The Lex "Fannia Sumptuaria" of 161 BC

• Autores: Vincent J. Rosivach
• Localización: Classical journal, ISSN 0009-8353, Vol. 102, Nº 1, 2006, págs. 1-16
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Fannius¿ law was the second and best known of the Roman leges sumptuariae. Reconstructing its provisions shows that it targeted market-bought foods served at cenae where the elite entertained one another, while exempting homelier foods like vegetables and far, thus symbolically privileging the domestic economy over cash-based markets. Details about the law¿s passage indicate that it was provoked by a specific event, probably a magistrate presiding over a trial while drunk. The law was impractical, and hence symbolic. Passing the law acted as a collective exorcism of contemporary anxieties. Passage also showed politically who was boss.