Beyond the Constitutions of Marcus: Cassius Dio, Italian ‘Volksrecht’, and the Trouble with Law on the Books

Summary In Book 79[78] of the “Roman History,” Cassius Dio claims that under Macrinus, Italian δικαιονόμοι “ceased to judge beyond the constitutions of Marcus”. Historians have traditionally read this claim to mean that Marcus Aurelius had issued legislation limiting the jurisdiction of Italian iuridici , that these officials had taken on greater responsibilities since Marcus’ death, and that Macrinus briefly restored Marcus’ original scheme. I argue instead that Dio describes Italian judges autonomously refusing to recognize the constitutions of Marcus’ successors as legally valid. I then suggest that Dio’s account of Italian adjudication fits better with the fluid and political legal culture that scholars have long found in provincial sources, and that Italian legal practice may have more closely resembled that of the provinces than traditional pluralist accounts of Roman law have led us to think.