07-19-2011, 06:43 AM
The only reference I can find in Roman law on the bearing of arms, or not (before the laws of Justinian, which reference the subject) is the lex sicarii et veneficis of Sulla (82BC), which might be the law Cicero is talking about in his speech. It prohibited "persons going about armed with the intention of killing or thieving". The fact that the law specifies intention does suggest that going about armed only for defence is ok. Again, though, the law is not specifically about the pomerium.
The rule on the pomerium seems to have been that it was illegal for soldiers to enter or assemble under arms: since soldiers were by definition citizens, any armed citizen could be accused of taking on the attributes of a soldier - this, perhaps, rather than a total ban on carrying arms at all, might be source of a modern extrapolation that weapons were forbidden inside the sacred limits...
I can't find any references to Augustan legislation on weapons - there must have been some reason, however, for the praetorian bodyguard apparently (see above) being armed only with daggers...
Gladiators, however, surely did fight within the pomerium - Caesar staged several days of combat in the Forum. But gladiators were not citizens, and so could not be classed as soldiers, which is perhaps the point. This would, of course, make arming one's slaves perfectly fine. :???:
The rule on the pomerium seems to have been that it was illegal for soldiers to enter or assemble under arms: since soldiers were by definition citizens, any armed citizen could be accused of taking on the attributes of a soldier - this, perhaps, rather than a total ban on carrying arms at all, might be source of a modern extrapolation that weapons were forbidden inside the sacred limits...
I can't find any references to Augustan legislation on weapons - there must have been some reason, however, for the praetorian bodyguard apparently (see above) being armed only with daggers...
Gladiators, however, surely did fight within the pomerium - Caesar staged several days of combat in the Forum. But gladiators were not citizens, and so could not be classed as soldiers, which is perhaps the point. This would, of course, make arming one's slaves perfectly fine. :???:
Nathan Ross
