IUSTITIUM AND STATE OF EXCEPTION. THE ROMAN CONSTITUTIONALIZING OF THE EMERGENCY. THE ACTIUM PARADIGM

Abstract

In the emergency periods Rome had tried in every way already from the most ancient times to stand up against the impredictabilities of the moment, especially during war periods. Similarly, the political and institutional upheavals of the battle of Actium have led to the violent civil crashes and the opposition of leaders of the calibre of Antony and Octavian. These could be a paradigm to verify whether the Roman public law (installing promptly emergency legislation: iustitium, senatusconsultum ultimum, the designation as hostis publicus and the like) had adopted the proper instruments to resolve the crisis. Indeed, a careful examination of the sources, together with understanding of the law texts leads us to exclude, like Antonio Guarino already did, that the Roman constitution could ever have recognised such a possibility.