A Legal Interpretation of Livy's Caudine Sponsio: Using Roman Law to test the validity of Livy's Caudine Forks Narrative

Authors

  • Michael Norman Aston

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21971/P7JP4P

Abstract

Although much has been written about Livy's account of the defeat of a Roman army at the hands of the Samnites at the Caudine Forks in 321 B.C., commentators do not agree as to whether the account describes an historical event. This paper offers a new approach to the problem, by analyzing the legal form and content of the sponsio (agreement) that acts as the backbone of Livy's narrative. The body of the paper analyzes Livy's sponsio in detail, from a legal perspective. The analysis leads to the conclusion that Livy based his narrative upon the sponsio of Roman civil law. Since it is unlikely that the Romans and Samnites conducted their agreement on the basis of Roman private law, it is concluded that the events at the Caudine Forks are either fictional, or did not happen as Livy describes them.

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Author Biography

Michael Norman Aston

Michael Norman Aston is currently a senior manager with the Government of Alberta, where he has pursued a career in information management, privacy and security. He holds graduate degrees in Russian Studies (McMaster) and information and library science (Western Ontario). He graduated with a Master's of Arts degree in Classics at the University of Alberta (1998). His thesis topic was Horace and the Justice of Crime and Punishment.

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Published

2008-02-21

How to Cite

Aston, M. N. (2008). A Legal Interpretation of Livy’s Caudine Sponsio: Using Roman Law to test the validity of Livy’s Caudine Forks Narrative. Past Imperfect, 8. https://doi.org/10.21971/P7JP4P

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Section

Articles