{"id":97041,"date":"2021-10-21T14:33:39","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T12:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/?page_id=97041"},"modified":"2021-10-21T14:34:35","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T12:34:35","slug":"damnatio-memoriae","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-constitution\/roman-law\/damnatio-memoriae\/","title":{"rendered":"Damnatio memoriae"},"content":{"rendered":"

Damnatio memoriae<\/em> (“condemnation of memory”) was a punishment in ancient Rome<\/a> for crimes against the dignity of the Roman people (crimen maiestatis<\/em>). It consisted in erasing the convict from the memory of posterity, forbidding his descendants to bear his name and destroying all his images.<\/p>\n

During the empire, the condemnation of memory was applied to senators, and especially to the hated emperors<\/a>, whose laws or governments were met with hostility by the people. After the approval of the Senate<\/a> damnatio memoriae<\/em> the statues of the condemned emperor were destroyed, his name was chained from all inscriptions, the images in the paintings were blurred. All his decisions, both concerning individual cases and issued by the convicted person, ceased to apply with retroactive effect. The Romans, being aware of the enormous confusion that would introduce the actual execution of the last order, and also showing their practical sense here, contented themselves with erasing the name of the convict from the documents and names of legal acts.<\/p>\n

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\n <\/i>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n Coin with Sejanus’ name removed (on the right). <\/div>\n \n
\n Classical Numismatic Group, Inc <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

The first person to experience damnatio memoriae<\/em> was Sejanus<\/a>, who conspired against Tiberius<\/a>in 31 CE The next one was Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, who was to contribute to the death of Germanicus<\/a>. Pizon was accused of illegally leaving the province and treason and brought to trial. He committed suicide<\/a> and was doomed to obliterate his memory. An inscription with the content of this judgment has survived – Senatus Consultum de Cn. Pisone patre<\/em> – a decree issued on December 10, 20 CE. The judgment was:<\/p>\n