After the Roman conquest in 254 B.C., Cefalù became a decuman city with the Latin name Cephaloedium. The civitates decumane were obliged to pay one tenth of their harvest to the city of Rome each year. In fact, Cefalù did not experience a considerable amount of economic growth during this period. Despite the status of subservience, the situation improved when the town became stipendiary thanks to the emperor Augustus, and the town was therefore subject to the payment of a fixed charge, known as the stipendium.
