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Crematio
(340 words)

[German version]

(Burning at the stake) was a form of Roman capital punishment. The execution may originally have been left to the injured party and his agnates ( agnatio ) in a kind of ‘channelled’ private revenge. In that case, the criminal proceedings served only to establish the prosecutor's right to carry out the private punishment. This is probably how we should understand Gaius' report in his comm. on the Twelve Tables (Dig. 47,9,9), which states that this law (pl. 8,10) ordered execution by fire for premeditated arsons: igni necari iubetur (interpretation according to [1], b…

Cite this page
Schiemann, Gottfried (Tübingen), “Crematio”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e307910>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



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