collegium

In Roman law, a collegium was a private association with specific functions, such as craft guilds, burial societies, or religious groups. While the Romans did not have a modern concept of a legal person or corporation, they granted certain groups, including collegia, collective powers and capacities, often with state authorization. Emperors viewed collegia with suspicion and regulated their formation and activities, requiring state approval to prevent their establishment and closely monitoring their rights to manumit slaves or receive legacies. The term collegium itself refers to a group where members hold roughly equal power and authority.12