AUGUSTA - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

AUGUSTAAuthored

The Law Mind • 932 words

Definition

In Roman law, *Augusta* was the formal title conferred upon the wife, mother, sister, or daughter of a reigning emperor (*Augustus*). The title carried both honorific and legal significance, distinguishing its holder as part of the imperial household and, in certain respects, placing her outside or above the ordinary operation of Roman civil law. The most legally consequential attribute associated with the title was the principle expressed in the phrase *Augusta legibus soluta non* — the beginning of a maxim indicating that the Augusta was not bound by (certain) laws in the same manner as ordinary subjects, paralleling the broader imperial exemption doctrine applied to the emperor himself. Blackstone draws an analogy to the English *queen consort*, the wife of a reigning king, as the closest functional equivalent in the common law tradition.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A female given name of Latin origin; also the name of several American cities, most prominently Augusta, Georgia.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Augusta appears primarily as a proper noun — a given name and place name — with no substantive common definition beyond its use as a Latin feminine adjective meaning "venerable" or "majestic."

The gap here is total. In ordinary modern and historical English, *Augusta* is simply a name. Its legal content is entirely confined to Roman law, where it functioned as a term of art denoting imperial status with attached legal privileges. A researcher encountering the term in a legal source is in an entirely different conceptual universe from one encountering it in a gazetteer or a birth register.

Common Confusion

*Augusta* should not be confused with *Augustus*, the title of the emperor himself, though the two are grammatically and conceptually paired. *Augustus* designated the reigning male sovereign; *Augusta* designated female members of the imperial family — but the legal privileges attached to each differed in scope and were not always co-extensive. Additionally, *Augusta* should not be conflated with *Augusta* as a place name (many Roman cities bore the name as an honorific) or with the adjective *augustus/augusta* in its non-titular sense of "venerable" or "consecrated." Context — particularly whether the term appears in discussions of Roman imperial household law, succession, or fiscal privilege — determines which meaning governs.

Why It Matters in Research

This term will appear in Law Mind corpus materials almost exclusively in two contexts: (1) treatises and dictionaries discussing Roman law doctrine, particularly the *legibus soluta* principle and the legal standing of imperial household members; and (2) Blackstone commentaries and common law sources that use *Augusta* as a comparative anchor for explaining the status of the English queen consort.

The critical research trap is incompleteness. Burrill's entry breaks off mid-maxim — *Augusta legibus soluta non* — without completing the phrase. The full maxim, drawn from the Digest and Codex, addresses whether the exemptions from law (*legibus solutus*) applicable to the emperor extended equally to the Augusta. The answer in Roman sources is nuanced: some exemptions applied, others did not, and the scope shifted over time and by emperor. Researchers relying solely on Burrill for the substance of this doctrine will receive only the opening clause.

For researchers working on comparative constitutional history or the history of royal privilege, the *Augusta*-to-queen-consort analogy in Blackstone (1 Bl. Com. 218) is a useful but imprecise bridge. English queen consort doctrine developed on its own common law footing; the Roman imperial privilege model is not a reliable guide to English law, and the analogy is structural rather than substantive.

Corpus connections: The term links to broader research threads on *legibus solutus*, imperial rescript, the Digest titles on imperial household membership, and fiscal immunity in late Roman law.

Historical Dictionary Support

Burrill's entry is compact but well-sourced for its era. It correctly identifies the Digest (1.3.31; 31.57; 49.14.6.1) and Codex (6.22.7) as primary sources, cites Tacitus (*Annals* 1.8) for the historical origin of the title with Livia, and draws the Blackstone parallel. The Latin dictionary tradition (Lewis & Short) confirms Burrill's account: *Augusta* as a title attaching to the mother, wife, daughter, and sister of the emperor, with Tacitus and Suetonius as the standard literary witnesses.

