Crimen maiestatis and the poena legis during the Principate

Melounová, Markéta (2014) Crimen maiestatis and the poena legis during the Principate. Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 54 (4). pp. 407-430. ISSN 0044-5975

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Abstract

It has been argued that during the reign of Roman emperors the crime of lèse-majesté was punishable by death, and the arbitrariness of its prosecution has been considered one of the negative aspects of this era. However, the debate on the origin, date and content of the law, which should have formed the frame for all trials, the lex Iulia maiestatis, has not been sufficiently concluded. The paper will attempt to prove that it was the aquae et ignis interdictio, i.e. non-voluntary exile, not death, that remained the poena legis during the Principate; death could also be inflicted, but not as the legal penalty. The possibilities of the cognitio extra ordinem, which spread from the beginning of the Principate, and the role of the Senate will be duly considered.

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