TOP 10 barbaric laws of Ancient Rome

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Roman law has become the mainstream of modern jurisprudence. Everyone is obliged to know it: lawyers, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, everyone who deals with laws. At that time, it was the most developed and advanced state in the world. However, in Ancient Rome itself there were such laws that now seem not just savagery, but real barbarism.

It was forbidden to wear purple

The main clothing of a Roman citizen was a toga - a large piece of woolen cloth that was tied around the body. The toga was usually white in color, often with purple or gold stripes or colored ornamentation. The mourners wore a gray or black toga. There were no strict rules in choosing the color of the toga in Rome. Except for one thing: only the emperor could wear a purple toga. Moreover, this restriction was dictated by purely pragmatic considerations.

The fact is that purple dye was incredibly expensive in those days. It was made only in Phenicia and was brought to Rome by special order of the emperor. Moreover, in order to make a sufficient amount of dye to paint one toga, it was required to crush about 10 thousand mollusks. So purple was literally worth its weight in gold.

It was forbidden to have a big feast

In ancient Rome, sumptuary laws were very common - laws against excessive luxury in furnishings, clothing, food, and so on. One of these is the law of Gaius Orchidius from 181 BC. e., which limited the cost of feasts. Subsequently, a stricter version of it was adopted, which was called the Fannian Law. This law allowed to entertain no more than three guests at home, and on market days - no more than five: there were three such days a month. Welding was allowed to be cooked for no more than 2.5 drachmas; it was allowed to spend no more than 15 talents a year on smoked meat, vegetables and beans for stew - how much the land gave.

It was forbidden to cry at the funeral

The funeral in ancient Rome was a very interesting ceremony. The removal of the body, especially if the deceased was a noble and wealthy person, was accompanied by a herald. Before the body was buried or burnt at the stake, the deceased, accompanied by a procession, was carried through the city with a mandatory visit to the forum. At the beginning of the funeral procession, musicians walked, later mourners, then singers who sang praises to the deceased, and then actors who performed comic scenes from the life of the deceased. After the actors were carried pictures depicting the deeds of the deceased (especially if he was a military man), as well as masks of his ancestors. The more noble and revered person the deceased was, the more mourners were hired in his procession. Completely strangers, women who did not even know the deceased, literally tore their hair, groaned and scratched their faces, depicting grief. In the end, it got to the point that crying at funerals was simply banned so that people would not hire such actors.

Father could legally kill his daughter's lover

In general, in terms of adultery, the legislation of Ancient Rome was quite peculiar, although it reflected sufficiently the morality and mores of that time. If a man found his wife with a lover, he had to lock both of them in the house and call as many neighbors as possible to witness the fact of treason. After the official accusation, the man had to divorce his wife so that he himself would not be accused of pimping. In the event that the wife's lover turned out to be an actor or a freedman, the man had every right to kill him. But if the father finds his unmarried daughter with her lover, then he has the right to beat him regardless of his social status. On the other hand, men cheating on their wives with prostitutes, actresses and other vicious women were not legally punished in any way.

The parents' killer was to be drowned in a leather sack with animals

This type of death penalty was usually sentenced to the Romans who had committed the murder of close relatives. Moreover, people were drowned for completely different offenses and also quite often. But it was to the killers of relatives that an animal was put in a bag - a dog, a snake or a monkey. According to ancient belief, these animals were considered too bad to honor their fathers. And in general, drowning in a sack itself in those days was considered an extremely humiliating and unworthy way to take a person's life. Aristocrats were usually executed differently.

Prostitutes were required to dye their hair light or red

This is due to the numerous campaigns of conquest by the Roman generals in Central Europe. Very soon, the capital of a huge empire was literally flooded with captive women from Germany and Gaul. Most often they ended up in brothels as slaves and prostitutes. And since blondes and redheads predominated among them, an official decree was soon issued obliging all Roman "priestesses of love" to dye their hair light or red so that they could be distinguished from "decent brunettes."

To commit suicide, you had to get permission from the Senate

Citizens were then not allowed to commit suicide just like that, of their own free will. If a person expressed a desire to commit suicide, he had to submit an official petition to the Senate with a detailed description of the reasons that prompted him to take such a step. If the senators after the meeting found these reasons satisfactory, then they gave the applicant a free poison to die.

A father could sell his children into slavery three times

The father of the family in Rome generally enjoyed very serious respect and had a number of inalienable rights. One of them is the right to sell your children into temporary slavery. However, it will be temporary or permanent, the father also decided. In the texts that have come down to us, there are no clear indications of what kind of contract was concluded in this case and what restrictions it had. It is known that at some point the father could demand that the son be sold back to him. In such a case, he again received power over his child and could sell it again. However, the law of the Twelve Tables allowed this sale to be repeated up to three times. After the three-time sale, the son was completely freed from the power of his father.

A woman could leave home for three days to extend her "probationary period" before marriage

In general, in those days in Rome, there were three types of marriage. The first two resembled a modern official marriage, but the third type suggested that the couple marries only after a year of marriage. A kind of "trial period" during which both can look at each other and understand whether it is worth tying the knot. Moreover, if during the year a woman left the house of her future husband for more than three days and three nights, then the countdown began anew.

The father of the family could legally kill his entire family

This was especially pronounced in the early pre-imperial period of Rome. The eldest member of the dynasty was considered the father of the family. He was given absolute rights within his family. Here he was the high priest, and the accuser, and the judge, and the executioner, if necessary. Moreover, even if the sons are already adults and have their own families, while their father is alive, it is he who is considered the head of the family. He owns his wife, children, and their spouses. And they belong in the truest sense of the word. The father of the family could kill the wife for treason, the daughter - for extramarital affairs, sons - for the offense.