Definitions of Roman legal terms: Difference between revisions
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===Infamia=== | |||
In [[ancient Rome|ancient Roman culture]], '''''infamia''''' (''in-'', "not," and ''fama'', "reputation") was a loss of legal or social standing. As a technical term of Roman law, ''infamia'' was an official exclusion from the legal protections enjoyed by a Roman citizen, as imposed by a censor or praetor.<ref>Thomas A.J. McGinn, ''Prostitution, Sexuality and the Law in Ancient Rome'' (Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 65ff.</ref> More generally, especially during the Republic and Principate, ''infamia'' was informal damage to one's esteem or reputation. A person who suffered ''infamia'' was an '''''infamis''''' (plural '''''infames'''''). | |||
''Infamia'' was an "inescapable consequence" for certain professionals, including prostitutes and pimps, entertainers such as actors and dancers, and gladiators.<ref>Catharine Edwards, "Unspeakable Professions: Public Performance and Prostitution in Ancient Rome," in ''Roman Sexualities'' (Princeton University Press, 1997, p. 67.</ref> ''Infames'' could not, for instance, provide testimony in a court of law. They were liable to corporal punishment, which was usually reserved for slaves.<ref>Edwards, "Unspeakable Professions," p. 73.</ref> The ''infamia'' of entertainers did not exclude them from socializing among the Roman elite, and entertainers who were "stars," both men and women, sometimes became the lovers of such high-profile figures. | |||
A passive homosexual who was "outed" might also be subject to social ''infamia'', though if he was a citizen he might retain his legal standing.<ref>Amy Richlin, "Not before Homosexuality: The Materiality of the ''cinaedus'' and the Roman Law against Love between Men," ''Journal of the History of Sexuality'' 3.4 (1993), pp. 550–551, 555ff.; Edwards, "Unspeakable Professions," p. 68.</ref> | |||
===Ingenui=== | ===Ingenui=== | ||
'''''Ingenui''''' or '''''ingenuitas''''' (singular ''ingenuus''), was a legal term of [[ancient Rome]] indicating those [[wikt:freeman|freemen]] who were born free, as distinct from, for example, freedmen, who were freemen who had once been slaves.<ref name="DGRA">{{Cite book | last = Long | first = George | author = George Long (scholar) | contribution = Ingenui | editor-last = Smith | editor-first = William | title = Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities | volume = | pages = 637 | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | place = Boston | year = 1870 | contribution-url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/0644.html | postscript = <!--None--> }}</ref> | '''''Ingenui''''' or '''''ingenuitas''''' (singular ''ingenuus''), was a legal term of [[ancient Rome]] indicating those [[wikt:freeman|freemen]] who were born free, as distinct from, for example, freedmen, who were freemen who had once been slaves.<ref name="DGRA">{{Cite book | last = Long | first = George | author = George Long (scholar) | contribution = Ingenui | editor-last = Smith | editor-first = William | title = Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities | volume = | pages = 637 | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | place = Boston | year = 1870 | contribution-url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/0644.html | postscript = <!--None--> }}</ref> | ||
Revision as of 11:47, 25 November 2013
Infamia
In ancient Roman culture, infamia (in-, "not," and fama, "reputation") was a loss of legal or social standing. As a technical term of Roman law, infamia was an official exclusion from the legal protections enjoyed by a Roman citizen, as imposed by a censor or praetor.[1] More generally, especially during the Republic and Principate, infamia was informal damage to one's esteem or reputation. A person who suffered infamia was an infamis (plural infames).
Infamia was an "inescapable consequence" for certain professionals, including prostitutes and pimps, entertainers such as actors and dancers, and gladiators.[2] Infames could not, for instance, provide testimony in a court of law. They were liable to corporal punishment, which was usually reserved for slaves.[3] The infamia of entertainers did not exclude them from socializing among the Roman elite, and entertainers who were "stars," both men and women, sometimes became the lovers of such high-profile figures.
A passive homosexual who was "outed" might also be subject to social infamia, though if he was a citizen he might retain his legal standing.[4]
Ingenui
Ingenui or ingenuitas (singular ingenuus), was a legal term of ancient Rome indicating those freemen who were born free, as distinct from, for example, freedmen, who were freemen who had once been slaves.[5]
STUPRUM
1 Roman & civil law : sexual intercourse between a man and an unmarried woman other than one in slavery or concubinage
2 Roman & civil law : illicit intercourse contrary to morality
3 Roman & civil law : unchastity of a woman[6]
References
- ↑ Thomas A.J. McGinn, Prostitution, Sexuality and the Law in Ancient Rome (Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 65ff.
- ↑ Catharine Edwards, "Unspeakable Professions: Public Performance and Prostitution in Ancient Rome," in Roman Sexualities (Princeton University Press, 1997, p. 67.
- ↑ Edwards, "Unspeakable Professions," p. 73.
- ↑ Amy Richlin, "Not before Homosexuality: The Materiality of the cinaedus and the Roman Law against Love between Men," Journal of the History of Sexuality 3.4 (1993), pp. 550–551, 555ff.; Edwards, "Unspeakable Professions," p. 68.
- ↑ Long, George (1870). "Ingenui". in Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 637
- ↑ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stuprum