What historical sources collectively underemphasize is the evolution of the title's legal weight across the Principate and Dominate periods. Early use under Augustus and Tiberius was selective and politically charged — Livia's receipt of the title was posthumous and contested. By the later empire, *Augusta* had become a more routine honorific with less distinctive legal content. The Tacitus citations in Burrill point to the title's significance in the early imperial period, but the fuller arc of the doctrine requires engagement with later Digest glossators and Byzantine legal materials beyond Burrill's scope.

Jurisdictional Note

*Augusta* as a legal term has no application in modern common law jurisdictions. It is a term of Roman law encountered in historical legal scholarship, civil law treatises, and comparative legal history. Researchers in modern practice contexts will not encounter it as operative doctrine.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

Law Mind Encyclopedia — Roman Law
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Imperial Titles and Legal Privilege
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Queen Consort (English Law)

AUGUSTAmain

Burrill's Law Dictionary • 1867

Lat. In the Roman law. The title of the wife of the emperor, (Augustus ;) corresponding with queen consort in English law. 1 Bl. Com. 218. Dig. 1. 3. 31. Id. 31. 57. Id. 49. 14. 6. 1. Cod. 6. 22. 7. It was first given to Livia, the wife of Augustus, but finally became a common title of the mother, wife, sister or daughter of an emperor. Tacit. Annal. i. 8. P. Cyclopædia. Augusta legibus soluta non est; the empress or queen is not privileged or exempted from subjection to the laws. 1 Bl. Com. 219. Dig. 1. 3. 31. AULA, Haula, Halla. L. Lat. In old English law. A hall, or court; the court of a baron, or manor; a court baron. Spelman. A hall, or chief mansion house; the usual appendage of a manor. Domesday. Whishaw. The hall of a house, in the modern sense. Reg. Jud. 13 b. Facio tibi aulam, ut tu facias mihi cameram; I make you a hall, in consideration of your making me a chamber. Bract. fol. 19. Dividitur aula à camera. Fleta, lib. 5, c. 9, § 18. AULA REGIS, or REGIA. Lat. The king's hall, or palace; sometimes called curia regis, the king's court. A court established by William the Conqueror in his own hall or palace. It was the supreme court of the kingdom, and was composed of the king's great officers of state, resident in his palace, and usually attendant on his person; such as the lord high constable, and lord mareschal, the lord high steward, and lord great chamberlain, the steward of the household, the lord chancellor, and the lord high treasurer. These high officers were assisted by certain persons learned in the laws, who were called the king's justiciars, or justices, and by the greater barons of parliament, all of whom had a seat in the aula regia, and formed a kind of court of appeal, or rather of advice in matters of great moment and difficulty. The presiding officer of this court was called the chief justiciar or justiciary of all England, (capitalis or summus justitiarius totius Angliæ.) Bract. lib. 3, tract. 1, e. 7, 2, fol. 105 b. Fleta, lib. 2, cc. 2, 3. Gilb. Hist. C. Pleas, Introd. 18. 3 Bl. Com.

Augustaname

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

A female given name from Latin. | A number of places in the United States: | A city, the county seat of Woodruff County, Arkansas. | A number of places in the United States: | A city, the county seat of Richmond County, in east-central Georgia; also see Disgusta. | A number of places in the United States: | A village in Illinois. | A number of places in the United States: | A city in Butler County, Kansas. | A number of places in the United States: | A city in Kentucky. | A number of places in the United States: | The capital city of Maine, United States and the county seat of Kennebec County. | A number of places in the United States: | A village in Michigan. | A number of places in the United States: | An unincorporated community in Carver County, Minnesota. | A number of places in the United States: | A city in Missouri. | A number of places in the United States: | A census-designated place in Montana. | A number of places in the United States: | An unincorporated community in Sussex County, New Jersey. | A number of places in the United States: | A town in New York. | A number of places in the United States: | An unincorporated community in Hampshire County, West Virginia. | A number of places in the United States: | A city in Wisconsin. | A number of places in the United States: | A number of townships in the United States, listed under Augusta Township. | A township in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, eastern Ontario, Canada. | A town in Sicily, Italy. | A town in the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River, Western Australia. | A habitational surname from Italian, from the town in Sicily. | A male given name transferred from the surname or place name.

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