Iusiurandum
（
ὅρκος). An oath, either formally and solemnly pronounced
as a part of a religious or legal act, or loosely used in common life. Among the Greeks oaths were taken on important occasions, such as treaties,
alliances, and other compacts, in making vows, in ratifying promises; and on many other
occasions, such as the registry of a youth as an Athenian citizen (see
Ephebi), the assumption of public office by kings and ephors in Sparta,
and by archons, generals, judges, and other officials at Athens, by judges of the games, by
both accuser and defendant in the
ἀνάκρισις (see
Anacrisis), and by witnesses (see
Martyria).
Oaths were sworn in the name of all the gods together, or by the special deity appropriate
to the special occasion, as when virgins swore by Artemis, married women by Heré,
etc. Women had also their own peculiar oaths,
μὰ τὼ θεώ
(“by the two goddesses,” i. e. Demeter and Persephoné),
νὴ τὴν Ἀφροδίτην, etc. The Spartans swore by Castor and
Pollux as their national demigods, and the Athenians by their deities (Zeus, Poseidon, and
Athené), much as in the age of chivalry the nations of Europe swore by their
national saints. The Greeks also swore by whatever was especially dear to them—e. g.
Achilles by his sceptre, warriors by their weapons, friends by their friendship. The most
solemn oaths, however, were those that were sworn by Zeus (hence styled
ὅρκιος), who punished perjury both in this life and after death (
Il. xix. 260;
Ol. ii. 71). The gods themselves swore by
the Styx as the most terrible of oaths (
Il. xv. 36 foll.). In taking an oath men usually stood, lifting up the
hands and eyes to heaven, the oath being a sort of prayer; and sacrifices and libations were
the accompaniments of the most solemn adjurations. To give them especial sanctity, oaths were
often taken in temples, shrines, or sacred groves.
Among the Romans, oaths were taken by the magistrates and other
persons who entered the service of the State, by soldiers, by the
fetiales in ratifying treaties with foreign powers, by the parties to a legal action
before the praetor, by witnesses, and loosely by persons in the ordinary speech of common
life. Under the Empire, oaths of allegiance were commonly taken by all subjects of the
emperor, and on the recurrence of the day on which such an oath had been taken, it was
customary to renew it, and also on the first day of each year. The form of this oath of
allegiance was probably the same as that of the
sacramentum (see
below). Vestal virgins and the Flamen Dialis were not allowed to swear on any occasion. Men
swore by the gods, much as did the Greeks, by their genii, or by the genius of the emperor,
and also by individuals or objects most dear to them. Favorite oaths were
Hercle or
Mehercle (i. e.
ita me Hercules iuvet); Pol,
Perpol, Aedepol (i. e.
per Pollucem, ah di Pollux); per Iovem and
per Iovem Lapidem; per superos; per deos immortales; medius fidius (i. e.
ita me deus Fidius iuvet); ita me dii ament. Women never swore by Hercules nor
men by Castor (
Gell. xi. 6). The form called
exsecratio was common. Thus,
di me perdant ni . . .; dispeream; di me
interficiant; ne vivam; ne salvus sim, etc.
The oath taken in legal actions was called
iusiurandum in iure and also
iusiurandum necessarium as being required, and hence opposed to the
iusiurandum voluntarium out of court. The oath taken by the Roman soldier was
called
sacramentum. It was taken on enlisting for a campaign, and first
gave the soldier the right of using arms against the enemy. It thus distinguished legitimate
warfare (
militia) from mere rapine (
latrocinium). It
contained an
exsecratio, and he who broke it was accursed (
sacer). The formula of a
sacramentum is given by Gellius (xvi.
4).
The ancients, especially the Greeks, tried to check the indiscriminate use of oaths in daily
life. To allow men to relieve their feelings without profanity, Rhadamanthus is said to have
ordained swearing by the names of animals, much as in modern times resort is had to such
expressions as “By Jingo!” “Thunder!” “Great
Scott!” etc. Thus Socrates swore by the dog, Lampon by the goose, and such
elliptical expressions as
μὰ τὸν (with the name of the deity
suppressed) were common, just as in English men say “I swear!”
(
Ran. 1374). See Lasaulx,
Ueber den Eid bei den
Griechen; Brissonius,
De Formulis, etc.; and the article Sponsio.
