Vitae Necisque Potestasin Roman Declamation

Abstract

The Roman paterfamilias' power over his household, his patria potestas, was extreme and could encroach upon all domains of the lives of his dependants. Its most radical manifestation was the vitae necisque potestas, or the right to kill one's own children with impunity. There are twenty-two extant Roman declamations in which fathers have killed, or wish to kill, their sons. After an excursion into their juridical and historical background, I will discuss them briefly. It will appear that though sometimes critical of excesses, they serve to confirm rather than undermine the patria potestas.

Quintilian and Declamation

“…It provokes a charge of attempted parricide, a charge we nd no fewer than fourteen times. However, if Son sometimes seems to want to kill Father, the latter more often wants to do away with Son: there are twenty-two declamations in which Father has killed, or wishes to kill, Son (Breij 2006). In fact, he has the right to dispose of Son as he sees t, a right which is con rmed in the declamatory lex indemnatorum ('the law concerning those condemned without a trial', Sussman 1994: 168).…”

“…Secondly, therefore, as Son a student could rebel and achieve a kind of catharsis; as Father, he could get a foretaste of his future power, and practise wielding it responsibly. The extreme character of some of the cases contributed to this educational goal in a paradoxical manner: by bringing up excesses to clamp down upon, declaimers tacitly condoned and reinforced the status quo (Gunderson 2003;Breij 2006Breij , 2011Bernstein 2013).…”

Mitemas edipianos nas Declamationes Maior 4 e Minor 306 de Pseudo-Quintiliano

“…De acordo com a legislação romana, os pais, valendo-se do pátrio poder (ius patria potestas), uma prerrogativa unicamente romana (Saller, 1994), tinham o direito de controlar o bem-estar (físico e monetário) dos seus filhos, não se sabe a proveniência desse direito, porém Bé Breij (2006) aponta para uma possível origem etrusca. Na literatura, não nos faltam exemplos de autores gregos e latinos que outrora abordaram esse apanágio paterno.…”

O exercício do horror: modelos de teatralidade trágica nos Excerpta Declamationum de Calpúrnio Flaco e nas Declamationes Minores de Pseudo-Quintiliano

“…156 Dentre esses trabalhos, podemos citar Amato, Citti e Huelsenbeck (2015), uma coletânea de treze artigos sobre as declamações gregas e romanas, nos quais se encontram inúmeras reflexões acerca das leis nos casos de envenenamento, estupro e tortura, por exemplo Bernstein (2012). aborda problemas legais a respeito da tortura;Bettinazzi (2014) se dedica às leis nas Declamationes atribuídas a Quintiliano, centrando-se em três específicas (sobre herança, sobre a cidadania e direitos dos homens libertos e sobre adultério);Mora (2011) e Brescia (2012, aos casos de estupro;Breij (2006),Fantham (2004),Vesley (2003),Thomas (1990), à lei que permitia aos pais deserdar seus filhos; D'amati (2017) eSantorelli (2016), aos casos de depósito de bens. Para estudos que abordam questões jurídicas de forma mais ampla, cf Crook (1995),Bauman (1996).…”