Definition
PUBLICAN carries two distinct legal meanings, separated by legal system and era:
1. (Civil law / Roman law) A farmer of the public revenue — that is, a private individual who contracted with the state treasury to collect taxes, tolls, or other public revenues, typically by paying a lump sum upfront and then recouping that sum (and profit) through collection. The publicani operated under lease arrangements with the Roman treasury and could hold rights over customs duties, mining revenues, or other state income streams.
2. (English law) A person licensed by public authority to keep a public house and to sell intoxicating liquors for consumption on or off the premises. Also called a licensed victualler. The term describes the status conferred by a licensing authority, not merely the activity of running a tavern or inn.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Wiktionary lists "publican" primarily as a synonym for "Arnoldist" — an obscure theological reference — reflecting how far the word has drifted in general use.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Webster's defines publican first as a farmer of taxes and public revenues — a collector of toll or tribute, often despised in biblical contexts — and second as the keeper of an inn or public house.
The Webster's 1913 entry captures both meanings but frames the tax-collector sense through a biblical and moral lens ("regarded with great detestation"), which is not how Roman civil law sources use the term. In legal research, publican in civil law sources is a formal classification with defined contractual and liability rules, not a pejorative. Separately, the English law meaning — licensed victualler — is narrower than the casual modern sense of "pub landlord"; the license is the legally operative fact.
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES
Within Roman civil law sources, publicani appeared in several capacities depending on the subject matter of their lease: customs and tolls (portoria), tax farming over agricultural land, and management of public properties. The Digest distinguishes these contexts when assigning liability and procedural rules. The English law sense admits no formal subtypes in the historical dictionaries, though modern licensing regimes have multiplied the categories of licensed premises well beyond what "publican" originally covered.
Why It Matters in Research
The bifurcated meaning is the principal trap. A researcher working in Roman law materials will encounter publican exclusively in the civil-law, tax-farming sense. A researcher in English licensing history, temperance law, or pub regulation will encounter it exclusively in the licensed-victualler sense. The two meanings are unrelated in legal function and must not be read across contexts.
For civil law research: The Digest references cited in all three historical dictionaries (Dig. 39.4) are the primary anchor. Bouvier cites the same passages, confirming stable usage across American legal reference literature. Researchers tracing fiscal administration, state contracts, or tax liability in Roman-influenced legal systems should treat publican as a term of art governed by those Digest provisions.
For English law research: The relevant legal framework is licensing law, not revenue law. The word publican appears in historical licensing statutes, quarter sessions records, and magistrate court proceedings. Its connection to the civil-law meaning is purely etymological and should not be carried into substantive analysis. The synonym licensed victualler is equally common in English sources and may be the preferred search term in older statutory materials.
Note also that the Wiktionary gloss (Arnoldist) is a theological usage with no legal application and should be disregarded entirely in legal research contexts.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's (1st and 2nd editions) and Bouvier are in full agreement on substance. All three define publican in the civil law sense as a farmer of the public revenue holding a lease from the public treasury, and all three cite Dig. 39.4. Black's both editions add the English law meaning — licensed victualler — citing Wharton. Bouvier confines his entry to the civil law sense, which reflects the American treatise tradition's focus on Roman law foundations.
None of the historical dictionaries address the procedural position of the publican in Roman litigation — a gap researchers should note when working with Digest materials in depth. The historical sources also do not address the transition in English licensing law from the common-law status of innkeeper to the statutory regime of the licensed victualler, which is where the modern significance of the term lies in English legal history.
Jurisdictional Note
The civil law meaning is relevant to Roman law, civilian jurisdictions, and comparative legal history. The English law meaning is operative in England and Wales licensing history; American law does not use "publican" as a term of art, preferring "licensee" or equivalent statutory designations. Researchers in Scottish legal history may encounter the term in both senses given Scotland's mixed civilian and common law tradition.