Nemesi dea del νόμος. Modalità e simboli della repressione criminale nei primi secoli dell’impero romano

Towards the middle of the second century CE the figurative and symbolic apparatus exhibited by the first emperors in the amphitheatre can help shed further light on the birth of the institute of servi poenae. This peculiar condition finds a new meaning when placed in the history of the conflict between the punitive power of the dominus on his slaves and the punitive power of the emperor on all the inhabitants of the empire, free or slaves they may be. The opposition between these two coexisting punitive powers manifested itself during the ludi, when the princeps, on his own initiative or to meet the favour of the audience, wished to free a slave punished in the arena by his dominus. The owner’s power to free his slaves (even after he had condemned them to die) could potentially undermine the stature of the princeps. The paper examines the progressive legislation that ensured control on every aspect of the games and on the bodies of the condemned. The prevalent cult of Nemesis in the amphitheatre displays visually the new conception of imperial justice.