X11

This article appears in Volume V07, Page 946 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: WIL-YAK

X11 . 6o

patricians

, knights, freedmen, slaves, philosophers, literary men, and, above all, lawyers. The objects of their attacks were the wealthy, all possible rivals of the emperor, and those whose conduct implied a reproach against the imperial mode of life.

Special

SPECIAL

opportunities were afforded by the law of majestas, which (originally directed against attacks on the ruler by word or deed) came to include all kinds of accusations with which it really had nothing to do; indeed, according to Tacitus, a charge of treason was regularly added to all criminal charges. The

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

motive

MOTIVE (from Lat. movere, to move)

for these accusations was no doubt the desire of amassing wealth,' since by the law of majestas one-fourth of the goods of the accused, even if he committed suicide in order to avoid confiscation (which was always carried out in the case of those condemned to

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

punishment

PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)

), was assured to the accuser (who was hence called quadruplator). Pliny and Martial mention instances of enormous fortunes amassed by those who carried on this hateful calling. But it was not without its dangers. If the delator lost his case or refused to carry it through, he was liable to the same penalties as the accused; he was exposed to, the

risk

RISK

of vengeance at the hallds of the proscribed in the event of their return, or of their relatives; while emperors like Tiberius would have no scruples about banishing or putting out of the way those of his creatures for whom he had no further use, and who might have proved dangerous to himself. Under the better emperors a reaction set in, and the severest penalties were inflicted upon the delators. Titus drove into

exile

EXILE (Lat. exsilium or exilium, from exsul or exul, which is derived from ex, out of, and the root sal, to go, seen in salire, to leap,
consul
- CONSUL
- CONSUL (in Gr. generally ihraros,ashortened form of errpavgybs 8hraeos, i.e. praetor maximus)
, &c.; the connexion with solum, soil, country is now generally considered wrong)

or reduced to slavery those who had served Nero, after they had first been flogged in the amphitheatre. The abuse naturally reappeared under a man like

Domitian

DOMITIAN (Thus FLAVIUS DOMITIANUS)

; the delators, with whom Vespasian had not interfered, although he had abolished trials for majestas, were again banished by Trajan, and threatened with

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

punishment

PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)

in an edict of Constantine; but, as has been said, the evil, which was an almost necessary accompaniment of autocracy, lasted till the end of the 4th century.
See Mayor's note on Juvenal iv. 48 for ancient authorities; C. Merivale, Hist. of the Romans under the Empire, chap. 44; W. Rein, Criminalrecht der Romer (1842); T. Mommsen, Romisches Strafrecht (1899); Kleinfeller in Pauly-Wissowa's Realencydopddie.

End of Article: X11

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/WIL_YAK/X11.html">
X11
</a>

(Previous)
WYVERN, or WIVERN

(Next)
X112

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email