This chapter examines the figure of the furiosus in Roman law as a case study, through a combined analysis of legal sources and the Latin vocabulary of madness. It shows that Roman jurists developed a specific terminology for mental disturbance and approached it above all in relation to the subject’s capacity to act. By reconstructing ancient classifications of madness, the chapter highlights a view very different from the modern one: the furiosus was not treated as permanently deprived of legal standing, but as a person whose status, body, and property had to be protected.
Il furiosus, in M. Bettini (cur.), L’antropologia del mondo antico (Bologna 2025) 487-497.
Aglaia McClintock
2025-01-01
Abstract
This chapter examines the figure of the furiosus in Roman law as a case study, through a combined analysis of legal sources and the Latin vocabulary of madness. It shows that Roman jurists developed a specific terminology for mental disturbance and approached it above all in relation to the subject’s capacity to act. By reconstructing ancient classifications of madness, the chapter highlights a view very different from the modern one: the furiosus was not treated as permanently deprived of legal standing, but as a person whose status, body, and property had to be protected.File in questo prodotto:
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