Crimes and Punishments
What were the severest crimes and what were the punishments?
Roman Slaves:
Roman law was stricter than the law we have nowadays. Back then, Roman slaves did not have a lot of rights and they were considered to be the properties of their owners. Therefore, they would be punished for minor crimes. The lash was a really pervasive punishment. While slaves were beaten, they were hung with a weight tied to their feet, therefore, they would not try to move or escape. The second punishment was to be branded in the forehead and the alternative punishment included the slave being compelled to hang a piece of timber around their necks wherever they went. Punishments for slaves were called furca, as the slave subjected to a certain punishment was called a furcifer. Other less detrimental punishments were also carried out whenever slaves broke little rules that were laid out. The furcifers were confined in a work-housed, where they were given the job to turn a mill for grinding corn. However, when they had committed any capital offence, they were commonly punished by death, but this was eventually banned under the rule of the Emperor Constantine.
Roman Slaves:
Roman law was stricter than the law we have nowadays. Back then, Roman slaves did not have a lot of rights and they were considered to be the properties of their owners. Therefore, they would be punished for minor crimes. The lash was a really pervasive punishment. While slaves were beaten, they were hung with a weight tied to their feet, therefore, they would not try to move or escape. The second punishment was to be branded in the forehead and the alternative punishment included the slave being compelled to hang a piece of timber around their necks wherever they went. Punishments for slaves were called furca, as the slave subjected to a certain punishment was called a furcifer. Other less detrimental punishments were also carried out whenever slaves broke little rules that were laid out. The furcifers were confined in a work-housed, where they were given the job to turn a mill for grinding corn. However, when they had committed any capital offence, they were commonly punished by death, but this was eventually banned under the rule of the Emperor Constantine.
Forgery:
Forgery was not usually punished by death (unless the culprit was a slave). The punishment was called banishment. If one had been subjected to forgery, he/ she would be deprived of their properties and privileges, excluding him/ her from the rest of the society.
Different types of punishments:
The different types of punishments inflicted among the Romans were:
-fines (damnum)
-bonds (vincula)
-stripes (verbera)
-retaliation (talio)
-infamy (ignominia)
-banishment (exilium)
-slavery (servitus)-death
Note: Roman citizens (non-slaves) could not be punished by death unless they were found guilty of treason.
Different types of punishments by death:
When one had been subjected to treason, they would be sentenced to death. There were various ways of being executed:
-Beheading (percussio securi)
-Strangling in prison (strangulatio)
-Throwing a criminal from that part of the prison called Robur (precipitatio de robore)
-Throwing a criminal from the Tarpeian rock (dejectio e rupe Tarpeia)
-Crucifixion (in crucem actio)
-Burying a person alive
-Throwing a criminal into the river (projectio in profluentem).
The last-mentioned punishment, throwing a criminal into the river, was only applied on those who were found guilty of patricide (the act of killing one's father). They would be blindfolded, as they were considered to be unworthy of the light, and taken to the fields to be whipped with rods. Then, they would have been stripped of everything and sewn in a sack, which would be later thrown out to sea. Later, to add the the punishment, a serpent, an ape, a dog and a cock were be put in the sack. The sack which contained the criminal was called Culeus, as the punishment was often signified by the same name.
Forgery was not usually punished by death (unless the culprit was a slave). The punishment was called banishment. If one had been subjected to forgery, he/ she would be deprived of their properties and privileges, excluding him/ her from the rest of the society.
Different types of punishments:
The different types of punishments inflicted among the Romans were:
-fines (damnum)
-bonds (vincula)
-stripes (verbera)
-retaliation (talio)
-infamy (ignominia)
-banishment (exilium)
-slavery (servitus)-death
Note: Roman citizens (non-slaves) could not be punished by death unless they were found guilty of treason.
Different types of punishments by death:
When one had been subjected to treason, they would be sentenced to death. There were various ways of being executed:
-Beheading (percussio securi)
-Strangling in prison (strangulatio)
-Throwing a criminal from that part of the prison called Robur (precipitatio de robore)
-Throwing a criminal from the Tarpeian rock (dejectio e rupe Tarpeia)
-Crucifixion (in crucem actio)
-Burying a person alive
-Throwing a criminal into the river (projectio in profluentem).
The last-mentioned punishment, throwing a criminal into the river, was only applied on those who were found guilty of patricide (the act of killing one's father). They would be blindfolded, as they were considered to be unworthy of the light, and taken to the fields to be whipped with rods. Then, they would have been stripped of everything and sewn in a sack, which would be later thrown out to sea. Later, to add the the punishment, a serpent, an ape, a dog and a cock were be put in the sack. The sack which contained the criminal was called Culeus, as the punishment was often signified by the same name.