''Relegatio'' (or ''relegatio in insulam'') under
Roman law
Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
was the mildest form of exile, involving banishment from Rome, but not loss of citizenship, or confiscation of property. It was a sentence used for adulterers, those that committed sexual violence or
manslaughter
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...
, and
procurers.
A notable victim of ''relegatio'' was
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
.
Origins
Under the early Republic, citizens could be cut off from the community – fire and water – by the . To forestall this, they sometimes went into voluntary exile (''exilium''), where citizenship might be maintained or lost but property would normally be retained.
By contrast, ''relegatio'' was mainly employed to expel foreigners from Rome: only under the late Republic did it begin to be applied to political figures within Rome.
Under the Empire
The emperors made ''relegatio'' one of their main weapons of banishment, alongside ''
deportatio''. ''Relegatio'' might be for a specific period or for life;
it might be to a fixed spot, or simply outside Rome or Italy. The exile could take place in any isolated place, not necessarily an island.
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 ...
describes how one senator "chose the famous and agreeable island of Lesbos for his exile". In any case, it remained a softer penalty than the alternative of ''deportatio'', which generally entailed loss of citizenship and property as well as banishment to a specific spot.
A ''relegatio'' sentence was often only temporary and once the sentenced was pardoned, they could return to Rome.
The poet Ovid was exiled under ''relegatio'' to
Tomis, in what is modern-day
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. In his writing, he never clearly stated what caused this exile. Ovid in his exile made play of the fact that he remained a citizen in charge of his property in Rome, though he was unable either to have his ''relegatio'' rescinded or his exile switched to a more pleasant spot. By contrast,
Juvenal
Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the ''Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...
(at least in
Gilbert Highet
Gilbert Arthur Highet (; June 22, 1906 – January 20, 1978) was a Scottish American classicist, academic writer, intellectual critic, and literary historian.
Biography
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Gilbert Highet is best known as a mid-20th-centur ...
’s reconstruction) was subjected to ''deportatio''; and though his sentence was eventually repealed he returned to Rome a ruined man.
Under the later Empire, jurists set up a hierarchy of banishments: temporary ''relegatio'', then permanent ''relegatio'', ''relegatio'' to an island or fixed spot, and finally deportation.
Cultural echoes
Epictetus praised a stoic senator who heard he had been condemned in his absence: "'To exile', says he, 'or to death?' – 'To exile' – 'What about my property?' – 'It has not been confiscated' – 'Well then, let us go to Arica
irst stop outside Romeand take our lunch there'".
See also
*
Damnatio memoriae
References
{{Reflist, 2}
External links
Exsilium
Ancient Roman exiles
Roman law
Exile
Crime and punishment in ancient Rome