Miszellen. On the Legal Effects of Sponsalia

Abstract

AbstractThis article challenges the traditional view that informal sponsalia (as described in D. 23,1) were legally unenforceable in classical Roman law. After a close examination of the contents and structure of D. 23,1 and related Digest texts, it offers a new interpretation of a crucial passage from Aulus Gellius (Noctes Atticae 4.4), which has traditionally been read as showing that Roman sponsalia were unenforceable. The article then concludes with a consideration of the literary evidence offered by Varro, Plautus and Ovid.