Leasing the Emperor’s Land in Roman Africa

Although most inhabitants of the Roman Empire never saw an emperor, many would have been familiar with his extensive agricultural estates in the provinces. Like other wealthy landowners, emperors frequently leased their land to local farmers. The properties were managed by imperial officials and consequently were a common locus of interaction between private individuals and the Roman state. Africa Proconsularis, one of the empire’s most fertile provinces, provides an important case study for this phenomenon. A series of well-known inscriptions from the Bagradas valley detail leasing regulations for imperial estates in the second and third centuries. The Theodosian Code and Code of Justinian preserve additional directives from emperors (constitutiones) to officials in Roman Africa during the fourth century CE. This presentation draws on this regional evidence to trace both continuity and change in imperial leasing regulations from the reign of the emperor Trajan (r. 98-117 CE) to that of Theodosius I (r. 379-395 CE). Over this period, emperors expanded their use of long-term leases to exploit their estates. Lessees’ rights were strengthened despite, or perhaps because of their conflicts with both imperial officials and neighboring communities. To some extent, the imperial leasing arrangements established within Roman Africa served as a model for other parts of the empire.