Quarta Hostilia

Quarta Hostilia was a Roman plebeian who lived in the 2nd century BC. Lived in the Roman Republic and came from the gens of the Hostilier . Presumably it was founded in 180 BC. After she was tried in a large-scale investigation into poisoning ( de veneficis ).

Life

Quarta Hostilia had been married to the praetor Gnaeus Fulvius Flaccus , who is said to have gone into exile after military misconduct. Her second husband was Gaius Calpurnius Piso , who lived in 180 BC. Was elected consul . Her biological son, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus , came from her first marriage and, to her annoyance, had applied three times to no avail for the consulate. It was only after the stepfather died unexpectedly in office that Quintus was elected as a suffect consul . Due to the unexplained circumstances of death in connection with the now successful by-election of her son, Quarta Hostilia came under the urgent suspicion of having killed her husband with poison ( venenum ) herself or by a third party instigated . Quarta Hostilia was convicted of poisoning in a circumstantial trial based on the suspected motive, underpinned by the incriminating testimony of witnesses regarding her statements about the election victory of her husband instead of her son. Although no confession has been handed down and the means of the crime are not named as possible evidence, she was convicted and probably executed.

Legal historical background

In 331 BC In the 3rd century BC there was an unusual series of unexplained deaths in the city of Rome , the victims of which were mainly men of all classes. After the causes were initially attributed to inadequate hygiene and epidemics, the information given by a slave and the subsequent investigations revealed that numerous wives had caused their husbands to die prematurely through the use of poison. The large number of homicides caused the Senate to classify the poisoning as an official offense because of its characteristic insidiousness, which - in contrast to the previous private criminal offense of murder ( parricidium ) - was now punished ex officio in the public interest. A not insignificant number of women are said to have been prosecuted and 170 of them were convicted.

In the years 184 and 180 BC Chr. There was again a large number of unusual deaths to be lamented, which were brought in connection with possible poisoning attacks. The state, sovereign investigative proceedings ( quaestio extraordinaria de veneficis ) were then initiated by a senate resolution , which were carried out against Quarta Hostilia, along with other suspects.

swell

• Livy From Urbe Condita 8, 18, 1–11; 40, 37, 1-7; 40, 43, 2-3
• Valerius Maximus Facta et Dicta Memorabilia 2, 5, 3
• Justinian I , Digesta Iustiniani 50, 16, 236

literature

• Hans Georg Gundel : Hostilius 19th Quarta Hostilia. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 2, Stuttgart 1967, column 1238.
• Joachim Ermann: Criminal Trial, Public Interest and Private Prosecution. Investigations into the criminal law of the Roman Republic (= research into Roman law. Volume 46). Böhlau Verlag, Cologne et al. 2000, ISBN 3-412-08299-6 , The early poisonous murder processes , pp. 33-75 (also dissertation, Saarbrücken University 1999).