Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

Religious Law

omens themselves, and the Senate eventually decided not to reverse itself. A different set of religious authorities had a more special ized role in declaring war and making treaties. The so-called fetiales carried out rituals by which the Romans demanded restitution from other nations that had done them some harm and formally declared war when they (inevitably) refused it. We know that in this process they stressed the justice of the Roman cause, and the whole proceeding was framed much as a legal case between the Romans and their opponents, a case whose verdict would be revealed by the outcome of the war. They were also involved in striking treaties at the end of wars. While the priesthood was never abolished, its actual use seems to have become at most occasional by the period treated in this book. It is unfortunately unclear whether the role of the fetiales in this process gave them any power, even when they were for mally involved. That is, was there an independent religious test of whether Rome could or should go to war, or did the fetiales essentially just file the correct paperwork with the gods?

The Power of Religious Law

It is possible to read both of these stories as cases of human pol itics trumping religious law, but that is at best an oversimplifi cation. What the “right” answer was in terms of religious law was hardly clear in either case, so politicians had a lot of room to maneuver. Thus it is worth noting the power of religious

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