Summum supplicium in the Legislation of Christian Roman Emperors

Abstract

This publication is an attempt to answer the question: what was the role of the criminal penalty, especially in its strictest form (summum supplicium) in the Roman legislation of Christian emperors? Finally, whether is it noticeable, based on the example of summum supplicium, that Christianity influenced the Roman criminal law in any way? As it has been demonstrated, the new state religion did not radically change the Roman criminal legislation. The legislation of the Christian emperors confirmed both, the division of society into servi and liberii that had existed for centuries in the Roman state and the diversity of the legal situation of individual social groups. Punishment in the legislation of Christian emperors continued to fulfil the role it had played in the previous centuries and became, even more than ever before, an essential tool for the political struggle of the present state authority. The finest example of this was the legislation of Constantine the Great, followed by all the severity of criminal repression which resulted in the issuing of this legal act. A great desire to bring about a new order, maintain power and even the fear of losing it can be detected in the strictness of the Constantine’s legislation. Finally, the once persecuted Christians began to behave like their previous persecutors.