10 Strange and Frightening Laws of Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was the leading civilization in the past, and Roman law is still taught in all modern law schools.

However, despite the obvious merits of the laws of the ancient empire, there will be a few absurd and illogical laws in any set of rules. And for a modern person, some of them may even seem barbaric.

10 Can’t wear purple clothes

The clothes of the ancient Romans consisted only of a piece of woolen, coarse fabric called a toga. The toga was tied around the human body, usually had a beige color, and at the funeral it was allowed to change the toga to black or gray.

Purple dye was obtained by killing shellfish. And for impregnation with the color of one toga, as many as 10 soft-bodied animals had to be crushed. Therefore, a law was introduced that only the emperor could wear purple robes, and the dye was brought to Rome by his special order.

9. Law prohibiting feasting

In antiquity, a law was passed prohibiting extensive feasts, as well as excessive luxury in food, clothing, or home interiors. In 181 BC, Emperor Gaius Orhodius introduced a ban on mass feasts. In the future, the law was changed and became even stricter. It got to the point that people were forbidden to receive more than three guests at a time.

Restrictions were also introduced on the expenditure of talents (counting units in antiquity). For example, the inhabitants of Rome were forbidden to spend more than 15 talents per month on the purchase of smoked meat.

8. Law prohibiting crying at funerals

The law originates from the time when the funeral of noble people was accompanied by performances. The deceased was carried out to the general hum and moaning, the buffoons played scenes from the life of the deceased, the artists sang, the musicians accompanied the procession with compositions. Paintings, masks of ancestors, expensive family heirlooms – everything that a person was rich in during his lifetime was paraded, praising the successes and achievements of the deceased.

The problem in the funeral procession was only in the wailing women who had to act out unearthly grief, screaming and tearing their hair hysterically. The hired actresses were supposed to give the impression that the deceased person was the closest to them in life, although more often than not they did not even know the deceased.

In the end, it was decided to completely ban crying at funerals, if only to eradicate the activities of actors of this genre.

7. A father could kill an unmarried daughter’s lover

In antiquity, male infidelity was not condemned, but for a woman, sex with a lover was an indelible shame. After all, if a husband found his wife with another, then he was obliged to bring the incident to the attention of the public. That is, to convene neighbors and acquaintances so that they act as witnesses in the divorce proceedings. And after the incident, the marriage was necessarily terminated.

As a bonus, a man could kill his wife’s lover if he was not a slave, that is, he was not anyone’s property.

If the father found his unmarried daughter with a man, then he had the right to kill him. And in this case, the status of the lover did not matter – even if he belonged to a noble person, the girl’s father could kill him with impunity.

6. Execution for the murder of a relative

If a person killed a member of his family, then he was expected to be executed by drowning. The offender, along with a snake, dog or monkey, was thrust into a leather bag and drowned in a deep barrel of water.

According to the beliefs of the Romans, the listed animals did not respect their parents, therefore, symbolically, they were also subjected to drowning.

5. The law controlling the hair color of ancient Roman prostitutes

During military attacks on the states of Central Europe, Roman troops often emerged victorious. The men of the conquered states were killed or taken into slavery, but the women were waiting for the fate of concubines or prostitutes in brothels.

Soon the brothels of Rome were overflowing with captive girls, whose hair color burned with fire or shone with wheat color. Therefore, all blondes and redheads became associated with prostitution, and dark-haired girls with decency and cleanliness.

Soon a decree was issued forcing even the “indigenous” Roman prostitutes to dye their hair red or blond.

4. Senate approval for suicide

In ancient Rome, suicide was forbidden at the legislative level. To commit suicide, a person had to submit a formal petition to the Senate for the state to grant him permission to commit suicide. To approve the request, the person had to tell the authorities in detail about the reasons that caused him to think about suicide.

And if the representatives of the Senate determined the reasons to be satisfactory, then the person received approval of the request for suicide.

3. The father could give the child into slavery

In ancient times, the father was considered the most important and wise person in the family, so his decisions were not subject to dispute and doubt. The head of the family had the right to give his children into slavery. And as is known from sources that have come down to our contemporaries, the father also decided how long to give the child to the slave owner.

Historians do not know the specific terms of the contract and the timing of the transfer, but it is known that the law allowed the child to be given into slavery no more than three times. If the father gave the child into slavery for the third time, then he forever lost power over the child and all the will of the son or daughter passed into the hands of the slave owner.

2. The possibility of living together before entering into an official marriage

In antiquity, there was a kind of marriage that allowed a man and a woman to live together for a year without obligations before marriage. During such a “trial period”, young people could understand whether they were suitable for each other and whether they should become husband and wife.

During this year, a woman could leave her husband for a period not exceeding three days. If the period spent separately from the “groom” was exceeded, then the countdown of the annual “trial period” began anew.

1. The father had the right to kill his own family

A few paragraphs ago, we wrote that for the murder of a family member, a person was executed. But this law did not apply to the eldest member of the dynasty, that is, the father of the whole family.

His opinion and voice were considered the only true ones, and from that the eldest in the family acted as a decider of fates, and as a judge, and as an executioner.

All blood relatives acted as a family, even the wives of sons and husbands of daughters. If one of the family members did things that were objectionable to the head of the dynasty, then he could issue an order to kill his relative.