Legal Definitions - lex Fusia Caninia

The Lex Fufia Caninia (also sometimes referred to as the Lex Fusia Caninia) was a Roman law enacted in 2 BC. Its primary purpose was to regulate and limit the number of slaves a master could free through their will, a process known as testamentary manumission. The law aimed to control the growth of the freedman population, which Roman authorities viewed as potentially destabilizing to society and the economy.

It established a sliding scale, dictating that a master could only free a certain proportion of their slaves, with an absolute maximum of 100 slaves, regardless of the total number owned. For example, if a master owned between 2 and 10 slaves, they could free no more than half. If they owned between 101 and 500 slaves, they could free no more than a fifth, subject to the overall cap of 100.

Here are some examples illustrating the application of the Lex Fufia Caninia:

• Example 1: Small Estate Limitation
  Imagine a Roman citizen named Aulus who owns 7 slaves. In his will, Aulus states that he wishes to grant freedom to all 7 of his slaves upon his death. Under the provisions of the Lex Fufia Caninia, Aulus, owning between 2 and 10 slaves, would only be permitted to free half of them. Therefore, only 3 of his slaves would legally gain their freedom (since you cannot free half a person, the number is rounded down), and his will's attempt to free the remaining 4 would be invalid. This demonstrates how the law directly restricted manumissions even for smaller slaveholdings.

• Example 2: Medium Estate Proportionality
  Consider a Roman landowner, Brutus, who possesses 60 slaves working on his agricultural estates. Brutus, wishing to reward loyalty, specifies in his will that 20 of his most dedicated slaves should be freed. According to the Lex Fufia Caninia, a master owning between 31 and 100 slaves could free no more than a quarter of them. A quarter of 60 slaves is 15. Consequently, Brutus's intention to free 20 slaves would be partially disallowed, and only 15 of them would legally be manumitted, illustrating the law's proportional restriction based on the total number of slaves.

• Example 3: Large Estate Absolute Cap
  Suppose a wealthy Roman senator, Cassius, owns a vast household and numerous properties, totaling 400 slaves. In his will, Cassius, feeling generous, declares that he wishes to free 150 of his slaves, particularly those who served him personally. While Cassius owns 400 slaves (placing him in the category where he could free up to a fifth, which would be 80), the Lex Fufia Caninia also imposed an absolute maximum. No matter how many slaves a master owned, they could never free more than 100 through their will. Therefore, despite his desire to free 150, Cassius would only be legally permitted to free 100 slaves, demonstrating the overarching numerical limit imposed by the law.