Quasi Adultera Reflections Based on Lex Iulia de Adulteriis Coërcendis

Abstract

The analysis of juridical sources concerning lex Iulia de adulteriis coërcendis has shown that people involved in forbidden sexual relationships were not the only ones who could be, after certain legal actions, punished for adulterium. Such observations provided encouragement for further research in order to establish and describe those women’s actions that weren’t regarded as adultery but were so harmful to society that women guilty of them were punished quasi adulterae. The dissertation is divided into four parts. The first one deals with source materials that provided grounds for the research. The following parts are devoted to different offences: offering one’s own house to adulterers (part two), taking advantage of the husband’s adultery (part three), keeping adultery secret in exchange for some benefits (part four). The reflections are based on sources found in The Digest of Justinian.