Per un apprezzamento diacronico dell’ius hospitii a Roma

The article aims to analyze the Roman institution of ius hospitii / hospitium and traces its development over time. The employed method involves textual research starting from the earliest occurrences until the beginning of the imperial age. The analysis of literary and epigraphic evidence proceeds along a timeline dictated not by the content of the works but by the chronology of the authors themselves. The hospitium proves to be a highly significant and quite flexible device in Rome’s political and social life.