[German version]

In the Roman formulary procedure, exceptio (objection, literally ‘exception’) refers to a special defence plea by the defendant. It can refer to the trial as a whole, but its particular usage was as a corrective measure in an  actio based on the ius civile. In the fomula, the exceptio appears as a negative conditional clause, which follows the plaintiff's claim summarized in the  intentio , and precedes the condemnation formula ( condemnatio ). Worded as a negative condition for the condemnatio and thus an exception from the conditions for condemnation ─ the…