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Salus Populi Est Suprema Lex and "pandemic" challenges of the Roman era

Various diseases and epidemics are as old as humanity and have always been an integral part of human life, but today, at a time when we are facing a pandemic of the COVID-19 virus, it is worth remembering that epidemics and pandemics also shape history. The question is whether we need to learn something from the lessons that history serves us. The Roman Empire suffered the Antonine Plague, which began in 165 A.D. and peaked around 180 A.D., when witnesses reported that as many as two thousand people died in Rome every day, and deaths throughout the empire exceeded millions. Shortly afterwards, in 249 A.D., the Cypriot plague broke out which lasted until 271 A.D., and at its peak caused five thousand deaths a day in Rome alone and triggered political anarchy in the 3rd century. The epidemic that struck Constantinople in the mid-6th century was the first documented pandemic in history, beginning with the Justinian plague and causing tens of millions of deaths across the Mediterranean and Europe, and is thought to have contributed to the end of antiquity and the Middle Ages. All of the above necessarily affected the legislation, so sources show that Justinian, for example, ensured the swift enactment of new legislation to deal more effectively with the vast number of probate proceedings resulting from plague deaths, and the plague forced him to both reform the health care system and pay more attention to community health. However, in an attempt to suppress the epidemic, a number of laws were passed that created a kind of quarantine around the city. In this context, it is interesting to point out that even Leges duodecim tabularum, from 451/450. B.C. concluded with the phrase Salus Populi Est Suprema Lex, which is based on the implicit agreement of each member of society that his or her own individual well-being will, where necessary, yield to the well- being of the community ; and that his property, liberty, and life, under certain circumstances, would be endangered or even sacrificed for the common good. This legal, morally and ethically questionable principle is also the foundation of our legal tradition, and the aim of this paper is to test its justification and effectiveness in the "pandemic" challenges that the legislator faced in Roman times, but also today.

Antonine plague ; Cyprian plague ; Justinian plague ; COVID-19 ; Salus populi

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