ngs
dedicated to the gods by the pontiff with the approval of the civil
authority, in turn, the people, the senate and the emperor. Things so
consecrated were inalienable. Apart from this in the empire, the
municipalities as they grew up were considered "juristic persons" who
were entitled to receive and hold property. In a similar position were
authorized _collegia_, amongst which were the mutual aid societies
referred to above. Christians associated in these societies would
leave legacies to them. Thus (W.M. Ramsay, _Cities and Bishoprics of
Phrygia_, I. i. 119) an inscription mentions a bequest (possibly by a
Christian) to the council ([Greek: synhedrion]) of the presidents of
the dyers in purple for a ceremonial, on the condition that, if the
ceremony be neglected, the legacy shall become the property of the
gild for the care of nurslings; and in the same way a bequest is left
in Rome (Orelli 4420) for a memorial sacrifice, on the condition that,
if it be not performed, double the cost be paid to the treasury of the
corn-supply (_fisco stationis annonae_). No unauthorized _collegia_
could receive a legacy. "The law recognized no freedom of
association." Nor could any private individual create a foundation
with separate property of its own. Property could only be left to an
authorized juristic person, being a municipality or a _collegium_. But
as the problem of poverty was considered from a broader standpoint,
there was a desire to deal with it in a more permanent manner than by
the _annona civica_. The _pueri alimentarii_ (see above) were
considered to hold their property as part of the _fiscus_ or property
of the state. Pliny (_Ep._ vii. 18), seeking a method of endowment,
transferred property in land to the steward of public property, and
then took it back again subject to a permanent charge for the aid of
children of freemen. By the law of Constantine and subsequent laws no
such devices were necessary. Widows or deaconesses, or virgins
dedicated to God, or nuns (A.D. 455), could leave bequests to a church
or memorial church (_martyrum_), or to a priest or a monk, or to the
poor in any shape or form, in writing or without it. Later (A.D. 475)
donations of every kind, "to the person of any martyr, or apostle, or
prophet, or the holy angels," for building an oratory were made valid,
even if the building were promised only and not begun; and the same