LESCHĒ (λέσχη), an Ionic word, signifying _council_ or
_conversation_, and _a place for council or conversation_. There is
frequent mention of places of public resort, in the Greek cities, by
the name of _Leschae_, some set apart for the purpose, and others so
called because they were so used by loungers; to the latter class
belong the agora and its porticoes, the gymnasia, and the shops
of various tradesmen. The former class were small buildings or
porticoes, furnished with seats, and exposed to the sun, to which
the idle resorted to enjoy conversation, and the poor to obtain
warmth and shelter: at Athens alone there were 360 such. In the
Dorian states the word retained the meaning of a place of meeting for
deliberation and intercourse, a council-chamber or club-room. There
were generally chambers for council and conversation, called by this
name, attached to the temples of Apollo. The _Lesche_ at Delphi was
celebrated through Greece for the paintings with which it was adorned
by Polygnotus.
LEX. Of Roman leges, viewed with reference to the mode of enactment,
there were properly two kinds, _Leges Curiatae_ and _Leges
Centuriatae_. Plebiscita are improperly called leges, though they
were laws, and in the course of time had the same effect as leges.
[PLEBISCITUM.] Originally the leges curiatae were the only leges,
and they were passed by the populus in the comitia curiata. After
the establishment of the comitia centuriata, the comitia curiata
fell almost into disuse; but so long as the republic lasted, and
even under Augustus, a shadow of the old constitution was preserved
in the formal conferring of the imperium by a lex curiata only,
and in the ceremony of adrogation being effected only in these
comitia. [ADOPTIO.] Those leges, properly so called, with which
we are acquainted, were passed in the comitia centuriata, and were
proposed (_rogabantur_) by a magistratus of senatorial rank, after
the senate had approved of them by a decretum. Such a lex was
also designated by the name _Populi Scitum_.--The word _rogatio_
(from the verb _rogo_) properly means any measure proposed to the
legislative body, and therefore is equally applicable to a proposed
lex and a proposed plebiscitum. It corresponds to our word _bill_,
as opposed to _act_. When the measure was passed, it became a lex
or plebiscitum; though rogationes, after they had become laws, were
sometimes, but improperly, called rogationes. A rogatio began with
the words _velitis_, _jubeatis_, &c., and ended with the words _ita
vos Quirites rogo_. The corresponding expression of assent to the
rogatio on the part of the sovereign assembly was _uti rogas_. The
phrases for proposing a law are _rogare legem_, _legem ferre_, and
_rogationem promulgare_; the phrase _rogationem accipere_ applies
to the enacting body. The terms relating to legislation are thus
explained by Ulpian the jurist:--“A lex is said either _rogari_ or
_ferri_; it is said _abrogari_, when it is repealed; it is said
_derogari_, when a part is repealed; it is said _subrogari_, when
some addition is made to it; and it is said _obrogari_, when some
part of it is changed.”--A _privilegium_ is an enactment that had
for its object a single person, which is indicated by the form of
the word (_privilegium_), _privae res_ being the same as _singulae
res_. The word privilegium did not convey any notion of the character
of the legislative measures; it might be beneficial to the party to
whom it referred, or it might not. Under the empire, the word is
used in the sense of a special grant proceeding from the imperial
favour.--The title of a lex was generally derived from the gentile
name of the magistratus who proposed it, as the _Lex Hortensia_ from
the dictator Hortensius. Sometimes the lex took its name from the
two consuls or other magistrates, as the _Acilia Calpurnia_, _Aelia_
or _Aelia Sentia_, _Papia_ or _Papia Poppaea_, and others. It seems
to have been the fashion to omit the word _et_ between the two
names, though instances occur in which it was used. A lex was also
designated, with reference to its object, as the _Lex Cincia de Donis
et Muneribus_, _Lex Furia Testamentaria_, _Lex Julia Municipalis_,
and many others. Leges which related to a common object, were often
designated by a collective name, as _Leges Agrariae_, _Judiciariae_,
and others. A lex sometimes took its name from the chief contents
of its first chapter, as _Lex Julia de Maritandis Ordinibus_.
Sometimes a lex comprised very various provisions, relating to
matters essentially different, and in that case it was called _Lex
Satura_.--The number of leges was greatly increased in the later
part of the republican period, and Julius Caesar is said to have
contemplated a revision of the whole body. Under him and Augustus
numerous enactments were passed, which are known under the general
name of Juliae Leges. It is often stated that no leges, properly so
called, or plebiscita, were passed after the time of Augustus; but
this is a mistake. Though the voting might be a mere form, still
the form was kept. Besides, various leges are mentioned as having
been passed under the Empire, such as the Lex Junia under Tiberius,
the Lex Visellia, the Lex Mamilia under Caligula, and a Lex Claudia
on the tutela of women. It does not appear when the ancient forms
of legislation were laid aside. A particular enactment is always
referred to by its name. The following is a list of the principal
leges, properly so called; but the list includes also various
plebiscita and privilegia:--