CLĬENS

is said to contain the same element as the verb cluere , to “hear” or “obey,” and may be accordingly compared with the German word höriger , “a dependant,” from hören , “to hear.” In the earliest times of the Roman state we find a cla of persons called clientes , who must not be confounded with the plebeians, from whom they were distinct. The clients were not slaves: they had property of their own and freedom, and appear to have had votes in the comitia centu riata, but they did not po e the full rights of Roman citizens; and the peculiarity of their condition consisted in every client being in a state of dependence upon or subjection to some patrician, who was called his patron us , and to whom he owed certain rights and duties. The patron us, on the other hand, likewise incurred certain obligations towards his client. This relationship between patron us and cliens was expre ed by the word clientela , which also expre ed the whole body of a man’s clients. The relative rights and duties of the patrons and the clients were, according to Dionysius, as follows:—The patron was the legal adviser of the cliens; he was the client’s guardian and protector, as he was the guardian and protector of his own children; he maintained the client’s suit when he was wronged, and defended him when another complained of being wronged by him: in a word, the patron was the guardian of the client’s interests, both private and public. The client contributed to the marriage portion of the patron’s daughter, if the patron was poor; and to his ransom, or that of his children, if they were taken prisoners; he paid the costs and damages of a suit which the patron lost, and of any penalty in which he was condemned; he bore a part of the patron’s expenses incurred by his discharging public duties, or filling the honourable places in the state. Neither party could accuse the other, or bear testimony against the other, or give his vote against the other. This relationship between patron and client subsisted for many generations, and resembled in all respects the relationship by blood. The relation of a master to his liberated slave ( libertus ) was expre ed by the word patron us , and the libertus was the cliens of his patron us. Distinguished Romans were also the protectors of states and cities, which were in a certain relation of subjection or dependence to Rome. In the time of Cicero we also find patron us in the sense of adviser, advocate, or defender, opposed to cliens in the sense of the person defended or the consultor,—a use of the word which must be referred to the original character of the patron us.