Legal Definitions - aedes

In Roman law, aedes refers to a building. While it could encompass any structure, it was often used to denote significant public buildings, particularly those with a sacred or religious purpose.

• Example 1: A Roman city council decides to fund the construction of a new public archive to house important legal documents and historical records. This substantial new structure, designed for civic administration and public access, would be legally recognized as an aedes.

  Explanation: This illustrates aedes as a term for a significant public building, demonstrating its application to civic structures that serve a governmental or administrative function, not solely religious ones.

• Example 2: A wealthy Roman senator owns a sprawling estate in the countryside, featuring a main residential complex, separate guest quarters, and a private library, all enclosed within a single property. This entire collection of interconnected structures, considered a single grand dwelling, could be referred to as an aedes.

  Explanation: This example shows that aedes could also apply to large, private residential complexes, emphasizing its meaning as a substantial "building" or collection of buildings forming a cohesive structure.

• Example 3: During a legal dispute over property boundaries in ancient Rome, a lawyer might refer to a specific structure dedicated to a minor deity on a piece of land as an aedes. The focus would be on the physical edifice itself – its dimensions, materials, and location – rather than solely its religious function, when discussing its legal status or ownership.

  Explanation: While this example involves a religious structure, it highlights how aedes describes the physical building as a legal entity, emphasizing its material existence and legal implications rather than just its sacred purpose.