CiceroD Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 Ive been trying to find information on Collegia and I'm somewhat confused by their portrayal in various media sources. In "Rome" TV series they are portrayed as district gangs that controlledeverything from prostitution to the grain dole. Lindsay Davis made them out to be an excuse to get together in a society w/o right of assembly. Therefore political meetings and dining might be the order of the day, while they claim that they were only collecting dues for the funeral club. The only reputable source that I have briefly says that they were serious trade organizations. Approved by the government to further the interest of their industry. Perhaps "collegia" was an umbrella term? What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryaxis Hecatee Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 It has been discussed there : http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6252 It should give you quite a lot of informations on the subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgious Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Ive been trying to find information on Collegia and I'm somewhat confused by their portrayal in various media sources. In "Rome" TV series they are portrayed as district gangs that controlledeverything from prostitution to the grain dole. Lindsay Davis made them out to be an excuse to get together in a society w/o right of assembly. Therefore political meetings and dining might be the order of the day, while they claim that they were only collecting dues for the funeral club. The only reputable source that I have briefly says that they were serious trade organizations. Approved by the government to further the interest of their industry. Perhaps "collegia" was an umbrella term? What do you guys think? The famous Roman historian Mommsen wrote about "collegia and sodalicia romanorum"-Actually the Senate was the collegium of the big men who controlled the Republic or the Empire and since smaller men were denied entrance there they formed collegia through which they controlled there area of expertise-they were a form of guilds which latter in the modern age were called trade-unions.All kinds of people were banded in the collegia from people who exercised legal professions to people such as brigands or pirates.The most powerfull people were in the Senate and they decided what was legal or not for the people who were in the lesser collegia. Among those in the Senate also brigands and pirates were included although the scale of ther activities was much vaster and the rewards considerably more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 The most powerfull people were in the Senate and they decided what was legal or not for the people who were in the lesser collegia. Are we still talking about the historical Rome, or are we talking about its fictional portrayal? If we're talking about the historical Rome, the Senate did not decide what was legal or not. The senate did not have the power to pass laws or sign treaties. The passage of legislation and treaties was conducted in Assemblies of the people via secret ballot. Whatever made you think otherwise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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