КОРЕНИ ДЕЛИКАТА INIURIA И CONVICIUM
THE ROOTS OF INIURIA AND CONVICIUM DELICTS

Summary/Abstract: The early delict of iniuria represented a wrongful act, wrongfulness. It was the act which put in danger private interests of pater familias, who was the pillar of social establishment. The role of pater familias in Roman society started to gradually deteriorate. Nevertheless, the requirement of the endangered goods being in the sphere of pater familias’ private interests, remained crucial for determining the scope of the delict. On the other hand, black magic was considered a great threat to the society. It was differentiated from the delict of iniuria very early. The Law on XII Tables contains special provisions sanctioning the use of magic as a separate delict. Roman concepts of occentare, excantare and incantare were narrowly connected to the malicious fortune-telling and curses. Each of them represented a kind of verbal delict (insult), and had its place in the history of another delict, convicium. When Roman law started to loose its close relation to religion, the delict of insult was liberated from elements of magic, and moved to the sphere of protection of private interests of the individual.

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