古罗马禁止奢侈法初探

The Legal Regulation on Extravagant Behaviors in Roman Law

奢侈行为是滋生各种社会问题的痼疾之一。对奢侈行为的法律规制在现代社会受到各种私法理念的阻却,但在共和中后期的古罗马,面对日甚一日的奢侈之风,在传统社会机制疲于应对的情况下,罗马统治者选择诉诸法律,出台了一系列对以豪华宴会为代表的奢侈现象进行规制的禁止奢侈法。此等禁止奢侈法从宴会的客人、饮宴的花费、饮食和餐具等方面对宴会进行规制。虽然在实践中它们并没有得到有效执行,但是其作为典型的表现法,旨在以其表现功能而非威慑功能达到对奢侈行为的遏制。禁止奢侈法随着罗马宪制的转型而在帝政时期趋于消失,但它们在共和时期确实在社会风气净化方面发挥了重要作用,虽然没能阻止却在一定程度上延缓了罗马帝国在腐化堕落中走向衰亡的步伐。

Extravagant behavior is one of the chronic diseases that breed various social problems. In modern society, the legal regulation against extravagant behavior is obstructed by various legal concepts in private law. However, in the latter part of Republic, while serious luxury style was increasing and the traditional social mechanism was overwhelmed, the Roman rulers resorted to law. They promulgated a series of sumptuary laws on the extravagant behaviors, especially the luxurious banquet. These laws regulated the banquet from various aspects, including the guests, the expenses, the diet and the tableware, etc. Although they were not effectively implemented in practice, as typical expressive laws, they intended to contain extravagant behaviors by their expressive function rather than deterrent function. With the constitutional transformation of Rome, the sumptuary law tended to disappear during the reign of imperialism. However, they did play an important role in purifing social ethos in the Republican era. Although they failed to stop it, to a certain extent, they slowed down the fall of Roman Empire in corruption and decay.