Councillors were forbidden to resign, and "coloni", the cultivators of land, were not to move from the demesne they were attached to. They were on their way to becoming serfs. Several factors conspired to merge the status of former slaves and former free farmers into a dependent class of such "coloni". Laws of Constantine I around 325 reinforced both the negative semi-servile status of the "coloni" and limited their rights to sue in the courts. Their numbers were increased by barbarian "foederati" who were permitted to settle within the imperial boundaries.