A Previous article made a linguistic study of municeps. The present examines the Roman discussions of the word. I hope further to discuss the definitions of Verrius Flaccus, the history of the ius, and the juridical concept. Roman historical and legal discussion of municeps is to be found in the Digest , in the Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius , and in the De verborum significatu of Sextus Pompeius Festus and its epitome by Paulus . It comprises legal definitions, which (...) must have had at least contemporary validity, historical definitions of what the word meant at different periods in its history, and the citation of precedents with or without historical detail. Of these the last two are the most important. (shrink)

A Study of the related words munia, munus, munis, and their derivatives will throw light on the original linguistic and juridical meaning of the ius municipi. It is agreed that these words all derive from a root *mei ‘to exchange' . Meillet-Ernout rightly point out that words derived from that root with the suffix -n- ‘ont servi a désigner des échanges régiés par l'usage, et plusieurs ont une valeur juridique'.