Evoluzione normativa e ratio legum. Qualche osservazione sulla legislazione matrimoniale augustea

This essay deals with the marriage legislation issued by Augustus during his Principate, also known as lex Iulia et Papia. The recent discovery of an inscription containing the lex municipii Troesmensium together with some references to a previously unknown commentarius of 5 A.D. sheds new light on the Augustean legislation. The text of this inscription reveals a probable connection between the above-mentioned commentarius, on the one hand, and both the lex de maritandis ordinibus (18 BC) and the lex Papia Poppeaea (9 A.D.), on the other hand. One may also argue from the sources at our disposal that C. Ateius Capito, consul suffectus in 5 A.D., played an essential role in the elaboration of the marriage legislation. He actually was the author of a decretum on this topic, as we can infer from Ulpian, D. 23.2.29. The last part of this work is devoted to some remarks concerning the ratio of the Augustean marriage legislation and its philosophical foundations.