Lucius Sextius Lateranus

Lucius Sextius Lateranus was a Roman tribune of the plebs and is noted for having been one of two men (the other being Gaius Licinius Stolo) who passed the Leges Liciniae Sextiae of 368 BC and 367 BC. Originally, these were a set of three laws. One law provided that the interest already paid on debts should be deducted from the principal and that the payment of the rest of the principal should be in three equal annual installments. Another one provided restricted individual ownership of public land in excess of 500 iugeras (300 acres) and forbade the grazing of more than 100 cattle on public land. The most important law provided that one of the two consuls be a plebeian. Having been reelected nine times, Lucius Sextius Lateranus and Gaius Licinius Stolo held the plebeian tribunate for ten years. In 368 BC the laws regarding debt and land were passed, but the law regarding the consulship was rejected. In 367 BC this law was passed. In the same year the two tribunes of the plebs proposed a fourth law concerning the priests who were the custodians of the sacred Sibylline Books, and Lucius Sextius Lateranus was elected to serve as consul for the year 366 BC. Livy wrote that he was "the first of the plebeians to attain that honour."

Lucius Sextius and Gaius Licinius proposed these laws in 375 BC when they were elected tribunes of the plebs. They were opposed by the patricians, who prevented the bills from being debated. In retaliation the two men vetoed the election of the military tribunes with consular power (consular tribunes) for five years. They were reelected to the plebeian tribunate each year for nine consecutive years. In 370 BC they allowed the election of the consular tribunes because there was a need to raise an army to fight against the city of Velitrae. In 369 BC, the laws, particularly the one concerning the consulship, were fiercely debated. In 368 BC Marcus Furius Camillus, who opposed the enactment of the bills, was appointed dictator. However, he resigned for unclear reasons. The Plebeian Council passed the laws on interest and on land, but rejected the law about the consulship. However, the two tribunes of the plebs pressed for all the motions to be put to the plebeians collectively and vowed not to stand for re-election if this was not done, arguing that there was reason to reelect them only if the plebeians wanted to enact the measures they proposed together. In 367 BC Lucius Sextius and Gaius Licinius were returned to their office for the tenth time, and the law on the consulship was passed. The two men proposed a law which abolished the Duumviri Sacris Faciundis, a college of two priests, who were patricians, and also the custodians of the sacred Sibylline Books, and replaced it with the Decemviri Sacris Faciundis, a college of ten priests with the same role. Five of them were to be patricians and five were to be plebeians. The law was passed, and five patrician priests and five plebeian ones were duly elected. According to Livy, "Satisfied with their victory, the plebs gave way to the patricians, and relinquishing for the moment discussion about the consuls, permitted the election of military tribunes [with consular power]."

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