Law, Fact and Narratives in Ancient Rhetoric: The Case of the causa Curiana

摘要

The present article examines the role of narratives in rhetoric andnjurisprudence, trying to understand the ancient system of ‘issues’ (staseis), annessential part of the rhetorical curriculum in antiquity, with the help of some basicnnotions of legal semiotics. After a brief reconstruction of the doctrine, I argue thatnnarratives are essential to classical rhetoric, that the basic types of issues correspondnto particular stories in and of the trial, and finally that the system of ancient rhe-ntorical theory is capable of giving an account of the narrativisation of the pragmaticsnof the trial. Then I turn to a cause ce ´le `bre of Roman law, the causa Curiana, tryingnto show that not only the trial itself but also subsequent (ancient and modern)ndebates concerning the case were shaped by some grand narratives, and that storiesnabout the trial are likely to return to the court, where they may become part of thenstory of the trial.