Actors and Audience in the Roman Courtroom

by Bablitz; Leanne

• ISBN13: 9780415427609
• ISBN10: 0415427606
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-08-14
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

While the death of Cicero marks the end of an era within the Roman courtroom, the evolution of the state into a Principate brought transformation to the Courts rather than decay. The Roman courtroom, like the theatre or arena, brought together individuals from every social group of the population. While gathered together within the same space, these individuals participated in diverse manners. Advocates tried to convince the judges and the audience of their cases, litigants looked dejected and clung to family members, and audiences cheered, jeered, and hissed through it all.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. viii
Abbreviations	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The location of legal activities in the city of Rome	p. 13
Courts of the praetors	p. 14
Court of the emperor	p. 34
Courts of other magistrates	p. 39
Overview of locations	p. 48
Reconstruction of the Roman courtroom	p. 51
Types of people present	p. 52
Physical arrangement of the participants	p. 53
Physical arrangement of the audience	p. 57
The distinction between types of courts	p. 59
The centumviral court	p. 61
The litigant	p. 71
Identity of litigants	p. 72
Motivation	p. 77
Choosing an advocate	p. 81
The litigant in the courtroom	p. 81
The judge	p. 89
An overview of judges at Rome	p. 91
Album iudicum	p. 92
Unus iudex	p. 101
The stress of judging	p. 103
Favoritism in the rulings of the judge	p. 108
Judicial service: honor or duty?	p. 110
The judge in the courtroom	p. 116
The audience	p. 120
The identity of the audience	p. 121
Audience participation	p. 133
Clientelae and the claque	p. 136
The advocate	p. 141
Status, pay, the "decline of oratory", and terminology	p. 141
The cases of advocates	p. 150
Factors in the selection of cases	p. 158
Factors in the refusal of cases	p. 165
Provincial and out-of-town advocates	p. 167
The advocate's role outside and in the courtroom	p. 170
Time investment and workload	p. 170
The advocate in the courtroom	p. 186
Conclusions	p. 199
Notes	p. 205
Bibliography	p. 253
Index locorum	p. 264
Subject index	p. 279
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