The Legal Doctrine of Forgery and Fraud in Roman Criminal Law with Special Reference to Counterfeiting

Abstract

This paper examines the regulation of falsum in Roman law, with particular regard to forgery and counterfeiting. It outlines the gradual development of the relevant legal framework from the late Republic to the Imperial period, with special attention to the role of the Lex Cornelia de falsis and subsequent imperial legislation. Certain forms of fraudulent conduct, especially those associated with dolus malus, were originally treated as private-law delicts and sanctioned through praetorian remedies. Only later did such conduct come to be regarded, in specific cases, as a matter of criminal law. The study also considers the principal categories of offences traditionally grouped under falsum, including testamentary forgery, falsification of documents, and offences connected with coinage. Within this framework, particular emphasis is placed on counterfeiting and its transformation from a property-related offence into a form of crimen laesae maiestatis. The analysis is based primarily on the relevant passages of the Digesta and the Pauli sententiae, and seeks to identify the main elements of the Roman legal approach to falsification.