Le pagus dans la péninsule Ibérique

Abstract

The lex rivi Hiberiensis raises detailed questions concerning the pagus and pagani in Hispania. Its content enriches the otherwise limited epigraphical documentation of the peninsula. The editor’s decision to restore [lex paganic]a in the title is scrutinised, which leads to a better definition of the vocabulary of the institutions and to a better assessment of the function of these city districts controlled by magistri. The question of irrigation, including the pagi attached either to a colony or to a municipium, yields information that does not concern the organisation of a pagus. This is similar to the difficulty surrounding the term pagani, for whom the lex does not provide a definition. The rural world, included in the territories of provincial cities, calls for renewed questions concerning the organisation of rural territories and the peasant activities they accommodated. The efforts of the provincial or imperial authority to favour or protect them also raise questions that illustrate the necessary evolution of research on a reality poorly served by the sources.