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Crime and Punishment, Guilt and Expiation.. Roman Thought and
Crime and Punishment, Guilt and Expiation.. Roman Thought and
VOCABULARY
Author(s): Gabriele Thome
Source: Acta Classica , 1992, Vol. 35 (1992), pp. 73-98
Published by: Classical Association of South Africa
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by Gabriele Thome
(Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, Munich)
73
74
Let me dwell on this for a moment: fraus is initially a legal term, belong
ing — with flagitium — to the oldest vocabulary available to us. In the
older legal texts 'fraus' means initially an objective act of damage, whereas
the voluntary damaging of a person would have to be described as 'dolus
malus'. But the meaning 'damage' is already an extenuation of the orig
inal sense — which, as two famous experts in Roman law, Hugo Krüger
and Max Kaser have shown6 — is the breaking of a commandment, and a
central commandment at that.
A formula such as 'sine fraude' means that there is no breach of a com
mandment, and therefore no sanction (that is punishment) is necessary.7
Hence the extenuated meaning 'damage': on the one hand (passively) the
damage suffered, especially punishment, on the other hand (actively) the
damage done to a person.
In at least one case fraus automatically involves a subjective element,
too: 'fraus' of a 'patronus' versus his client, a violation of 'fides' that can
scarcely be thought of as involuntary and is therefore punished (according
to the Twelve Tables legislation) with exclusion from the community, with
the 'sacer esto' formula.8 Because it was part of the Twelve Tables it had
a strong influence on the language of later jurists and on the meaning of
'fraus' in general. Let me cite Kriiger-Kaser (ari.cti.p.172) on this matter:
'Auf den fraus-Begriff selbst hat diese Deutung insofern abgefärbt, als dar
auf das Element der Täuschung, des Betruges zurückzuführen sein wird,
daß der fraus als bewußter Schädigungshandlung eigentümlich ist'.
From at least the late decades of the Roman Republic fraus takes on the
meaning of a conscious and voluntary act of damage by means of deceit and
fraud. Significant is the affinity to 'malitia', as actually testified in several
cases. It is the same development from an objective to a subjective way of
thinking that we shall find in other terms of guilt originally belonging to
the legal vocabulary.9
I continue the alphabetical enumeration:
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
While the legal and the moral levels could be separated from each other only
in a modified way, we can speak of a thorough autonomy of the realm of the
sacred as such, especially in regard to the concept of guilt. Ancient images,
words and rites have survived into a time when they must have appeared
anachronistic, and were regarded as such by most educated people, as we
see in the philosophic dialogues of Cicero. Yet again Cicero himself uses
such expressions quite naturally in his speeches; he makes use of their
recognized validity and their magical-sacred character for driving home his
point in a more atmospheric and suggestive than logically argumentative
way.
The tendency to preserve ancient words, the understanding of whose
original meaning became increasingly difficult, was observed previously in
our treatment of the legal field. In the realm of the sacred this preservation
was of central importance, as the very basis of state and community. And
here we perceive a proximity to the original content of the legal concept
of guilt. It was aimed at redress and compensation, at the restoring of
the relation between the human and the divine levels, the so-called 'pax
deorum', when that had been disturbed by a conscious or unconscious,
individual or collective act. The objective element is still extant in that
almost technical system of action and counteraction, that is expiation, the
central feature of Roman 'religio'; the great importance of magical elements
is only seemingly in contradiction with it. The truth is that the elements of
a tribal community based on the magical-sacred, so conspicuously preserved
by the Romans, were originally not of a subjective, but of an objective
nature.
The strands come together especially in the rhetorical and poetic lan
guage: the words are used for a total moral condemnation of a personal dis
ruptive factor. The religious vocabulary is employed for the stigmatization
and tabooing of the opponent as, for instance, in the case of 'monstrum'.
At the same time in the context of the above-mentioned development
of a personal-subjective feeling of guilt the vocabulary of sacral expiation
prepares the starting-point for a possible redemption from guilt. Thus
it becomes subjectivized and intensified, although the original objective
character is still transparent.
Now I will present and interpret some specific Roman terms and concepts
in their textual context, using as a basis the comprehensive complex of
85
86
III. In close connexion with the theme of 'devotio' I now come in the last
section of my paper to a few texts which may illustrate the living presence
of that magic and sacred realm and its gradual integration and merging
into a new level of consciousness.
