The Way of Dealing with Deviations in the Roman Republic

Contingency is one of the consequences of modernity. Where necessity has been once believed, we now see only a possibility that might have became otherwise. The article asks about the conditions of possibility in one single case. It examines the way in which deviations have bean treated in the Roman society during the republic. It starts from certain notion of social expectation which should help better understand normativity. Accordingly, norms are thought of as counterfactual expectations which in case of disappointment are enforced. In this respect, normativity differs from cognition, which itself presupposes learning. The relation between them can historically change, and it also determines the way in which deviations are dealt with. This is demonstrated in the legal sphere, which - unlike arts, literature or rhetoric - has been orientated very strongly towards continuity. The new has been therefore deemed a deviation and had to be avoided. Yet, it emerged, due primarily to growing technical specification of roman jurisprudence in the process of textualization of law and also through the contact with Greek rhetoric. Rather than greater tolerance towards deviations, this meant a changing way of dealing with deviations. They could be now interpreted through different criteria and legitimized in the old spirit, as continuation of the "golden" past. © Oldenbourg.