiq. Rom. i. 16.) persons were appointed to superintend its formaBut these were apparently mere bands of adven- tion (coloniaun deducere). These persons varied in
turers, and such colonies rather resembled the old number, but three was a common number (triumGreek colonies, than those by which Rome ex- viri ad colonos deducendos, Liv. xxxvii. 46, vi. 21).
tended her dominion and her name. We also read of duumviri, quinqueviri, vigintiviri
Colonies were established by the Romans as far for the same purpose. The law fixed the quantity
back as the annals or traditions of the city extend, of land that was to be distributed, and how much
and the practice was continued during the republic was to be assigned to each person. No Roman
and under the empire. Sigonius (De Antiquo. could be sent out as a colonist without his free
Jure Italiae, p. 215, &c.) enumerates six main consent, and when the colony was not an inviting
causes or reasons which, from time to time, induced one, it was difficult to fill up the number of volunthe Romans to send out colonies; and these teers. (Liv. vi. 21, x. 21.)
causes are connected with many memorable events Roman citizens who were willing to go out as
in Roman history. Colonies were intended to members of a colony gave in their names at Rome
keep in check a conquered people, and also to (nomina dederzunt, Liv. i. 11, the first time that he
repress hostile incursions, as in the case of the has occasion to use the expression). Cicero (Pro
colony of Narnia (Liv. x. 10), which was founded Dom. c. 30) says that Roman citizens who chose
to check the Umbri; and Minturnae and Sinuessa to become members of a Latin colony must go vo(x. 21), Cremona and Placentia (xxvii. 46), which luntarily (auctores.ficti), for this was a capitis
were founded for similar purposes. Cicero (De deminutio; and in another passage (Pro Caecin.
Leg. Ayr. ii. 27) calls the old Italian colonies the 33) he alleges the fact of Roman citizens going
"propugnacula imperii;" and in another passage out ill Latin colonies as a proof that loss (:f civitas
(1pro Font. c. 1) he calls Narbo Martius (Nar- must be a voluntary act. It is true that a menl er
bonne), which was in the provincia Gallia, " Co- of a Roman colony would sustain no capitis delonia nostrorum civium, specula populi Romani et minutio, but in this case also there seems no reason