Relegatio
Relegatio under Roman law was the mildest form of exile, involving banishment from Rome, but not loss of citizenship, or confiscation of property.
A notable victim of relegatio was Ovid.
Origins
Under the early Republic, citizens could be cut off from the community – fire and water – by the ‘interdictio aquae et ignis’; and to forestall this sometimes went into voluntary exile (exilium), where citizenship might be maintained or lost, but property would normally be retained.[1]: 233 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.[2]: 65
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;[2]: 67 it might be to a fixed spot, or simply outside Rome/Italy: thus Tacitus describes how one senator “chose the famous and agreeable island of Lesbos for his exile”.[3]: 196 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.[1]: 182–3 : 535–6
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fact that he remained a citizen in charge of his property in Rome, though he was unable either to have his relegatio rescinded, or his exile switched to a pleasanter spot.[4]: 27 : 74 By contrast, Juvenal (at least in Gilbert Highet’s reconstruction) was subjected to deportatio; and though his sentence was eventually repealed he returned to Rome a ruined man.[5]: 19–20
Under the later empire, jurists set up a hierarchy of banishments: temporary relegatio/permanent relegatio/relegation to an island or fixed spot/deportatio.[6]: 22
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 [first stop outside Rome] and take our lunch there’”.[7]: 15
See also
References
- ^ a b Nettleship, H, ed. (1892). A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. London.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b Kelly, G (2006). A History of Exile in the Roman Republic.
- ^ Tacitus (1966). Annals. Penguin.
- ^ Evans, H (1983). Publica Carmina. London.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Green, P (1982). Juvenal: The Sixteen Satires. Penguin.
- ^ Washburn, D (2012). Banishment in the Later Empire.
- ^ Epictetus (1979). The Discourses. London.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
External links
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