La « loi royale » de la première-née (Denys d’Halicarnasse, Antiquités romaines, II, 15, 2) : une règle démographique archaïque ?

Abstract

In his account of the so-called « constitution of Romulus », Dionysius states that the mythical founder passed a law to require all Roman citizens to rear their whole male offspring, but only their eldest daughters. This inquiry aims to suggest a new interpretation of this rule based on anthropological views of kinship and alliance theory on exchange of women, and to assess its historical meaning.

Keywords

• Romulus
• constitution
• first born daughter
• exposure of infants