Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19841
Title: Social Status, Legal Status and Legal Privilege
Contributor(s): Taylor, Tristan  (author)orcid 
Publication Date: 2016
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19841
Abstract: In the early second century AD, the Roman senator Pliny congratulated the governor of Baetica, Calestrius Tiro, on his administration of justice. Pliny lauds Tiro for being both loved by the lesser people ('minores'), and esteemed by the province's leading men ('principes'). In particular, Pliny praises Tiro for preserving the distinctions of rank and dignity ('discrimina ordinum dignitatumque') in his judicial activities, as once such distinctions are confused, nothing is more unequal than the resulting equality ('nihil est ipsa aequalitate inaequalius') (Ep. 9.5). Pliny's brief missive reveals much about elite ideas on the relationship between social status and the administration of justice; in particular, the belief that equality did not lie in treating all as equal before the law, but rather in respecting distinctions of rank and status. In this regard, Pliny refers to two broad hierarchical categories: the leading ('principes') or powerful people ('potentes'), and the lesser folk ('minores'). Pliny also states that some governors do not respect such distinctions appropriately, obtaining a bad reputation through deciding too often for the 'minores' from their fear of seeming to yield excessively to the 'potentes'. This implies that respect for rank and status flowed from the governor's discretion, rather than strict application of legal rules. Pliny's epistle neatly encapsulates the issues for inquiry here: what was the relationship between legal and social status in Roman law, and to what extent did legal or social status distinctions grant legal privilege?
Publication Type: Book Chapter
Source of Publication: The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law and Society, p. 349-361
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Place of Publication: Oxford, United Kingdom
ISBN: 9780198728689
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 180119 Law and Society
210306 Classical Greek and Roman History
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 480405 Law and society and socio-legal research
430305 Classical Greek and roman history
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 970121 Expanding Knowledge in History and Archaeology
970118 Expanding Knowledge in Law and Legal Studies
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 280114 Expanding knowledge in Indigenous studies
280113 Expanding knowledge in history, heritage and archaeology
280117 Expanding knowledge in law and legal studies
HERDC Category Description: B1 Chapter in a Scholarly Book
Publisher/associated links: http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/235883801
Series Name: Oxford Handbooks
Editor: Editor(s): Paul J du Plessis, Clifford Ando & Kaius Tuori
Appears in Collections:Book Chapter
School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

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