TheLex Iulia et Papia

AbstractThis chapter examines the ancient Roman law lex Iulia et Papia, which consists of a marriage law, the lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus, and a comitial statute, the lex Papia Poppaea. The two enactments are usually distinguished in the sense that the first encouraged marriage; the second, the bearing of children. In fact, the lex Iulia itself rewarded parents. The second statute both supplemented and partly recast the first, eliminating loopholes and relaxing some of the rules. Thus the jurists and modern commentators can refer to the two laws as one: the lex Iulia et Papia. To understand better the connection between the two statutes, one might invoke the jurist Papinian's famous observation on the relationship between the ius civile and the ius honorarium: the lex Papia Poppaea functioned “to support, supplement, and correct” the lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus.