agrarian

& s. [In Fr. agraire; Port. agrario; all fr. Lat. agrarius = pertaining to land; ager = a field.] A. As adjective : 1. Gen.: Pertaining to fields or lands. 2. Spec. Pertaining to laws or customs, or political agitation in connection with the ownership or tenure of land. "The question which now supersedes the agrarian movement in importance, is the nce, is the proposal for a code of written laws made by the tribune Terentillus.". Lewis: Early Rom . Hist ., ch. xii., pt. iii., § 36. The The Agrarian Laws , in the ancient Roman republic, were laws of which the most important were those carried by C. Licinius Stolo, when tribune of the people, in B. C. 367. second rogation, among other enactments, provided (1) that no one should occupy more than 500 jugera (by one calculation about 280, and by another 333, English acres) of the public lands, or have more than 100 large and 500 small cattle grazing upon them; (2) that such portion of the public lands above 500 jugera as was in po e ion of individuals should be divided amongst all the plebeians, in lots of 7 jugera , as property; (3) that the occupiers of public land were bound to employ free labourers, in a certain fixed proportion to the extent of their occupation. When at a later period efforts were made to revive the Licinian rogations, such opposition was excited that the two Gracchi lost their lives in consequence, and this, with their other projects, proved abortive. It is important to note that the land with which the Licinian or "agrarian" laws dealt was public land belonging to the state, and not, as is popularly supposed, private property. "The real opposition to an agrarian law arose from those who, by occupying the unappropriated land of the state, and employing their capital and slaves in its cultivation, had acquired a po e ory right to it." -Lewis: Early Rom. Hist . , ch. xii., pt. ii., § 26. "Mænius, a tribune, the proposer of an agrarian law, had hindered the levies of soldiers."- Ibid . , ch. xii., pt. iv., § 68. Bot. Geog. Agrarian Region: The name given by Watson to a botanical region marking the area of corn cultivation, and limited by the Pteris aquilina. It rises up the Highland hills to the height of 1,200 feet. It is divided into the Infra - agrarian , the Mid agrarian, and the Super - agrarian . B. As substantive: One in favour of agrarian law.