Ad exemplum rei publicae. Roman private colleges and the civitas

Abstract

The starting point for these studies is the opinion that Roman colleges were to be a copy of the respublica. I have attempted to prove that 1. with regard to organisation, copying municipal (civic) solutions was usually limited to adopting the nomenclature (names of corporate offices) and some institutions (corporate treasury, gatherings (meetings) of corporate members) known from public life. 2. In the sphere of symbols, referring to civic ideals/civic ethos was one of the bases of corporate identity. Both the system of values and the tools used to create the college’s image, founded on this system, were identical for colleges and the community of citizens. In other words, an ideal college member was also an ideal citizen.

Keywords

• Roman History
• Roman colleges
• civic ethos