I begin with a passage from Cicero's Pro Sulla, § 76. After a retro
spective characterization of the Catilinarians as a most infamous gang of
criminals Cicero draws .a peculiar conclusion: 'ex magnis et diuturnis et
iam desperatis rei publicae morbis ista repente vis erupit, ut ea confecta et
eiecta convalescere aliquando et sanari civitas posset. ... itaque eos non
87
The old terms of sacral language are still extant; the objective sacral
aspect however is now subordinated to individual subjective and moral
criteria. The hero sees himself in the position of an accuser, in opposition
to a set of gods not corresponding to his demand for divine guarantors of
a moral order. Even if the cited passage, especially through the motif of
the redeemer, almost presents Cato as a kind of pagan Christ, his readiness
for self-sacrifice is nevertheless not an act of submission to the divine but
rather one of rebellion.
The main conceptual background of the 'devotio' and kindred lines of
thought has turned out to be the concept of the guilt of the community,
developing from an objective offence or debt to a subjective guilt. Pe
culiarly significant for the whole complex was, especially in the last two
passages, the combination of magical elements from a primeval tribal soci
ety with a vehement criticism of contemporary morals and the general state
of affairs: this reflects a fundamental trend toward moral subjectivism, be
ginning in a programmatic sense with the indeed 'censorius' moral criticism
of the elder Cato. The general atmosphere in the last phase of the Repub
lic, as depicted above by Cicero, represents a culmination and temporary
breathing space before the later development, reflected in Lucan.
88
89
90
Again the motif of civil war: civil war, fratricidal war, is seen as a pun
ishment and at the same time as a multiple repetition of the crime.
The motif of turning against the outer foe, beginning at v. 22, a kind
of counter-program to the civil wars, becomes dominant in the last verses,
51sq. 'neu sinas Medos equitare inultos/ te duce, Caesar'. It was already
discernible in the first verses of epod.7, where the retrospective view of the
past was contrasted with the hint of program in the present.60 Finally, as
a possibility of purification by enemy blood, it appears in the last passage
of carm.l.35, the third central poem with the motif of civil war and guilt.
Here it is directly connected with the confession, at lines 33sqq.:
91
92
* A shorter version of this paper was read at the 19th Biennial Conference of t
Classical Association of South Africa in Cape Town, on January 23, 1991. T
original conception has been retained; the notes are for the most part, a substitut
for the content of the handouts. For the translation of my German draft in
English I offer my warmest thanks to Dr. Ingeborg Schudoma (Tübingen), and
further corrections to Dr. Kathleen Coleman (UCT) and to Dr. Gerald Malsb
(ThLL Munich), also to Prof. Ursula Vogel (UNISA) and her colleagues at UNI
1 dedicate this paper to Prof. Dr. Werner Suerbaum on the occasion of his 25t
anniversary as incumbent of a chair in the Institut für klassische Philologie, Muni
1. Cf. Wilamowitz' Statement in Erinnerungen 1848-1914, p.286: 'Was auch imme
jemand bei den Griechen und Römern suchen will, es gibt für ihn keinen ande
Weg als durch die Sprache'.
2. ad 1 cf. e.g. Plaut. Pseud.427 'homines qui gestant quique auscultant crimina'
2 e.g. Cic. de orai.2.199 'id C. Norbano in nefario crimine atque in fraude capit
esse ponendum'.
3. Cf. the differentiation made by Publilius Syrus, L 12 'lapsus semel fit culpa, s
iterum cecideris'.
4. See the definition Paul.Fest.p.73 'delinquere est praetermittere, quod non opportet
praeteriri; hinc deliquia et delicta' (cf. Char.gramm.p.387,11 'delictum et peccatum:
qui deliquit, non fecit, quod facere debuit; qui peccavit, hoc fecit, sed parum recte').
For the actual use cf. e.g. Cic.Afur.61 (ironic reference to the Stoic doctrine) 'omnia
peccata esse paria; omne delictum scelus esse nefarium' eqs.
5. Lex XII tab.8.1 (Cic.rep.4.10.12 apud Aug.citi.2.9) 'si quis occentavisset sive carmen
condidisset, quod infamiam faceret flagitiumve alteri'. For the history of the word
cf. M. Reichenbecher, De vocum quae sunt scelus, flagitium, facinus apud priscos
scriptores usu, Diss. Jena 1913.
6. H. Krüger/ Μ. Käser, 'Fraus', ZRG 63 (1943) 117-174 (my representation of 'fraus'
is based to a large extent on this article).
7. The basic text is Lex XII tab.3.6 'si plus minusve secuerunt, se (=sine) fraude esto'
(cf.e.g. Lex repetund.CIL 12583,69 'sed fraude sua extra ordinem dato solvitoque').
