The ''Lex Papia et Poppaea'' was a Roman law introduced in 9 AD to encourage and strengthen

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

. It included provisions against

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

and against

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...

after a certain age and complemented and supplemented

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

' '' Lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus'' of 18 BC and the '' Lex Iulia de adulteriis coercendis'' of 17 BC. The law was introduced by the

suffect A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politi ...

consuls A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

of that year, Marcus Papius Mutilus and

Quintus Poppaeus Secundus Quintus Poppaeus Q. f. Q. n. Secundus was consul ''suffectus'' in AD 9, and one of the authors of the ''lex Papia Poppaea''. Background Secundus was descended from a respectable, if undistinguished plebeian family. His father and grandfather were ...

, although they themselves were unmarried.

History

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

mentions several ''

leges Iuliae A ''lex Julia'' (plural: ''leges Juliae'') was an ancient Roman law that was introduced by any member of the gens Julia. Most often, "Julian laws", ''lex Julia'' or ''leges Juliae'' refer to moral legislation introduced by Augustus in 23 BC, o ...

'' (Julian Laws) pertaining to morals and marriage, and the ''Lex Papia Poppaea'' as a separate later law, refining the Julian Laws (''

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'', 3.25) Some writers conclude from the passage in Suetonius (Suet. Aug. 14) that the ''Lex Julia de maritandis ordinibus'' of 18/17 BC was rejected, and add that it was not enacted until 4 AD. In the year 9 AD, and in the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

ship of Marcus Papius Mutilus and

(consules suffecti), another law was passed as a kind of amendment and supplement to the former law, and hence arose the title of ''Lex Julia et Papia Poppaea'' by which these two laws are often quoted. It has been inferred from the two laws being separately cited that they were not made into one. The 6th-century '' Digest'' only mentions the ''Lex Julia de maritandis ordinibus'' (Dig. 38 tit.11; Dig. 23 tit.2). Various titles are used according as reference is made to the various provisions; sometimes the reference is to the ''Lex Julia'', sometimes ''Papia Poppaea'', sometimes ''Lex Julia et Papia'', sometimes ''Lex de maritandis ordinibus'', from the chapter which treated of the marriages of the senators (

Gaius Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People *Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist * Gaius Acilius * Gaius Antonius *Gaius Antonius Hybrida * Gaius Asinius Gallus * Gaius Asiniu ...

, i.178; Ulp. Frag. xi.20; Lex Marita, Hor. Carm. Sec.), sometimes ''Lex Caducaria'', ''Decimaria'', etc. from the various chapters (Ulp. Frag. xxviii tit.7; Dion Cass. liv.16, lvi.1, &c.; Tacit. Ann. iii.25). (''see References'') There were many commentaries on these laws or on this law by the Roman jurists, of which considerable fragments are preserved in the ''Digest'': Gaius wrote 15 books, Ulpian 20, and Paulus 10 books at least on this law. The law contained at least 35 chapters (Dig. 22 tit.2 s19); but it is impossible to say to which of the two laws included under the general title of ''Lex Julia et Papia Poppaea'', the several provisions as now known to us, belong. Attempts have been made both by J. Gothofredus and Heineccius to restore the law, on the assumption that its provisions are reducible to the two general heads of a ''Lex Maritalis'' and ''Lex Caducaria''.

Provisions

Suitability of the match

The provisions of these laws forbade the marriage of a senator or a senator's children with a '' libertina'' (an emancipated slave), with a woman whose father or mother had followed an ''

ars ludicra Ars or ARS may refer to: Places * Ars, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran * ''Ars'', various communes in France: ** Ars, Charente, in the Charente ''département'' ** Ars, Creuse, in the Creuse ''département'' ** Ars-en-Ré, ...

'' (a

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

, or other entertainer), with a

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

, and also the marriage of a ''libertinus'' with a senator's daughter. If an ''hereditas'' or a ''legatum'' (

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

) was left to a person on condition of not marrying, or on conditions which in effect prevented marriage, the conditions were illegal, and the gift was unconditional. The condition, however, might be not to marry a certain specified person or certain specified persons; or it might be to marry a particular person, but then the person must be such a one as would be a suitable match, otherwise the condition would be, in effect, a condition not to marry, and therefore void (Dig.35 tit.1 s63).

