10 of the strangest laws of ancient Rome, which you will be curious to know

Roman law became the main modern jurisprudence. Everyone should know it: lawyers, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, everyone who deals with the law. However, in ancient Rome there were laws that now seem not just savagery, but real barbarism. Website He gives a dozen examples.

It is forbidden to wear purple

The main clothing of the Roman citizen was a toga - a large piece of woollen fabric that was tied around the body. Toga was usually white, often with purple or gold stripes or colored ornaments. The mourners wore a gray or black toga.

There were no strict rules for choosing toga colors in Rome. Only the emperor could wear a purple toga. And this restriction was dictated by purely pragmatic considerations. The fact is that purple dye in those days was incredibly expensive. It was made only in Phoenicia and brought to Rome by special order of the emperor. Moreover, in order to make a sufficient amount of dye for painting one toga, it was necessary to crush about 10 thousand mollusks. So purple was literally worth its weight in gold.

It was forbidden to make a great feast .



In ancient Rome, sumptu 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, which limited the cost of feasts. Subsequently, a stricter version was adopted, which was called the Fannyev Law. This law allowed to treat at home no more than three guests, and on market days - no more than five: there were three such days a month. Welding was allowed to cook no more than 2.5 drachma, smoked meat was allowed to spend a year no more than 15 talents, vegetables and beans for soup - how much the land gave.

Crying at funerals



The funeral in ancient Rome was an interesting ceremony. The removal of the body, especially if the deceased was a noble and wealthy person, was accompanied by a herald. Before putting the body to the ground or burning at the stake, the deceased, accompanied by a procession, was carried around the city with a mandatory visit to the forum. At the beginning of the funeral procession there were musicians, later mourners, then singers who performed praises to the deceased, and then actors who performed comic scenes from the life of the deceased. After the actors carried paintings depicting the actions of the deceased (especially if he was a military man), as well as masks of his ancestors.

The more noble and revered a person was, the more mourners were hired in his procession. Completely stranger women, who did not even know the deceased, literally tore their hair, moaned and scratched their faces, depicting grief. In the end, it got to the point where crying at funerals was simply forbidden so people wouldn't hire actors like that.

A father could legally kill his daughter's lover

In general, in terms of adultery, the legislation of ancient Rome was quite original, although it reflected the morality and mores of that time. If a man caught his wife with a lover, he had to lock them both in the house and call as many neighbors as possible to testify to 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 lover of his wife was an actor or a freedman, the man had every right to kill him.

But if a father finds his unmarried daughter with a lover, he has the right to beat him regardless of his social status. On the other hand, infidelity of men to their wives with prostitutes, actresses and other vicious women was not legally punished.

Killer of parents should be drowned in leather bag with animals



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

Prostitutes were required to dye their hair light or red



The fault of the numerous conquest campaigns of Roman commanders in Central Europe. Very soon, the capital of a huge empire was literally flooded by captured women from Germany and Gaul. Most often they went to brothels as slaves and prostitutes. And since blondes and redheads predominated among them, an official decree was soon issued obliging all Roman "priestess 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 not allowed to commit suicide at will. If a person expressed a desire to commit suicide, he had to file a formal petition to the Senate with a detailed description of the reasons that prompted him to take such a step. If the senators after the conference found these reasons satisfactory, they gave the applicant a free poison for his death.

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 their 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 were there. It is known that at some point the father could demand that the son be sold back to him. In this case, he again gained power over his child and could sell it again. However, the law of the Twelve Tables allowed the sale to be repeated up to three times. After the sale, the son was completely freed from his father’s power.

Woman could leave home for three days to extend 'probation' before marriage



There were three types of marriage in Rome. The first two resembled a modern official marriage, but the third type suggested that the couple marry only after a year of marriage. A kind of "probation period", during which both can look at each other and understand whether to tie the knot official marriage. If a woman left her future husband’s house for more than three days and three nights during the year, the countdown would begin again.

The father of the family could legally kill the whole family



This was especially pronounced in the early pre-imperial period of Rome. The father of the family was considered the senior member of the dynasty. He had absolute rights within his family. Here he was a high priest, a prosecutor, a judge, and an executioner, if necessary. At the same time, even if the sons are already adults and have their own families, while their father lives, he is considered the head of the family. His wife, children, and spouses. And they belong in the literal sense of the word. The father of the family could kill his wife for treason, his daughter for extramarital affairs, his sons for an offense committed.

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