decuma

• decimus; sc. pars, a tenth part, tithe, land-tax: hordei: Sardiniae binae decumae frumentae imperatae, L.: alquid sibi decumae dare: decumas vendere: prandia decumae nomine, i. e. a feast under the name of tithes to the gods.

(sc. pars). “A tithe.” This name was applied by the Romans to the tribute in kind, which Sicily, and at one time Asia Minor, had to pay out of the yearly production of wheat, wine, oil, and produce, instead of the stipendium usual in other provinces. It was a burden on the land called after it ager decumanus, and was exacted from the persons occupying at the time. Every year the number of cultivators, of acres under cultivation, and the produce of the harvest, were ascertained, and the right of exacting the decuma of the whole territory of a city sold to the highest bidder. In the case of Sicily this took place at Syracuse; in the case of Asia, in Rome. The purchaser of the decuma bound himself to deliver a certain quantity of corn in Rome; if the harvest were good, he found his advantage in the surplus. Such farmers of the decumae were called decumani. (See publicanus.) If the amount delivered were insufficient for the needs of the city, a second amount could be extracted by decree of the Senate or the people, which was paid for by the State. See annona; frumentariae leges.