Do Shepherds Live in a State of Nature?: From Peculium to Civilization

Francesca Iurlaro

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Chapter 3 Do Shepherds Live in a State of Nature?

From Peculium to Civilization

In: The State of Nature: Histories of an Idea

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Francesca Iurlaro

Francesca Iurlaro
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 61–81

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004499621_005

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Abstract

This chapter traces an intellectual-historical narrative of the legal concept of peculium. Etymologically, the word peculium refers to ‘what shepherds possess as flock’, as showed by the Latin word for flock (pecu), which also originates the Latin word pecunia (money). Peculium is a Roman law concept, defined in the Corpus Iuris Civilis as ‘everything that cannot be described as dominium’, and is, thus, a prerogative of subaltern categories of society (enslaved people, shepherds, women, children).

In this chapter I will argue that peculium provides us with a unified legal framework to think about ‘otherness in the state of nature’, and to genealogically imagine how property rights can be originated. To do so, I will explore three different theorizations of the legal concept of peculium; Alberico Gentili’s interpretation of Virgil’s Eclogues, in which the question of whether shepherds are able to donate their peculium is addressed; Samuel Pufendorf’s genealogical argument about the pastoral origins of society; and finally, I will look at Giambattista Vico’s La Scienza Nuova, in which the Neapolitan philosopher reflects on the injustice of peculium and identifies it as the most fundamental drive behind the creation of the commonwealth, as the servants rebel against their masters to acquire full dominium.

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The State of Nature: Histories of an Idea

Series: History of European Political and Constitutional Thought, Volume: 6

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004499621

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 30 Nov 2021

Subjects
- History
  - Intellectual History
  - Legal History
- International Law
  - International Law: General Interest

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Chapter 3 Do Shepherds Live in a State of Nature?

From Peculium to Civilization

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The State of Nature: Histories of an Idea

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