Salus populi est suprema lex ele sfide della "pandemia" di epoca romana
Salus Populi est Suprima Lex and "Pandemic" Challenges of the Roman Era

Author(s): Ines Matešković Matić
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Ancient World, Health and medicine and law, Roman law
Published by: Правни факултет Универзитета у Источном Сарајеву
Keywords: Antonine plague; Cyprian plague; Justinian plague; COVID-19;
Summary/Abstract: Various diseases and epidemic are as old as humanity and have always been integral part of human life, but today, at a time when we are facing a pandemic of the COVID-19 virus, it is worth remembering that epidemics and pandemics also shape history. The aim of this study is to show the extent of the epidemics that marked the Roman Empire: Antonine plague, Cyprian plague and Justinian plague. and to analyze the impact of these phenomena on the legal system. The author offers a concise overview of the Antonine plague, when witnesses reported that up to two thousands people died every day in Rome and deaths throughout the empire exceeded millions; the Cyprian Plague which at its peak caused five thousand deaths a day in Rome alone and unleashed political anarchy in the 3rd century; and eventually the Plague of Justinian, the epidemic that struck Constantinople and was the first documented pandemic in history , which caused tens of millions of deaths across the Mediterranean and Europe, and its though to have contributed to the end of antiquity and the Middle Ages. Using the historical - legal method, the author wants to show the impact of these epidemics on legislation and thus confirm the similarity with the consequences of the COVID- 19 pandemic that we are facing today and that confirms the maxim Salus Populi Suprema Lex.

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