Colonus (person)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. WikiProject Classical Greece and Rome may be able to help recruit one. |
A colonus was a type of Roman peasant farmer, a serf. This designation was carried into the Medieval period for much of Europe. Coloni worked on large Roman estates called "latifundias" and could never leave. Latifundias raised sheep and other types of cattle. The latifundias typically used slave labor, but in some cases the land was worked by free, serf-like, tenant farmers. The tenant farmers were known as coloni (singular: colonus). The coloni farmed the land and paid rent to the owner of the latifundia. Their rent usually consisted of a portion of their harvest, labor, or money. Coloni could be hunted or flogged if they left the latifundia although technically still free. Increasing numbers of people were forced to become coloni due to the decreasing number of slaves to support the economy because of Rome's failure to win battles. Coloni became bandits, with Bulla Felix as a prime example, which further harmed the trade system.
