Mulier accusatrix in the Laudatio Turiae

Abstract

Legal sources relating to the imperial period (especially Justinian’s Digesta) show that Roman criminal law allowed women to bring criminal charges only in exceptional situations. On the other hand, to prosecute the murderer of a relative was considered a sacred duty for the members of the victim’s family. Any negligence in this area was perceived as wicked behaviour and detrimental to the memory of the deceased. The obligation to bring a criminal charge, symbolically identified with vengeance (ultio, vindicta), rested with men. The surviving funeral eulogy known as the Laudatio Turiae shows a very different pattern. Its content shows that at the end of the first century BC, it was a woman who accused the murderers of her parents in court and brought about their conviction. The oration makes it possible to initiate an interesting discussion on the real importance of women’s voice in the criminal process and on the social stereotypes that limited their participation in public procedures.