Promotion of marriage

In order to promote marriage, various penalties were imposed on those who lived in a state of

after a certain age. '' Caelibes'' could not take an hereditas or a legacy (''legatum''); but if a person was ''caelebs'' at the time of the testator's death, and was not otherwise disqualified (''

jure civili Jure may refer to: * De jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist ...

''), he might take the ''hereditas'' or ''legatum'', if he obeyed the law within one hundred days, that is, if he married within that time (Ulp. Frag. xvii.1). If he did not comply with the law, the gift became '' caducum'' (subject to

escheat Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...

). The ''Lex Julia'' allowed widows a term of one year (''vacatio'') from the death of a husband, and divorced women a term (''vacatio'') of six months from the time of the divorce, within which periods they were not subject to the penalties of the lex: the ''Lex Papia'' extended these periods respectively to two years, and a year and six months (Ulp. Frag. xiv). A man, when he attained the age of sixty, and a woman, when she attained the age of fifty, were not included within certain penalties of the law (Ulp. Frag. xvi); but if they had not obeyed the law before attaining those respective ages, they were perpetually bound by its penalties by a ''Senatus-consultum Pernicianum''. A ''Senatus-consultum Claudianum'' so far modified the strictness of the new rule as to give a man who married above sixty the same advantage that he would have had if had married under sixty, provided he married a woman who was under fifty; the ground of which rule was the legal notion that a woman under fifty was still capable of having children (Ulpian, Frag. xvi; Sueton. Claud. 23). If the woman was above fifty and the man under sixty, this was called ''Impar Matrimonium'', and by a ''Senatus-consultum Calvitianum'' it was entirely without effect as to releasing from incapacity to take ''legata'' and '' dotes''. On the death of the woman, therefore, the ''dos'' became ''caduca''. By the ''Lex Papia Poppaea'' a candidate who had several children was preferred to one who had fewer (Tacit. Ann. xv.19; Plin. Ep. vii.16). Freedmen who had a certain number of children were freed ''operarum obligatione'' (Dig. 38 tit.1 ''De Operis Libertorum''); and ''libertae'', who had four children, were released from the ''tutela'' of their patrons (Ulp. Frag. tit.29). Those who had three children living at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg ...

, four in Italy, and five in the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

, were excused from the office of ''tutor'' or ''curator'' (Inst. 1 25; Dig.27 1). After the passing of this law, it became usual for the senate, and afterwards the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (emp ...

(''princeps'') to give occasionally, as a privilege, the same advantage that the law secured to those who had children. This was called the ''Jus Liberorum''. Pliny says (Ep. ii.13) that he had lately obtained from the emperor, for a friend of his, the ''Jus Trium Liberorum'' (see also Ep. x.95, 96; and Dion Cass. lv.2, and the note of Reimarus). This privilege is mentioned in some inscriptions, on which the abbreviation I. L. H. (''jus liberorum habens'') sometimes occurs, which is equivalent to ''jura parentis habere''. The emperor M. Antoninus provided that children should be registered by name within thirty days after their birth with the ''Praefectus Aerarii Saturni'' (Capitol. M. Ant. c9; compare Satire IX of Juvenal, line 84). The law also imposed penalties on ''orbi'', that is, married persons who had no children (''qui liberos non habent'', Gaius, ii.111) from the age of twenty-five to sixty in a man, and from the age of twenty to fifty in a woman. By the ''Lex Papia'', ''orbi'' could only take one half of an ''hereditas'' or ''legatum'' which was left to them (Gaius, ii.286). It seems that an attempt had been made to evade this part of the law by adoptions, which a ''Senatus-consultum Neronianum'' declared to be ineffectual for the purpose of relieving a person from the penalties of the law (Tacit. Ann. xv.19). As a general rule a husband and wife could only leave to one another a tenth part of their property; but there were exceptions in respect of children either born of the marriage or by another marriage of one of the parties, which allowed of the free disposal of a larger part. This privilege might also be acquired by obtaining the ''Jus Liberorum'' (Ulp. Frag. tit.xv, xvi).

References

* *.

External links