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Captatio in law, life and literature : a study of the topos of inheritance-hunting in the context of Roman testamentary legislation and social practice
"Captatio and the captator are stock elements of literature and undoubtedly existed in life, but as actual practice and figure in Roman society they are nearly impossible to identify" (Champlin 1989: 212). Captatio (inheritancehunting), as it appears in Latin literature, can be defined as the system...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Classical Studies
2016
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| _version_ | 1867613341861543936 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Sharland, Suzanne |
| author2 | Coleman, K M |
| author_browse | Coleman, K M Sharland, Suzanne |
| author_facet | Coleman, K M Sharland, Suzanne |
| author_sort | Sharland, Suzanne |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | "Captatio and the captator are stock elements of literature and undoubtedly existed in life, but as actual practice and figure in Roman society they are nearly impossible to identify" (Champlin 1989: 212). Captatio (inheritancehunting), as it appears in Latin literature, can be defined as the systematic courtship of elderly, preferably sickly or dying, childless wealthy people by social adventurers known as captatores, with the aim of gaining inheritances from these people by will. The methods by which this is shown to be achieved include gift-giving, salutatio, sexual favours, flattery etc. Roman literature suggests that this practice often took place within the exchange network of amicitia. This thesis examines captatio, as presented in the Latin literature of the early Empire, in the context of definable legal and social structures. It is not so much the purpose of this study to decide whether captatio existed or was a purely literary conceit, as to examine this literary topos in its broader context. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/18255 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:34:36.552Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateRange | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | Classical Studies |
| publisherStr | Classical Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/18255 Captatio in law, life and literature : a study of the topos of inheritance-hunting in the context of Roman testamentary legislation and social practice Sharland, Suzanne Coleman, K M Classical Studies "Captatio and the captator are stock elements of literature and undoubtedly existed in life, but as actual practice and figure in Roman society they are nearly impossible to identify" (Champlin 1989: 212). Captatio (inheritancehunting), as it appears in Latin literature, can be defined as the systematic courtship of elderly, preferably sickly or dying, childless wealthy people by social adventurers known as captatores, with the aim of gaining inheritances from these people by will. The methods by which this is shown to be achieved include gift-giving, salutatio, sexual favours, flattery etc. Roman literature suggests that this practice often took place within the exchange network of amicitia. This thesis examines captatio, as presented in the Latin literature of the early Empire, in the context of definable legal and social structures. It is not so much the purpose of this study to decide whether captatio existed or was a purely literary conceit, as to examine this literary topos in its broader context. 2016-03-28T14:28:56Z 2016-03-28T14:28:56Z 1991 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/18255 eng application/pdf Classical Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Classical Studies Sharland, Suzanne Captatio in law, life and literature : a study of the topos of inheritance-hunting in the context of Roman testamentary legislation and social practice |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Captatio in law, life and literature : a study of the topos of inheritance-hunting in the context of Roman testamentary legislation and social practice |
| title_full | Captatio in law, life and literature : a study of the topos of inheritance-hunting in the context of Roman testamentary legislation and social practice |
| title_fullStr | Captatio in law, life and literature : a study of the topos of inheritance-hunting in the context of Roman testamentary legislation and social practice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Captatio in law, life and literature : a study of the topos of inheritance-hunting in the context of Roman testamentary legislation and social practice |
| title_short | Captatio in law, life and literature : a study of the topos of inheritance-hunting in the context of Roman testamentary legislation and social practice |
| title_sort | captatio in law life and literature a study of the topos of inheritance hunting in the context of roman testamentary legislation and social practice |
| topic | Classical Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/18255 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sharlandsuzanne captatioinlawlifeandliteratureastudyofthetoposofinheritancehuntinginthecontextofromantestamentarylegislationandsocialpractice |