8. Lex XII tab.8.21 'patronus, si clienti fraudem fecerit, sacer esto'.
9. For this last stage of development cf. e.g. Cic. Ciueni.70 'ad omnem malitiam et
fraudem versare mentem coepit (sc. Oppianicus)'; Pis.44 'infrenatum conscientia
scelerum et fraudum suarum'; Q.Rosc.20 'ex fraude, fallaciis, mendaciis constare
totus videtur' (cf. Cluent.72 'ex fraude et mendacio factus').
10. Cf. e.g. Gaius inst.3.223 'poena ... iniuriarum ex lege XII tabularum propter mem
brum ... ruptum talio erat' eqs.
11. For details and documentation see J.J. Dillon, Lapsus: A study of the word and its
synonyms from the classical age to St. Cyprian, Ann Arbor 1982 [microfilm].
12. For the progression from 'proprie' through 'tropice' to 'translate' see e.g. Plaut. Capt.
595 viden tu illi maculari corpus totum maculis luridis (sc. motu animi)' —♦
Poen.l98sq. 'inest amoris macula huic homini in pectore, ... quae elui ne utiquam
potest' (sim. 'tropice' e.g. Cic.S.Rosc.66 'paternus ... sanguis, ex quo si qua macula
concepta est, ... elui non potest') —► Cic.Sest.63 'macula regni publicati maneret,
quam nemo iam posset eluere'; Verr.2.5.121 'maculas furtorum et flagitiorum ...
sanguine eluere'.
13. Cic.nat.deor.3.75 'est ... malitia versuta et fallax ratio nocendi'.
14. Cf. Taubenschlag, RE s.v. maleficium, col.870.
93
94
25. For poena, originally a term which means obligation, only then compensation, sat
isfaction, and finally punishment see R. Lamacchia, 'Sull' evoluzione semantica di
poena', in: Studia Florentina A. Ronconi sexagenario oblata, Roma 1970, 135-154.
26. See J. Riquelme Otälora, Estudio semantico de «purgare» en los textos latinos
antiguos, Humanidades 5, Univ. de Zaragoza 1987.
27. For further examples see K. Latte, 'Religiöse Begriffe im frührömischen Recht', ZRG
67 (1950) 47-61 = Kl. Sehr. 329-340 (see above, n.21).
28. The basic texts are Festus p.174 'no(xia) ut Ser. Sulpicius Ru(fus ait, damnum
significat), apud poetas autem et oratores ponitur pro culpa, at (ad cod.) noxa
peccatum, aut pro peccato poenam ut Accius in Melanippo "tete esse huic noxae
obnoxium". item cum lex iubet noxae dedere, pro peccato dedi iubet. Caecilius
in Hypobolimaeo Chaerestrato: nam ista quidem noxa muliebrest magis quam viri'
(suppl.sec.Pauli Diac.exc.: 'noxia apud antiquos damnum significat, sed a poetis
ponitur pro culpa, noxa ponitur pro peccato aut peccati poena')'; Serv..Aen.l.41
'(unius ob noxam ... Aiacis) noxam ... pro "noxiam". et hoc interest inter noxam
et noxiam, quod "noxia" culpa est, "noxa" autem poena' (Serv.auct. 'quidam "noxa"
quae noeuit, "noxia" id quod nocitum aeeipiunt'; a different explanation is given
by Nonius 438.19sq. 'noxa et noxia hanc habent diversitatem, quod est "noxa"
peccatum leve, ... "noxia" nocentia' (in its last part the passage documents the later
development)); Inst.Iust.4.8.1 'noxa autem est corpus quod nocuit, id est servus;
noxia ipsum maleficium veluti furtum, damnum, rapina, iniuria'.
29. See O. Hey, Semasiologische Studien, Fleckeis. Jahrb. Suppl.18, 1892 (83-212), 5.:
Noxia-noxa. Eine Bedeutungskontamination, 187-208 (although an abundance of
conjectures sometimes makes things even more complicated).
30. I do it without testimonia and refer for full documentation and further discussion
to my presentation in Vorstellungen vom Bösen (see above, n.23).
31. Cf. e.g. Plaut. Capt.476 'quam in tribu sontes aperto capite condemnant reos';
Cic.iej.3.6 'minoris magistratus ... vincula sontium servanto, capitalia vindicanto'
eqs.; Tusc.2.41 'cum ... sontes ferro depugnabant' (sc. in ludis gladiatoriis).
