10 most bizarre laws of ancient Rome, which you will be curious to know

Roman law was the main modern jurisprudence. It must know all the lawyers, lawyers, prosecutors, judges and all those who deal with the law.

However, in the ancient Rome, there are laws that now seem not only savagery, barbarism and present. We call a dozen examples.

Do not wear purple

The main clothing was the toga of a Roman citizen - a large piece of woolen cloth, which is tied around the body. Toga, was usually white, often had a purple or gold stripes or color pattern. Mourners wore gray or black toga.

Some strict rules in selecting the color toga was not in Rome. Except for one thing: wearing a purple toga only the emperor could. Moreover, this restriction was dictated by purely pragmatic considerations. The fact that the purple dye in those days was incredibly expensive. It is made only in Phenicia and brought to Rome by special order of the Emperor. Moreover, in order to produce a sufficient quantity of dye for dyeing a toga, required to crush about 10 tysyach shellfish. So that purple was literally gold.

Do not throw a big feast

In ancient Rome, it was very common sumptuary law - the laws against excessive luxury in an environment, clothing, food and other things. One of them - the law Guy Orchids from 181 BC. e., which limited spending on receptions. Subsequently, his more austere version was adopted, which called the law Fanniev. This law allowed to treat in my house up to three guests, and on market days - not more than five: those days there were three in the last month. Victuals allowed to cook not more than 2, 5 drachmas, on smoked meat allowed to spend a year not more than 15 talents, vegetables and beans to the stew - as he had the earth.

Do not cry at the funeral of

Funerals in ancient Rome was a very interesting ceremony. Removal of the body, especially if the deceased was a man of noble and wealthy, accompanied by a herald. Before the body of tradition the ground or burning at the stake, the late, accompanied by a procession sneaking around town with the obligatory visit to the forum. At the beginning of the funeral procession were musicians, and later - the mourners, and then the choir, who performed the dead praise, and after the actors who performed comic scenes from the life of the deceased. After the actors were carrying pictures depicting acts of deceased (especially if he was in the military), as well as its ancestral masks.

The more noble and revered man was deceased, the greater the mourners hired in his procession. Completely foreign women who did not know the deceased, literally tearing their hair, groaned and scratched face, portraying grief. In the end, we come to the point that the mourning at the funeral just banned, so people are not hired these actors.

My father could legally kill the lover of his daughter

In general, as regards adultery laws of ancient Rome was quite peculiar, though adequately reflect the morals and manners of the time. If a man caught his wife with a lover, he had to lock them both in the house and call the neighbors as much as possible, so that they have witnessed the fact of treason. After formally charged man was sure to get a divorce from his wife, to him being accused of pimping. In the case of his wife's lover turned out to be an actor or a freedman, the man had the right to kill him. But if the father finds his unmarried daughter and her lover, then he has the right to beat him regardless of his social status. On the other hand, men their wives cheating with prostitutes, actresses and other vicious woman is not legally punishable.

Killer parents ought to drown in a leather bag with animals

For this kind of death is usually sentenced Romans who committed the murder of close relatives. And we drowned people for completely different faults and also quite often. But it is to the killers of relatives in the bag put the animal - a dog, a snake or a monkey. According to a popular belief that these animals too bad honor their fathers. Anyway, drowning itself in the bag at the time was considered very degrading and unworthy way to deprive a person of life. Aristocrats usually executed in a different way.

Prostitutes had to dye their hair in bright red color, or

Blame numerous conquests of the Roman commanders in Central Europe. Very soon the capital of a vast empire flooded captive women from Germany and Gaul. Most often, they got it in the brothels as slaves and prostitutes. And since among them dominated blondes and redheads, soon it issued an official decree requiring all Roman "prostitutes" dye hair blond or red color, so they can be distinguished from a "decent brunettes."

In order to commit suicide, it was necessary to obtain permission of the Senate

Citizens are then not allowed to commit suicide just so on their own. If people expressed the desire to settle accounts with life, he had to file a formal petition to the Senate with a detailed description of the reasons that prompted him to take such a step. If the Senators after the meeting found these reasons satisfactory, we issued to the applicant free of poison for the care of life.

The father could sell his children into slavery three times

The father of Rome all enjoyed very serious respect and had a number of inalienable rights. One of them - the right to sell their children into temporary slavery. However, it will be temporary or permanent, is also solved father. In the extant texts, there is no clear indication as to what it is in this case the contract was concluded and which have limitations. It is known that at some point the father could demand that the son has been sold back to him. In this case, he retained control over their child and could sell it again. However, the law of the Twelve Tables permitted to repeat the sale of up to three times. After three times the sales of the son is completely freed from the power of his father.

The woman could leave the house for three days, to extend the "trial period" before marriage

In general, at that time in Rome there are three types of marriage. The first two were like a modern formal marriage, but the third kind of thought that a couple enters into marriage only after years of living together. A kind of "trial period", during which both could look at each other and understand whether or not to be bound by ties of formal marriage. Thus, if within a year the woman left the house of her future husband more than three days and three nights, the countdown begins again.

The father can legally kill her entire family

Especially brightly it was expressed in the early period doimpersky Rome. The father of the family was considered a senior member of the dynasty. He granted absolute rights within the family. Here he was, and the high priest, and the prosecutor, and the judge, and executioner if necessary. However, even if the children are grown and have families of their own, while their father was alive, he was considered the head of the family. He owns and wife, and children, and their spouses. Moreover belong in the truest sense of the word. Wife, a father could have killed for treason, daughter - for fornication, sons - for the committed offense.