E´CDICUS
E´CDICUS (
ἔκδικος),
the name of an officer in many of the towns of Asia Minor under the Roman
dominion. The word is translated in the ancient glossaries by
cognitor,
“agent” or “attorney.” The ecdicus was the agent
of a city in its foreign business and its relations with the central
government, and especially in prosecuting its claims against debtors. In
Cicero's time the office seems to have been occasional, and something like
that of an ambassador; but Cicero says that if ecdici are sent from Mylasa
to Rome instead of legati, more business will be done (
ad
Fam. 13.56). Under the empire the office was placed on a permanent
footing (
Plin. Ep. 10.111). An inscription
at Cibyra is in honour of a man who had gone four times as ambassador to
Rome at his own expense, and brought many important public suits to a
successful issue (
ἐγδικήσαντα δημοσίας ὑποθέσεις
πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας, Waddington, No. 1212). The
DEFENSOR CIVITATIS of
the later empire was also called
ἔκδικος
in Greek. (Marquardt,
Staatsverw. 1.214.)
[W.S] [W.W]