32. So we speak of successors less in a terminological sense than in regard to the mo
tif, which up to the Christian writers becomes more and more intensified and
is transferred from the mythical realm increasingly to that of reality. I give a
kind of survey by quoting some central texts in chronological order: Tib.1.3.74
'versantur celeri noxia membra [sc. Ixionis] rota'. Prop.4.11.17 (a dead woman
pleads with Pluto) 'immatura licet, tamen hue non noxia veni' Ο v. Ibis 173sq. 'in
loca ab Elysiis diversa fugabere campis,/ quasque tenet sedes noxia turba, coles'
(cf.Sen.//ere./.1221sqq. 'dira Furiarum loca/ et inferorum carcer et sonti plaga/
95
38. Cf. e.g. Rhet.Her.1.14.24 'deprecatio est, cum et peccasse se et consulto fecisse
confitetur, sc.reus' (sim. Cic.tnv.1.15 'et peccasse et consulto peccasse'), where the
'consulto-aspect' has to be deduced expressis verbis, with Aug.eptsi.118.15 'primum
... peccatum, hoc est primum voluntarium defectum'; lib.arb.3.184 'non solum
peccatum illud dicimus quod proprie peccatum vocatur — libera enim voluntate et
ab sciente committitur -, sed' eqs.
39. Verg.i4en.10.31sq. (Venus speaks to Jupiter) 'si sine pace tua ... Troes Italiam
petiere, iuant peccata' (Serv. 'dicimus ... et "luo poenam" et "luo peccatum", nam
peccatum solvitur poena'), cf.jeorj.4.453sq. 'non te nullius exercent numinis irae,/
magna luis commissa'.
40. off.2.84; see e.g. also Catull.91.9sq. (to a friend who has betrayed him) 'tantum tibi
gaudium in omni/ culpa est, in quacumque est aliquid sceleris', or Sail. Catil.h.l 'huic
(sc. Catilinae) ab adulescentia bella intestina, caedes, rapinae, discordia civilis grata
fuere'. I have dealt with the theme of delighting in evil more fully in Vorstellungen
vom Bösen (see above, η.23).
41. I again give a history of the 'anima-sons-motif' in the form of some important
testimonial in direct imitation of Vergil Ov.mei.6,617sq. (Procne, speaking of
Tereus) 'aut per vulnera mille/ sontem animam expellam' (but cf. the 'contam
ination' with the other Vergilian passage Aen.6.570 [above p.80] mei,10.349sqq. in
the monologue of Myrrha: 'nec metues atro crinitas angue sorores, quas facibus
saevis oculos atque ora petentes/ noxia corda vident?'; a more 'Vergilian' version is
offered by Stat. 77ie(i.l.56sqq., n.32); Sen.(?) 0ct.240sqq. (Nero) 'hie hostis deum/
hominumque... / spiritum fratri abstulit,/ hausit cruorem matris — et lucem videt/
fruiturque vita noxiam atque animam trahit' (cf.629sq. 'veniet dies tempusque, quo
reddat suis/ animam nocentem sceleribus'), cf. Tac.ann. 14.48.4 (with particular
reference to a reus laesae maiestatis) 'in insula publicatis bonis quo longius son
tem vitam traxisset'; Lact.mort.persec.1.5 'caelestibus plagis et cruciatibus meritis
nocentes animas profuderunt' (sc. persecutors of the Christians).
42. For further discussion and documentation see Vorstellungen vom Bösen (above,
n.23). See also H. Chadwick, 'Gewissen', RAC 10 (1978) 1025-1107; R. Mulder, De
96
52. See H. Beikircher, 'Was heißt foedus luere (Verg.Aen.12,695)? Zur Semasiologie von
luere', in: Anttdosis, Festschr. W. Kraus = WS Beih.5, Wien 1972, 31-40.
53. Liv.7.6.4sq. (Curtius) 'manus nunc in caelum, nunc in patentes terra« hiatus ad
deos manes porrigentem se devovisse; equo deinde quam poterat maxime exornato
insidentem, armatum se in specum immisisse'.
54. But cf. Turnus' willingness Aen. 12.694sq. 'quaecumque est fortuna, mea est: me
verius unum pro vobis foedus luere'.
55. See also 29.3sq. (the declaration of the pontifex after the death of Decius) 'vicisse
Romanos defunctos consulis fato; Gallos Samnitesque Telluris Matris ac Deorum
Manium esse; rapere ad se ac vocare Decium devotam secum aciem f(F?)uriarumque
ac formidinis plena omnia ad hostes esse'.
56. Der junge Horaz und die Politik. Studien zur 7. und 16. Epode, Heidelberg 1971.
57. See also episi.1.1.61 'nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa' (cf. the 'signa consci
entiae' Rhet.Her.2.5.8 above, n.47).
58. Cf. e.g. Aesch.ytjam.lSOOsqq., where Klytaimnestra tries to justify her murderous
act to the chorus with reference to the 'alastor', the avenging spirit of the house.
97
98