Definition
In Roman (civil) law, *coire* means to come together or to assemble as a unified body. The term describes the act by which individuals associate themselves into a corporate or collegial entity, forming a legally recognized collective. It is the foundational verb underlying the Roman legal concept of a *collegium* — an association permitted by law to act as a single body.
The phrase *corpus cui licet coire* (a body which is permitted to come together) denotes a legally authorized corporate association, distinguishing sanctioned collective bodies from unsanctioned assemblies. Not every group that gathered in Rome had legal recognition; the permission to *coire* — to formally constitute as a collective — was a matter of public law and imperial or senatorial authorization.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in Roman law sources, canon law, or the early history of corporate legal personality will encounter *coire* and its derivatives in foundational texts from the Digest. Understanding the term is essential for tracing the conceptual origins of the corporation as a legal person, a lineage that runs from Roman collegium doctrine through medieval canon law and into early modern common law thinking about corporations aggregate.
The term appears in the Digest in contexts that bear directly on inheritance, manumission, and the legal standing of collective bodies — areas where the permission to associate as a *corpus* had concrete legal consequences. Researchers consulting primary civil law sources should note that *coire* functions as a term of authorization as much as description: the legal question was not merely whether a group had assembled, but whether it had the *right* to constitute itself as a body capable of holding property, contracting, and suing.
Cross-corpus researchers should connect this term to later treatments of corporate personality in ecclesiastical and common law sources, where the Roman framework was absorbed and adapted. The concept embedded in *coire* — lawful assembly into a recognized collective — reappears in discussions of charters of incorporation, the distinction between corporations aggregate and sole, and the ultra vires doctrine.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary provides a concise and accurate entry, correctly identifying the compound Latin roots (*con* + *ire*) and anchoring the definition in Digest citations (Dig. 34.5.20; Dig. 40.3). The entry's value lies in its direct quotation of the Digest phrase *corpus cui licet coire*, which captures the legal significance of the term precisely: it is not mere assembly, but *permitted* assembly into a body recognized by law.
Burrill does not elaborate on the broader significance of *coire* in the Roman theory of corporate personality, nor does he trace its influence on later legal development. For a term this foundational to corporate law history, that silence is a research gap worth noting. Researchers should not expect historical dictionary sources to bridge the distance between *coire* in the Digest and its conceptual descendants in common law; that synthesis requires consulting treatises on Roman law and legal history directly.
Jurisdictional Note
*Coire* has no operative meaning in modern common law jurisdictions as a standalone term. Its relevance is historical and comparative: it belongs to the vocabulary of Roman civil law and is encountered primarily in scholarly, historical, and comparative law research contexts.