Ignem exstingui ... aquam aufugisse: the Integration in Check (Plaut. Aul. 88-100)

Abstract

In the ancient Rome there is a penalty named interdictio aquae et ignis. Because of this disposition, the citizen is deprived of water and fire. This interdiction follows to the exile. The consequence of this situation is the loss of the citizenship. The other face of the interdiction is the reception with fire and water during the marriage ceremony’s. In the Roman law this interchange is a symbol of the union. In Aulularia (88-100) Plautus uses the water and the fire topic’s and with these images designs the legal and social breaking of unsociable Euclión.