"Captis mentibus" (LIV. 8.18) alle origini della repressione criminale senatoria

Abstract

The paper deals with the famous passage by Tito Livio, Ab Urbe Condita 8. 18, concerning the terrible plague caused in 331 b.C. by some Roman matrons through the diffusion of poisons prepared by themselves.The episode testifies the role played by the Senate in the criminal repression, when it began to entrust to the consuls or the magistrates - assisted by a consilium of senators - the investigation and the punishment of particularly serious crimes. The passage also allows to identify a genetic link between crime and madness