The civil law and the inner self: Roman Iniuria and the transformation of the private sphere
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Date
2024
Authors
Deibel, Talya
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Louisiana State University
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Abstract
This paper focuses on the transhistorical nature of the protection of personality interests in the civilian tradition. It takes Roman iniuria as a key concept to analyze the legal protection of the “inner selves” of human beings. The legal framework of iniuria stands out as an illustration of how social and moral phenomena which belonged to the interior realm such as honor, dignity, emotions, and reputation carried legal value in Roman law. Starting from its origins in Roman antiquity, this paper views the inner self through the legal prism of personality protection and comments on how formative periods in history prepared the doctrinal basis for modern civil codes. In this context, Roman iniuria becomes an illustration of how private law transgresses the boundaries between the outer-the inner and the body-the mind. As such, this paper provides a broader vision based on comparative and historical methodologies to be able to analyze personality rights in the 21st century.
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Keywords
Defamation , Iniuria , Inner self , Personality rights , Private sphere , Roman law
Citation
Deibel, T. (2024) 'The civil law and the inner self: Roman Iniuria and the transformation of the private sphere', Journal of Civil Law Studies, 16(1), pp. 54-97. Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/jcls/vol16/iss1/3 (Accessed: 10 November 2025)
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© 2024, Louisiana State University. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Civil Law Studies by an authorized editor of LSU Law Digital Commons.