Adoptio naturam imitatur : Adopting ‘according to nature’ in Roman sources

Abstract

The imitation of nature as a regulatory principle of a valid adoptive relationship appears expressly only in the Institutes of Justinian. However, traces of such a rule can already be discerned in the words of Cicero in his oration De domo sua and in certain responsa from the Classical period, where the essence of the requirement of imitatio naturae begins to take shape. This paper deals with the Classical concept of ‘natura’ in the context of the adoptive bond of filiation and, in particular, the extent to which the imitatio naturae came to be established as a cornerstone of Justinian’s discipline of the adoptio. Consideration will also be given to the personal and familial conditions that excluded the constitution of a legal parental bond insofar as they violated the principle of imitatio naturae and thus gave rise to what Justinian designates as a ‘monstrum’.