Lives Behind the Laws: The World of the Codex Hermogenianus

297 Pages·2010·4.05 MB·English

by  Serena Connolly

Classics & Antiquity
“A very interesting contribution to our picture
of the imperial system of petition and response.
. . . Connolly gives us . . . a synoptic view of
what was arguably the most important role of
the Roman emperor during the Early Empire.”
Michael Peachin, New York University
In this exploration of the administration petitions and responses provide a wealth Lives behind the Laws
of law and its role in the lives of ordinary of information about provincial legal ad-
people in the northern provinces of the ministration and the lives of the non-elite The World of the Codex Hermogenianus
Roman Empire, Serena Connolly draws petitioners. The man who prostituted
Serena Connolly
upon a rich but little-known legal collec- his wife, the mother whose malicious son
tion from the late third century known undersold her farm, and the slaves who
as the Codex Hermogenianus. The codex is posed as free men to get a loan are just a
composed of imperial responses to peti- few of the lives to encounter. Lives behind
tions sent to Rome, written by a team the Laws makes a valuable contribution to
of the emperor’s legal experts. These Roman social, political, and legal history.
Serena Connolly is
Assistant Professor of
Classics at Rutgers, The
State University of New
Jersey, New Brunswick.
INDIANA Cover illustration: Roman Mosaic of
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Connolly Lives behind the Laws
Li v e s beh i n d t h e L aws
Lives behind the Laws
The Wor l d of t h e Codex H er mogen i a n us
Serena Connolly
Indiana University Press
Bloomington & Indianapolis
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C ontents
· Pr e f a c e a nd Ac knowl edgment s · ix
· List o f Abbr ev ia t ions · xix
· Introduction · 1
1 Seeking Justice in the Roman World · 16
Petitioning in the Roman World · 22
2 Te Rescript System · 39
Te Codex Hermogenianus · 39
Te Rescript System in Motion · 47
Te Work of the scrinium libellorum · 55
3 Te Rescript System in Context · 63
Petitioners · 67
Places · 83
4 Using the System · 98
“With the Law” · 102
“Before the Law” · 112
“Against the Law” · 129
5 Te Emperor and His Petitioners · 137
Petitioners in Need: Te New Understanding of Poverty · 138
Te Roles of the Emperor · 140
Limits on the Emperor · 154
Te Nexus of Power: Emperor, Ofcials, Petitioners · 155
· Conclusion · 159
· Appendix 1. The Ska pt opa r a Insc r ipt ion · 167
· Appendix 2. C a t a l o g o f Ex t a nt Ent r ies f r om
t h e Codex He r mo g enianus · 175
· Ma p · 205
· Not es · 207
· Bibl io g r a phy · 245
· Index · 261
Preface & Acknowled gments
Te law constantly writes itself on bodies. It engraves itself on parch-
ments made from the skin of its subjects. It articulates them in juridical
corpus. It makes book out of them.
Mic he l de Cer t eau, Th e Pr ac t ic e o f Ev e r yday Lif e
To ordinary Romans, the emperor must have seemed an enigmatic fgure.
On the one hand, he was everywhere: his face was on coins, his statue
watched over his subjects in basilicas, and his name appeared on laws
posted across the empire. Yet their opportunities for contact with the em-
peror were scarce. Tey might glimpse him from a crowd during a care-
fully staged event, or catch sight of him as he shuttled between imperial
residences, governors’ palaces, Senate houses, basilicas, and army camps.
Only a fortunate few ever approached the emperor for a hearing.
Given the emperor’s elusiveness, it is remarkable that hundreds, pos-
sibly thousands, of individuals communicated with him each year. Te
system of petition and response enabled Romans to write to the emperor
about their legal problems and to receive a response that could ofer in-
formation or guidance, or direct them to a legal ofcial who could ofer
assistance or a hearing. Tough petitioners did not ofen meet the emperor
face-to-face, theirs was a more personal sort of communication that of-
fered tangible benefts. It could beneft the emperor too, by bolstering his
ix